1st Edition

Anarchy and Geography Reclus and Kropotkin in the UK

By Federico Ferretti Copyright 2019
    258 Pages
    by Routledge

    258 Pages 7 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book provides a historical account of anarchist geographies in the UK and the implications for current practice. It looks at the works of Frenchman Élisée Reclus (1830–1905) and Russian Pyotr Kropotkin (1842–1921) which were cultivated during their exile in Britain and Ireland.





    Anarchist geographies have recently gained considerable interest across scholarly disciplines. Many aspects of the international anarchist tradition remain little-known and English-speaking scholarship remains mostly impenetrable to authors. Inspired by approaches in historiography and mobilities, this book links print culture and Reclus and Kropotkin’s spheres in Britain and Ireland. The author draws on primary sources, biographical links and political circles to establish the early networks of anarchist geographies. Their social, cultural and geographical context played a decisive role in the formation and dissemination of anarchist ideas on geographies of social inequalities, anti-colonialism, anti-racism, feminism, civil liberties, animal rights and ‘humane’ or humanistic approaches to socialism.





    This book will be relevant to anarchist geographers and is recommended supplementary reading for individuals studying historical geography, history, geopolitics and anti-colonialism.



    Introduction: Alternative Geographical Traditions 1. The Reclus Brothers: Translating Science and Radical Politics in the Age of Empire 2. Editorial Networks and The Publics of Science: Building Pluralist Geographies 3. Establishing a Geographical Tradition in the ‘British Isles’: Emergent Social and Political Geographies 4. Striving for Freedom: Reclus’s and Kropotkin’s Politics in the UK 5. Ripples and Waves of Anarchist Writing: Towards Humane Sciences Conclusion: The Relevance of Early Critical Geographies

    Biography

    Federico Ferretti is a Lecturer in Human Geography at University College Dublin, Ireland. He discussed a PhD dissertation on Élisée Reclus’s New Universal Geography at the Universities of Bologna and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. He has taught in Italy, Switzerland, France and Brazil. His main research interests lie in alternative geographical traditions and the international and multilingual circulation of geographical knowledge, especially from Latin America and continental Europe.