Customer Reviews

About Anarchism

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walters' book is just a little bit dated at this point, but he is still able to summarize and nutshell the core reasoning on most of the anarchist positions with a level of clarity and directness that one rarely encounters in discussions this abstract. i found myself copying out whole paragraphs, and then whole pages, and then whole sections because he just puts everything so damn well. i wouldn't expect that every anarchist would agree with everything he says (hell, i don't), but he sticks to a lot of basics that a lot of anarchists can agree on. its a really easy real rewarding read that i would recommend to everyone--people just curious about anarchism and veterans looking for a good primer to hand out. but even very well read anarchist might find some new stuff in hear. i've been reading the literature for a couple years now and there was a lot in here that i hadn't heard anywhere else.

Readers should not come to this book expecting the depths of anarchist theory, but they can reasonably expect to get a taste for it. The book surveys what all anarchists generally believe, how they differ on the arrangement and organizational wellsprings of an anarchist society, what values anarchists want instantiated in an anarchistic society, and how anarchists try to effect reform and/or revolution in society.

This book is perfect for the reader who is curious about anarchism but knows little or nothing about it. I see it as a good springboard for readers who find anarchism a real and just human possibility and want to study it further.