Anarchism and Violence

Ema Goldman, Anarchism and Other Essays, "Anarchism: What it Really Stands For", Dodo Press, 2008. All of it.

Mikhail Bakunin, God and The State, Dover Publications, 1970. (pgs. 21-98)

George Sorel, Reflections on Violence, "Ethics of Violence", Dover Publications, 2004. [pgs. 175-214]

Discuss the Anarchist movements of the late 19th and early 20th century. The goal is for the students to be able to successfully articulate why groups with classically liberal goals (freedom and equality) would attack the state form as well as use violence as a means to achieve those goals. Examples of the Haymarket riots and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand will be explored to consider the global effects of local events. In addition to which we will develop a provisional definition of violence as a point of reference for the following weeks.

Week 3

Week 3: The Congress of Vienna and the Norms of War

“The Theory of the Partisan: A Commentary/Remark on the Concept of the Political”, Michigan State University, 2004. [Pages 1-78] (Amanda)

Ronald Frazer, Unknown social identities: Spanish guerrillas in the Peninsular War, 1808–14 [20 pages]


We will review last weeks Foucault reading to make sure useful concepts are clear.
Then we will discuss the Peninsular War in Spain in which popular uprisings reached previously unseen levels of violence, inspiring Goya’s “Disasters of War” and the attempt at the Congress of Vienna to codify rules and conduct of war.