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On Anarchism
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
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Summary
On Anarchism provides the reasoning behind Noam Chomsky's fearless lifelong questioning of the legitimacy of entrenched power. In these essays, Chomsky redeems one of the most maligned ideologies, anarchism, and places it at the foundation of his political thinking. Chomsky's anarchism is distinctly optimistic and egalitarian. Moreover, it is a living, evolving tradition that is situated in a historical lineage; Chomsky's anarchism emphasizes the power of collective, rather than individualist, action. The collection includes a revealing new introduction by journalist Nathan Schneider, who documented the Occupy movement for Harper's and The Nation, and who places Chomsky's ideas in the contemporary political moment. On Anarchism will be essential listening for a new generation of activists who are at the forefront of a resurgence of interest in anarchism - and for anyone who struggles with what can be done to create a more just world.
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What listeners say about On Anarchism
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- papapownall
- 13-05-19
First Chomsky will not be the last
Noam Chomsky is one of those names that I have heard quoted by intellectual types for a while now. I do not consider myself to be particularly intellectual or academic so it was with some trepidation that I downloaded "On Anarchism". Well it is less than 5 hours long so I did not think it would be beyond me to concentrate on. I had recently listened to Orwell's excellent Homage to Catalonia and the background of the story of the anarchist struggle during the Spanish Civil War served as a useful backdrop to Chomsky.
This book is a bit of a hotchpotch of essays, interviews and seemingly random ideas on the subject of Anarchism that complement each other and form a coherent and interesting perspective of the concept of nation states and the use of power by their leaders. As fundamentally a linguist, Chomsky has a unique take on the terminology used by nation states regarding the use and misuse of authority to assert their power.
Noam Chomsky is undoubtedly one of the greatest original thinkers of our time and I now want to explore more of his works.
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17 people found this helpful
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- Greg Gauthier
- 03-05-16
Lazy, Rambling, Unpersuasive
This is on of the laziest and least persuasive books I've ever read on the topic of Anarchism. Rather than offering a discursive positive argument, all Chomsky did was cobble together a collection of Q&A transcripts and tangentially related essays already written. The only reason he gets 3 stars is for the research on the Spanish Civil War and a handful of interesting insights on Humboldt and Rousseau.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 19-06-20
For anyone who wants to understand anarchism.
A goood introduction to anarchism. Marking fun of ancaps was a very welcomed surprise = )).
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6 people found this helpful
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- Will
- 29-05-20
Thought provoking
The prevailing cultural understanding of 'anarchism' is a superficial one at best, more closely summarised as "chaos". Chomsky in this work describes a view of anarchism more closely related to libertarian socialism and founded on the principles that any power structure must justify its necessity or be dismantled. From modern examples such as the Kibbutz he also traces back to the anarcho syndicalism of the Spanish civil war (1936) and looks at how these ideas were briefly implemented and then crushed from both left and right. Overall a very interesting viewpoint and thought provoking alternative to authoritarian state power.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 21-06-21
Good book, narrated badly
This is a very good book. Sadly The narrator was not good in any way.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Joe Higgs
- 29-03-21
Dreadful Narration
Dreadful narration; interesting points. Narration is easily the worst I’ve ever listened to. A shame.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Tristan Hardy
- 18-07-21
Boring monotone
I struggled to finish this book, the narrator lacked enthusiasm for the subject matter and had a rather laborious monotone though out his narrator-ship of this book
I won't be listening to this book again.
underwhelming overall.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amanda Murray
- 27-06-23
Monotone
The performance is completely monotone and it's hard to understand who is saying what and what is in italics the theory was interesting and fairly entry-level but chapter 3 was long and tedious
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- Radio Hydrogen
- 21-04-23
Don't be Scared off by the name "Chomsky...."
.....It is NOT a Chomsky technical read!
It might require some concentration, but this book is in plain English and relays the basic concepts of anarchism in a user-friendly way, dipping into a bit of history and some sound logic. Also, it expanded my appreciation for the role of language in thought and social innovation. A constant sponsoring consciousness throughout the book is one that merely requires authoritarianism to justify its existence and give an account of itself. It is not some ranty studenty slogan-trotting posturing fashion accessory, it is meek and deductive reasoning in a considered, and dare I say, (c)onservative way. There is no lunacy or rabidity to it. It's a reasonable and comfortable book. It is a good introduction to anarchism, even if it doesn't start at the beginning. It is THE book i would throw at smug, blazer-wearing English Tories (Toffs AND Barrow Boys) who are oh so realist, but nonetheless intelligent, and challenge them to, "Show me the Rabies!"
In fact, it is the book I would throw at anyone who is new to, or frightened of the words, "anarchy," or "anarchism." I'd also throw it at crusties who have kind of hijacked the word, "anarchy," to mean getting stoned at Glastonbury and having an enduring a mullet haircut between the great mullet eras of the 1980's and now. There are a couple of things I disagree, with but so what? Overall, I find it to be a sensibly written book on a sensible set of politics. From this book, you can reverse engineer or explore other anarchist ideas.
I simply love this book. It gets four stars because five stars is a standing ovation, and this is a dummies guide for the likes of me, who are uneducated yet biologically inclined towards anarchism and find comfort in the fact that an academic grown-up endorses something intuitive. The book itself is not a mind-shattering work of genius, although Chomsky probably is, but it is a concise and useful pocket guide entry book. It ended and I thought, no surely not, I must have accidentally jumped some chapters, such is the fluidity of Chomsky's writing.
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- Anonymous User
- 31-05-22
Not recommended.
The narration is dry and monotone, nothing like the sample.More problematically almost two hours of this is his interpretation of the Spanish civil war. To the best of my knowledge, the main theme is that he thinks historians has been unfair to Spanish anarchist citing George orwell's and other historians' work. He went straight into his interpretation without explaining anything about that historical period, if you are not already familiar with that history, you will not understand anything in this part. The rest of this audio book is just his yaping about freedom.I dislike his way of arguing for the importance of freedom, often using very emotive language, without making any sense. It sounds impressive, but if you stop to think about it, it doesn't really make any sense.how would anarchism work in real life? What would the societal structure be like?Why is freedom the most important quality or principle?He offers no explanation for this. And believe he shouldn't be asked to offered any explanation. He believes that we all should restructure our society according to this supreme Principle that is freedom without any concern for the consequences, or without any plan for what the society would be like. Its a very extremist view.
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