British anarchism has a rich intellectual history. Although marginal as a political force, anarchist ideas developed in Britain into a distinctive political tradition. Kropotkin, Read, and the Intellectual History of British Anarchism... more
British anarchism has a rich intellectual history. Although marginal as a political force, anarchist ideas developed in Britain into a distinctive political tradition. Kropotkin, Read, and the Intellectual History of British Anarchism explores this lost history, offering a new appraisal of the work of Kropotkin and Read, and examining the ways in which they endeavoured to articulate a politics fit for the particular challenges of Britain's modern history.
This book traces how their politics emerged in response to the controversies animating Britain's intellectual history, including the social implications of Darwinism, the role of the state, and the status of modern art and culture. Challenging existing interpretations of their work, it re-conceptualises the history of British anarchism, uncovering the attempt to broaden anarchism, the politics of protest, into a comprehensive philosophical system.
“The strength of Adams’ interesting and intelligent book is that it gives us a view of anarchism as a dynamic tradition of thought that is integral to any wider intellectual history. And in one memorable phrase, Adams explains why we should not ignore it. Kropotkin and Read, by ‘Their pursuit of reason uncovered a universe of wonder’ … . This book helps us join them.” (Peter Ryley, European Review of History, Revue européenne d'histoire, Vol. 23 (1-2), 2016)
“In directing his readers’ attention to the connections between Kropotkin and Read, Adams has indeed pointed to one of the most important streams that fed into British anarchist thought more generally. … Adams’s book is a welcome addition to a growing number of studies aimed at recapturing the largely lost tradition of British anarchism and plugging a significant hole in our understanding of anarchist history and ideas.” (Benjamin J. Pauli, New Political Science, Vol. 38 (2), 2016)
“This volume serves as an excellent account of British anarchism as an intellectual history, which explores the translation and impact of ideas and practices within a transregional context.” (Global Histories, Vol. 1, December, 2015)
'In a well-argued, contextualised account, Adams succeeds in restoring Kropotkin to the centre of socialist and anarchist debates in Britain in the late Victorian period. He also provides an admirably lively account of the intellectual inheritance of these engagements in subsequent decades through the lens of Herbert Read's life and ideas, restoring a sense of the vibrancy and sophistication of left-wing political theory through this period.'
- Gregory Claeys, Professor of the History of Political Thought, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
Reviews:
European Review of History
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13507486.2015.1122950
New Political Science
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07393148.2016.1153200?journalCode=cnps20
This book traces how their politics emerged in response to the controversies animating Britain's intellectual history, including the social implications of Darwinism, the role of the state, and the status of modern art and culture. Challenging existing interpretations of their work, it re-conceptualises the history of British anarchism, uncovering the attempt to broaden anarchism, the politics of protest, into a comprehensive philosophical system.
“The strength of Adams’ interesting and intelligent book is that it gives us a view of anarchism as a dynamic tradition of thought that is integral to any wider intellectual history. And in one memorable phrase, Adams explains why we should not ignore it. Kropotkin and Read, by ‘Their pursuit of reason uncovered a universe of wonder’ … . This book helps us join them.” (Peter Ryley, European Review of History, Revue européenne d'histoire, Vol. 23 (1-2), 2016)
“In directing his readers’ attention to the connections between Kropotkin and Read, Adams has indeed pointed to one of the most important streams that fed into British anarchist thought more generally. … Adams’s book is a welcome addition to a growing number of studies aimed at recapturing the largely lost tradition of British anarchism and plugging a significant hole in our understanding of anarchist history and ideas.” (Benjamin J. Pauli, New Political Science, Vol. 38 (2), 2016)
“This volume serves as an excellent account of British anarchism as an intellectual history, which explores the translation and impact of ideas and practices within a transregional context.” (Global Histories, Vol. 1, December, 2015)
'In a well-argued, contextualised account, Adams succeeds in restoring Kropotkin to the centre of socialist and anarchist debates in Britain in the late Victorian period. He also provides an admirably lively account of the intellectual inheritance of these engagements in subsequent decades through the lens of Herbert Read's life and ideas, restoring a sense of the vibrancy and sophistication of left-wing political theory through this period.'
- Gregory Claeys, Professor of the History of Political Thought, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
Reviews:
European Review of History
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13507486.2015.1122950
New Political Science
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07393148.2016.1153200?journalCode=cnps20
Research Interests: Critical Theory, British Literature, History, Intellectual History, Cultural History, and 197 moreSociology, Cultural Studies, Social Movements, Social Theory, Aesthetics, Political Philosophy, Epistemology, English Literature, Art History, Education, Historical Sociology, History of Ideas, French History, Art, Social Sciences, Romanticism, Democratic Education, Art Theory, Terrorism, Political Theory, Violence, Marxism, Marxist Economics, British History, Nineteenth Century Studies, Literature, Democratic Theory, Contemporary Art, Poetry, Arts Education, British Politics, Political Science, Revolutions, Utopian Studies, Liberalism, French Revolution, Modern Art, Anarchism, History of Social Sciences, Democratization, Labour history, Anarchism (Literature), Philosophy of Art, Political Culture, Political Violence and Terrorism, Politics, Socialisms, Enlightenment, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Unesco, Culture, George Orwell, Anarchist Studies, Communism, History of Capitalism, Modern British History, Political History, British Romanticism, History of Terrorism, Friedrich Nietzsche, Culture Studies, Modernist Literature (Literary Modernism), T.S. Eliot, History of Sociology, History of Anarchism, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Capitalism, Deliberative Democracy, European Politics, Nineteenth Century British History and Culture, Political Violence, Pacifism, Modernity, Marxist theory, Evolution, Theory of History, History of Political Thought, Second World War, Labour Studies, History of Political Science, History of Art, Modernism (Art History), First World War, Work and Labour, Aesthetics and Ethics, Aesthetics and Politics, Russian History, 20th century (History), Social movements and revolution, Modernism, Democracy, Utopian Literature, Art and Design Education, Intellectual and cultural history, Anarchism & Spanish Civil War, Russian Revolution, Participatory Democracy, 19th Century (History), Labor History and Studies, Karl Popper, English Romanticism, Socialism, British and Irish History, Isaiah Berlin, Nineteenth Century, Early 20th Century British, 20th Century, Social and Political Theories of Justice & Human Rights, Art Education, Utopianism, Visual Arts, Arts Education and Pedagogy, Trench Warfare (First World War), Modern Britain, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Manchester, 20th century Avant-Garde, Radical Democracy, Anarchist methodologies, 20th Century British Literature, Karl Marx, Peter Kropotkin, British Army (First World War), Anarchist Philosophy of Education, 19th Century Britain, Anarchist Pedagogy, 19th-20th Century British Sculpture, Social and Political Thought, 19th & 20th century British Imperial & Commonwealth History, Anarchism & Postmodern Theory, Second World War (History), John Ruskin, 20th Century Britain, Aesthetics and Theory of Arts, Socialist Realism, Social Criticism, Fine Arts, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Utopia, Anti-Capitalism, Rebellion, History of Communism, Ideas, Liberal Democracy, Political Thought, Liberal Studies, Mahatma Gandhi, Poststructuralist Anarchism, Herbert Spencer, Utopia and Science Fiction, History of Political Ideas, the Enlightenment, 20th Century British Art, French Enlightenment, Utopian, Dystopian, and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, Social and Poltiical Thought, the History and Theory of Liberal Arts Education, William Morris, Kropotkin, Social Darwinism, History of Social and Political Thought, Leeds, British Politics since 1945, Gandhian Thought, Britain, Utopian Thought, Cultural History of the First World War, Gandhian Studies, Colin Ward, Communalism, Anarchist Theory, Education and Democracy, Utopia/dystopia, Edwardian Britain, Cultural and Political Activism of the 1960s and 1970s, Anarchist Economics, History & Politics esp Modern Irish/British International Relations, Arts and Humanities, Great Britain, Anarcho-communism, Political Economy and History, Kropotkin, Kolakowski, H.G. Wells, Theories of Socialism, History and Sociology of Science, Arts and education, 19th and 20th Century Britain and Ireland, 20th Century British History, 1984 George Orwell, H.G. Wells, Literature and Science, George Woodcock, University of Leeds, Pierre Kropotkine, Piotr Kropotkin, Left and Right Political Culture Model, 20th Century British Writer, and European political cultures
This handbook unites leading scholars from around the world in exploring anarchism as a political ideology, from an examination of its core principles, an analysis of its history, and an assessment of its contribution to the struggles... more
This handbook unites leading scholars from around the world in exploring anarchism as a political ideology, from an examination of its core principles, an analysis of its history, and an assessment of its contribution to the struggles that face humanity today. Grounded in a conceptual and historical approach, each entry charts what is distinctive about the anarchist response to particular intellectual, political, cultural and social phenomena, and considers how these values have changed over time. At its heart is a sustained process of conceptual definition and an extended examination of the core claims of this frequently misunderstood political tradition. It is the definitive scholarly reference work on anarchism as a political ideology, and should be a crucial text for scholars, students, and activists alike.
Research Interests:
Introduction - Matthew S. Adams and Ruth Kinna Part I: The interventionist debate 1 Saving the future: the roots of Malatesta's anti-militarism - Davide Turcato 2 The Manifesto of the Sixteen: Kropotkin's rejection of anti-war... more
Introduction - Matthew S. Adams and Ruth Kinna
Part I: The interventionist debate
1 Saving the future: the roots of Malatesta's anti-militarism - Davide Turcato
2 The Manifesto of the Sixteen: Kropotkin's rejection of anti-war anarchism and his critique of the politics of peace - Peter Ryley
3 Malatesta and the war interventionist debate 1914-17: from the 'Red Week' to the Russian Revolutions - Carl Levy
Part II: Debates and divisions
4 Beyond the 'People's Community': the anarchist movement from fin de siècle to the First World War in Germany - Lucas Keller
5 'No man and no penny': F. Domela Nieuwenhuis, anti-militarism and the opportunities of World War One - Bert Altena
6 'The bomb plot of Zürich': Indian nationalism, Italian anarchism and the First World War - Ole Birk Laursen
7 The French anarchist movement and the First World War - Constance Bantman and
David Berry
8 At war with Empire: the anti-colonial roots of American anarchist debates during World War I - Kenyon Zimmer
Part III: The art of war: anti-militarism and revolution
9 The anarchist anti-conscription movement in the U.S. - Kathy E. Ferguson
10 Aestheticising revolution - Allan Antliff
11Mutualism in the trenches: anarchism, militarism and the lessons of the First World War - Matthew S. Adams
Index
Part I: The interventionist debate
1 Saving the future: the roots of Malatesta's anti-militarism - Davide Turcato
2 The Manifesto of the Sixteen: Kropotkin's rejection of anti-war anarchism and his critique of the politics of peace - Peter Ryley
3 Malatesta and the war interventionist debate 1914-17: from the 'Red Week' to the Russian Revolutions - Carl Levy
Part II: Debates and divisions
4 Beyond the 'People's Community': the anarchist movement from fin de siècle to the First World War in Germany - Lucas Keller
5 'No man and no penny': F. Domela Nieuwenhuis, anti-militarism and the opportunities of World War One - Bert Altena
6 'The bomb plot of Zürich': Indian nationalism, Italian anarchism and the First World War - Ole Birk Laursen
7 The French anarchist movement and the First World War - Constance Bantman and
David Berry
8 At war with Empire: the anti-colonial roots of American anarchist debates during World War I - Kenyon Zimmer
Part III: The art of war: anti-militarism and revolution
9 The anarchist anti-conscription movement in the U.S. - Kathy E. Ferguson
10 Aestheticising revolution - Allan Antliff
11Mutualism in the trenches: anarchism, militarism and the lessons of the First World War - Matthew S. Adams
Index
Research Interests: Hinduism, History, European History, Military History, Modern History, and 225 moreIntellectual History, Cultural History, European Studies, German Studies, Russian Studies, French Literature, Comparative Politics, Aesthetics, Political Philosophy, Art History, History of Ideas, French History, Peace and Conflict Studies, Art, Modernism (Literature), French Studies, Terrorism, Political Theory, Violence, International Terrorism, German History, Italian (European History), Sexual and Reproductive Health, Italian Studies, British History, Transnational and World History, Russian, Transnationalism, Republicanism, History of India, Contemporary Art, Religion and Politics, Indian studies, War Studies, British Politics, Political Science, French Revolution, Imperial History, Anarchism, Labour history, Militarism, Anarchism (Literature), Trade unionism, Political Violence and Terrorism, Politics, Russian Nationalism, Political Extremism/Radicalism/Populism, Nationalism, Socialisms, Russian Politics, Woman Suffrage, British Imperial & Commonwelath History - 19th & 20th century, Colonialism, Mexico History, Anarchist Studies, Modern British History, Italian Cultural Studies, Italian Politics, Transnational History, History of Terrorism, History of The Netherlands, Post-Colonialism, History of Anarchism, Italy (History), European Politics, Political Violence, Peace Movements, National Identity, Pacifism, Feminism, Nationalism And State Building, United States In The World, Reproductive Ethics, Empires, French colonialism, British Empire, 20th century France, Labour Studies, History of Art, American art/ Art of the United States, 20th Century German History, World War I, Modernism (Art History), Transnational Social Movements, British Imperial and Colonial History (1600 - ), First World War, Work and Labour, Aesthetics and Ethics, Aesthetics and Politics, Russian History, Social History, German Literature and Culture, Indian nationalism, Modern Indian History, Modernism, Fin de Siecle Literature & Culture, Dutch, Twentieth Century Germany, History of Imperialism, British Imperialism, Internationalism (History), Russian Revolution, Military and Politics, United States History, Labor History and Studies, Indian Politics, New Left, Spanish Civil War, Gender And Violence, Peace & Conflict Studies, Socialism, Sociology of Ideas, Imperial Russia, Russian Intellectual History, Transnational Feminism, Peace Studies, Indian Culture, Women's suffrage movement in Britain 1866-1928, United States-Latin American Relations, Visual Arts, Trench Warfare (First World War), Counter terrorism, Internationalism, Liberalism and Republicanism, France, United States Political History, Transnationalism, internationalism, Nations and nationalism, History of Nationalism and Nation-Building, 19th and 20th Century United States, Empire, Modern Germany, Radical Democracy, Anarchism & Sexuality, German, 20th Century British Literature, Peter Kropotkin, History of Switzerland, Radicalism and the Left in the United States, French, Aesthetics and Theory of Arts, Feminism and Social Justice, Russia, India, Mexico, Italy, Peace, Militarism and militarization, Trade unions, Dutch History, United States Foreign Policy, Germany, Colonial Discourse, Christian Anarchism, Christian Pacifism, Imperialism, National Security, Ideas, Anti-imperialism, Fin de Siècle, Italian, Reproductive health, United States Politics, Left-Libertarianism, History of Political Ideas, Fin-de-Siècle Culture, Sexual and reproductive health and rights, United States, Kropotkin, Social Darwinism, Dutch Studies, Herbert Read, Contemporary Italian History and Politics, Switzerland, Liberal Internationalism, Netherlands, Anti-Militarism, World War 1, The Netherlands, Indian Independence, Conscription, United States of America, Trade Union, Politics and International relations, Italiano, Hindu Nationalism in Modern India, Great War 1914-18, Anarchisme, Women's Suffrage, Women in Germany During the First World War, Pacifism, Ethics of War, Balkan Wars 1912-1913, Internationalism and Transnational Activism, Ethnicity and National Identity, Kropotkin, Theories of Socialism, U.S. Militarism, Pacifismo, Indian Independence struggle, Holland, Internationalisme, Switzerand, National government, Labour Internationalism, History of the Left, Trades Unions, History of internationalism, History of Philosophy, Modernity/coloniality/decoloniality, Women and Pacifism, 1st World War, Terrorism and Counterterrorism, Pierre Kropotkine, Fin de siecle Decadence, Piotr Kropotkin, French Republicanism, Left Wing Parties, Colonialism and Imperialism, Nationalism and Decolonization, Ericco Malatesta, Russian Revolution 1917, Military Conscription, Pacifism In the First World War, Errico Malatesta, Gender and Pacifism, and Anarquismo Pacifista
Contents: About this issue’s cover George Woodcock’s Transatlantic Anarchism - Allan Antliff and Matthew Adams Pacifism, Violence and Aesthetics: George Woodcock’s Anarchist Sojourn, 1940-1950 - Mark Antliff George... more
Contents:
About this issue’s cover
George Woodcock’s Transatlantic Anarchism
- Allan Antliff and Matthew Adams
Pacifism, Violence and Aesthetics: George Woodcock’s Anarchist Sojourn, 1940-1950
- Mark Antliff
George Woodcock: The Ghost Writer of Anarchism
- Süreyyya Evren and Ruth Kinna
Kropotkin, Woodcock and Les Temps Nouveaux
- Iain McKay
Memory, History, and Homesteading: George Woodcock, Herbert Read and Intellectual Networks
- Matthew Adams
George Woodcock on ‘The Anarchist Critic’
- Allan Antliff
About this issue’s cover
George Woodcock’s Transatlantic Anarchism
- Allan Antliff and Matthew Adams
Pacifism, Violence and Aesthetics: George Woodcock’s Anarchist Sojourn, 1940-1950
- Mark Antliff
George Woodcock: The Ghost Writer of Anarchism
- Süreyyya Evren and Ruth Kinna
Kropotkin, Woodcock and Les Temps Nouveaux
- Iain McKay
Memory, History, and Homesteading: George Woodcock, Herbert Read and Intellectual Networks
- Matthew Adams
George Woodcock on ‘The Anarchist Critic’
- Allan Antliff
Research Interests: British Literature, Buddhism, History, Intellectual History, Cultural History, and 160 moreSocial Theory, Canadian Studies, Comparative Politics, Aesthetics, Political Philosophy, Ethics, English Literature, Art History, History of Ideas, Travel Writing, Art, Modernism (Literature), Architecture, Art Theory, Political Theory, Violence, Marxism, British History, Canadian History, Literature, Contemporary Art, Historiography, Poetry, Transatlantic History, British Politics, Political Science, Revolutions, Utopian Studies, Modern Art, Surrealism, Anarchism, Transatlantic relations, Anarchism (Literature), Philosophy of Art, Canadian Literature, Political Violence and Terrorism, Politics, Socialisms, American modernism, Culture, George Orwell, Anarchist Studies, Communism, Modern British History, Architectural History, Literary Theory, Modernist Literature (Literary Modernism), Modernist Architecture (Architectural Modernism), History of Canada, Canadian Political History, Philosophy of History, History of Anarchism, Agriculture, Writing, Conscientious Objection/Draft Resistance, Pacifism, Theory of History, Canadian Politics, Canadian Federalism, Second World War, Aboriginal history in Canada, History of Art, Modernism (Art History), Simone Weil, Aesthetics and Politics, Art, Place And Utopia, Social movements and revolution, Modernism, Utopian Literature, Intellectual and cultural history, Anarchism & Spanish Civil War, Mikhail Bakunin, Taoist Philosophy, Personalism, Spanish Civil War, Socialism, Oscar Wilde, British and Irish History, Max Stirner, Henry Miller, Utopianism, Visual Arts, Canon Formation, Canadian Culture & Identity, Transatlantic Literature, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Anarchist methodologies, 20th Century British Literature, Karl Marx, Peter Kropotkin, Post-Anarchism, Social and Political Thought, Civil disobedience, British Columbia and the Canadian West, First Nations of Canada, William Godwin, Anarchism & Postmodern Theory, First Nations History, Fine Arts, André Breton, Trotsky, L.D., Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Utopia, Marquis De Sade, Transatlantic studies, Canada, Vancouver, Mahatma Gandhi, Poststructuralist Anarchism, History of Political Ideas, Max Ernst, Morality, Taoism, Utopian, Dystopian, and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, British Columbia history, Syndicalism, Canadian and Quebec Politics, Kropotkin, Social Darwinism, Georges Sorel, Gandhian Thought, Gandhian Studies, Communalism, First Nations, Herbert Read, English Canada, Utopia/dystopia, Mutual aid societies, Hieronymus Bosch, British Columbia, Joan Miró, Vancouver Island, Philosophy of civil disobedience, Political Myths, Vancouver BC, Great Britain, Mutual Aid, Disobedience, First Nations, Inuit and Metis, Kropotkin, Anarcho-syndicalism, Theories of Socialism, Trotskyism, John Middleton Murry, First World War Literature, Orwell, Activist Writers, Revolutionary Syndicalism, Trotsky, History of British Columbia, Marx/Marixsm, Theoretical Anarchist literature, 1984 George Orwell, Dwight Macdonald, Comparative Utopian Studies, Conroy Maddox, Piotr Kropotkin, Utopian Communities, Gandian Studies, FIrst Nations Studies, and Individualist anarchism
After the tragedies of the twentieth century, the utopian impulse was subject to searching criticism by a host of liberal intellectuals including Karl Popper, Hannah Arendt, Isaiah Berlin, and Jacob Talmon. Looking to history and... more
After the tragedies of the twentieth century, the utopian impulse was subject to searching criticism by a host of liberal intellectuals including Karl Popper, Hannah Arendt, Isaiah Berlin, and Jacob Talmon. Looking to history and political philosophy, these thinkers impugned utopianism for so frequently destroying the freedoms it appeared to pursue. Defined by its theoretical contradictions, the utopian project, rooted in the politics of the Enlightenment, bore some responsibility for the totalitarianism and genocide that had shaped their lives. As this critique became liberal orthodoxy, a heretic group of anarchist thinkers challenged these conclusions. While travelling some distance with the liberal critics, for Paul Goodman, Marie Louise Berneri, and Herbert Read, the twentieth century, rather than invalidating the utopian urge made its boldness and experimentalism all the more vital. Their act of heresy was defending utopianism as a central component of their anarchist critique of the present.
Research Interests: History, Intellectual History, History of Ideas, Utopian Studies, Anarchism, and 12 moreTotalitarianism, Anarchist Studies, History of Political Science, Karl Popper, Isaiah Berlin, Utopianism, Hannah Arendt, Paul Goodman, History of Political Ideas, Herbert Read, Jacob Talmon, and Marie Louise Berneri
This article examines anarchist responses across three generations to the split in the anarchist movement at the outbreak of the First World War. Focusing on appreciations of Peter Kropotkin’s role in that division, it demonstrates how... more
This article examines anarchist responses across three generations to the split in the anarchist movement at the outbreak of the First World War. Focusing on appreciations of Peter Kropotkin’s role in that division, it demonstrates how shifting contextual circumstances and a developing memory of the war subsequently reshaped the narrative of these events in ways that reflected the broader memory of the war. Arguing that curation of a political tradition’s history is central to the self-identity of that tradition, the article investigates this process as successive generations of anarchists tried to make sense of the anarchist split in 1914, and, in turn, define their own political projects.
Research Interests: History, Intellectual History, History of Ideas, Political Theory, Historiography, and 13 moreWar Studies, History and Memory, Anarchism, Anarchist Studies, Political History, History of Anarchism, Memory Studies, Cultural Memory, History of Political Thought, First World War, Peter Kropotkin, History of Political Ideas, and George Woodcock
Civic virtue is a core concept in the republican tradition. Its associations with duty and sacrifice indicate that it is temperamentally incompatible with anarchism, an ideology typically defined by its commitment to maximizing freedom.... more
Civic virtue is a core concept in the republican tradition. Its associations with duty and sacrifice indicate that it is temperamentally incompatible with anarchism, an ideology typically defined by its commitment to maximizing freedom. Presenting an original reading of the work of Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin, two seminal figures in the history of anarchist ideas, this article argues that, nevertheless, a conception of civic virtue was central to their political theory. Tracing their engagement with the language of Enlightenment civic virtue, filtered through the experience of the French Revolution and the politics of Jacobinism, it argues that Bakunin and Kropotkin looked to anarchist civic virtues to both conceptualize anarchist revolution and underpin future anarchist social relations. Casting fresh light on anarchism’s intellectual origins, its neglected relations with republicanism, and the complexities of republican visions of civic virtue, this article also recovers duty, and a potentially demanding model of participation, as key values in anarchist political thought.
Research Interests:
For the British-Canadian writer and intellectual George Woodcock, the Doukhobors – a persecuted radical Christian sect, many members of which emigrated from Russia to Canada at the turn of the twentieth century – were a continual source... more
For the British-Canadian writer and intellectual George Woodcock, the Doukhobors – a persecuted radical Christian sect, many members of which emigrated from Russia to Canada at the turn of the twentieth century – were a continual source of fascination. A cause célèbre for a host of nineteenth-century thinkers, including Leo Tolstoy and Peter Kropotkin, the Doukhobors were frequently portrayed as the exemplars of the viewer’s particular ideological beliefs. The present article examines Woodcock’s shifting interpretation of the Doukhobors, mapped onto the development of an intellectual career that saw him emerge as a leading anarchist thinker, and his broader transition from a British writer to a Canadian public intellectual. Where once he saw the Doukhobors representing anarchism in action, as his politics matured his view of the sect became more complex. Rather than living anarchists, he came to see the Doukhobors’ experience as a powerful reminder of the forces of assimilation at work in modern democracies that threatened the liberties of dissenters. Reflecting Woodcock’s revised anarchist politics, the Doukhobors’ story now became a key component of an intellectual vision that cast a probing light on Canadian history and Canadian cultural politics.
Research Interests: British Literature, Christianity, History, Intellectual History, Cultural History, and 80 moreCanadian Studies, Political Philosophy, English Literature, History of Ideas, Political Theory, British History, Canadian History, Literature, History of Christianity, Transnationalism, Peasant Studies, British Politics, Migration, Anarchism, Canadian Literature, Politics, Political Extremism/Radicalism/Populism, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Anarchist Studies, Modern British History, Transnational History, History of Canada, Canadian Political History, Canadian art, History of Anarchism, Nationalism And State Building, State Theory, International Migration, Canadian Politics, Canadian Federalism, History of Political Thought, Contemporary British Literature, Migration Studies, Social History, Transnational migration, Intellectual and cultural history, Christian Spirituality, Modern Britain, Canadian Culture & Identity, Doukhobors, Radical Democracy, Comparative Political Theory, 20th Century British Literature, Peter Kropotkin, Contemporary Political Theory, Social and Political Thought, History of Social Movements in Canada and the World, British Columbia and the Canadian West, Tolstoy, First Nations of Canada, Leo Tolstoy, Canada-US relations, Canada, Canadian, Christian Theology, Ideas, Political Thought, History of Political Ideas, Western Canada, Tolstoy as a religious thinker, Atlantic Canada Studies, Kropotkin, Social Darwinism, Britain, English Canada, Doukhobor studies, Folkore & Folklife studies, Folktale, Peasant History, Christian Studies, Great Britain, Kropotkin, History of Atlantic Canada, Theory of the State, Peasantry, Peasant Movements, George Woodcock, Peasant, Piotr Kropotkin, Peasant Rights, Peasants Movement, Leo Tolstoy the Spiritual Leader, and History of Anarchist Thought
The work of Herbert Spencer was a crucial influence on the development of Peter Kropotkin’s historical sociology. However, scholars have underestimated this relationship; either overlooking it entirely, or minimizing Kropotkin’s... more
The work of Herbert Spencer was a crucial influence on the development of Peter Kropotkin’s historical sociology. However, scholars have underestimated this relationship; either overlooking it entirely, or minimizing Kropotkin’s attachment to Spencer with the aim of maintaining the utility of his political thought in the present. This article contests these interpretations by analyzing Kropotkin’s reading of Spencer’s epistemological, biological, and political ideas. It argues that Kropotkin was engaged in a critical dialogue with Spencer, incorporating many Spencerian principles in his own system, but also using this reading to articulate a distinctive anarchist politics.
Research Interests: History, American History, Modern History, Intellectual History, Evolutionary Biology, and 121 moreSociology, Russian Studies, American Studies, American Politics, Political Philosophy, History of Ideas, Social Sciences, Victorian Studies, Political Theory, Marxism, History of Economic Thought, History Of Eugenics, British History, Nineteenth Century Studies, U.S. history, History of Science, History and Philosophy of Biology, 19th-Century/Victorian Medievalism, British Politics, Political Science, Liberalism, Anarchism, History of Social Sciences, Socialisms, Russian Politics, Nineteenth Century United States, Federalism, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), U.S. Intellectual History, Anarchist Studies, Communism, Modern British History, Biology, Political History, History of Anarchism, Capitalism, Nineteenth Century British History and Culture, Marxist theory, Evolution, Contract Theory, Philosophy of Social Science, History of Political Thought, History of Biology, Victorian cultural studies, History of Political Science, Russian History, Intellectual and cultural history, United States History, Socialism, Darwinism, Individualism, Liberalism and Republicanism, Darwin, Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture, 19th and 20th Century United States, History of Darwinism, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, 20th Century U.S. History, Karl Marx, Peter Kropotkin, Interdisciplinary research (Social Sciences), Darwinian evolution, Radicalism and the Left in the United States, British Intellectual History, Classical Liberalism, Neo-liberalism, Libertarian socialism, Federalismo, Contractualism, Evolutionary theory, History of Communism, Ideas, Positivismo, Positivism, Talcott Parsons, Charles Darwin, Eugenics, Social Darwinism, Herbert Spencer, History of Political Ideas, United States, Political Liberalism, Kropotkin, Social Darwinism, Anarcho-capitalism, Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture, Auguste Comte, Liberalismo, Humanities and Social Sciences, 20th Century British cultural and intellectual history, Lamarckism, Anarchist Economics, Anarcho-communism, Lamarck, Kropotkin, eugenics, Liberalisme, Kropotkin, Theories of Socialism, Positivisme, History of Socialism, augusto Comte, Marx/Marixsm, Impact of Social Sciences and Humanities, Lord Kelvin, History of Philosophy, Lamark, History of Biological Sciences, Proudhon, Individualist egoist anarchism, Piotr Kropotkin, Individualists and Collectivists, Laplace, Social Science, Charles Darwin, Jean-Baptiste Lamark, Weismann, Benjamin R. Tucker, British intellectual history c.1870-c.1930, August Weismann, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Individualist anarchism, James D. Knowles, and Neo-Lamarckism
Research Interests: History, American History, Modern History, Intellectual History, Cultural History, and 129 moreSocial Theory, Russian Studies, American Studies, American Politics, Comparative Politics, Political Economy, Political Philosophy, Art History, History of Ideas, Victorian Studies, Art Theory, Political Theory, Marxism, History of Economic Thought, British History, Nineteenth Century Studies, U.S. history, Democratic Theory, British Politics, Political Science, Utopian Studies, Anarchism, Labour history, Political Culture, Political Violence and Terrorism, Politics, Socialisms, Nineteenth Century United States, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), U.S. Intellectual History, Anarchist Studies, Co-operative Studies, Communism, Modern British History, Political History, History of Anarchism, European Politics, Nineteenth Century British History and Culture, History of Political Thought, American Political Thought, History of Political Science, Aesthetics and Politics, Russian History, Art, Place And Utopia, Direct Democracy, Utopian Literature, Intellectual and cultural history, Mikhail Bakunin, United States History, The Italian communes and signories (1300-1450), Socialism, Social and Political Philosophy, Russian Intellectual History, Utopianism, European intellectual history, Intentional Communities, 19th and 20th Century United States, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Peter Kropotkin, American Intellectual History, Radicalism and the Left in the United States, Social and Political Thought, Anarchism & Postmodern Theory, British Intellectual History, John Ruskin, Nathaniel Hawthorne, United Kingdom, Libertarian socialism, Utopia, History of the Victorian Period in England, US History, History of Communism, Ideas, Political Thought, Positivism, Co-operatives, Social Darwinism, Herbert Spencer, History of Political Ideas, Anarchy, Commune De Paris 1871, Syndicalism, William Morris, United States, Kropotkin, Social Darwinism, History of Social and Political Thought, Thomas Huxley, Utopian Thought, Communalism, Auguste Comte, Utopias, Utopia/dystopia, USA History, Mutual aid societies, Charles Fourier, Communes, United States of America, Comte, Auguste, Anarchist Economics, Fourierism, Mutual Aid, Kropotkin, Anarcho-syndicalism, Theories of Socialism, Italian communes, Intellectual History of Anglo-American Socialism and Marxism, Élisée Reclus, Alexandre Herzen, Commune, History of Socialism, Ninteenth Century Britain, Italian city commune, Bakunin, Fourier, History of Philosophy, The Paris Commune, Elisée Reclus, American Socialism. Albert Brisbane. Travel in Greece, British Politics in the Victorian age, Michail Bakunin, Comparative Utopian Studies, Piotr Kropotkin, Utopian Communities, Commune Democracy, Eco socialism, Utopian Planning, Ideal Community, Communality, and Comte
Research Interests: British Literature, History, Military History, Modern History, Intellectual History, and 129 moreCultural History, Cultural Studies, Political Philosophy, English Literature, Art History, Rhetoric, Composition and Rhetoric, History of Ideas, Art, Modernism (Literature), Art Theory, British History, Literature, Contemporary Art, Poetry, Literary Criticism, War Studies, History and Memory, Arts Education, British Politics, Modern Art, Anarchism, Modernist poetry, Modernist fiction, Anarchism (Literature), Philosophy of Art, Politics, Culture, Anarchist Studies, Autobiography, Modern British History, British Romanticism, Modernist Magazines, Culture Studies, Modernist Literature (Literary Modernism), Ezra Pound, History of Anarchism, Modernism (Political Science), Modernity, Intellectuals, Memory Studies, Social and Collective Memory, Commemoration (Memory Studies), Cultural Memory, Twentieth-Century and Contemporary Poetry, World War I Writing, Commemoration and Memory, Second World War, Modern Poetry, Experience of WW1 for artists and intellectuals, Collective Memory, History of Art, World War I, Modernism (Art History), Contemporary British Literature, First World War, Art Criticism, World War II, Modernism, Sociology of Intellectuals, Intellectual and cultural history, Social Memory, Victorian poetry, Anarchism & Spanish Civil War, Contemporary Poetry, Public Memory, History Of Modern Philosophy, Spanish Civil War, Memoir and Autobiography, British and Irish History, Modernist Literature, Visual Arts, Trench Warfare (First World War), Modern Britain, European intellectual history, Modern British Literature, Memoir Writing, Knowledge & intellectuals, Autobiographical Memory, 20th Century British Literature, Life Writing (Literature), British Army (First World War), Anarchist Philosophy of Education, Anarchist Pedagogy, Social and Political Thought, Second World War (History), British Intellectual History, Modernist Studies, Life-writing, Fine Arts, Memory, War Poetry, Narrative and life writing, Post-war Poetry, World War II history, Life Writing, Ideas, WW1 War artists, Public Intellectuals, Biography and Life-Writing, History of Political Ideas, Memoir, Late modernist poetry, Leeds, Poetry of World War One, Britain, Cultural History of the First World War, Herbert Read, WW1, World War 1, Modernist art and poetry, Great Britain, Autobiography and life writing studies, Wilfred Owen, War Poets, First World War Literature, World War One Memorials, World War One, First World War Poetry, World wars, First World War in Literature, History of Philosophy, University of Leeds, Romantic English poetry, 1st World War, Concepts of Modernism and Postmodernism, The History of Ideas, Victorian Leeds, and Poetry of the Second World War
This essay critically examines one of the dominant tendencies in recent theoretical discussions of anarchism, postanarchism, and argues that this tradition fails to engage sufficiently with anarchism’s history. Through an examination of... more
This essay critically examines one of the dominant tendencies in
recent theoretical discussions of anarchism, postanarchism, and argues that this
tradition fails to engage sufficiently with anarchism’s history. Through an examination
of late 19th-century anarchist political thought—as represented by one
of its foremost exponents, Peter Kropotkin—we demonstrate the extent to which
postanarchism has tended to oversimplify and misrepresent the historical tradition
of anarchism. The article concludes by arguing that all political-theoretical
discussions of anarchism going forward should begin with a fresh appraisal of the
actual content of anarchist political thought, based on a rigorous analysis of its
political, social, and cultural history.
recent theoretical discussions of anarchism, postanarchism, and argues that this
tradition fails to engage sufficiently with anarchism’s history. Through an examination
of late 19th-century anarchist political thought—as represented by one
of its foremost exponents, Peter Kropotkin—we demonstrate the extent to which
postanarchism has tended to oversimplify and misrepresent the historical tradition
of anarchism. The article concludes by arguing that all political-theoretical
discussions of anarchism going forward should begin with a fresh appraisal of the
actual content of anarchist political thought, based on a rigorous analysis of its
political, social, and cultural history.
Research Interests: History, Modern History, Intellectual History, Cultural History, Evolutionary Biology, and 98 moreSocial Theory, Comparative Politics, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, History of Ideas, Social Sciences, Victorian Studies, Political Theory, British History, Poststructuralism, History of Science, Contextualism, 19th-Century/Victorian Medievalism, British Politics, Political Science, Anarchism, History of Social Sciences, Political Culture, Political Violence and Terrorism, Politics, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Science, Anarchist Studies, Modern British History, Political History, Philosophy of History, History of Anarchism, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Context, European Politics, Nineteenth Century British History and Culture, Postmodernism, Evolution, Darwinism - International reception, History of Political Thought, Victorian cultural studies, History of Political Science, Structuralism/Post-Structuralism, Fin de Siecle Literature & Culture, Intellectual and cultural history, Evolutionary Ecology, Socialism, Russian Intellectual History, Darwinism, History and Philosophy of the Human Sciences, Post-left anarchism, Postanarchism, Darwin, History of Darwinism, Emma Goldman, Peter Kropotkin, Poststructuralist Theory, Post-Anarchism, Darwinian evolution, Anarchism & Postmodern Theory, Libertarian socialism, Postmodern, Ideas, Fin de Siècle, Poststructuralist Anarchism, Charles Darwin, Determinism, Social Darwinism, Herbert Spencer, History of Political Ideas, Fin-de-Siècle Culture, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Kropotkin, Social Darwinism, Organicism, Mutual aid societies, Karl Pearson, Lamarckism, Histories and theories of modernity, Lamarck, Mutual Aid, Kropotkin, H.G. Wells, Theories of Socialism, Edward Gibbon, Contextualization, Theories of History, History of Philosophy, H.G. Wells, Literature and Science, Philosophy and history of science, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Lamark, Joseph Hooker, Fin de siecle Decadence, Mutual Aid Groups, E.H. Carr, History of Biological Sciences, History and Political Science, Piotr Kropotkin, H.G.Wells, Anarchism and postmodern theory, Progress in History, August Weismann, and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Research Interests: British Literature, Religion, History, History, History, and 160 moreEuropean History, European History, Modern History, Modern History, Intellectual History, Cultural History, Cultural History, Physiology, Zoology, Social Theory, Philosophy, Aesthetics, Political Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Art History, Art History, Education, Education, History of Thought, History of Ideas, Art, Romanticism, Modernism (Literature), Art Theory, Art Theory, Teacher Education, Political Theory, Violence, Design education, Plato, British History, British History, Literature, Social Philosophy, Philosophy of Education, Higher Education, Contemporary Art, Contemporary Art, Visual Culture, Educational Research, Contemporary History, Individuality, Arts Education, Arts Education, Cultural Theory, British Politics, British Politics, Political Science, Modern Art, Anarchism, Philosophy of Art, Philosophy of Art, Political Culture, Political Culture, Political Violence and Terrorism, Politics, Socialisms, Communism (Revolutions), History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Cultural Politics, Culture, Anarchist Studies, Communism, Modern British History, Modern British History, Biology, Political History, Political History, History of Political Violence, Ancient Aesthetics, British Romanticism, Friedrich Nietzsche, Culture Studies, Modernist Literature (Literary Modernism), Art and Science, History of Anarchism, European Politics, Political Violence, Pacifism, History of Political Thought, Second World War, Martin Buber (Research Methodology), Martin Buber, Nietzsche, History of Art, History of Art, Modernism (Art History), First World War, Aesthetics and Ethics, Aesthetics and Politics, Art Criticism, Communitarianism, British art, Social movements and revolution, Modernism, Democracy, Bertrand Russell, Buber, Intellectual and cultural history, New Models Of Participatory And Direct Democracy, Social Change, revolution, and evolution, Avant-Garde, Plato and Platonism, English Romanticism, Socialism, Social and Political Philosophy, 1960s (History), Intellectual Disability, European Modernism, Late Modernism, Peace Education, War and violence, Art Education, Art Education, Visual Arts, Arts Education and Pedagogy, European intellectual history, Modern Political Philosophy, Libertarianism, 20th Century British Literature, Gustav Landauer, Peter Kropotkin, Anarchist Philosophy of Education, Anarchist Philosophy of Education, Anarchist Pedagogy, New Left and the 1960s, Social and Political Thought, Martin Buber (Philosophy), Art and Activism, Libertarian socialism, Fine Arts, Murray Bookchin, History of Communism, Herbert Spencer, Allometry, History of Political Ideas, Anarchy, British Art in the 1950s, William Morris, Literature of the 1940s, British Modernism, Peace and Non-violence, Henry Moore, Colin Ward, Communalism, Herbert Read, Anarchism and art, E.M. Forster, Anarchist Theory, Education and Democracy, 1940s Art History, Mohandas Gandhi, Mutual Aid, Prefigurative Politics, Concept of Ahimsa (nonviolence) in Indian Religions, History of Socialism, Ghandi, History of Philosophy, Scaling Laws, Left Wing Parties, and D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson
Drawing on the fragmentary chain of letters between George Woodcock and Herbert Read, this article uses these materials as a point of departure to consider the development of Woodcock’s cultural politics. Focusing on the memories he... more
Drawing on the fragmentary chain of letters between George Woodcock and Herbert Read, this article uses these materials as a point of departure to consider the development of Woodcock’s cultural politics. Focusing on the memories he explored in his autobiographical writing, his histories of anarchism and Canada, and his project to live off the land, it examines the ways in which Woodcock looked to anarchism’s past to theorise afresh its future.
Research Interests: History, Intellectual History, Cultural History, Canadian Studies, Political Philosophy, and 79 moreArt History, History of Ideas, Publishing, Social Sciences, Modernism (Literature), Political Theory, British History, Canadian History, Political Science, Utopian Studies, Anarchism, Modernist poetry, Anarchism (Literature), Canadian Literature, Political Violence and Terrorism, Politics, Socialisms, Federalism, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Anarchist Studies, Communism, Modern British History, Political History, Modernist Magazines, Modernist Literature (Literary Modernism), History of Canada, Nonviolence, History of Anarchism, Housing, Pacifism, Intellectuals, Memory Studies, Cultural Memory, Canadian Politics, History of Political Thought, British North America, Religion and Violence/Nonviolence, Modernism (Art History), Modernism, Intellectual and cultural history, New Left, Socialism, Constitutional Theory, Political Ideology, Social and Political Philosophy, Modernist Literature, Utopianism, Modern British Literature, Canadian Culture & Identity, Doukhobors, Nature, Peter Kropotkin, Decentralization, New Left and the 1960s, Social and Political Thought, First Nations of Canada, Leo Tolstoy, Modernist Studies, Canada-US relations, Canada, History of Communism, Nonviolent Civil Resistance, Ideas, Nonviolence and Peace, History of Political Ideas, Decentralisation, History of commons, commoning, communal property, Utopian Thought, Communalism, Herbert Read, History of Arts, Vancouver Island, Theories of Socialism, History of Philosophy, George Woodcock, Utopian Communities, Utopian Planning, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, and Confederalism
To Hell With Culture was Herbert Read’s most concise exposition of his aesthetic politics, but it was a work moulded by the particular context in which he wrote. Starting life as a contribution to a series of pamphlets pondering the shape... more
To Hell With Culture was Herbert Read’s most concise exposition of his aesthetic politics, but it was a work moulded by the particular context in which he wrote. Starting life as a contribution to a series of pamphlets pondering the shape of Britain in the aftermath of the Second World War, Read drew on a deep reading of socialist intellectual history to plot a new, radical path for democracy. His text was a necessary utopia, presenting an outcry against the cultural barbarities of both the capitalist and totalitarian superpowers, and entering a battle of ideas to determine the shape of post-war Europe.
Research Interests: Christianity, History, Modern History, Intellectual History, Cultural History, and 131 moreCultural Studies, Social Theory, Philosophy, Aesthetics, Political Philosophy, Art History, Rhetoric, Composition and Rhetoric, Design, History of Ideas, Art, Modernism (Literature), Art Theory, Political Theory, Marxism, British History, Welfare State, Democratic Theory, Contemporary Art, Religion and Politics, Visual Culture, Arts Education, Cultural Theory, British Politics, Political Science, Utopian Studies, Modern Art, Anarchism, Democratization, Anarchism (Literature), Philosophy of Art, Political Culture, Political Violence and Terrorism, Politics, Fascism, Socialisms, Totalitarianism, Culture, Anarchist Studies, Communism, Modern British History, Political History, Culture Studies, Modernist Architecture (Architectural Modernism), History of Anarchism, Rhetorical Criticism, Deliberative Democracy, European Politics, Marxist theory, History of Political Thought, Second World War, History of Art, Modernism (Art History), Aesthetics and Ethics, Aesthetics and Politics, Art Criticism, World War II, Art, Place And Utopia, Modernism, Democracy, Utopian Literature, Intellectual and cultural history, Anarchism & Spanish Civil War, Soviet Union (History), Mikhail Bakunin, Participatory Democracy, History Of Modern Philosophy, Socialism, Medieval Art, Marxism (Political Science), Culture in the Soviet Union, Utopianism, Visual Arts, British Post-War Planning and Architecture, Radical Democracy, 20th Century British Literature, Karl Marx, Peter Kropotkin, Ancient Greek and Roman Art, Anarchist Philosophy of Education, Second World War (History), John Ruskin, Socialist Realism, Libertarian socialism, Nazi Germany, Fine Arts, Craft, Utopia, Arts and Crafts, History of Communism, Ideas, Italian fascism, Nazism, Autarky, Winston Churchill, Anti-communism, Greek culture, History of Political Ideas, William Morris, 19th-century Arts and Hand-craftsmanship movement; William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Giovanni Gentile, History of Communism; Soviet; Post-Soviet; Russia; Eastern Europe, Britain, Eric Gill and the Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic, Ditchling, Herbert Read, Art Theory and Criticism, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Post-War Reconstruction, Eric Gill, Anarchist Economics, William Morris and his influence, Post War British History, Post War British Culture, Great Britain, Anarcho-communism, Post-war reconstruction and development, Fascismo, Kropotkin, Theories of Socialism, Post-World War II history, Utopia/Distopia, The Second World War, George Woodcock, History of European Socialism and Communism, Aesthetics of Totalitarianism, Anarchist Movement, Art History and Criticism, Stalinism Socialist Realism, The Idea of Communism, Post war Design, and Post War Britain
Research Interests: Critical Theory, History, European History, Modern History, Intellectual History, and 95 moreCultural History, Cultural Studies, Social Theory, Comparative Politics, Political Philosophy, Art History, History of Thought, History of Ideas, Social Research Methods and Methodology, Research Methods and Methodology, Political Theory, Marxism, Research Methodology, British History, Nineteenth Century Studies, Transnationalism, Methodology, Qualitative Methods, Contemporary History, Historiography, Contextualism, Cultural Theory, Political Science, Anarchism, Political Culture, Political Violence and Terrorism, Politics, Enlightenment, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Cultural Politics, U.S. Intellectual History, Literary Canon, Anarchist Studies, Political History, Transnational History, History of Anarchism, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Nineteenth Century British History and Culture, International Politics, Theory of History, History of Political Thought, Historical Theory, Social History, Fin de Siecle Literature & Culture, Intellectual and cultural history, Mikhail Bakunin, Research, New Left, History of Historiography, Qualitative Research Methods, Social and Political Philosophy, Russian Intellectual History, Max Stirner, Nineteenth Century, History of Political Cultures, European intellectual history, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Anarchist methodologies, Karl Marx, Emma Goldman, Gustav Landauer, Peter Kropotkin, Post-Anarchism, Thomas Carlyle, New Left and the 1960s, Social and Political Thought, William Godwin, Anarchism & Postmodern Theory, Leo Tolstoy, Murray Bookchin, Christian Anarchism, Dorothy Day, Political Identity, Ideas, Psychohistory, Poststructuralist Anarchism, History of Political Ideas, Social History of Ideas, Syndicalism, Lao-tzu, Herbert Read, History and Anthropology Sir Henry Maine, Anarcho-syndicalism, Alexandre Herzen, Rudolf Rocker, Anarchism & anarchists in London, 1890-1900, Bakunin, George Woodcock, Joshua Toulmin Smith, Anarchist Publishing, and Methodology of History
Research Interests: History, European History, Modern History, Intellectual History, Social Theory, and 122 morePolitical Philosophy, Ethics, History of Ethics, History of Thought, Social Sciences, Victorian Studies, Political Theory, Political Theory, Marxism, British History, Nineteenth Century Studies, Social Philosophy, Diversity, Evolution of cooperation (Evolutionary Biology), Democratic Theory, 19th-Century/Victorian Medievalism, Cooperation and Conflict, British Politics, Utopian Studies, Anarchism, Labour history, Cold War, Political Culture, Political Violence and Terrorism, Politics, Socialisms, Communism (Revolutions), History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Behavior (Behaviour), Anarchist Studies, Communism, Modern British History, Political History, Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosophy of History, History of Anarchism, Victorian (Victorian), European Politics, Nineteenth Century British History and Culture, Darwinism - International reception, Marx, History of Political Thought, Nietzsche, Historical Theory, Fin de Siecle Literature & Culture, Democracy, Direct Democracy, Diversity & Inclusion, Intellectual and cultural history, Statism, Philosophies of Human Nature, Karl Popper, Socialism, Social and Political Philosophy, Isaiah Berlin, Darwinism, Intellectual Disability, Nineteenth Century, Utopianism, Darwin, Intentional Communities, History of Darwinism, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Value pluralism, Peter Kropotkin, Post-Anarchism, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, Social and Political Thought, Anarchism & Postmodern Theory, Ernst Mayr, Evolutionary theory, Communal Conflict, Malthus and the population debate, Poststructuralist Anarchism, Left-Libertarianism, Charles Darwin, Social Darwinism, Herbert Spencer, History of Political Ideas, Anarchy, Intercultural Exchange, J.S. Mill, Commune De Paris 1871, Kropotkin, Social Darwinism, History of Social and Political Thought, Left-wing Radicalism, Thomas Huxley, Post-Capitalism, Communalism, Social Conflict, Stephen Jay Gould, Herbert Read, Lamarckism, Communes, Anarcho-communism, Mutual Aid, Kropotkin, Kolakowski, Trust, Conflict and Values, Ethical Egoism, Victorianism, Isaiah Berlin, History of Ideas, History of Political Thought, Mutual Aid and Peer Support, Neo Malthusianism, Thomas Henry Huxley, City Commune, Anarchism & anarchists in London, 1890-1900, Karl Popper theories, Social Anarchism, History of Philosophy, The Paris Commune, George Woodcock, Commune Democracy, Lyell, Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, Peter Bowler, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Martin Fichman, Left Wing Parties, The Commune, and Past Conceptions of the Future
Kropotkin's commitment to a concept of evolution has often been viewed as a problematic aspect of his political thought, and the adoption of the evolutionary metaphor has led to the marginalisation of his historical works. Mainstream... more
Kropotkin's commitment to a concept of evolution has often been viewed as a problematic aspect of his political thought, and the adoption of the evolutionary metaphor has led to the marginalisation of his historical works. Mainstream readings suggest that he adhered to a fatalist position, seeing anarchism as an inevitable future state, revealed by a careful reading of the historical record. It is argued here that Kropotkin's use of evolution is more subtle. A closer analysis of his historical writing reveals that he did not adopt a straightforward notion of progression, and that reaction played a central role in his analysis of history. Thus, for Kropotkin, anarchism was not the inevitable culmination of the historical process, and active revolutionary activity remained essential. Moreover, Kropotkin did not see anarchism as representing an end to history. As a potential mode of future organisation Kropotkin's image of anarchism enshrined a principle of flux, concomitant with an anarchist emphasis on maximising freedom. Far from conflicting with his anarchist politics, Kropotkin's approach to history reflects its central principles.
Research Interests: History, European History, Modern History, Intellectual History, Social Theory, and 69 morePolitical Philosophy, History of Ideas, Social Sciences, Victorian Studies, Political Theory, Urban Politics, Historiography, History of Science, 19th-Century/Victorian Medievalism, British Politics, Revolutions, Utopian Studies, French Revolution, Anarchism, Labour history, Political Culture, Politics, Socialisms, Cultural Politics, Anarchist Studies, Modern British History, Political History, Philosophy of History, History of Anarchism, Intellectual History of the Renaissance, European Politics, Evolution, Darwinism - International reception, History of Political Thought, Art, Place And Utopia, Direct Democracy, Intellectual and cultural history, Social Change, revolution, and evolution, The Italian communes and signories (1300-1450), Socialism, History of Historiography, Darwinism, French Revolution and Napoleon, Teleology, Utopianism, Modern Britain, European intellectual history, Scientific Revolution, Darwin, Modern Political Philosophy, Peter Kropotkin, Moral and Political Philosophy, Darwinian evolution, 19th Century Britain, Social and Political Thought, 20th Century Britain, Libertarian socialism, Utopia, Charles Darwin, Social Darwinism, Herbert Spencer, History of Political Ideas, Anarchy, Commune De Paris 1871, Kropotkin, Social Darwinism, History of Social and Political Thought, Thomas Huxley, Communalism, Craft Guilds, Lamarckism, Communes, History and Anthropology Sir Henry Maine, Mutual Aid, and Italian city commune
in History, 99:337 (Oct., 2014), pp.715-717.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: History, American History, European History, Intellectual History, Social Theory, and 27 moreAmerican Politics, History of Ideas, Political Theory, British History, Contemporary History, British Politics, Anarchism, Political Culture, Politics, Anarchist Studies, Political History, History of Anarchism, History of Political Thought, Mikhail Bakunin, Max Stirner, Utopianism, Intentional Communities, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Peter Kropotkin, Contemporary Political Theory, Post-Anarchism, Anarchism & Postmodern Theory, Poststructuralist Anarchism, History of Political Ideas, Colin Ward, Herbert Read, and Anarchism and art
Research Interests:
'Flowers for the Rebels who Failed?' Review Article: Alex Butterworth, The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists and Secret Agents (The Bodley Head, 2010); David Berry & Constance Bantman (eds.) New Perspectives on Anarchism, Labour and Syndicalism: The Individual, the National and the Transnational (Cambridge Scholars, 2010); Benjamin Franks & Matthew Wilson (eds.) Anarchism and Moral Philosophy (Palgrave, 2010); Duane Rousselle & Sureyyya Evren (eds.) Post-Anarchism: A Reader (Pluto Press, 2011).more
Research Interests:
in European Review of History, Vol.17, No.6 (2010), pp.923-8.
Research Interests: History, Intellectual History, Political Theory, Nineteenth Century Studies, Political Science, and 8 morePolitics, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Nineteenth Century British History and Culture, History of Political Thought, History of Political Science, Nineteenth Century, History of Political Ideas, and Nineteenth Century American Politics
Herbert Read was not a religious anarchist, but nevertheless a sense of the spiritual played an important role in his thought. Through a comparison with the work of H.G. Wells, who Read treated as a representative of a particularly arid... more
Herbert Read was not a religious anarchist, but nevertheless a sense of the spiritual played an important role in his thought. Through a comparison with the work of H.G. Wells, who Read treated as a representative of a particularly arid form of social theory, this chapter reconstructs Read’s argument that spiritual unity was integral to any functioning society, and would therefore also be important to any successful anarchist community. The truth of the lesson was revealed for Read in the centrality of spiritual vibrancy to historical moments of particular artistic creativity. With cultural effervescence his measure of the successful realisation of meaningful freedom, he theorised a utopian anarchist community defined by both its economic communism and spiritual communion.