Ideologies: Anarchism - The world that never was

There is an excellent Review by John Gray of Alex Butterworth’s book - The World That Never Was: a True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists and Secret Agents.

Here is an exerpt:

“The problem faced by those who want to build a new future for humanity is that they have to start in the flawed world that exists at present. Revolutionaries cannot help being compromised by the power structures they aim to overthrow. If they are to pose a challenge to the prevailing order, they need to protect themselves against repression and subversion by the state. When they organise to defend themselves, they soon come to resemble the state in secrecy and ruthlessness. The revolutionaries’ dilemma is clear: either they remain high-mindedly pure and impotent, or they end up as repressive as the regime they are fighting, if not more so.

Nothing illustrates this quandary more clearly than the anarchist movement in the late 19th and early 20th century. “Anarchism’s ultimate aim was to usher in a society of human beings, a heaven on earth in which harmonious coexistence was achieved without coercion or the imposition of distant authority, but rather arose out of each individual’s enlightened recognition of their mutual respect and dependency.” This is the anarchist ideal, as described by Alex Butterworth in one of the most absorbing depictions of the dark underside of radical politics in many years.”
Click here for the full review.