“For always in thine eyes, O Liberty! Shines that high light whereby the world is saved; And though thou slay us, we will trust in thee.” John Hay. On Picket Duty. Society is not a person or a thing, but a relation, and a relation can have no rights. The first number of a review of socialism, entitled “La Tribune des Peuples,” recently appeared…

It is now approaching 100 years since a small group of people (who had lived in a community which seemed to be going in a direction they did not like) set off to find land upon which to build a new way of living. After quite a long time a piece of land was found and bought with the help of sympathisers. They had a stone cottage (Whiteway House) and…

In the spring of 2003, an ephemeral and shaky “European Coordination against Prisons” met in Turin. Although there were indeed a few Spaniards, a few Swiss, a handful of British and Greeks in attendance, the general scenography for the hundred-plus actors of the drama that was to unfold belonged among the classics of the activist repertoire extending…

Introduction The following two texts are taken from the recently released anthology, Intolerable: Michel Foucault and the Prisons Information Group, which collects writings related to the group’s anti-carceral activity in the early 1970s. “The Great Confinement” was first published in March 1972, at a time when Michel Foucault was steeped in activities…

I preface this writing by saying that knowledge can truly never be owned. Knowledge is a gift. Indigenous relationships with earth have enabled me to trouble my own relationships to land and knowledge because these concepts are peopled. A paralleled sense of belonging occurs between land, theory and ism. When I take a critical gaze at my ability to…

Fortunately, we are at a stage where we can and should experiment with different forms of organization, with patience and generosity, but with persistence in critical thinking. The forms of organization should help facilitate the implementation of the main objectives. Immediate action must be deeply tied to what you want in the future. Gilmar Mauro…

With all this talk about elections, and the insistent demand that Black people be focused on matters of the State, those of us who consider ourselves ABRs (anarchic Black radicals) find ourselves constantly having to emphasize that our egalitarian concerns and ‘anarchy’ truly are compatible. Which is to say, in our opinion, it is not necessary to…

“For always in thine eyes, O Liberty! Shines that high light whereby the world is saved; And though thou slay us, we will trust in thee.” John Hay. On Picket Duty. When Liberty’s readers have given the attention that it deserves to the remarkably interesting letter from Australia that appears in this issue, they will be ready to forgive me for…

There were working class demands from the start of the Scottish independence referendum and these demands only continued to grow as it neared to the time of the vote. Many parties of the so-called left began to appeal to these demands and desires of the working class. But why was this and why now? To answer this, we have to look at the wider picture…

This is going to be a bit of a rant rather than a carefully crafted piece because I desperately need to get it off my chest. I haven’t written anything about the referendum yet and I haven’t weighed in much on lots of the discussions that friends and people around me are having (although I have been listening), because my frame of reference is different…

There has been a lot of speculation about how ready and willing workers at Grangemouth have been to take industrial action. Looking at the actions of the Ineos bosses, Unite the Union, and the politicians we can start to see how much of these three groups vested interests are tied up in making sure workers on the ground are given the thin edge of the…

For me it’s really interesting that celebrity leftists like Žižek, David Harvey and others feel they have to address and argue against direct democracy (and sometimes autonomous or libertarian socialism more broadly). It shows that these ideas are really in the ascendant, being discussed and put into action at least to some extent in assemblies…

Introduction by Steve Welzer The text which begins on the following page is excerpted from Beyond Bookchin: Preface for a Future Social Ecology, a new title co-published in fall 1996 by Black & Red, Detroit, and Autonomedia, Brooklyn. Its author is Fifth Estate staff member David Watson. In Murray Bookchin’s extensive writings on ecology and anarchism…

Abstract This paper explores the anarcho-mystical thought of Gustav Landauer as a critical response to sovereign-centric political theology. It is argued that Landauer’s political thought - central to which is a mystical withdrawal from existing state institutions and social relations – effects a radical displacement of the concept of state sovereignty…

“For always in thine eyes, O Liberty! Shines that high light whereby the world is saved; And though thou slay us, we will trust in thee.” John Hay. The “Liberal” Love of Government. [Rejected by the New York Truth Seeker.] To the Editor of the Truth Seeker: Dear Sir,— It is with great pleasure that I notice that Mr. Tucker and the “brainy…

Grasping in the dark for something you can't quite put into words. Guided only by the faint fear of falling into the dark vacuum – a gaping deficiency that lingers within that carefully manicured psyche. You don't dare tread near the vacuum. You'll do anything to avoid even thinking about it. Quick, find a distraction. Always cycling through mind-numbing…

It places the inefficient on par with the efficient, the lazy with the industrious, and the thrifty with the extravagant. Therefore it places a premium on idleness and lacks spur to industry and thrift. It makes the celebate contribute for the support of the children of his procreative brother. It divides responsibility and dampens individual initiative…

“It is surely one of the most incendiary works ever to be published anywhere.” –James J. Martin “A vitriolic, racist hymn to the doctrine of force.” –Chris Cuneen A MAN Might Is Right is a book whose survival has nothing to do with popular acclaim or academic attention. It has, nonetheless, been read and discussed by a continuing circle…

“For always in thine eyes, O Liberty! Shines that high light whereby the world is saved; And though thou slay us, we will trust in thee.” John Hay. On Picket Duty. By the tardy act of the president of France Prince Kropotkine and Louise Michel are free. Doubtless they come out of prison intenser rebels than they went in, and will devote themselves…

Summary Mentioned several times although none of his writings are cited, Bakunin occupies a particular place in some of Carl Schmitt’s main texts (Political Theology, Dictatorship, The Concept of Politics). The themes that Schmitt chooses to identify in Bakunin (Satanism, naturalism, the religious nature of authority, the refusal of mediation), if…

CHAPTER 1 Think of this work specifically as a product of the French June Monarchy and as a prize essay, written as a kind of “open letter” to a panel of judges at the academy where he had been studying. It actually became a regular feature of many of Proudhon’s works that they took the form of extended “letters” to specific individuals: even…

Labels are often flashy conduits for hasty assumptions and partial truths. At the time when I was writing Action and Existence: Anarchism for Business Administration in the late 1970s, the term anarchism served as a handy synonym for mess, chaos, and disorder. In this context the word cropped up in public debates about the Baader-Meinhof terrorism in…

A book by Lenin, written after the revolution, has recently been published by Avanti!, whose title promised an exhaustive treatment of the problem of the relations between revolution and state. But we confess that we have felt a strong disappointment. Lenin’s personality will remain engraved in history with fiery letters. These three years alone…

A full-scale war in Ukraine has been going on for over three months now. The anarchist movement has responded to the Russian invasion in different ways during these three months – some have begun unconditionally supporting their comrades in Ukraine, while others continue to repeat the story of NATO aggression in the region. We also felt it necessary…

“For always in thine eyes, O Liberty! Shines that high light whereby the world is saved; And though thou slay us, we will trust in thee.” John Hay. On Picket Duty. A free labor reading room and circulating library was opened a few weeks ago in New York at the Central Labor Union Hall, at which free access may be had to all labor publications. Donations…