GOD AND THE STATE
by Michael Bakunin With a New Introduction and Index
of Persons,
by Paul Avrich
Among the 19th century founders of modern philosophical anarchism, none is more
important than Michael Bakunin (1814-1876). Born into the Russian nobility,
he renounced his hereditary rank in protest against Czarist oppression,
and fled to Western Europe, where he remained (apart from an episode in
Siberia). He took part (with Wagner) in the abortive 1848 rebellion in
Dresden; was a leader and chief opponent to Marx in the first International;
and director of insurrections in France and Spain. For most of his life
he was the pater diabolicus of the so-called Nihilist branch of the anarchists.
A colorful, charismatic personality, violent, ebullient, and energetic,
Bakunin was one of the two poles between which 19th and early 20th century
anarchism was formed. All threads of one chain of anarchism lead back to
Bakunin, and everyone in the movement either built upon or reacted to his
ideas. Yet Bakunin, despite the power of his ideas, was primarily a man
of action, and he wrote little. His only major work, God And The
State, remained unfinished, although it is the torso of a giant.
God And The State has been a basic anarchist and radical
document for generations. It is one of the clearest statements of the anarchist
philosophy of history: religion by its nature is an impoverishment, enslavement,
and annihilation of humanity. It is the weapon of the state. It must be
smashed, according to Bakunin, before the right of self-determination can
be possible. As an introduction to anarchist thought, a mani-festo of atheism,
or as a summing-up of the thoughts of Bakunin, God And The State
remains a mind-opening experience, even for those basically unsympathetic.
This edition of God And The State sports an introduction
by Professor Paul Avrich, summarizing the recently discovered, untranslated
continuation of God And The State. The text is reprinted
from a 1916 translation from the French.
1970, 5½ x 8½, 101 pp, soft cover.
GOD AND THE STATE: $5.95
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