The Agora: Kropotkin

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Kropotkin: On Authority and Government

"The two great movements of our century --towards Liberty of the individual and social co-operation of the whole community--are summed up in Anarchist-Communism."
--Peter Kropotkin

Kropotkin, Pyotr Alekseyevich, Prince: (1842-1921), Russian geographer, who was one of the foremost theorists of the anarchist movement.

The works on this page address Kropotkin's views on authority and government. Kropotkin is often dismissed as utopian and of having too much faith in mankind, these are the very traits that I admire. Hope the following works impact your world view as much as they did mine....

"Yes: death--or renewal! Either the state forever, crushing individual and local life, taking over in all fields of human activity, bringing with it its wars and its domestic struggles for power, its palace revolutions which only replace one tyrant by another, and inevitably at the end of this development there is...death! Or the destruction of the state, and new life starting again in thousands of centers on the principle of the lively initiative of the individual and groups and that of the free agreement.
The choice lies with you!"
--Peter Kropotkin

Following are some of Kropotkin's best works on authority and government.

On Order
Prisons and Their Moral Influence on Prisoners
Law and Authority
The Wage System
Anarchism: Its Philosopy and Ideal
War!
"Anarchism": from Encyclopedia Britannica

A note on why I built this page: My roots are agrarian, having grown up in a mid-Western farming community. I always had a conception of a free society without rulers. I knew self-defined anarchists, mostly of the ghetto punk variety. I knew I wasn't one of them. My views of communism were created by mid-70's TV, communists were like ants in my mind.

Still, I came across enough information growing up to keep these conceptual embers burning.

In 1996 I moved to the US's left coast, it made all the difference. Books were available, role-models were available, information and organizing were everywhere. I started to read the anarchist big three: Proudhone, Bakunin, and Kropotkin.

Proudhone's writings varied polemically throughout the years...making huge ideological swings that were hard to follow. Although he was the first self-proclaimed anarchist, he appears to me to lack a coherent philosophy. His philosophy (moral view) is momentary, based on externalities--I am seeking something larger than that.

I love Bakunin's cut-and-dried view. There is no gray in Bakunin's world. On the other hand, if alive today, Bakunin would be out with the ghetto punks, spanging (verb form of "spare change").

I also read and studied Godwin, Stirner, Bookchin, Goldman, Malatesta, Zerzan, Woodcock, Makhno, Durrutti, and others.

However, Kropotkin stands out. And not only in the shear breadth and width of his written works. His philosophy is clear, it is mostly coherent, it is well verbalized, and it is supported by understandable data. His views, understandings, and ethics are applicable to the widest possible places, times, and situations.

I believe in a coming just and free society. Unlike Kropotkin, I do not see it as imminently arising. Still I think that as we struggle to move ourselves closer to that goal, Kropotkin's words and ideals are a light beckoning us onwards.

His writings influenced my world view, my basic understanding of my place in time and space, while leaving me with a thirst for more knowledge. For that, I offer this humble web page...perhaps to influence others...perhaps only to gather virtual dust...still his words will remain...timeless...

john trapp 5/11/01