This is the most extensive collection of Peter Kropotkin's writings available in English. Over half the selections have been translated for the first time or salvaged from long-out-of-print pamphlets and newspapers. Both an introduction to classic texts and a recontextualization of Kropotkin from saintly philosopher to dangerous revolutionary, Direct Struggle Against Capital includes a historical introduction, biographical sketch, glossary, bibliography, and index. Peter Kropotkin was one of anarchism's most famous thinkers. His classic works include The Conquest of Bread and Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution. Iain McKay has edited An Anarchist FAQ (volumes one and two) and Property Is Theft: A Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Anthology.
Peter Kropotkin initially published the chapters of Mutual Aid as individual essays in the intellectual periodical The Nineteenth Century over the course of six years. In 1902 the essays were published as a book. In it, Kropotkin explores the role of mutually-beneficial cooperation across both animal and human societies. He begins by outlining how animals, both within and across species, thrive not through individual fitness, but rather through mutual cooperation. He then extends the breadth of his study to ancient human societies across generations and nations, until arriving at modern society, which he suggests has largely dispensed with the ancient benefits of mutual aid in favor of private property, capitalism, and social Darwinism. Though more of a philosophical work than a scientific work, many of Kropotkin’s observations of the animal kingdom are considered to be scientifically accurate today, with Douglas H. Boucher calling Mutual Aid a precursor to the theory of biological altruism. As a philosophical work Mutual Aid, along with his other work The Conquest of Bread, is recognized as a foundational text of the anarcho-communist political philosophy.
Peter Kropotkin remains one of the best-known anarchist thinkers, and Words of a Rebel was his first libertarian book. Published in 1885 while he was in a French jail for anarchist activism, this collection of articles from the newspaper Le Revolté sees Kropotkin criticise the failings of capitalism and those who seek to end it by means of its main support, the state. Instead, he urged the creation of a mass movement from below that would expropriate property and destroy the state, replacing their centralised hierarchies with federations of self-governing communities and workplaces. Kropotkin’s instant classic included discussions themes and ideas he returned to repeatedly during his five decades in the anarchist movement. Unsurprisingly, Words of a Rebel was soon translated into numerous languages—including Italian, Spanish, Bulgarian, Russian, and Chinese—and reprinted time and time again. But despite its influence as Kropotkin’s first anarchist work, it was the last to be completely translated into English. This is a new translation from the French original by Iain McKay except for a few chapters previously translated by Nicolas Walter. Both anarchist activists and writers, they are well placed to understand the assumptions within and influences on Kropotkin’s revolutionary journalism. It includes all the original 1885 text along with the preface to the 1904 Italian as well as the preface and afterward to the 1919 Russian editions. In addition, it includes many articles on the labour movement written by Kropotkin for Le Revolté which show how he envisioned getting from criticism to a social revolution. Along with a comprehensive glossary and an introduction by Iain McKay placing this work within the history of anarchism as well as indicating its relevance to radicals and revolutionaries today, this is the definitive edition of an anarchist classic.
Introduction by George WoodcockThese essays, which either have not been previously published or have been out of print, embrace Kropotkin's philosophy at a time when he first gave it expression.This collection contains selected essays by Peter Kropotkin who was, unquestionably, the most widely read and respected theorist of anarchism. It is intended to make some of his most representative writings more accessible. The material consists of essays which either have not been previously published or have been out of print since their original publication.While the entire scope of Kropotkin's political thinking cannot possibly be projected in a single volume, it is hoped that many of his most fundamental conceptions have been exemplified here, for these essays embrace Kropotkin's philosophy at a time when he was struggling to first give them expression.In this context, Kropotkin's very first political essay, Must We Occupy Ourselves With An Examination of the Ideal of a Future System, written in 1873, which foreshadows most of his later writings, is of particular value.Apart from a general introduction to the most significant aspects of Kropotkin's life and thought, George Woodcock has prepared a preface to each essay allowing the reader to enter into the spirit of the time.Table of ContentsPrefaceMust We Occupy Ourselves with an Examination of the Ideal Future System?PrefaceAnarchist Communism: Its Basics and PrinciplesPrefaceAnarchist MoralityPrefaceThe State: Its Historic Role1993: 240 pages
Everywhere you will find that the wealth of the wealthy springs from the poverty of the poor' Fuelled by anger at injustice and optimism about humankind's ability to make a better, truly communal society, the anarchist writings of Peter Kropotkin have influenced radicals the world over, from nineteenth-century workers to today's activists. One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.
One of the current objections to Communism, and Socialism altogether, is that the idea is so old, and yet it has never been realized. Schemes of ideal States haunted the thinkers of Ancient Greece; later on, the early Christians joined in communist groups; centuries later, large communist brotherhoods came into existence during the Reform movement. Then, the same ideals were revived during the great English and French Revolutions; and finally, quite lately, in 1848, a revolution, inspired to a great extent with Socialist ideals, took place in France. "And yet, you see," we are told, "how far away is still the realization of your schemes. Don't you think that there is some fundamental error in your understanding of human nature and its needs?"At first sight this objection seems very serious. However, the moment we consider human history more attentively, it loses its strength. We see, first, that hundreds of millions of men have succeeded in maintaining amongst themselves, in their village communities, for many hundreds of years, one of the main elements of Socialismthe common ownership of the chief instrument of production, the land, and the apportionment of the same according to the labour capacities of the different families; and we learn that if the communal possession of the land has been destroyed in Western Europe, it was not from within, but from without, by the governments which created a land monopoly in favour of the nobility and the middle classes.
Introduction by George WoodcockThis precious work, which first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, was published in book form in 1899. Having delighted readers as varied as Leo Tolstoy and Lewis Mumford, Memoirs continues to be a classic in this literary genre.Peter Alexeivich Kropotkin (1842-1921) was born into the highest rank of the Russian aristocracy. This fascinating account of his dramatic conversion from prince to anarchist is more than an autobiography; it is an extraordinary portrait of the old Russia, both before and after the liberation of the serfs.Kropotkin was a remarkable writer in the Russian tradition, and this work stands as a non-fictional counterpart of the novels in which Turgenev and other great Russian writers portray the development of social conscience among the youth in autocratic society.Having renounced his title, Kropotkin pursued his work as a scientist and won international acclaim as a geographer as well as a radical. Memoirs is also a study of the early anarchist movement in Western Europe, in which Kropotkin played a part after his escape from a Russian prison - thereby earning a second imprisonment, this time in France.George Woodcock, one of Canada's most distinguished men of letters has written biographies of such monumental figures as Gandhi, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.Table of ContentsAN INTRODUCTION by George WoodcockPREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITIONI. CHILDHOODII. THE CORPS OF PAGESIII. SIBERIAIV. ST. PETERSBURG - FIRST JOURNEY TO WESTERN EUROPEV. THE FORTRESS - THE ESCAPEVI. WESTERN EUROPE1989: 504 pages
Peter Kropotkin’s magnum opus "Memoirs of a Revolutionist" serves the role of an astounding historical narrative of Russian politics in the second half of the 19th century. A perfect example of early anarchist writing, the book is emblematic of the origin of many anarchist movements all across Europe. The honesty and truthfulness of the narrative follows Kroopotkin’s prison and exile escapades, his admiration for women, and all the revolutionary incidents surrounding that enigmatic figure. Peter Kropotkin was a versatile Russian literary figure, whose occupation ranged from scientist and writer to a revolutionary and an advocate of anarchism. Kropotkin’s major influence was evident from his manifold philosophical stance – from a harsh critique on capitalist society to that of boosting local goods production. A political exile and an avid traveler, Kropotkin’s background found its place in his writing style. Among some of his best works are "The Conquest of Bread", "Memoirs of a Revolutionist", and "The State: Its Historic Role".
Amid the clashes, complexities, and political personalities of world politics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Peter Kropotkin stands out. Born a prince in Tsarist Russia and sent to Siberia to learn his militaristic, aristocratic trade, he instead renounced his titles and took up the “beautiful idea” of anarchism. Across a continent he would become known as a passionate advocate of a world without borders, without kings and bosses. From a Russian cell to France, to London and Brighton, he used his extraordinary mind to dissect the birth of State power and then present a different vision, one in which the human impulse to liberty can be found throughout history, undying even in times of defeat. In the three essays presented here, Kropotkin attempted to distill his many insights into brief but brilliant essays on the state, anarchism, and the ideology for which he became a founding name—anarchist communism. With a detailed and rich introduction from Brian Morris, and accompanied by bibliographic notes from Iain McKay, this collection contextualises and contemporises three of Kropotkin’s most influential essays.
With the international celebrations of the French Revolution as background, the publication of Peter Kropotkin's classic with an introduction by George Woodcock represents the fulfilment of an important documentary need. The turbulent upheaval that swept in the first mighty revolution in the West, and which had such far ranging consequences, has subsequently been described by a thousand differing pens. From the King's summoning of the Estates General in 1789 to the establishment of the Directory in 1793, the revolution has had many interpretations. But Kropotkin is among the very few who analyses this drama not only as a complex interplay of its leading personalities or a chain of political decisions made from above; rather, he penetrates this surface confusion to describe a great reordering of the economic bases of the ancien regime by the mass of urban workers and the peasantry. He saw the redistribution of land impeded at every step by an aggrandising middle class and by the forces of the counter-revolution inside and outside France. Kropotkin, as a true historian, was not concerned with merely the period he discussed. He saw it as a climax in a long past and future development. The result is a very skillful and absorbing book, with great momentum, an active and readable style, and a capable use of a mass of details regarding the most obscure but no less important aspects of the French Revolution. First published in 1909 and long out of print, The Great French Revolution is the finest historical writing from the fluent pen of Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921). The introduction by George Woodcock, the celebrated Canadian author, throws a modern light on the significance and scope of Kropotkin's contribution.
Includes "Law and Authority," arguing social control through custom and education, and "Prisons and Their Moral Influence on Prisoners," expressing the evils of the prison system, and other documents.
In “The State - Its Historic Role”, Kropotkin explores the concept of the State and how it has influenced society throughout history. A fascinating treatise by one of the most important Russian thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (1842–1921) was a Russian writer, activist, revolutionary, economist, scientist, sociologist, essayist, historian, researcher, political scientist, geographer, geographer, biologist, philosopher and advocate of anarcho-communism. He was a prolific writer, producing a large number of pamphlets and articles, the most notable being “The Conquest of Bread and Fields, Factories and Workshops” and “Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution”. This classic work is being republished now in a new edition complete with an excerpt from “Comrade Kropotkin” by Victor Robinson.
Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution is a book by Peter Kropotkin on the subject of mutual aid, written while he was living in exile in England. It was first published by William Heinemann in London in October 1902. The individual chapters had originally been published in 1890-96 as a series of essays in the British monthly literary magazine, Nineteenth Century. Written partly in response to Social Darwinism and in particular to Thomas H. Huxley's Nineteenth Century essay, "The Struggle for Existence," Kropotkin's book drew on his experiences in scientific expeditions in Siberia to illustrate the phenomenon of cooperation. After examining the evidence of cooperation in nonhuman animals, "savages," "barbarians," in medieval cities, and in modern times, he concludes that cooperation and mutual aid are as important in the evolution of the species as competition and mutual strife, if not more so.
This vintage book contains Peter Kropotkin's 1886 address “The Place of Anarchism in Socialistic Evolution” on the subject of Anarchism. A passionate and scholarly discourse that deals with the realities of the manipulations and dishonesty of government, this volume is recommended for those with an interest in anarchism, Marxism, and political science. Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (1842–1921) was a Russian writer, activist, revolutionary, economist, scientist, sociologist, essayist, historian, researcher, political scientist, geographer, geographer, biologist, philosopher and advocate of anarcho-communism. He was a prolific writer, producing a large number of pamphlets and articles, the most notable being “The Conquest of Bread and Fields, Factories and Workshops” and “Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution”. This classic work is being republished now in a new edition complete with an excerpt from “Comrade Kropotkin” by Victor Robinson.
Introduction by George WoodcockIt would not be an exaggeration to describe this book as the central work of Kropotkin's writing career. In one way or another, it occupied more than twenty years of his life. It is a work of argument and suggestion rather than dogmatic statement, and the very tentativeness of this great book make its perceptions all the more relevant.With at one time Kropotkin's view of our future might have been regarded as a Utopian dream, today, as a result of the growing realization that the world's resources of energy and raw materials are finite, that food is our most precious commodity and that people's working lives are futile and stultifying, the lessons of this book, for both the rich world and the poor, are topical and hopeful.In addition to a general introduction to the most significant aspects of Kropotkin's life and thought, George Woodcock has prepared a comprehensive afterword to each essay, allowing the reader to fully see Kropotkin's ideas in the context of the world a century later.Is the 9th volume of the The Collected Works of Peter Kropotkin.Table of contentsEditor's IntroductionPreface to the Second EditionPreface to the First EditionChapter 1The Decentralization of IndustriesEditor's Afterword to Chapter 1Chapter 2The Possibilities of AgricultureEditor's Afterword to Chapter 2Chapter 3Small Industries and Industrial VillagesEditor's Afterword to Chapter 3Chapter 4Brain Work and Manual WorkEditor's Afterword to Chapter 4Chapter 5ConclusionEditor's Epilogue1994: 255 pages, index
First published in 1887, “In Russian and French Prisons” is Peter Kropotkin's detailed critique of French and Russian prisons in the late 19th century. Within it, Kropotkin offers poignant descriptions of the conditions of those who undergo solitary confinement while offering his own panacea to the wealth of problems engendered by the existence of prisons: abolish them entirely. Although written over a century ago, Kropotkin's astute criticisms of the penal system are still very much relevant today. Contents include: “My First acquaintance With Russian Prisons”, “Russian Prisons”, “He Fortress Of St. Peter And St. Paul”, “Outcast Russia”, “The Exile In Siberia”, “The Exile On Sakhali”, “A Foreigner On Russian Prisons”, etc. Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (1842–1921) was a Russian writer, activist, revolutionary, economist, scientist, sociologist, essayist, historian, researcher, political scientist, geographer, geographer, biologist, philosopher and advocate of anarcho-communism. He was a prolific writer, producing a large number of pamphlets and articles, the most notable being “The Conquest of Bread and Fields, Factories and Workshops” and “Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution”. This classic work is being republished now in a new edition complete with an excerpt from “Comrade Kropotkin” by Victor Robinson.
Translated, with introduction, by George WoodcockFirst published in 1885 in Paris, this collection of articles constitutes Kropotkin's first book. Originally titled Paroles d'un Revolt it includes his earliest works from period 1879 to 1882. In the succeeding years it was translated into Italian, Spanish, Bulgarian, Russian, and Chinese. Long-awaited in English, Words of a Rebel is the first complete translation.A different work from the more familiar books of the older Kropotkin, it is a product of an anarchist agitator and it derives its interest as much from what it reveals about an important transitional phase in the development of anarchism as it does for what it shows us of Kropotkin himself.Seeing revolution as a popular insurrection, in the broadest terms, Kropotkin believed that public wealth should belong to its producers and consumers and not to the State or the rich.This volume of Kropotkin's articles was translated from the French by George Woodcock. A celebrated author, Woodcock is also an authority on the life and works of Peter Kropotkin and as a result, Words of a Rebel is not just a translation, but a scholarly work as well.Table of Contents:Introduction by George WoodcockIntroduction to the First French Edition by Elise ReclusI. The Situation TodayII. The Breakdown of the StateIII. The Inevitability of RevolutionIV. The Coming RevolutionV. Political RightsVI. To the YoungVII. WarVIII. Revolutionary MinoritiesIX. OrderX. The CommuneXI. The Paris CommuneXII. The Agrarian QuestionXIII. Representative GovernmentXIV. Law and AuthorityXV. Revolutionary GovernmentXVI. All of Us Socialists!XVII. The Spirit of RevoltXVIII. Theory and PracticeXIX. ExpropriationNotes1992: 229 pages
“Ideas and Realities in Russian Literature” is a 1906 work by Russian historian and anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin. Within it, Kropotkin presents a broad, general idea of the subject by examining modern literature and its most notable contributors. This volume will appeal to those with an interest in Russian literature and is not to be missed by collectors of Kropotkin's seminal work. Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (1842–1921) was a Russian writer, activist, revolutionary, economist, scientist, sociologist, essayist, historian, researcher, political scientist, geographer, geographer, biologist, philosopher and advocate of anarcho-communism. He was a prolific writer, producing a large number of pamphlets and articles, the most notable being “The Conquest of Bread and Fields, Factories and Workshops” and “Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution”. This classic work is being republished now in a new edition complete with an excerpt from “Comrade Kropotkin” by Victor Robinson.
The Terror in Russia - An Appeal to the British Nation" is 1909 pamphlet calling for a British intervention against the Czar's brutal regime, by Russian sociologist Peter Kropotkin. In this pamphlet, Kropotkin highlights the insincerity of the 1905 Manifesto and focuses on the suppression of free speech, as well as the appalling conditions in prisons where overcrowding, brutality, and disease were commonplace. Contents include: "The Prisons", "Suicides in Prisons", "Executions", "The Exiles", "Evidence Laid Before the First and Second Duma on Courts Martial, Executions, and Overcrowding of Prisons", "Provocation to Violence and the Participation of Police Officials in Crime", "The Union of Russian Men", etc. Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (1842-1921) was a Russian writer, activist, revolutionary, economist, scientist, sociologist, essayist, historian, researcher, political scientist, geographer, geographer, biologist, philosopher and advocate of anarcho-communism. He was a prolific writer, producing a large number of pamphlets and articles, the most notable being "The Conquest of Bread and Fields, Factories and Workshops" and "Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution". This classic work is being republished now in a new edition complete with an excerpt from "Comrade Kropotkin" by Victor Robinson.
“The Conquest of Bread” is an 1892 work by Peter Kropotkin. Kropotkin outlines what he believes are the main problems with both feudalism and capitalism, and explains why they require and encourage poverty and scarcity through the description of a future society based on liberty, equality and fraternity. A must-read for those with an interest in anarchy, communism, or libertarianism. Contents include: “Our Riches”, “Well-Being for All”, “Anarchist Communism”, “Expropriation”, “Food”, “Dwellings”, “Clothing”, “Ways and Means”, “The Need for Luxury”, “Agreeable Work”, “Free Agreement”, “Objections”, “The Collectivist Wages System”, “Consumption and Production”, “The Division of Labour”, etc. Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (1842–1921) was a Russian writer, activist, revolutionary, economist, scientist, sociologist, essayist, historian, researcher, political scientist, geographer, geographer, biologist, philosopher and advocate of anarcho-communism. He was a prolific writer, producing a large number of pamphlets and articles, the most notable being “The Conquest of Bread and Fields, Factories and Workshops” and “Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution”. This classic work is being republished now in a new edition complete with an excerpt from “Comrade Kropotkin” by Victor Robinson.
This was Peter Kropotkin's final book, in which he theorizes about the development of the modern state and how modern science and technology can assist in freeing working people from capitalism. First published in 1912 in France, sections of this book have been translated and published in English (as short books and pamphlets and journal articles), but never as a whole work as Kropotkin intended. More than 10 percent of this book has never before appeared in English. Introduced and annotated by Iain McKay.
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