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IN CONTEXT

IDEOLOGY

Anarchism

FOCUS

Corruption of power

BEFORE

1793 English political philosopher William Godwin outlines an anarchist philosophy, arguing that government corrupts society.

1840 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon imagines a just form of society devoid of political authority.

AFTER

1892 Peter Kropotkin proposes “anarchist communism,” arguing for a form of cooperative distribution as well as production.

1936 Spain’s anarchist union, the CNT, boasts more than 1 million members.

1999 Anarchist ideas reemerge around anticapitalist demonstrations in Seattle.

In Europe in the 19th century, modern nation-states emerged, democracy spread, and the relationship between individuals and authority was recast. In God and the State, Russian revolutionary Mikhail Bakunin investigated the requirements for the moral and political fulfillment of human society. At the time, society was seen as an association of individuals under the authority of a government or the Church. Bakunin argued that humans become truly fulfilled by exercising their capacity to think and by rebelling against authority, whether of gods or of man. He made a searing attack on “religious hallucination,” arguing that it is a tool of oppression to keep people servile, and that it helps the powerful to maintain their position. Life for the masses is wretched, and solace can come from belief in God. But living in accordance with religion dulls the intellect, so it cannot allow human liberation. Bakunin argued that the oppressors of the people—priests, monarchs, bankers, police, and politicians—would agree with Voltaire’s dictum that if there was no God, it would be necessary to invent him. Bakunin insisted instead that freedom required the abolition of God.

"The idea of God implies the abdication of human reason and justice."

Mikhail Bakunin

Acquiescence to the man-made institution of the state would also enslave people. The laws of nature unavoidably constrain what men can do, but Bakunin claimed that once these laws were discovered and known to all, no political organizations would be required to regulate society. Everyone could consciously obey natural laws because every individual would know them to be true. But as soon as an external authority, such as the state, imposes laws—even true ones—individuals are no longer free.

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Power corrupts

Bakunin argued that, when acting as society’s guardians, even learned, well-informed people inevitably become corrupt. They abandon the pursuit of truth, seeking instead the protection of their own power. The masses, kept in ignorance, need their protection. Bakunin believed that accordingly, privilege kills the heart and mind.

  The implication was, for Bakunin, that all authority must be rejected, even that based on universal suffrage. This was the basis of his philosophy of anarchism, which he said would light the path to human freedom. Bakunin’s writings and activism helped to inspire the emergence of anarchist movements in the 19th century. His ideas propelled the rise of a distinct strand of revolutionary thought, which sat alongside Marxist beliefs.

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St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow represents the authorities that Bakunin called on people to rebel against, and instead exercise their own freedoms.

MIKHAIL BAKUNIN

Bakunin’s rebelliousness was first in evidence when he deserted the Russian army as a young man. He spent time in Moscow and Berlin, immersing himself in German philosophy and Hegelian thought. He began writing revolutionary material, which drew attention from the Russian authorities, and was arrested in 1849 when, inspired by the 1848 uprising in Paris, he tried to incite insurrection.

  After eight years in prison in Russia, Bakunin traveled to London and then Italy, where he recommenced his revolutionary activities. In 1868, he joined the First International, an association of left-wing revolutionary groups, but a disagreement with Karl Marx led to his expulsion. Although both men believed in revolution, Bakunin rejected what he saw as the authoritarianism of the socialist state. Bakunin died in Switzerland, agitating for revolution until the end.

Key works

1865–66 The Revolutionary Catechism

1871 God and the State

1873 Statism and Anarchy

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