Anarchist Portraits
![]() First edition | |
Author | Paul Avrich |
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Subject | American history, European history |
Published | 1988 (Princeton University Press) |
Pages | 336 |
ISBN | 0-691-04753-7 |
Anarchist Portraitsis a 1988 history book byPaul Avrichabout the lives and personalities of multiple prominent and inconspicuous anarchists.
Summary and publication
[edit]Anarchist Portraitsis a series of biographical studies about theAmerican anarchist movementwritten byPaul Avrichover twenty years. At the time, Avrich was the foremost scholar of thehistory of anarchism.He intended his vignettes to reflect the character of the anarchist movement through the lives of individual participants from the late 19th century through the 1930s. He draws from personal interviews and old periodicals across multiple languages. Some of the chapters are revisions of prior essays.[1]
The essay's anarchist subjects are largely European emigrants to the United States, such asMollie Steimer(from theAbrams free speech case[2]) andCharles Mowbray.He also covers other Russian, Italian, and Jewish anarchist immigrants. Avrich also writes about anarchist luminaries who visited the United States, such asMikhail BakuninandPeter Kropotkin.Bakunin visited the United States in 1861 before the movement had momentum, while Kropotkin attracted crowds.[1]Other figures includeAlexander Berkman,Nestor Makhno,Voline,Ricardo Flores Magón,Gustav Landauer,and the Australian agitatorChummy Fleming.Outside of the United States, he also briefly touchesBrazilian anarchismandAnatoli Zhelezniakov.[3]
A new essay on Jewish anarchism in America covers the anarchist movement among East European Jewish immigrants between the 1880s and 1890s. It includes the working class movement in Jewish garment unions, the creation of housing communes and experimental schools, the Yiddish periodicalFraye Arbeter Shtime,and the influence of Kropotkin.[4]
His essay onSacco and Vanzettishows the influence of theLuigi Galleani,an anarchist who avocated for violent revolt against capitalism and government. Avrich contends that Sacco and Vanzetti were part of an insurrectionary movement belied by the innocent image their supporters projected, but admits no direct evidence of their participation.[3]
References
[edit]- ^abBuhle 1989,p. 958.
- ^Wexler 1993,p. 538.
- ^abWexler 1993,pp. 537–538.
- ^Wexler 1993,p. 537.
Works cited
[edit]- Avakumović, Ivan(1990). "Review of Anarchist Portraits".Slavic Review.49(3): 453–454.doi:10.2307/2499997.ISSN0037-6779.JSTOR2499997.S2CID164303759.
- Buhle, Paul(December 1989). "Review of Anarchist Portraits".The Journal of American History.76(3): 958–959.doi:10.2307/2936510.ISSN0021-8723.JSTOR2936510.
- Confino, Michael(1989). "Varieties of Anarchism".The Russian Review.48(4): 403–412.doi:10.2307/130392.ISSN0036-0341.JSTOR130392.
- Creagh, Ronald(1992). "Review of Anarchist Portraits by Paul Avrich".Social Anarchism(17): 40–44.ISSN0196-4801.
- Dolgoff, Sam(1989)."Rev. of Anarchist Portraits"(PDF).Libertarian Labor Review(7): 38–39.
- Joll, James(November 27, 1988)."America vs. a Slip of a Girl".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.
- McCarthy, Colman(January 29, 1989)."Brotherhood, Not Bombs".The Washington Post.ISSN0190-8286.
- Miller, Martin A.(June 1990). "Review of Anarchist Portraits".The American Historical Review.95(3): 784.doi:10.2307/2164297.ISSN0002-8762.JSTOR2164297.
- Vecoli, Rudolph J.(1991). "Review of Anarchist Portraits".Journal of American Ethnic History.10(3): 79–80.ISSN0278-5927.JSTOR27500850.
- Wexler, Alice(1993). "Review of Anarchist Portraits".Labor History.34(4): 537–539.ISSN0023-656X.EBSCOhost9406150243.
External links
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