Customer Reviews

Anarchism (Broadview Encore Editions)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Though it has now been supplanted, or to put it more mildly, updated, by Peter Marshall's more recent "Demanding the Impossible", Woodcock's history remains nonetheless an incisive and extremely readable survey. A superb introduction to anarchist thought.

Every so often when I was a full-time teacher, I taught a course in libertarian political theory. This volume was a standard textbook that I used (there is now a much more recent version, if I read Amazon correctly). Woodcock defines the subject of this work along the following lines (Page 13): ". . .a system of social thought, aiming at fundamental changes in the structure of society and particularly. . .at the replacement of the authoritarian state by some sort of nongovernmental co-operation between free individuals." Once thus stated, of course, many readers would instantly dismiss the project described. However, this is a very nice overview of libertarian/anarchist thinkers and, as such, serves a useful purpose.

The organizational structure is pretty clean. His prologue outlines Woodcock's view of the subject matter. Then, Part I, "The Idea." Here, the author examines the political thought of a number of key thinkers in this strand of political thought. He begins with the deeper historical predecessors, including the "Diggers" in English history, Thomas Paine, and Jacques Roux, inter alia. Among those whose work he summarizes and assesses in more detail: William Godwin, the man of reason; Max Stirner, the egoist; Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, the intellectual father of syndicalism; Mikhail Bakunin, the Russian nobleman who became an anarchist; Peter Kropotkin, a prince in Russia, who used evolutionary theory to justify his anarchist perspective; Leo Tolstoy (yet another Russian) and his Christian anarchism.

After perusing individual thinkers, Woodcock then examines anarchism/libertarianism across a variety of societies--from France to Italy to Spain to Russia, and elsewhere (including the United States). For each venue, he notes the development of the theory in historical terms and leading figures in the movement.

Finally, his epilogue. He reflects upon the meaning of the work of individuals and the movements across different societies.

For a solid introduction to the subject, this serves well up to the time of its publication (in the early 1960s). For those interested in a general overview of the subject, this serves well.