A review by aaravbalsu
Bakunin: Statism and Anarchy by Mikhail Bakunin

4.0

Great first start to contemporary anarchist philosophy; Bakunin lucidly describes the flaws of a statist approach to proletarian liberation (a strategy endorsed by Marx, and later Lenin, who put these ideas into practice in the USSR). Plenty of historical flavor regarding European geopolitics between the 1820s to the early 1870s. This book was published just after the 1871 Franco-Prussian war, and details the Paris Commune's brutal suppression at the hands of French troops, German state centralization and militarism, etc. Overall, it's a fairly easy book to read, given that Bakunin peppers in some humor every now and then. Broadly speaking, the book is divided into an explanation of the role of bourgeoisie in propping up a state, a brief history of Slavic demographics and their destitution, the progression of German continental supremacy, the failure of German socialists to truly achieve worker liberation, and an analysis of the particularly Prussian strain of aristocratic-militarism. Absolute must for anyone seeking to understand the argument of a non-statist, collectivist approach to economic emancipation.

Cons: This book is laced with Germanophobia and has some anti-Semitism sprinkled in for good measure. I wish the book delved more into the practical implementation of worker collectives, rather than just focusing on the theory of why they're supposed to be good.