Political Systems
libcom.org's old basic introduction to our understanding of the world as it is, what we think can be done to make it better, and how a libertarian communist society could function.
Libertarian communism and capitalism - an introduction
Anarcho-syndicalism - an introduction
A short explanation of anarcho-syndicalism and notes on its history. Anarcho-syndicalism is one of the major forms of social anarchism. The idea behind anarcho-syndicalism is to combine the economic methods of syndicalism with the revolutionary politics of anarchism .
Capitalism and communism - Gilles Dauvé
Excellent text from Gilles Dauvé outlining the development of capitalism, and communism as the real movement in everyday life which tends towards the abolition of wage labour. Communism is not a programme one puts into practice or makes others put into practice, but a social movement. Those who develop and defend theoretical communism do not have any advantages over others except a clearer understanding and a more rigorous expression; like all others who are not especially concerned by theory, they feel the practical need for communism.
Capitalism
“ C apitalism,” a term of disparagement coined by socialists in the mid-nineteenth century, is a misnomer for “economic individualism,” which Adam Smith earlier called “the obvious and simple system of natural liberty” ( Wealth of Nations ). Economic individualism’s basic premise is that the pursuit of self-interest and the right to own private property are morally defensible and legally legitimate. Its major corollary is that the state exists to protect individual rights. Subject to certain restrictions, individuals (alone or with others) are free to decide where to invest, what to produce or sell, and what prices to charge. There is no natural limit to the range of their efforts in terms of assets, sales, and profits ; or the number of customers, employees, and investors; or whether they operate in local, regional, national, or international markets.
Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin ( Russian : Михаил Александрович Бакунин ; IPA: [mʲɪxɐˈil ˌbaˈkunʲin] ) (30 May [ O.S. 18 May] 1814 – 1 July 1876) was a Russian revolutionary , philosopher, and theorist of collectivist anarchism . He has also often been called the father of anarchist theory in general. [ 2 ] Bakunin grew up in Premukhino, a family estate near Moscow, where he moved to study philosophy and began to read the French encyclopédistes , leading to enthusiasm for the philosophy of Fichte .
Peter Kropotkin
Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin ( Russian : Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian zoologist , evolutionary theorist , philosopher , scientist , revolutionary , philologist , economist , activist , geographer , writer and prominent anarcho-communist . Kropotkin advocated a communist society free from central government and based on voluntary associations between workers. He wrote many books, pamphlets and articles, the most prominent being The Conquest of Bread and Fields, Factories and Workshops , and his principal scientific offering, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution . He also contributed the article on anarchism to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition . [ 1 ] [ edit ] Biography [ edit ] Early life