WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE FRANCE - news journal UPDATE - (en) France, UCL AL #361 - Culture - Read: Pierre Ansart, "Birth of Anarchism, Outline of a Sociological Explanation of Proudhonism" (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Should one read Pierre Ansart's book on Proudhon? If we refer to the

latter, reflexes of rejection might emerge, particularly in relation to
his stance on women; if we turn to Marx's critique of him, the
condemnation of the petit bourgeois is unequivocal. But with a little
intellectual curiosity, overcoming these initial repulsions allows us to
discover another reading of Pierre-Joseph. In this work, Pierre Ansart
offers a sociological approach to Proudhon's work, a rereading in light
of the economic realities of the 1830s and beyond. The book, entitled
"Birth of Anarchism," only addresses this issue at the end. The first
part paints an economic portrait of France at the time, its rurality,
the emergence of the first capitalist concentrations, and, in between,
the workshops and crafts so dear to Proudhon. These socioeconomic
changes and their consequences for the working-class, peasant, and
artisanal populations are broadly discussed, as well as the massive
emergence of a declassed, underpaid, and overexploited population: women
and children. The book attempts to transcribe these working-class voices
into simple terms, and very quickly addresses the crucial questions of
the political capacity of the working class, mutualism, association, and
revolution. If a historical connection were needed, it would be more
reminiscent of the early days of the First International, before the
break with Marx and the advocates of the primacy of partisan political
action.

Pierre Ansart can hardly be accused of misunderstanding Marx or
Proudhon, to whom he devoted several writings. The preface to the book
is by Freddy Gomez, who reminds us that Pierre Ansart wanted to
"confront the work of Marx with that of Proudhon 'outside of any
partisan polemic and as honestly as possible.'" The introductory note on
the back cover perfectly sums up the objective of this book: "slandered
by Marx, misled by the far right, neglected by libertarians themselves,
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, the founder of anarchism, remains unloved,
almost unknown today."

The grandiloquence of the note-"masterful essay," "quintessence of his
social thought"-might put off the reader. It's better to stick to what
follows: the rejection of capitalism, of all-out mechanization, of this
system of exploitation. And this testimony to the worlds of the workshop
and the small factory, of this worker-artisan who mastered a skill and a
way of being. It is the world of the silk workers and not that of the
petty bourgeoisie. This does not erase the errors of judgment, the snap
judgments, that Proudhon could utter. His complex and tangled writings
are not always easy to navigate, but they are the historical trace of a
search for new social configurations capable of allowing the emergence
of an authentic working-class voice, with all its complexity and all its
wanderings.

Dominique Sureau (UCL Angers)

Pierre Ansart, Naissance de l'anarchisme, Esquisse d'une explication
sociologique du proudhonisme, L'Échappée, 2025 (reissue of the work
published by PUF in 1970), 384 pages, 22 euros.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Lire-Pierre-Ansart-Naissance-de-l-anarchisme-Esquisse-d-une-explication
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