1840 Archives - The Libertarian Labyrinth

Proudhon’s Barbaric Yawp (1840)

February 5, 2020 Shawn P. Wilbur

Every story has to start somewhere. And when the story is that of anarchist history, it seems hard to find a more likely place to begin than Proudhon’s 1840 declaration—je suis anarchiste—which we generally treat as the first instance of at least one kind of anarchist position-taking. […]

Proudhon’s “What is Property” reviewed in “La Phalange” (1840)

September 16, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur

This is the review referrred to by Proudhon in the Second Memoir. Nous extrayons de l’Impartial de Besançon un fort bon article contenant une réfutation d’un livre de M. Proudhon, intitulé : Qu’est-ce que la […]

Reading “What is Property? — The Third Social Form

May 1, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur

[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] Back in 2014, in the midst of some very general questioning of how we tell anarchist history, I retranslated some of the final sections of Proudhon’s What is Property? and […]

Notes on “What is Property?” (2019)

April 20, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur

Commentary on What is Property? These notes are from a group reading of the book on Reddit. While fragmentary, they do raise a number of questions that I haven’t had a chance to raise elsewhere. […]

“Labor destroys Property” (Notes on “What is Property?”)

February 11, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur

[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] This is another bit extracted from a social media exchange elsewhere, dealing with the progression of Proudhon’s argument against both property in materials and property in product in “What is […]

P.-J. Proudhon, “The Third Form of Society” (1840)

September 2, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

[From Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, What is Property?] 3. Determination of the third social form. Conclusion Therefore, no government, no public economy, no administration is possible with property for a basis. Community seeks equality and law. Property, […]

Reading “The Third Social Form” — I

August 12, 2014 Shawn P. Wilbur

[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] We have a lot of issues on our plate, but for now let’s stick to the reading of the passage from What is Property? The first […]

Another look at Proudhon (and an invitation to experiment)

August 6, 2014 Shawn P. Wilbur

[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] It is a well-known fact of anarchist history (a term that we’ll be giving some special attention in the coming months) that even the founding figures […]

Property? It’s just a phase… (Proudhon to the Academy of Besançon, 1840)

May 3, 2014 Shawn P. Wilbur

This response by Proudhon to the Academy of Besançon fills in a bit of the story told in the introduction to What is Property? I’ve been tracking down some of these bits and pieces in […]

“What is certain is that property is to be regenerated among us”

January 2, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

[ezcol_1third] Contr’un Revisited: [commentary coming soon] [/ezcol_1third][ezcol_2third_end] I was asked to clarify Proudhon’s position on property, by someone reading the AK Press anthology, Property is Theft! I had been under the impression that, although Iain […]