Proudhon, Marx and the Paris Commune

international | history of anarchism | press release Friday March 19, 2010 08:12 by Anarcho - An Anarchist FAQ

A discussion of Proudhon's influence on the Paris Commune and how he raised many ideas associated with Marx first. Extracts from "System of Economic Contradictions" have been updated, along with material from the Paris Commune.

To mark the creation of the Paris Commune, the Property Is Theft! site has been updated. This update includes material from the Commune as well as extracts from "System of Economic Contradictions", his 1846 letter to Marx and the appendix on "Proudhon and Marx" from the introduction:

http://anarchism.pageabode.com/pjproudhon/proudhon-marx...mmune

The blog announcing the update discussed how Proudhon had raised many of the Commune's key ideas long before, during the 1848 revolution in fact. It discusses Marx and Proudhon and indicates how many of the key ideas proclaimed for Marx were first suggested by Proudhon. It also critiques Tony Cliff's theory of state capitalism in order to show that, firstly, Proudhon did not ignore "the relations of production" as Marx claimed and, secondly, that Cliff did precisely that!

This update indicates why there is a reason why the likes of Bakunin, Kropotkin, Rocker and Guerin were impressed by Proudhon. Those interested in the evolution of anarchist thought will see the key role Proudhon played in what became revolutionary anarchism.