This is the 50th anniversary of the publication of IN DEFENSE OF ANARCHISM. Over the years that little book has been translated a number of times, not only into the usual European languages but also into Korean and Malaysian. It was first translated into Italian in 1973 and today in the mail I received two copies of a new Italian translation published by ELEUTHERIA.. It costs €14 which doesn't seem exorbitant. I have long thought that if I am remembered for anything after my death it will be for that little work which I wrote, as I have remarked here before, for the $500 advance, which I used to pay somewhat more than one month of psychoanalyst bills back in the day.
It is nice to be remembered.
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ReplyDeleteCongratulations on that milestone, Bob. Bas van der Vossen and I describe it this way, in our "Philosophical Anarchism" entry in Oxford Bibliographies Online: "This charming little book is the classical presentation of a radical anarchist thesis: that political authority is fundamentally unjustifiable because it is incompatible with individual autonomy. Wolff’s book kicked off a large debate. Written in an accessible style, and stimulating throughout, this book is appropriate for classes at any level. Second edition published in 1998."
ReplyDelete"Charming...little" is not condescending: it is an homage.
Congratulations on the success of your book. I agree that anarchism is the ideal form of government, but...
ReplyDeleteI wonder if today in the age of Covid 19, Trump, armed rightwing militias, anti-vaxxers, Mark Zuckerberg, etc. you still see yourself as an anarchist.
When I look at the world, the U.S. included, I see an almost Hobbesian need for strong government, democratically elected, yes, with checks and balances, yes, with a socialist or at least traditionally social democratic (by traditional, I mean pre-Tony Blair) economic structure, yes, with a police force trained and educated to use non-violence as much as possible and to respect human rights absolutely, yes, but finally, with a police force.
You may know this, but your book has been included in the Oxford Handbook of Classics in Contemporary Theory, with an entry written by Anna Stilz, so it should be remembered for awhile.
ReplyDeleteAnd S. Wallerstein may want to read about police abolition to see how the world could exist without police.
Your article in The Massachusetts Review, “How to Read Das Kapital,” has, it should be noted, a 40th anniversary this year. Apart from being elegantly written, it puts forth what I regard as the first cogent and definitive analysis of Marx’s theory of knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI'll second the article mentioned by Michael above. You can read the abstract here: https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198717133.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780198717133-e-7 (and see the rest of the contents, if you click back a bit.) It's a very nicely done article, and worthy of the book. Stilz is one of the best people doing political philosophy these days, so having her write on it is an indication of importance.
ReplyDeleteSomeone called my attention to the Anna Stilz piece and I actually exchanged emails with her. Because I stopped reading "the literature" 40 years ago, to my great shame, I was completely unaware of the fact that my little book has had an effect on the field of political theory, although I figured people were still reading it because it kept selling. My son, Tobias, in addition to all of his other professional activities has made it his mission in life to assure me that I am not totally forgotten. What more can one ask from a son, after all?
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