Constitutionalising Anarchy

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

1 729 kr

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Anarchism is often assumed to stand outside constitutionalism, yet it forms a significant, if overlooked, tradition of constitutional thought. Addressing global constitutional crises and the impasses of state-centred politics, this book brings anarchism into productive dialogue with constitutional, political and international theory. At its core is a reconstruction of anarchist social theory grounded in an ontology of anarchy shaped by European social science and republican concerns with dividing and balancing power. These ideas were reinterpreted by major anarchist thinkers - from Proudhon to Lucy Parsons, and from Tolstoy to Kōtoku Shūsui - who advanced decentralised, federalist alternatives to imperial and hierarchical orders. Combining intellectual history with co-produced research alongside anarchist groups, Constitutionalising Anarchy shows how constitutional practices developed within militant labour unions, protest movements and cooperatives across the twentieth century. It reconsiders anarchy, constitutionalism and the possibilities of political organisation. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2026-10-31
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieLSE International Studies
Antal sidor380
FörlagCambridge University Press
ISBN9781009785495

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Ruth Kinna is a political theorist and historian of ideas at Loughborough University. Her books include The Government of No One (2019) and Kropotkin: Reviewing the Classical Anarchist Tradition (2016). She is co-founder of the Political Studies Association's Anarchist Studies Network and co-editor of the journal Anarchist Studies. Alex Prichard is an IR theorist at the University of Exeter. His books include Anarchism. A Very Short Introduction (2022), and Justice, Order and Anarchy: The International Political Theory of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (2013). He is co-founder of the PSA Anarchist Studies Network and co-editor of the 'Contemporary Anarchist Studies' monograph series.

Acknowledgments; Introduction: constitutionalising anarchy; 1. Constitutionalising and the spectre of anarchy; 2. The anarchist critique of constitutionalism; 3. Anarchy, culture and association; 4. War, pacification and decentralised federalism; 5. Decentralised federalism and class war constitutionalism in the IWW; 6. Democracy vs. anarchy in Occupy Oakland; 7. Cultures of anarchy in radical routes; Conclusion: anarchist constitutionalising as everyday revolutions; Bibliography; Index.

''Constitutionalising Anarchy' is easily one of the most thought-provoking and groundbreaking works on anarchist theory published this century. Kinna and Prichard masterfully bridge the gap between powerful examples of anarchy in action and intellectual histories of societal norms-making to challenge dominant statist paradigms. This is an urgent appeal for activists to further conceptualize their organizational structures and political theorists to take seriously the anti-state tradition of collective decision-making from below.' Mark Bray, Assistant Teaching Professor, Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Author of 'The Anarchist Inquisition: Assassins, Activists, and Martyrs in Spain and France'