ANARCHY AND THE INTERNET

FALL 1999

SYLLABUS AND READINGS

Political Studies 155
Dana Ward
Avery 201
Tues & Thurs: 2:45
Office
A207
Extension 73177
Email dward@pitzer.edu
Office Hours
MWF 9:00-10:00
Thur: 1:00-2:00
Or by appointment

Although unintended, the internet is the quintessential example of a large scale anarchist organization. There is no hierarchical authority controlling the internet, the subunits participate voluntarily, information flows freely, individuals join and exit associations at will. Since the internet also contains abundant information about anarchism, it is the perfect medium for a course on the political history and theory of anarchism. Originally this course was designed following a "content based approach to internet literacy" and involved active learning. In previous offerings of this course you did not need to have any internet skills at the beginning of the course. Now, because the computing environment at Pitzer has proven to be so unstable, I have been forced to limit enrollments and require that students already know html in order to take the course. Consequently, the emphasis this semester will be more on anarchism, less on the internet.

Each week we will study a different anarchist theorist or movement and each week you will prepare material to be posted on the internet dealing with classical anarchism. Just as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, the first theorist to call himself an anarchist, acquired much of his education as a by-product of working as a printer, you will learn what the classic anarchists had to say as you prepare their words for publication on the World Wide Web. Although there are two texts for the course, much of the reading will consist of material already on the WWW and material you will scan and mark-up for electronic publication in the "Anarchy Archives".

Class sessions will consist of lectures, workshops, discussions, and perhaps internet video conferencing with scholars who have written about the history and theory of anarchism.

Traditionally, teachers control students' behavior by establishing a hierarchy based on the power to grade. The result is that most students pursue grades rather than knowledge. Anarchists have approached education in an entirely different manner. Anarchists believe that in all spheres, including education, "more harm than good results from coercion, top-down direction, central authority...pre-ordained standardisation..., etc." (Goodman, 1987, "The Anarchist Principle", in A Decade of Anarchy, ed. Colin Ward, p. 38. Also see Godwin, Political Justice, Book IV, Chapter 5, appendix.) Anarchists still recognize the value of leadership and expertise, but leadership and expertise must be separated from the exercise of power in order to avoid the deleterious and corrosive effects of coercion. Accordingly, in this course, evaluation will not result in a grade. As elaborated upon below, all students enrolled in the course will receive an "A" on their transcript. In this course, evaluation will be solely for the purpose of edification, and will be reserved strictly for participating members of the course collective.

The practice of anarchy requires order and moral integrity. Although adherence to anarchism is by no means a requirement of the course, order and integrity are necessary values to maintain if the course is to be a success. To meet these requirements, by voluntarily enrolling in this course and thereby becoming a member of the course collective, you have agreed to attend class sessions, make weekly contributions to the "Anarchy Archives", do the weekly reading for the course on a regular basis, and by the end of the semester 1) produce one scholarly work on any topic in the history and theory of anarchism. If at any time during the semester you wish to leave the course collective, you may do so simply by dropping the class. If you choose to leave the course collective after the official add/drop period you will receive a "WP" (withdraw passing) grade on your transcript. If at any time during the semester you fail to meet the requirements of membership in the course collective, you may be asked to withdraw from the course. If you fail to withdraw from the course after being asked to withdraw, you will receive an "F" for the course on your transcript. Coming to the second class meeting constitutes agreement to these terms.

By eliminating traditional grading from the internal structure of the course I hope to create the possibility of a truly collective learning experience. Hopefully, this will create an environment in which we participate in the class activities for the intrinsic pleasure of learning, not the fear of a plummeting GPA. While grading has been eliminated, work has not. Perhaps by removing the drudgery of grades, room can be made to experience the joy of productive work. The class is designed in such a way that we will all be able to make real contributions to others' potential for learning, at the same time that we learn ourselves. How much we each learn will depend upon how much effort we each put into the course. On that note, I should make it clear that I have no interest in providing a refuge for those in need of a GPA fix. Therefore, you will be expected to make an effort to participate in the class. If you do not make that effort, you will be wasting not only your time, but other members' time as well and you will be asked to drop the course. Taking this class, therefore, should not be done lightly. The basic activities of the course are elaborated upon below, including descriptions of the "bare minimum" for meeting course expectations.

Readings

There are two books (together about 900 pages) you will definitely read during the semester and should purchase:

Marshall, Peter.  (1993), Demanding the Impossible: A History of
 	Anarchism.  London: Fontana Press. 
Bookchin, Murray (1977). The Spanish Anarchists. New York:
 	Harper and Row.
There will also be occasional articles or chapters in books that will need to be read. These will be on reserve or online. In short, actual assigned readings are relatively modest, i.e., generally less than 100 pages a week. Each week, however, there will be additional reading necessary to make your contribution to the Anarchy Archives and to produce the scholarly work due by the end of the semester. The reading list will contain extensive bibliographies from which you can select additional reading material.

Archive Contributions

Beginning the second week of classes, you will each be expected to make weekly contributions to the Anarchy Archives. These contributions can be articles, graphics, sections of books, and bibliographic sources or redesigned sections of the Archives. All contributions must be free from any copyright. To avoid duplication of effort, a list of "Works in Progress" will be kept and should be consulted and "up-dated" before beginning to prepare any work for electronic publication. To select material, refer to the bibliographic resources on the syllabus below and then make sure the material you select is not already part of "Works in Progress". Any uncopyrighted material included among the bibliographic resources which is not hotlinked already and not listed in Works in Progress is suitable material for the archive. For people who have not chosen works to contribute, material to be scanned will be allocated and/or distributed in the Tuesday classes. I have worked out a relationship with the International Institute for Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam, the largest repository of radical literature in the world, by which we will be able to mark up matriels from IISH and also work on a special online exhibit for IISH. If you wish, after your contribution has been posted in the archives, you may register your contribution on the Contributors Page. As a general rule of thumb, a minimum of three hours per week should be spent preparing each contribution.

Scholarly Work

Mere assimilation of material, without an attempt to analyze, synthesize, and recapitulate the material, is mere intellectual wheel spinning. It takes you no where. Consequently, you are expected to try to put together an intellectual product dealing with some topic in the history and theory of anarchism. You should be working on this project at least by the beginning of October. You will be expected to consult with me about this project regularly throughout the semester. I will provide as much feedback and evaluation of the project as I possibly can to make your project a success. You will also share your work with other members of the course collective who will also provide feedback, as you will for their work. What form this work takes is up to you. It may be a written article or any other form of reproducible intellectual communication. Examples of previous final projects can be found here.

Useful Software

There are a number of software applications which you will find useful for work in this course. Much of the software is available on campus, almost all of it is freeware or shareware. Below are two lists with links to the software you will need for the course. Clicking the link will download a copy of the software.

DIRECT DOWNLOADS
MAC WINDOWS
Anarchie (FTP Client)
BBeditLite (HTML Editor)
StuffIt Lite 3.6 (Utility)
Fetch (FTP Client)
Graphic Converter (Graphics Utility)
ircle (Chat Client)
rtftohtml (Word to Web Utility)
Stuffit Expander (Utility)
NCSA Telnet (Telnet Client)
The InFORMer (translates form data)
Turbo Gopher (Gopher Client)
WebColor (HTML Color Assistant)
WebMap (Creates Interactive Maps)
CRT (Telnet Client)
CuteFTP (FTP Client)
EOHex (Color Picker)
FreeAgent (News Reader)
FTPVoyager (FTP client)
HGopher (Gopher Client)
Mapedit (Creates Interactive Maps)
Stuffit Expander (Utility)
Trumptel (Telnet Client)
UltraEdit (HTML Editor)
WinZip (Utility)
wsircc20 (Chat Client)

To keep track of your assignments you can search the
Anarchy and the Internet Records


READINGS

The required readings are listed below in green type.

Aug 31: Orientation


OVERVIEW
Bibliographic Resources

Sept 2: Marshall, P. (1993), Demanding the Impossible: A History
of Anarchism, pp. ix-xv, 3-50.

ANARCHIST ROOTS
 

Sept 7: Marshall, P., pp. 53-139.

Lecture Notes

GODWIN AND HIS TIME
Bibliographic Resources

Sept 9: Marshall, P., pp. 191-219.

GODWIN'S PHILOSOPHY
 

Sept 14: Godwin, Political Justice, Book III, Chapter 6, "Of Obedience.
Godwin, Political Justice, Book VIII, "Of Property", Chapter 1,
Godwin, Political Justice, Book VIII, Chapter 2, Principles of Property.


PROUDHON AND HIS TIME
Bibliographic Resources

Sept 16: Marshall, P., pp. 234-262.

PROUDHON'S PHILOSOPHY
 

Sept 21: Proudhon, What Is Property?, Chapter 2


BAKUNIN AND HIS TIME
Bibliographic Resources

Sept 23: Marshall, P., pp. 263-308.

BAKUNIN'S PHILOSOPHY
 

Sept 28: Bakunin, M., The Immorality of the State


THE PARIS COMMUNE, SOCIALISM AND ANARCHISM
Bibliographic Resources
 

Sept 30: Kropotkin, P., "The Commune of Paris."
Edwards, S., The Communards of Paris, 1871, "Introduction," pp. 9-42 (on reserve)


THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL
Bibliographic Resources

Oct 5: Rocker, R. "The Forerunners of Syndicalism", chapter 3 of
Anarcho-Syndicalism


KROPOTKIN AND HIS TIME
Bibliographic Resources

Oct 7: Marshall, P., pp. 309-338.

KROPOTKIN'S PHILOSOPHY

Oct 12: Kropotkin, Mutual Aid, Introduction


EMMA GOLDMAN'S LIFE & TIMES
Bibliographic Resources

Oct 14: Marshall, P., pp. 396-409.

EMMA GOLDMAN'S PHILOSOPHY
 

Oct 21: Emma Goldman, Marriage and Love, in Anarchism and
Other Essays  (1911), pp. 233-245.


STIRNER, MALATESTA, TOLSTOY,AND OTHERS
Bibliographic Resources

Oct 26: Marshall, P., pp. 220-233, 339-344, 345-361, 362-383,
410-421.


THE IMPACT OF NINETEENTH CENTURY ANARCHISM
 

Oct 28: Kropotkin, P., "Anarchism", from the 1910 Encyclopaedia
Britannica.


ANARCHISM AND THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
Bibliographic Resources

Nov 2: Marshall, P., pp. 469-478.


ANARCHISM IN THE CHINESE REVOLUTIONS
Bibliographic Resources

Nov 4: Dirlik, A. "The Anarchist Alternative in Chinese Socialism",
in Anarchism in the Chinese Revolution, pp. 197-247 (on reserve).


US ANARCHISM
Bibliographic Resources

Nov 9: Marshall, P., pp. 384-395. 496-503.


EUROPEAN ANARCHISM
 

Nov 11: Marshall, P., pp. 431-452, 479-495.


THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR
Bibliographic Resources

Nov 16: Marshall, P., pp. 453-468.
Murray Bookchin, The Spanish Anarchists, pp. 1-109.

THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

Nov 18: Murray Bookchin, pp. 111-251.

THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

Nov 23: Murray Bookchin, pp. 254-313.


LATIN AMERICAN ANARCHISM
ASIAN ANARCHISM
 

Nov 30: Marshall, P., pp. 505-518, 519-535.


ANARCHIST POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

Dec 2: DeLeon, D. "For democracy where we work:
a rationale for social self-management",
Malina, J., "Anarchists and the pro-hierarchical left", both in Reinventing Anarchy, Ehrlich, H.J., Ehrlich, C., DeLeon, D., and Morris, G. (eds.). (on reserve)


ANARCHIST SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Dec 7: Marshall, P., pp. 539-558, 587-601, 602-622.


THE CONTINUING CHALLENGE:
CONTEMPORARY ANARCHISM

Dec 9: Marshall, P., pp. 625-665.