Anarchism and Other Essays

By Emma Gold

In this book you will find the following essays by anarchist Emma Goldman
* Anarchism: What It Really Stands For
* Minorities Versus Majorities
* The Psychology of Political Violence
* Prisons: A Social Crime and Failure
* Patriotism: A Menace to Liberty
* Francisco Ferrer and The Modern School
* The Hypocrisy of Puritanism
* The Traffic in Women
* Woman Suffrage
* The Tragedy of Woman's Emancipation
* Marriage and Love
* The Drama: A Powerful Dissimenator of Radical Thought

• Language: English
• Publisher: Start Publishing LLC
• Release date: Apr 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781625589651

Reviews for Anarchism and Other Essays

[bkinetic_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Emma Goldman portrays anarchism as a profoundly liberating philosophy that challenges people to think for themselves, express opinions freely, and avoid the blandness of conventional wisdom. On the opening pages, she exhorts us to cease seeking peer social approval and begin forming independent ideas and perspectives. On the subsequent pages she exemplifies independent though. The chapters cover diverse ground. In one chapter, she seeks to persuade the reader not to judge acts of anarchist violence harshly, but to understand them in the context of a corrupt and repressive society. Surprisingly, in another chapter she argues against giving women the right to vote, but only because she saw elections as meaningless. The last chapter is an interesting review of plays, such as those of Ibsen, that reveals the deficiencies in our culture in a more effective way than polemics.

[astrologerjenny · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I love Emma Goldman. I don’t always agree with her, and that figures, since these essays were written a century ago. So many attitudes have shifted since then. Emma’s statements about women’s nature, her horror of “perversion” – these are limiting beliefs that she didn’t know she had. At one point in her book, she claims that she’s overcome all prejudice.

But so much of what she says is right on, and so much is clarifying. And there’s so much that the world has yet to learn.

It’s sad that this passionate, idealistic woman was so demonized in her time. She was held responsible for every act of political violence, just because she dared to say that the murder of a political figure is not worse than the systematic oppression of hundreds of people – in prisons, in factories, in mines, every hour of every day.

And is the world still resting on the backs of these people? That hasn’t changed in 100 years. We could use Emma these days.

Quote from the book:
“The contention that a standing army and navy is the best security of peace is about as logical as the claim that the most peaceful citizen is he who goes about heavily armed.”