Illegalism

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Illegalism is a historical anarchist movement of the early 20th century in France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland that viewed illegal actions as permissible revolutionary acts.

Overview

The movement is not easy to distinguish from banditry. Burglary and theft were considered effective practices. The goals were property and resources of wealthy landowners, entrepreneurs, politicians and clergy. Illegalism was celebrated as a way of life and developed against the background of individual anarchism based on Max Stirner and his egoism and broke with philosophical traditions of anarchist theory as expressed by Clément Duval and Marius Jacob , who cited theft as a possibility for redistribution . Illegalism replaced the higher ideals in favor of morally free satisfaction of personal needs as the materially disadvantaged.

background

In his boudoir philosophy , de Sade ponders theft as a way of meeting personal needs and criticizes the distribution of goods in society. Theft is interpreted here as a legitimate reaction of a higher natural law against the social order, which disadvantages the weak and poor.

Protagonists

There were different illegalists with different methods. The best known are Jules Bonnot and his Bonnot gang and Georges Darien .

criticism

Support for illegalism was highly controversial and was particularly rejected in the anarchist milieu by those who put anarcho-syndicalism and its relationship to the struggle of the labor movement over individualistic actionism. Socialists argued that illegalism copied capitalist mentality and had a strong drive towards nihilism .

After his imprisonment for harboring members of the Bonnot gang, Victor Serge , who had previously supported illegalism, became a sharp opponent. In the memories of a revolutionary , he compared it to "collective suicide". Marius Jacob argued similarly in 1948: "I do not believe that illegalism can set the individual free in today's society ... Basically, illegalism as an act of rebellion is more a matter of temperament than of political doctrine."

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Memoirs of a Revolutionary , by Victor Serge as of February 3, 2008
  2. ↑ Doug Imrie (Ed.): The "Illegalists" ; ( Memento of March 10, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) in: Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed ; As of February 3, 2008

See also

literature

  • Max Nettlau : Anarchists and Social Revolutionaries. The historical development of anarchism in the years 1880-1886. (= History of Anarchy; Vol. 3) Thélème Library, Münster 1996 ISBN 3-930819-06-6

Web links