Making Sense of Anarchism: Errico Malatesta's Experiments with Revolution, 1889-1900 - Softcover

Davide Turcato

 
9781849352314: Making Sense of Anarchism: Errico Malatesta's Experiments with Revolution, 1889-1900
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1849352313 ISBN 13: 9781849352314
Publisher: AK Press, 2015

Synopsis

Many historians consider naIvety, absurdity and stupidity as anarchism's obvious attributes. They emphasize the abysmal gap between the anarchists' aims and means, their ideal and reality. Yet could the gap be between reality and the observer's understanding, instead? Or is 'making sense of anarchism' a hopeless oxymoron? Davide Turcato addresses these questions as he investigates the ideas and action of one of the most prominent and underrated anarchists, the Italian, Errico Malatesta, during the central years of his life. The methodological presumption of rationality is the book's driving principle in attempting a coherent interpretation of Malatesta's intentions, beliefs and actions. Between the two paths of liberal democracy and state socialism, anarchism has been unanimously regarded as a dead end; Malatesta regarded it as an open road. Reassessed in the light of a 'principle of rational accommodation' his revolutionary attempts surprisingly appear as sound and rational experiments in the pursuit of the collective good.

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About the Author

DAVIDE TURCATO is Italian and lives in Vancouver, Canada. He is a computational linguist with an interest in history. He has published several articles on Errico Malatesta and Italian anarchism, and he is the editor of Malatesta's collected works, a ten-volume project currently under way in Italy.

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Publisher
AK Press
Publication date
2015
Language
English
ISBN 10 
1849352313
ISBN 13 
9781849352314
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
288