What is Anarchism? An Introduction

“Anarchists believe that the point of society is to widen the choices of individuals.” Enlarged and updated for a modern audience, What is Anarchism? serves as a reference and an introduction to the development of anarchist thought for propagandists and proselytizers of anarchism, as well as teachers and students of political theory, philosophy, sociology, history. Edited and arranged by Vernon Richards of Freedom Press, it includes extracts from the works Errico Malatesta, Peter Kropotkin, Max Stirner, Emma Goldman, Charlotte Wilson, Michael Bakunin, Rudolf Rocker, Alexander Berkman, and more. Author and Wildcat cartoonist Donald Rooum gives context to the selections with introductions looking at “What Anarchists Believe,” “How Anarchists Differ,” and “What Anarchists Do,” along with providing helpful and humorous illustrations throughout the book.

Donald Rooum, born 1928, became an anarchist in 1944 and has contributed articles to the anarchist paper Freedom since 1947. His editorial cartoons have appeared in Peace News since 1962. His strip series “Wildcat” has appeared in Freedom since 1980, and “Sprite” in The Skeptic since 1987. Andrej Grubacic is the chair of the Anthropology and Social Change department at the California Institute of Integral Studies. His most recent publication is Don't Mourn, Balkanize: Essays after Yugoslavia (2010). Andrej is a member of the International Council of the World Social Forum, the Industrial Workers of the World, and the Global Balkans Network. He is associated with Retort, a group of antinomian writers, artists, artisans, and teachers based in the San Francisco Bay Area.