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The Conquest of Bread and Other Writings
The Conquest of Bread is Peter Kropotkin's most detailed description of the ideal society, embodying anarchist communism, and of the social revolution that was to achieve it. Marshall Shatz's introduction to this edition traces Kropotkin's evolution as an anarchist, from his origins in the Russian aristocracy to his disillusionment with the Russian Revolution. The volume also includes a number of his shorter writings, including a hitherto untranslated chapter from his classic Memoirs of a Revolutionist.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published August 25, 1995
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About the author
Pyotr Kropotkin
297 books960 followersPyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (Пётр Алексеевич Кропоткин, other spelling: Pëtr Kropotkin, Pierre Kropotkine), who described him as "a man with a soul of that beautiful white Christ which seems coming out of Russia." He wrote many books, pamphlets and articles, the most prominent being The Conquest of Bread and Fields, Factories and Workshops, and his principal scientific offering, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution. He was also a contributor to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
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November 18, 2011[Read online at http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_... ]
Treads some of the same ground as "Fields, Factories and Workshops", definitely worth a read. Again, Kropotkin impresses me with his prescience about so many of the issues that we grapple with today. What follows below is less of a review than it is a collection of quotations:
As a frequent teacher of thermodynamics, I appreciated (and will attest to) his statement that the field was first really "invented" by the engineers, and only turned into a "science" after the fact. Kropotkin states this in eloquence with statements like: "Not until thousands of steam-engines had been working for years before all eyes, constantly transforming heat into dynamic force, and this force into sound, light, and electricity, could the insight of genius proclaim the mechanical origin and the unity of the physical forces."
"Science and industry, knowledge and application, discovery and practical realization leading to new discoveries, cunning of brain and of hand, toil of mind and muscle--all work together. Each discovery, each advance, each increase in the sum of human riches, owes its being to the physical and mental travail of the past and the present.By what right then can any one whatever appropriate the least morsel of this immense whole and say--This is mine, not yours?"
It seems that his criticism is as valid today. While our elected officials bemoan 'unemployment', clearly our society has no shortage of 'work' to be done to create a just and bountiful society: "The result of this state of things is that all our production tends in a wrong direction. Enterprise takes no thought for the needs of the community. Its only aim is to increase the gains of the speculator. Hence the constant fluctuations of trade, the periodical industrial crises, each of which throws scores of thousands of workers on the streets."
Kropotkin even touches upon what we would now consider "patent reform": "All things are for all. Here is an immense stock of tools and implements; here are all those iron slaves which we call machines, which saw and plane, spin and weave for us, unmaking and remaking, working up raw matter to produce the marvels of our time. But nobody has the right to seize a single one of these machines and say, "This is mine; if you want to use it you must pay me a tax on each of your products," any more than the feudal lord of medieval times had the right to say to the peasant, "This hill, this meadow belong to me, and you must pay me a tax on every sheaf of corn you reap, on every rick you build."
All is for all! If the man and the woman bear their fair share of work, they have a right to their fair share of all that is produced by all, and that share is enough to secure them well-being. No more of such vague formulas as "The Right to work," or "To each the whole result of his labour." What we proclaim is THE RIGHT TO WELL-BEING: WELL-BEING FOR ALL!" "
And this resonates with me: "Enough! We have enough coal and bread and raiment ! Let us rest and consider how best to use our powers, how best to employ our leisure."
Kropotkin on Hackerspaces!: "At St. Petersburg, if you are pursuing an invention, you go into a special laboratory or a workshop, where you are given a place, a carpenter's bench, a turning lathe, all the necessary tools and scientific instruments, provided only you know how to use them; and you are allowed to work there as long as you please. There are the tools; interest others in your idea, join with fellow workers skilled in various crafts, or work alone if you prefer it. Invent a flying machine, or invent nothing--that is your own affair. You are pursuing an idea--that is enough."
"In a word, the system is this: no stint or limit to what the community possesses in abundance, but equal sharing and dividing of those commodities which are scarce or apt to run short."
"But we expect more from the Revolution. We see that the worker compelled to struggle painfully for bare existence, is reduced to ignorance of these higher delights, the highest within man's reach, of science, and especially of scientific discovery; of art, and especially of artistic creation. It is in order to obtain these joys for all, which are now reserved to a few; in order to give leisure and the possibility of developing intellectual capacities, that the social revolution must guarantee daily bread to all. After bread has been secured, leisure is the supreme aim."
Kropotkin on the end of newspapers as a business (a proto-blogger?): "Literature and journalism will cease to be a means of money-making and living at the cost of others. But is there any one who knows literature and journalism from within, and who does not ardently desire that literature should at last be able to free itself from those who formerly protected it, and who now exploit it, and from the multitude which with rare exceptions pays it in proportion to its mediocrity, or to the ease with which it adapts itself to the bad taste of the greater number?"
Treads some of the same ground as "Fields, Factories and Workshops", definitely worth a read. Again, Kropotkin impresses me with his prescience about so many of the issues that we grapple with today. What follows below is less of a review than it is a collection of quotations:
As a frequent teacher of thermodynamics, I appreciated (and will attest to) his statement that the field was first really "invented" by the engineers, and only turned into a "science" after the fact. Kropotkin states this in eloquence with statements like: "Not until thousands of steam-engines had been working for years before all eyes, constantly transforming heat into dynamic force, and this force into sound, light, and electricity, could the insight of genius proclaim the mechanical origin and the unity of the physical forces."
"Science and industry, knowledge and application, discovery and practical realization leading to new discoveries, cunning of brain and of hand, toil of mind and muscle--all work together. Each discovery, each advance, each increase in the sum of human riches, owes its being to the physical and mental travail of the past and the present.By what right then can any one whatever appropriate the least morsel of this immense whole and say--This is mine, not yours?"
It seems that his criticism is as valid today. While our elected officials bemoan 'unemployment', clearly our society has no shortage of 'work' to be done to create a just and bountiful society: "The result of this state of things is that all our production tends in a wrong direction. Enterprise takes no thought for the needs of the community. Its only aim is to increase the gains of the speculator. Hence the constant fluctuations of trade, the periodical industrial crises, each of which throws scores of thousands of workers on the streets."
Kropotkin even touches upon what we would now consider "patent reform": "All things are for all. Here is an immense stock of tools and implements; here are all those iron slaves which we call machines, which saw and plane, spin and weave for us, unmaking and remaking, working up raw matter to produce the marvels of our time. But nobody has the right to seize a single one of these machines and say, "This is mine; if you want to use it you must pay me a tax on each of your products," any more than the feudal lord of medieval times had the right to say to the peasant, "This hill, this meadow belong to me, and you must pay me a tax on every sheaf of corn you reap, on every rick you build."
All is for all! If the man and the woman bear their fair share of work, they have a right to their fair share of all that is produced by all, and that share is enough to secure them well-being. No more of such vague formulas as "The Right to work," or "To each the whole result of his labour." What we proclaim is THE RIGHT TO WELL-BEING: WELL-BEING FOR ALL!" "
And this resonates with me: "Enough! We have enough coal and bread and raiment ! Let us rest and consider how best to use our powers, how best to employ our leisure."
Kropotkin on Hackerspaces!: "At St. Petersburg, if you are pursuing an invention, you go into a special laboratory or a workshop, where you are given a place, a carpenter's bench, a turning lathe, all the necessary tools and scientific instruments, provided only you know how to use them; and you are allowed to work there as long as you please. There are the tools; interest others in your idea, join with fellow workers skilled in various crafts, or work alone if you prefer it. Invent a flying machine, or invent nothing--that is your own affair. You are pursuing an idea--that is enough."
"In a word, the system is this: no stint or limit to what the community possesses in abundance, but equal sharing and dividing of those commodities which are scarce or apt to run short."
"But we expect more from the Revolution. We see that the worker compelled to struggle painfully for bare existence, is reduced to ignorance of these higher delights, the highest within man's reach, of science, and especially of scientific discovery; of art, and especially of artistic creation. It is in order to obtain these joys for all, which are now reserved to a few; in order to give leisure and the possibility of developing intellectual capacities, that the social revolution must guarantee daily bread to all. After bread has been secured, leisure is the supreme aim."
Kropotkin on the end of newspapers as a business (a proto-blogger?): "Literature and journalism will cease to be a means of money-making and living at the cost of others. But is there any one who knows literature and journalism from within, and who does not ardently desire that literature should at last be able to free itself from those who formerly protected it, and who now exploit it, and from the multitude which with rare exceptions pays it in proportion to its mediocrity, or to the ease with which it adapts itself to the bad taste of the greater number?"
February 4, 2016
A seemingly much-ignored classic--Kropotkin here lays out the specifics of 'the ideal society,' where labor-time would be vastly reduced, everyone would have necessities provided for, and leisure time would be greatly maximized so as to allow for the greater cultivation of self and community. I, for one, saw many of Kropotkin's claims here echoed in later anarchist works, esp. in those of Ursula Le Guin and Murray Bookchin. Highly recommended--certainly a more constructive account of politics/life than that afforded by standard intro political philosophy texts (Hobbes, Locke, etc.). And yet there seems to be a clear reasoning behind the fact that it isn't presented in such realms....
July 1, 2019
Reviews of political texts are always going to be built on the reader's ideas, as there isn't a lot to interpret and as I have been a communist/anarchist for a long time I wholeheartedly agree with Kropotkin.
July 21, 2017
More fun to read than Das Kapital
July 15, 2019
In this book Kropotkin provides a reasonably solid case for anarchism in late 18th century. With some rudimentary math he proves the plausibility of a 5-hour work day for a sufficient life. There are some optimistic convictions regarding people taking administrative work in their own hands with no centralized entity overseeing it.
Some assumptions were right, namely, in the rapid progress i. technology, which makes Kropotkin's ideas more plausible from the raw production amounts standpoint.
My main questions regarding anarchist communities were left still unanswered, however:
* What would be the logistics in such a society? Granted, production is sufficient, how will it be transported appropriately depending on the needs? Will it force people to live in small self-sufficient communities?
* How does an anarchist nation defend itself from destruction by a statist nation? Is it feasible for an anarchist country to survive with other forms of governance existing?
As for the additional texts, I found it especially interesting finding out about the start of the rift between anarchists and Marxists. It was also very fun to read how Marx was not radical enough for the author of this book, and the absolute thrashing of his "Capital". But after the sensible chuckle I realized how sad it is that the disagreements among the left have deep roots and are very hard to tend.
Some assumptions were right, namely, in the rapid progress i. technology, which makes Kropotkin's ideas more plausible from the raw production amounts standpoint.
My main questions regarding anarchist communities were left still unanswered, however:
* What would be the logistics in such a society? Granted, production is sufficient, how will it be transported appropriately depending on the needs? Will it force people to live in small self-sufficient communities?
* How does an anarchist nation defend itself from destruction by a statist nation? Is it feasible for an anarchist country to survive with other forms of governance existing?
As for the additional texts, I found it especially interesting finding out about the start of the rift between anarchists and Marxists. It was also very fun to read how Marx was not radical enough for the author of this book, and the absolute thrashing of his "Capital". But after the sensible chuckle I realized how sad it is that the disagreements among the left have deep roots and are very hard to tend.
June 2, 2021
It’s completely natural for an introductory book to be written in an accessible way, especially if it aims to invoke ‘revolutionary tendencies’ in the masses, but Kropotkin goes way further than that to the extent that his text looks plain dumb. I always hated when some right-winger accused socialist worldviews to be merely utopian fever dreams but this term could pretty much wrap the whole content of Kropotkin’s text. This being part of the anarchists’ canon, I guess the whole thing is to be considered inconsequential except for probably part of Max Stirner’s essays.
January 20, 2022
Unfortunately, I haven't read the whole book but only about 50% of it. The book lays out some foundamentals on how socialist anarquism could be brought about in society. The book is very well written and lays down an interesting theoretical background. Nonetheless, I believe that this book should be complemented with some more practical approach where the effects of technology developed in the past years is taken into account. Historical events such as the uprising of the USSR should also be taken into account to understand what can (and did) go wrong with a potentially socialist system. Even though Kropotkin did not advocate for anything close to what Lenin and Stalin engendered
December 9, 2012
Life changing book. This is the text that made me an anarcho-communist.
January 10, 2024
Noting the centrality of (then-)modern technology in Kropotkin's ideas about society after revolution, it is obvious that this book would need a thorough update to be relevent in a direct practical sense. However, many of the theoretical and moral foundations of Kropotkin's thinking are insipiring, and many of his predictions and judgements seem to me to have been correct, if not in their entirety, then in principle. The letters to Lenin (featured at the end of the particular edition I read) contain excellent examples of what I mean. The encyclopaedia article on anarchism also authored by Kropotkin, featured as one of his 'other writings' (which I may recommend reading before the rest of the book), as well as his accessible presentation of anarchist ideas in general, have as their result that I don't regret picking this volume as my starting point in satisfying my curiosity for anarchist thought (as I'm no expert, I cannot say that I know this will be true for everyone, of course)
October 18, 2020
A straightforward treatise on how to achieve full anarcho-communism, and for a book written in 1892, it is still so very applicable to the problems we have with an ultra-capitalistic society. A must-read for any comrade!
August 1, 2022
Certified hood classic
November 7, 2022
🍞👨🏭👩💼👷♀️, ❌🏛️, 👩🏿💼👩🏼🔧🎉👨🏾🏭👷
November 3, 2023
Damn. I just realized I'm not that much of a socialist after reading this.
December 29, 2023
Bland de bästa politiska skrifterna jag har läst, och Kropotkin har skrivit mycket bra texter. Speciellt letters to lenin som fanns med i denna samling.
(27/12-23)
(27/12-23)
October 27, 2024
only the conquest of bread
January 13, 2008
The book is an account of Kropotkin's 'anarchist communist' program as it is set apart from those of Alexander Berkman and Errico Malatesta, for instance. Kropotkin's inductive method, for the social sciences, presents the reader with the possibility of large-scale decentralization, but, in a unique take, Kropotkin claims decentraization has in fact already happened despite the fact that the media and books of history, haven't noticed. "Three hundred and fifty million Europeans love or hate one another, work, or live on their incomes; but, apart from literature, theatre, or sport, their lives remain ignored by newspapers if governments have not intervened in some way or other. It is even so with history." A highly underserved theorist, Kropotkin provides the most comprehensive of 19th century accounts of a social-revolutionary program I have read to date.
October 21, 2007
true anarchism, not gutter punk bullshit. Read it and you will want to become a hermit and run away or actually try to change something. Read it and you will understand why the lines continue to deepen under my eyes. read it period.
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May 28, 2021While the ideas contained within are endlessly exciting and engaging, what I found most interesting 130 years after the fact is the positivism exploding from almost every page. His critique of Marx's science not being scientific or axiomatic enough, his 'proofs' that his own system works, etc.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews