The Paris Comune and the Idea of the State

Bakunin used the paris commune to draw further distinctions between his stateless socialism and authoritarian tendencies of his revolutionary rivals. The cult of authority has not yet been completely eradicated in them, he says. By taking a devious but inevitable path, we would come to reestablish the political, social and economic slavery of the masses. They were not boldly embracing new forms of emancipatory liberty, but recreating old forms of dictatorial power. And we know who won this fight.