Anarchism and Other Essays

by Emma Goldman

The title says it all, this is a collection of essays written by Emma Goldman in the early 20th century. Goldman popularized anarchism in America and Western Europe during her lifetime. Here are some of her most popular pieces thrown together. It includes a long preface that extols Goldman while at the same time criticizing the society in which she lived.

As a person, Emma Goldman has my respect for the difficulties she lived through and her unwavering pursuit of justice. During her life, she was a leading light for liberty and conscience. Nowadays, I think her ideas are less shocking and more mainstream. Her essay on prison reform and her criticism of prisons would hardly be out of place in a moderately left-wing newspaper today; similarly, her thoughts on love, marriage, birth control, and patriotism.

Her pieces are propaganda. So what they lack in depth, they try to make up for in sensationalism. More or less, this corresponds to the popular writing of the day.

I would not recommend reading this collection since the ideas won’t be new. If you are studying something particular about the history of Anarchism or Feminism, however, reading the essays might be worthwhile. But for the general reader, there is nothing to be gained here that a quick look on Goldman’s Wikipedia page wouldn’t give you.

Did you read this collection? What did you think? Would you recommend these essays to someone, if so, why?