An Anarchist FAQ

Writings by Anarcho

articles and essays on anarchism, anarchist history, marxism and current affairs as well as reviews

Category: Revolutions

  • The 1848 Revolutions: An Anarchist Perspective

    This is a write-up of a talk I gave at the Sparrow’s Nest Archive in Nottingham on 23 June 2018. The talk was advertised by the following text:

    The Revolutions of 1848 remain the most widespread revolutionary wave in European history. While remembered as essentially liberal in nature, aiming at ending the old monarchical regimes they were also note-worthy for the advent of the industrial working class as a factor in social struggle. So as well as political change, the social question was raised while the events of 1848 shaped the ideas of Marx and Proudhon. So on their 170th anniversary, we look at the 1848 revolutions and their lessons for today.

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  • André Léo: Internationalist and Communard

    An article on the life and ideas of André Léo, an early French feminist and (libertarian) socialist. A member of the First International and a leading participant in the Paris Commune. It first appeared in Black Flag Anarchist Review Vol. 4 No. 2 (Summer 2024).

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  • The State and Revolution: Theory and Practice

    This is almost my chapter in the anthology Bloodstained: One Hundred Years of Leninist Counterrrevolution (Oakland/Edinburgh: AK Press, 2017). Some revisions were made during the editing process which are not included here. In addition, references to the 1913 French edition of Kropotkin’s Modern Science and Anarchy have been replaced with those from the 2018 English-language translation. However, the bulk of the text is the same, as is the message and its call to learn from history rather than repeat it. I would, of course, urge you to buy the book.

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  • The Bureaucracy in Exile: Trotsky’s limited Anti-Stalinism

    An article exploring Trotsky’s (limited) opposition to Stalinism and showing that it reflected Bolshevik orthodoxy in terms of advocating the dictatorship of the party and one-man management. Needless to say, almost all Trotskyist accounts fail to mention this. It first appeared in Black Flag Anarchist Review Vol. 3 No. 3 (Autumn 2023)

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