Now and After: The ABC of Communist Anarchism

In 1929, nearing the end of his tumultuous life as anarchist firebrand, prisoner, author, agitator, organizer, and political exile from both the U.S. and Russia (a career concisely related in the introduction by Barry Pateman), Berkman published a final work that set out to take his message beyond the intelligentsia by communicating directly to the workers. In clear, jargon-free language, he outlines an incisive critique of the capitalist system and its attendant evils, together with the shortcomings of socialism and Bolshevism, laying out a hard-won vision of human progress toward a new social order based on mutual interest, tolerance, and collective action. Berkman’s ardent belief is that if the proletariat can see through the corrosive, zero-sum paradigm, capitalism will surely join the divine right of kings and the institution of enslavement on the ash heap of history. His tone is occasionally pedantic, and many will disagree with his highly aspirational conclusions, yet even the most skeptical reader will benefit from Berkman’s methodical explication of an often-vilified ideology.