Political Economy From Below : Economic Thought in Communitarian Anarchism, 1840-1914

"Communitarian anarchism is a generic form of socialism that denies the need for a state or any other authority over the individual from above, and which requires absolute belief that the individual cannot exist outside of a community of others. This book suggests that the communitarian anarchists of the nineteenth century developed and articulated a distinct tradition of economic thought. The period of this study begins with the first major writing of the French communitarian anarchist, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, in 1840 and ends with the temporary burial of anarchist theorizing at the beginning of the First World War in 1914. However, he tradition of communitarian anarchist economic thought did not end in 1914. The economic thought explored in this book provides a fresh perception of the fragmentation evident in many societies today, especially where there is a substantial "informal economy.""--Provided by publisher Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright 5 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Foreword 12 Preface 14 Chapter One Introduction 18 Chapter Two Demanding the Possible: Unraveling the State and 'Economic Thought' 46 Chapter Three Pierre-Joseph Proudhon: From Caricatures to a Portrait 76 Chapter Four Pierre-Joseph Proudhon: 'A Continual Apostleship' 92 Chapter Five Positively Proudhon: His Economic Ideas 106 Chapter Six Pierre-Joseph Proudhon: The 'Agro-Industrial Federation' 150 Chapter Seven Alexander Herzen and Mikhail Bakunin: "intelligentsia i narod" 172 Chapter Eight Elisee Reclus and Peter Kropotkin: Evolution and Revolution 214 Chapter Nine Jean Grave: "Society on the Morrow of the Revolution" 286 Chapter Ten Leo Tolstoy: The 'Ant Brotherhood' and the Green Stick 286 Chapter Eleven Conclusion: A Living Tradition 316 Notes 324 Bibliography 416 Index 444