Radical Theory and History
“I have often read writings that attempt to discredit my ideas, but which merely repeat, using different terminology, what I myself have argued and argue. Likewise, I have often seen ideas being attributed to comrades who scorn them, for the easy pleasure of refuting them afterwards” – Errico Malatesta 1911 (Malatesta 2023, 316). In 2022 Continue reading Myths About Anarchism, Democracy, and…
Introduction Very few words are as misunderstood as communism. It brings to mind a society in which the state or the collective is everything and the individual is nothing, in which the attempt to make everyone equal only makes the majority equally unfree. It is most closely associated with countries like the USSR or Maoist Continue reading What is Communism?
In 1848 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published the Manifesto of the Communist Party. It famously ends by declaring, “let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. Proletarians have nothing to lose in it but their chains. They have a world to win. Proletarians of all countries unite!” (Marx and Engels 1996, 30). The word Continue reading What is the Proletariat?
One of the main skills that an academic education teaches people is the ability to talk about subjects they know barely anything about whilst sounding like an expert. This can be dangerous in so far as it enables the spread of misinformation. There are numerous examples of grifters with academic credentials who use their perceived Continue reading Don’t Believe Everything Academics Write
My book Means and Ends, like most books of its size and scope, contains a few minor errors. I spent ages fact checking everything before it was printed but I didn t notice some mistakes until after it was released. I will post any factual errors I find, or which are pointed out to me with Continue reading Patch Notes for Means and Ends
When reading history books it is easy to assume that any sentence with an endnote must be true. The thoughts that an author just happened to come up with can take on the appearance of objective neutral fact when they are printed on a page. The process of becoming a historian is, to a significant Continue reading Writing History is a Nightmare
People are often drawn to the study of labour history because they want to understand how to change the world. It is thought that the history of class struggle contains within itself not only a series of events and dates laid out in chronological order but also lessons. Through studying the history of class struggle Continue reading Anarchist Counter Culture in Spain
Anarchism is a social movement which advocates the abolition of all forms of domination and exploitation in favour of a society based on freedom, equality and co-operation. It holds that this goal can only be achieved if the hierarchical social structures of capitalism and the state are abolished and replaced by a socialist society organised Continue reading Anarchism and Democracy
In the popular imagination anarchists are assumed to be naive optimists. It is thought that anyone who thinks humans can live a good life without capitalism and the state must do so because they think humans are angels who are naturally caring and benevolent. Anarchists in the 19th and early 20th centuries in fact had a very Continue reading Anarchists Are Not Naive About Human Nature
Michael Bakunin was one of the early influential theorists of the anarchist movement and played a key role in developing and spreading its ideas. He is one of my favourite authors and I have gained a huge amount from reading him. But this does not mean that I am uncritical of Bakunin. I am against Continue reading Bakunin was a Racist