The Practical Anarchist: Writings of Josiah Warren

American Philosophy

by Crispin Sartwell (editor)

The Practical Anarchist brings to light the work of Josiah Warren, eccentric American genius. Devoting his life to showing the practicality of an astonishing ideal, Warren devoted equal industry to the question of how to make a pair of shoes and how to remake the social world into an individualist paradise.

This will be the first chance for many readers to encounter Warren’s writings, and in many cases their first publication since their original appearance in obscure, self-published periodicals, including The Peaceful Revolutionist (1833), the first American anarchist periodical. Moreover, they often appeared in a bizarre experimental typography.

This volume presents, out of the welter of bewildering writings left by Warren, a reading text designed for today’ readers and students. It seeks to convey the practical value of many of Warren’s ideas, their continuing relevance.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Economics

303 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

Crispin Sartwell was born 6.20.58 in DC. His Dad (and his and his) were DC newspapermen. His Mom and Step-pa were high school teachers and later organic farmers. He got kicked out of the public school system in tenth grade for fomenting revolution, and attended the New Education Project, aka Bonzo Ragamuffin Prep, then U Maryland, Johns Hopkins, UVA. He worked as a copy boy in 1980-81 at the Washington Star, where he started writing about pop music. He was a freelance rock critic through the eighties for, among others the Balt City Paper, Record Mag, High Fidelity, and Melody Maker.

He lives in Glen Rock, PA with his wife, the writer Marion Winik, and their five children. He's Visiting Associate Prof of Political Science at Dickinson College. He writes a weekly op-ed column, distributed by Creators Syndicate. He has also appeared in Harper's, the Washington Post, and on Weekend All Things Considered.

He is the author and editor of a number of books, and he's taught philosophy and communications at Vanderbilt, the Unversity of Alabama, and Penn State Harrisburg.

Reviews

[John Roskelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't get me wrong--I'm not an anarchist and I don't propose an overthrow of any government (although ours is reaching the point where some common sense could easily solve our problems). I saw this on the reading list of a book club and thought I'd like to see how some of the early proponents of anarchy in the United States thought. This book focuses primarily on Josiah Warren (1798-1874), who was involved in community settlements that focused on self-sufficiency with the exchange of labor hours instead of supply and demand to determine the value of bartered services and commodities. Houses were built for fractions of the true market value of land, materials & labor, but most of the communities failed after just a few years. It was interesting reading, but Warren's thought processes are not practical in today's world economy.

[Andy Febrico Bintoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Practical anarchist

This is basically the collection of Josiah Warren writings with a little bit of commentary. The author argue that Josiah Warren is the first believer in American practical anarchist who dared to voice his belief publicly.