Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Monthly Review Press
Date Published: 1970-01-01
ISBN-13:9780853451754ISBN:0853451753
Description: Very Good. Paperback cover shows minor shelfwear. Pages are clean, no marks or tears. Binding tight. In stock and ready for immediate shipment. read more
Edition: First edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Monthly Review Press, New York
Date Published: 1970
Description: Hardcover book with underlining on just a few pages, otherwise a very good+ copy with a very good dust jacket. Uncommon in hardcover. read more
Edition: 4th Ptg
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Monthly Review Pr, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1970
ISBN-13:9780853451754ISBN:0853451753
Description: Very Good+ 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Introduction by Noam Chomsky. Clean and tight with light yellowing to wraps. Diagonal minor crease at tail foredge. No internal or external markings. read more
Edition: 17th printing
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Monthly Review Press, New York
Date Published: 1970
ISBN-13:9780853451754ISBN:0853451753
Description: Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. xx, 166 pp., biblio.; 21 cm. First published, 1965, under title: Anarchisme, de la doctrine a l'action. Translated from the French. Near fine. Tight, clean copy. Age toning. Recent printing. The classic study of anarchism. read more
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. Brand New! Support Radical Independent Pacific Northwest Booksellers! Text in English, French. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 160 p. Perhaps the best introductory book on anarchism, with a strong Marxist flavor. Excellent both on the intellectual substance of anarchism, and in its actual practice, from the Italian Factory Councils to workers' self management in Algeria. Includes an introduction by Chomsky. read more
Edition: 1st Printing
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Monthly Review Pr, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1970
ISBN-13:9780853451754ISBN:0853451753
Description: Near Fine. 8x5.5 inches. 166 pages. White cover with blue and black lettering and colored blocks. White spine with blue and black lettering. A little soil. A short introduction to anarchism. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Monthly Review Press, New York
Date Published: 1970
Description: xx, 166p., first American edition, previous owner's name crossed out in ink on front blank endpaper, edge worn dj. Translated from the 1965 French edition. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Monthly Review Press
Date Published: 1970-01-01
ISBN-13:9780853451754ISBN:0853451753
Description: Very Good. Name written on 1st page. Otherwise, Like New and Pages clean and tight. I ship twice a day during the week and once on Saturday. Your business is personal with me. I DO NOT SHIP INTERNATIONALLY EXCEPT CANADA. Thanks. read more
Edition: 11th printing
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Monthly Review Press, NY
Date Published: 1970
ISBN-13:9780853451754ISBN:0853451753
Description: fine in decorative wrappers (soft cover book) Guerin's description of the two realms of anarchism: its intellectual substance and its actual practice through the Bolshevik Revolution, the Spanish Civil War, the Italian Factory councils the workers' self-management in modern Yugoslavia and Algeria. read more
"Though not much new ground is broken here, Guerin presents a concise and useful history of anarchist thought, both in its theoretical development and how it has been put into practice in real life (particularly Spain in the 1930s)."
"Guerin tirelessly investigates and advocates for a socialism that is "free" and built from the bottom-up; in other words, anarchism. In the preface, Chomsky quotes Rudlof Rocker to further define anarchism, as opposed to so-called "authoritarian" socialism: "Anarchism is necessarily anti-capitalist in that it 'opposes the exploitation of man by man.' But anarchism also opposes 'the dominion of man over man.' It insists that 'socialism will be free or it will not be at all'" (xii).
This book is appealing because it is a broad survey of the topic, and covers many of anarchism's important thinkers, but isn't bogged down with biographical details, like many of the other books on the topic. Instead, Guerin focuses on the range of ideas contained within anarchism. For example, he shows the tension between the individual and the collective (a point that would be interesting to compare alongside Negri's conception of the "multitude").
Another interesting theme is the relationship between revolutionaries and "the masses." Of course, anarchists do not believe in a vanguard of revolutionaries to lead "the masses." But while anarchists view the activism of both as necessary to revolution, Guerin notes that there is not a satisfactory theory for their synthesis: "Relations between the masses and the conscious minority constitute a problem to which no full solution has been found....and one on which it seems that the last word has not yet been said" (38).
Guerin argues that far from being utopian, anarchism is highly constructive, and reviews a number of considerations that go into visioning anarchist society: organization, trade, self-management, competition, and degree of socialization. To prove his point, Guerin highlights anarchist planning and practice at various times and places, including early 20th century Italian Worker Councils and revolutionary-era Spain (the darling and poster child for most anarchists!). Here, as elsewhere in the book, Guerin's sympathy for Bakunin and syndicalist anarchism is revealed. The Italian example is fascinating, in which unions established workplace councils that fought for managerial control of production through direct actions. In this way, some regarded these worker organizations as a "prefiguration of socialist society" (110).
The Spanish example is the most widely referenced by anarchists, though this is the first account that I've read. This Spanish experience contains some notable features. First, the two-headed stronghold of the movement: one industrial; one rural. The result was two divergent anarchist forms, the former being more syndicalist (organized by trade unions) and the latter more communalist (drawing from local villages' traditions). The enormous union membership and the dissemination of propaganda in rural areas well prepared workers and peasants for self-management of their economic affairs after the revolution. Perhaps the most important feature of the Spanish anarchism was the economic primacy of the revolution. Instead of attempting to seize political power, the workers and peasants seized economic power, through direct action. Guerin argues that this is attributable in part to the lessons learned from the Russian Revolution, and the tragedy that the Soviet state became.
For me, the most interesting discussion to be drawn from Guerin's work is the revolutionary potential of unions today. Guerin's historical examples show the integral role unions played in the achievement of workers' self-management. Also, what are the possibilities for Italian-style worker councils in today's workplaces? Do today's workers' experiments in "pre-majority" unionism plant the seeds for liberating other institutions in broader society?
This is highly recommended for those interested in an introductory reading on anarchism, particularly its syndicalist form."
By Jyriii,
Just another automaton nation, 13, Finland
"Governing with co-ordination without authority
Like it is said in the introduction in this book, the problem that is set for our time is that of freeing man from the curse of economic exploitation and political and social enslavement. We must rid the society of the private ownership of the means of production. The so-called "democracy" is just a scam when in reality workers are treated as being nothing but wage slaves.
The word "anarchism" is derived of the Greek "an-arche-ismos," which means something like "without authority -ism." There is no freedom where there is authority. The society should be run from below, not above. Only co-ordination would be needed. This book was first published in 1965. Some information of the application of anarchist principles in revolutionary practice is included in it."
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