Sometimes ‘jewish invention’ myths are obviously both bizarre and wrong; such is the claim – made by Slava Bazarsky – that jewish are responsible for creating ‘modern anarchism’. Whatever ‘modern anarchism’ is I don’t know given that anarchism proper is a mid-nineteenth century European creation and while it has some antecedent thinkers. It is a very modern philosophy rather than an older one.
Bazarsky rather bizarrely cites Emma Goldman as being its originator (1) and while Goldman was both jewish and an anarchist theorist; she wasn’t the originator of much actual anarchist theory at all, but rather an activist populariser of the theories of others. Rather inexplicably Bazarsky doesn’t mention Goldman’s lifelong jewish collaborator and lover Alexander Berkman but simply just cites Goldman, which suggests that Bazarsky knows practically nothing about anarchism let alone its history.
The truth is the main theorist (and in truth the creator) of anarchism was the Russian thinker Mikhail Bakunin – who was also a violent and virulent anti-Semite - (2) while the progenitor of most anarchist thought was Bakunin’s fellow Russian thinker Prince Peter Kropotkin not Goldman or Berkman. In addition to this honourable mention has to be made regarding the alternative more individualist anarchist tradition which is the work the French thinker – and also like Bakunin a virulent anti-Semite - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and the German friend of both Karl Marx and Bakunin’s Max Stirner.
As one anarchist website puts it:
‘Although Gerard Winstanley (The New Law of Righteousness, 1649) and William Godwin (Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, 1793) had begun to unfold the philosophy of anarchism in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was not until the second half of the 19th century that anarchism emerged as a coherent theory with a systematic, developed programme. This work was mainly started by four people -- a German, Max Stirner (1806-1856), a Frenchman, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865), and two Russians, Michael Bakunin (1814-1876) and Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921). They took the ideas in common circulation within sections of the working population and expressed them in written form.
Born in the atmosphere of German romantic philosophy, Stirner’s anarchism (set forth in The Ego and Its Own) was an extreme form of individualism, or egoism, which placed the unique individual above all else -- state, property, law or duty. His ideas remain a cornerstone of anarchism. Stirner attacked both capitalism and state socialism, laying the foundations of both communist and individualist anarchism by his egoist critique of capitalism and the state that supports it.
In place of capitalism, Max Stirner urges the “union of egoists,” free associations of unique individuals who co-operate as equals in order to maximise their freedom and satisfy their desires (including emotional ones for solidarity, or “intercourse” as Stirner called it).
Individualism by definition includes no concrete programme for changing social conditions. This was attempted by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, the first to describe himself openly as an anarchist. His theories of mutualism and federalism had a profound effect on the growth of anarchism as a mass movement and spelled out clearly how an anarchist world could function and be co-ordinated. Proudhon’s ideas are the immediate source for both social and individualist anarchism, with each thread emphasising different aspects of mutualism. Proudhon’s major works include What is Property, Economic Contradictions, and The Political Capacity of the Working Classes.
Michael Bakunin, the central figure in the development of modern anarchist activism and ideas, emphasised the role of collectivism, mass insurrection, and spontaneous revolt in the launching of a free, classless society. He also emphasised the social nature of humanity and individuality, rejecting the abstract individualism of liberalism as a denial of freedom. His ideas become dominant in the 20th century among large sections of the radical labour movement. Many of his ideas are almost identical to what would later be called syndicalism. Bakunin influenced many union movements -- especially in Spain, where a major anarchist social revolution took place. His works include God and the State, The Paris Commune and the Idea of the State, and many others. Bakunin on Anarchism, edited by Sam Dolgoff is an excellent collection of his major writings.
Peter Kropotkin, a scientist by training, fashioned a sophisticated and detailed anarchist analysis of modern conditions linked to a thorough-going prescription for a future society -- communist-anarchism -- which continues to be the most widely-held theory among anarchists. He identified mutual aid as the best means by which individuals can develop and grow, pointing out that competition within humanity (and other species) was often not in the best interests of those involved. His major works included Mutual Aid, The Conquest of Bread, Fields, Factories, and Workshops, Modern Science and Anarchism, Act for Yourselves, The State: Its Historic Role, and many others.
The various theories proposed by these “founding anarchists” are not, however, mutually exclusive: they are interconnected in many ways, and to some extent refer to different levels of social life. Individualism relates closely to the conduct of our private lives: only by recognising the uniqueness and freedom of others and forming unions with them can we protect and maximise our own uniqueness and liberty; mutualism relates to our general relations with others: by mutually working together and co-operating we ensure that we do not work for others. Production under anarchism would be collectivist, with people working together for their own, and the common, good, and in the wider political and social world decisions would be reached communally.’ (3)
The point here is that Goldman (and Berkman) aren’t even on the radar when it comes to the core thinkers of anarchism and while they are often read; it is because they are popularisers of the theories of others not because they are great or important theorists in and of themselves.
So, no jews did not create anarchism or ‘modern anarchism’!
References
(1) https://slavaguide.com/en/blog/jewish-inventors-and-jewish-inventions
(2) See my articles: https://karlradl14.substack.com/p/mikhail-bakunin-and-the-jews and https://karlradl14.substack.com/p/mikhail-bakunin-and-the-jews
(3) https://www.activism.net/government/AnarchistFAQ/secA4.html