DEMANDING THE IMPOSSIBLE: A HISTORY OF ANARCHISM PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Peter Marshall | 818 pages | 01 Feb 2010 | PM Press | 9781604860641 | English | Oakland, United States Demanding the Impossible | The Anarchist Library Click here for one-page information sheet on this product. Cart Contents. Recent Posts. Price: 0. Add To Wishlist. Overview Tell a Friend. Send Message. Anarchism Books Combo Pack. A fantastic combo pack of anarchist philosophies, conversations, history and reference not to be missed! Peter Marshall Navigating the broad "river of anarchy," from Taoism to Situationism, from anarcho-syndicalists to anarcha-feminists, this volume is an authoritative and lively study of a widely misunderstood subject. What Is Anarchism? Donald Rooum This book is an introduction to the development of anarchist thought, useful not only to propagandists and proselytizers of anarchism but also to teachers and students, and to all who want to uncover the basic core of anarchism. Editors: Raymond Craib and Barry Maxwell A collection of essays on the questions of geographical and political peripheries in anarchist theory. Voices of the Paris Commune. Presenting a balanced and critical survey, the detailed document covers not only classic anarchist thinkers--such as Godwin, Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Reclus, and Emma Goldman--but also other libertarian figures, such as Nietzsche, Camus, Gandhi, Foucault, and Chomsky. Essential reading for anyone wishing to understand what anarchists stand for and what they have achieved, this fascinating account also includes an epilogue that examines the most recent developments, including postanarchism and anarcho-primitivism as well as the anarchist contributions to the peace, green, and global justice movements of the 21st century. Additional Product Features Dewey Edition. Show More Show Less. Any Condition Any Condition. See all 7 - All listings for this product. No ratings or reviews yet No ratings or reviews yet. Be the first to write a review. Best Selling in Nonfiction See all. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey Hardcover 5. Account Options Anmelden. Meine Mediathek Hilfe Erweiterte Buchsuche. E-Book anzeigen. Demanding the Impossible : A History of Anarchism. Peter H. A fascinating and comprehensive history, 'Demanding the Impossible' is a challenging and thought-provoking exploration of anarchist ideas and actions from ancient times to the present day. Demanding the Impossible - Peter Marshall - Google Books November History Today. Minogue, Kenneth February 9, The Sunday Telegraph. Publishers Weekly. April 12, Roth, Gary March Critical Sociology. Sinai, Joshua Perspectives on Terrorism. Tomchuk, Travis Left History. Walter, Nicolas February 27, The London Review of Books. Ward, Colin January 31, The Times Educational Supplement : Ward, Colin February 14, Anarchism portal Books portal. Categories : non-fiction books History books about anarchism HarperCollins books PM Press books Political science book stubs Anarchism book stubs. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Not just by superior force but by the fact that the force represents something — the reality of the situation. As a romantic, I am definitely with all these rebellions but, let's face it, participation is heroic but futile, an act of suicide. It would be like Mishima's hari-kiri only for the goodies. The truth is they did not win for very good reasons related to what we are as human beings. The only successful anarchist rebellion would be one that could change humanity — and that is very dangerous territory indeed, a repetition by force of what the Bolsheviks tried and failed to do. All in all, this book, which is highly sympathetic to the movement, tells us that anarchic thinking is like a chair that is very appealing to the eye but falls apart when someone tries to sit on it. If it did not exist, it would have to be invented but only as a constraint or restraint on power, by promising rebellion if lines were crossed but not as an option for any social organization that is actually viable. This has implications for the four main current strands of quasi-anarchic thinking in the world today — hacker activism, greenery which has already compromised with reality to gain a power that it probably does not deserve , the Occupy Movement and anarcho-capitalist libertarianism. It is interesting that the State did not even bother to do that. Occupy is particularly daft from a classical anarchist perspective. The general public, of course, has seen through this. The most threatening to the State may be hacker activism and then only because its more louche side is quite prepared to act as intellectual muscle for organized crime. Kim Dotcom is an anarchist of sorts but not quite what Prince Pyotr Kropotkin had in mind. Even in Greece today, where one would most expect insurrection, the struggle for mastery over a corrupt and failed bourgeois elite, backed by the European Union, is in the hands either of sensible Leftists who have no intention of unraveling the State and a bunch of gangster fascists. In Catalonia, the drive for independence is also no longer associated with anarchist ideology but with a revived Leftism. Worse, this Euro-Leftism is not only not anarchist in the traditional sense but is imbued with an ideology of identity politics that wholly relies on the State to impose its cultural agenda on an increasingly resentful mass at least that proportion of the mass not on the State pay roll, admittedly a decreasing proportion. Having said all that, if we winnow out perhaps seven out of ten of the anarcho-intellectuals as either faith-based essentialists and we include the Hegelians or narcissistic imposers of their values and personality on the world, we are left with some good people and good thinking. The American Paul Goodman stood out in this respect. And it was good to see Foucault briefly included as gad fly. There is real value in anarchism but not as praxis or ideology. Its value lies in it being a reminder of the core value to humanity of personal autonomy and of individuation. People of anarchist bent would do much better to hold their noses and engage with the political process and the State through improved organization, if only to halt the growing power of authoritarian Leftists, fascists and religious believers. Camus' concept of rebellion as preferable to revolution holds water here - we can all constantly rebel against the unwarranted demands and claims of others. The final pages of the book raise issues with anarchism as practical politics but by this time we have all made our mind up — either we are anarchists or we are not. I am not — more so after reading the book than before. My initial sympathies dissipated chapter by chapter as I realized that I would be filled with a terminal boredom by these men and their utopias. Anarchists are too often people who have lost their sense of reality, equally as much as the religious types they claim to despise. In some cases horror of horrors! Any politics that has a place for invented beings and universal consciousnesses must be considered dangerous and yet a small minority of anarchists persist in this sort of flummery. Like Marxism, anarchism can be religion by other means and so deeply dangerous to non-believers in the long run. Nevertheless, this book is strongly recommended as a sound guide to what anarchists have thought in the past and what they did in history. View all 10 comments. Neither do you have to finish reading this book to rate it, nor do you have to be an anarchist to love it. Peter Marshall is really a hell of a good writer. His profound account of anarchism is rare and almost unique. I was not that much enthusiastic about the book in the beginning, when Professor Chomsky recommended it among some others as essential readings on Anarchism, but after I read almost pages out of the , I would be mistaken if not recommending it to whoever may be concerned. It Neither do you have to finish reading this book to rate it, nor do you have to be an anarchist to love it. It is not just a "Political Philosophy" book, but a profound cultural account for the rise of one of the most controversial western schools of thought May 15, Steven Peterson rated it really liked it. This is a wide ranging overview of the political theory of anarchism. In that endeavor, it is similar in scope to Woodcock's esteemed volume. The work begins by defining the subject. The second part explores forerunners of anarchism--from the east to the Greeks and so on. Part 4? Classic anarchist thinkers, such as Godwin, Stirner, Proudhon, Bakunin, and so on. Part five focuses This is a wide ranging overview of the political theory of anarchism. Part five focuses on anarchism in action--its manifestations in different countries e. It concludes with discussions of modern anarchism and the legacy of this perspective. A book that tries to cover so much risks being a mild wide and an inch deep. There is some of that, of course, but the book would prove a useful introduction to readers interested in the subject. May 14, Michael Schmidt rated it liked it Shelves: anarchism. I have to give credit where it is due, and when I picked up Peter Marshall's Demanding the Impossible at Adams' Books in Durban the symbol on its s concrete facade was a red Circle-A back in the early s, it was the first book I had laid hands on that attempted a global synopsis of anarchist thought and action. In many ways, it was hugely influential on me as a young anarchist and lead to my own studies into the history of the anarchist movement and its mass-organisational expressions, I have to give credit where it is due, and when I picked up Peter Marshall's Demanding the Impossible at Adams' Books in Durban the symbol on its s concrete facade was a red Circle-A back in the early s, it was the first book I had laid hands on that attempted a global synopsis of anarchist thought and action.