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For Workers' Power ... |
Submitted by mitch
Original Publisher: anarkismo.net |
A lengthy review of the excellent new collection of British libertarian socialist Maurice Brinton's work which has been published by AK Press. Brinton was "the most prolific contributor to the British Solidarity Group (1961-1992), he sought to inspire a mass movement based on libertarian socialist politics... Included here are Brinton's finest essays, pamphlets, eye-witness reportage and his most influential works-Irrational in Politics and Bolsheviks and Workers' Control."
Brinton's perspectives on anarchism were too shaded by his Leninist background and the state of the UK anarchist movement in the 1960s and 70s. While he is right to bemoan the anti-organisational and anti-theoretical tendencies of Russian anarchism he does get basic things wrong. Brinton's dismissal of Kropotkin is based on Avrich's summary of his ideas rather than a reading of the source material.
Ultimately, these are minor issues. The core ideas of Brinton in terms of the importance of self-management, the need for revolutionary theory and practice to take into account all aspects of hierarchical society, his consistency and logic, remain as relevant today as when they were written. Anarchists have a lot to gain from reading this collection.
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