Marx vs. Bakunin, round one (February 2016)

My latest at Toward Freedom is a review of Robert Graham’s history of the First International, We Do Not Fear Anarchy, We Invoke It. I consider what that history tells us about anarchism, marxism, and the left more broadly.

For instance: “More than a century after the rift, this awkward origin story continues to reverberate, as increasing numbers of anarchists conceive of themselves as being “post-left.” There is a sense in which anarchism was always post-left — the result of a break with Marxism, the party form, and state socialism, at precisely the moment that those ideas achieved dominance within the radical movement. That made anarchism a kind of heretical cult, in the shadow of the established Marxist church. In another sense, however, anarchism represented a continuation of the left by other means, and a loyal (sometimes purist) adherence to the original, half-forgotten ideals of liberty, equality, and solidarity.”

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