The Political Theory of Anarchism Routledge Library Editions: Political Science Volume 51

by April Carter

Anarchism is a significant but relatively neglected of political thought. April Carter examines the anarchist critique of the state, of bureaucracy, of democratic government and contrasts this attitude with more orthodox political theory. She also considers anarchist theories and social and economic organization, the relevance of anarchism to contemporary conditions and the problems of idealism in politics.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Philosophy

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Mikael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is quite brief but still a worthy introduction to some of the basic building blocks of anarchist political theory, and a fairly easy read. It is broken into four sections: Political Theory of Anarchism, Anarchism and the State, Anarchism and Society and Anarchism and the Individual. Throughout, Carter often compares and contrasts anarchist thought of seminal theorists like Kropotkin, Proudhon, Godwin and Bakunin with each other, as well as other political theorists like Marx, Hobbes, and De Tocqueville in order to tease out the similarities and differences in different veins of anarchist thought, and in comparison to Marxism and liberalism. Her analysis of Hobbesian social contract theory in light of William Godwin's work was especially interesting. Anyhow. Read it if you're interested.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful--albeit quite brief--introduction to anarchist theory. The first chapter frocuses on the general political theory of anarchism. A series of issues is addressed, such as the nature of law and the primacy of the individual. Chapter 2 considers the great struggle of anarchism versus the state (or government). The various issues are laid out here. Chapter 3 examines anarchism and society, in the process briefly noting the Paris Commune and utopian thinking, among many other topics. The fourth chapter considers the role of the individual. A brief conclusion brings this slender volume to a close.

[Adrián Sánchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buen resumen de varias de las ramas de anarquismos de izquierda, contexto histórico e intelectual que puede servir de referencia e investigación.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

April Carter, The Political Theory of Anarchism (Harper, 1971)

A slim book, but a very difficult read. Carter's survey of the anarchist movement over the past couple of hundred years isn't comprehensive, but it's enough to show even the casual reader that the image of the anarchist in the popular imagination is completely backwards. In fact, the vision of anarchy presented by the sources Carter gives us here (everyone from Marx to Bakunin) sounds quite a bit like hard-right American conservatism. Yes, go back and read that again, you heard me right. This book is a must-read for all true American conservatives (i.e., those who still believe in government decentralism and haven't fallen under the sway of the religious right). Many of the ideas here are more modern takes on those presented in Mill, de Tocqueville, and other writers who should inhabit the shelf of sacred writings for every conservative; the anarchists have already done much of the necessary work in updating them for a technological world, all you have to do is follow along for the ride and further modify them for the information age. Seek this out. ****