Audible Anarchism

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Aug 15, 2020 • 18min

Socialism from Below by George Woodcock, Chapter 6 - Peter Kropotkin and Anarchist Communism

Read the full text: https://zabalazabooks.files.wordpress... George Woodcock (1912-1995) was a historian, political biographer, essayist, poet, and anarchist. He wrote biographies of such anarchist thinkers as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, William Godwin, Oscar Wilde, and Peter Kropotkin. Throughout his life, Woodcock was given numerous awards for his work, but he refused several awards from the government of Canada on the grounds that he only accepted awards granted by his peers. In this chapter, Woodcock recounts a short biography of Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921), the Russian revolutionary anarchist theorist. Woodcock argues that Kropotkin brought scientific and theoretical rigor to anarchist thought, which had been previously underdeveloped. Kropotkin argued that human societies were fundamentally cooperative, that Bakunin's collectivist anarchism was unable to account for modern industrial processes, and that communal ownership of both the means of production and the products of labor was needed to guarantee both necessities and luxuries could be provided for all members of society.
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Aug 8, 2020 • 22min

Socialism from Below by George Woodcock, Chapter 5 - Michael Bakunin and the First International

Read the full text: https://zabalazabooks.files.wordpress... George Woodcock (1912-1995) was a historian, political biographer, essayist, poet, and anarchist. He wrote biographies of such anarchist thinkers as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, William Godwin, Oscar Wilde, and Peter Kropotkin. Throughout his life, Woodcock was given numerous awards for his work, but he refused several awards from the government of Canada on the grounds that he only accepted awards granted by his peers. In this chapter, Woodcock recounts a short political biography of Michael (Mikhail) Bakunin (1814-1876) and the First International. Bakunin was an anarchist revolutionary who fought in several uprisings and who arguably led the first bona fide anarchist efforts to create a social revolution. He also clashed with Karl Marx, forming the two primary factions of radical leftist revolutionaries in Europe at the time: the Marxist communists and the Bakuninist anarchists.     Show less
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Aug 1, 2020 • 26min

Socialism from Below by George Woodcock, Chapter 4 - Precursors of Anarchism

Read the full text: https://zabalazabooks.files.wordpress... George Woodcock (1912-1995) was a historian, political biographer, essayist, poet, and anarchist. He wrote biographies of such anarchist thinkers as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, William Godwin, Oscar Wilde, and Peter Kropotkin. Throughout his life, Woodcock was given numerous awards for his work, but he refused several awards from the government of Canada on the grounds that he only accepted awards granted by his peers. In this chapter, Woodcock addresses of the precursors of anarchism, including Lao-Tze's teachings on Taoism, Gerrard Winstanley and the Digger movement, William Godwin's treatises on anti-authoritarianism, and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's various works on government and property.
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Jul 25, 2020 • 15min

Socialism from Below by George Woodcock, Chapter 3 - What is Anarchism

Read the full text: https://zabalazabooks.files.wordpress... George Woodcock (1912-1995) was a historian, political biographer, essayist, poet, and anarchist. He wrote biographies of such anarchist thinkers as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, William Godwin, Oscar Wilde, and Peter Kropotkin. Throughout his life, Woodcock was given numerous awards for his work, but he refused several awards from the government of Canada on the grounds that he only accepted awards granted by his peers. In this chapter, Woodcock dispels many of the common myths about anarchism, and he addresses the fundamental flaws of government, the state, and bourgeois democracy. He argues that if one is committed to both freedom and justice, the social philosophy of anarchism is the only tenable option.
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Jul 18, 2020 • 13min

Socialism from Below by George Woodcock, Chapter 2 - Freedom and Organisation

Read the full text: https://zabalazabooks.files.wordpress... George Woodcock (1912-1995) was a historian, political biographer, essayist, poet, and anarchist. He wrote biographies of such anarchist thinkers as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, William Godwin, Oscar Wilde, and Peter Kropotkin. Throughout his life, Woodcock was given numerous awards for his work, but he refused several awards from the government of Canada on the grounds that he only accepted awards granted by his peers. In this chapter, Woodcock discusses the philosophical bases for "society," the groups of individuals who cooperate together for the common good. But capitalism and the state have perverted the purposes of society, stripping individuals of their freedom and preventing the flourishing of humankind.
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Jul 11, 2020 • 19min

Socialism from Below by George Woodcock, Chapter 1 - The Nature of Modern Society

Read the full text: https://zabalazabooks.files.wordpress... George Woodcock (1912-1995) was a historian, political biographer, essayist, poet, and anarchist. He wrote biographies of such anarchist thinkers as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, William Godwin, Oscar Wilde, and Peter Kropotkin. Throughout his life, Woodcock was given numerous awards for his work, but he refused several awards from the government of Canada on the grounds that he only accepted awards granted by his peers. Chapter 1 of "Socialism from Below" is Woodcock's evaluation of the Second World War (which went on for more than a year after the publication of the book) and an overview of the political culture of the pre-war era. Woodcock argues that the two opposing sides--the Axis and the Allies--represented two competing forms of totalitarianism: fascism on the one side, and the dictatorship of capital on the other.
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Jul 4, 2020 • 3min

Anarchism Means Flying Forever By Soheil Arabi

Text of the letter https://libcom.org/library/anarchist-prisoner-soheil-arabi-anarchism-means-flying-forever A short letter written by Anarchist prisoner Soheil Arabi. Currently Soheil Arabi remains in prison and has undergone several hunger strikes.
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Jun 27, 2020 • 44min

The Struggle Against Fascism begins with the Struggle Against Bolshevism

Essay by the Council Communist Otto Ruhle comparing the features of the Soviet system to that of Fascist Germany and Italy. The text of the essay can be read here https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/otto-ruhle-the-struggle-against-fascism-begins-with-the-struggle-against-bolshevism
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Jun 20, 2020 • 11min

What's Worth Dying For? By CrimethInc.

Text can be read here https://crimethinc.com/2020/04/21/whats-worth-dying-for-confronting-the-return-to-business-as-usual Text by the CrimethInc collective on the protests against lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19
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Jun 13, 2020 • 39min

Anarcho-syndicalism Theory and Practice by Rudolf Rocker, Chapter 6. Evolution

Read the full text here: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/rudolf-rocker-anarchosyndicalism Rudolf Rocker (1873-1958) was an anarchist writer, historian, and activist. He wrote extensively on anarchist movements and thinkers. He is perhaps best known for his book "Nationalism and Culture," which criticizes nationalism, religion, and the state. In this chapter, Rocker discusses the history of anarcho-syndicalism up to 1936.

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