LAW AND
ANARCHISM
edited by
Thom Holterman and
Henc van Maarseveen“1984 is a good year to read these perceptive essays on law
and justice in anarchist thought. Lawyers should read it too... an
anarchist understanding of law and its structures must increase the
chance that justice will be done, in and out o f court. ’ ’
Clayton Ruby, lawyer
Law and anarchism are usually seen as being diametrical
opposites, but in this intriguing collection of essays the
editors make the case that anarchism cannot ignore and avoid
law and that jurisprudence cannot be disregarded.
The contributors deal with law in a wide sociological
sense as the totality of rules of all sorts which exist in a
society. Charging that the absolute rejection of law has laid
anarchists open to the most absurd charges, the editors have
gathered a wealth of reflections on the sources of social
authority arising from a revolution based on anarchist
principles.
What is the relation between the organized sanction of a
self-governing organization and the notion of law? What is
the relationship between direct action and the law and how
can direct action change the law in such a way as to promote
anarchist ideas and the anarchist society?
Contents include: Introduction by Clayton Ruby; Thoughts
on an Anarchist Theory of Law and the State; Anarchism
and the Theory of Political Law; Anarchism and Legal Rules;
Direct Action, Law and Anarchism; Natural Right in the
Political Philosophy of P.J. Proudhon; and Kropotkin on
Law.
Professors Holterman and van Maarseveen teach at the
Faculty of Social Science, Erasmus University, Rotterdam.216 pages
Paperback ISBN: 0-919619-08-9 $12.95
Hardcover ISBN: 0-919619-10-X $22.95
Law/Philosophy/Politics