Poetica Pavonis
Poetica Pavonis
Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm an anarchist.
Sort of. I think. Maybe?
I call myself an anarchist- an anarcho-communist, if I'm being specific- but the truth is, I don't have much in the way of actual knowledge on the subject. Everything I know is pieced together secondhand from podcasts, YouTube videos, memes, and a heaping teaspoon of "how I reckon' things are," and while I feel fairly confident in saying that I know more about anarchy than the layperson, I'm missing some of the theoretical foundations.
So, with Christmas in the rear view, I've decided to make 2026 an educational year, starting off with a reading of Errico Malatesta's Anarchy. And to make things more fun, I've decided to blog my way through it, both to make myself write down my reflections and to invite discussion! I'll be reading through an English translation, available for free here at the Anarchist Library, and sharing my thoughts here, one chapter at a time. I invite those interested to read along, and I'd love to hear people's thoughts as we go.
First, a bit of background on the man himself. Errico Malatesta was an Italian writer and political theorist active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in 1853, before the unification of Italy, he would die in 1932 having witnessed the rise of Mussolini's fascist regime. The intervening years he would spend variously writing, organizing labor efforts, being imprisoned for writing and/or organizing labor efforts, and fleeing countries. Anarchy (originally L'Anarchia) was first published as an essay in 1891. Years of work organizing in support of labor causes around the world meant that Malatesta was already well known among early Anarchists. As a result, Anarchy was widely read and became the foundation of much subsequent anarchist thought. Which is why I'm reading it- I fully intend to continue my education beyond this essay, and it seems like a good jumping-off point into the wider world of anarchy.
Prelude out of the way. Onto the text itself, starting with, believe it or not,
Not very anarchist of you, Errico, but I'll give you a pass. Maybe it was better in Italian.
Like all good essays, Malatesta starts us off with some definitions. Right off the bat, we've got:
Anarchy - which he defines simply as living without government. Straightforward enough. You'd think that's the whole book sorted but turns out, there's more to it. For instance, what is a government, anyway?
Government (or State) - Malatesta describes government as a system in which some people are entrusted with the responsibility of managing society, and, in exchange, they are elevated above the general population. It shouldn't be that hard to conceptualize- it's how most of us live today. Obviously, as an anarchist, Malatesta is not altogether happy with this system.
Despite sometimes being used interchangeably, there is a difference between the two- Malatesta refers to the State as the "abstract expression" which is "personified by Government." It's the difference between the Concept of A Car and your old Toyota- one is an idea, the other is concrete.
Malatesta acknowledges these definitions aren't quite universal. For instance, in most people the word "anarchy" conjures up images of chaos in the streets, destruction and discord. This presents a barrier to proponents of the actual system of anarchy, as well as a convenient target of attacks for opponents to exploit. (I pause here to note how Malatesta describes people unfamiliar with these nuances as "people whose unhappy social situation has not given them the opportunity to accustom themselves to the subtle distinctions of scientific language." Perhaps it's the translation, but it captures a remarkable level of both consideration and condescenscion that only writers of this era could manage.