Notes
Notes Preface to the PM Press Edition Preface to the First Edition 1 The Earth Story, the Human Story 2 The Anarchist Geographer 3 The Dialectic of Nature and Culture 4 A Philosophy of Progress 5 Anarchism and Social Transformation 6 The Critique of Domination 7 The Legacy of Reclus: Liberty, Equality, Geography 8 The Feeling for Nature in Modern Society 10 Anarchy 11 The Extended Family 12 Evolution, Revolution, and the Anarchist Ideal 13 On Vegetarianism 14 The History of Cities 15 The Modern State 16 Culture and Property 17 Progress Perhaps by chance, Natur... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

About the Contributors
About the Contributors John Clark is Curtin Distinguished Professor of Humane Studies and the Professions, professor of philosophy, and a member of the environmental studies faculty at Loyola University. He has written a number of works on ecological philosophy and anarchist political theory, including, most recently, The Impossible Community: Realizing Communitarian Anarchism (Bloomsbury, 2013). He is completing a critical reinterpretation of social ecology entitled Between Earth and Empire. He writes for the journal Capitalism Nature Socialism and co-moderates the Research on Anarchism List. For many years he has been an activist in the anarchist, green, and bioregional movements. He is a member of the Education Workers’ Union of the IWW. Camille Martin is the author of four collections of poetry: Looms , Sonnets , Codes of Public Sleep , and Sesame Kiosk . She earned a PhD... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Bibliography
Bibliography Those seeking additional primary and secondary materials on Reclus are directed to the Research on Anarchism Forum’s Elisée Reclus collection at raforum.info. It contains extensive materials, including an up-to-date bibliography of books and articles. Much useful material can also be found in the Elisée Reclus collection of the Anarchy Archives at dwardmac.pitzer. The French journal Itinéraire devoted a special issue in 1998 to Reclus that included an extensive listing of his works in French. Bakunin, Michael. La Polémique avec Mazzini: Ecrits et Matériaux. Part 1 of Michel Bakunin et L’Italie 1875–1882, vol. 1 of Oeuvres Complètes de Bakunin. Edited by Arthur Lehning (Paris: Editions Champ Libre, 1973). . “Ecrit contre Marx.” In Michel Bakunin et les Conflits dans l’Internationale 1... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Part 2, Chapter 18 : Advice to My Anarchist Comrades (1901)
18: Advice to My Anarchist Comrades Reclus wrote the following letter on the occasion of the opening of an anarchist congress. It was subsequently published in Il Pensiero (June 16, 1907), in Réveil de Genève (January 7, 1911), and in volume 3 of Correspondance, 238–40. To the Editors of la Huelga General in Barcelona Brussels, December 4, 1901 Dear comrades, It is our usual habit to exaggerate both our strengths and our weaknesses. During revolutionary periods, it seems that the least of our actions has incalculably great consequences. On the other hand, during times of stagnation, even though we have dedicated ourselves completely to the cause, our lives seem barren and useless. We may even feel swept away by the winds of reaction. What then should we do to maintain our intellectual vigor, our moral energy, and our faith in the go... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Part 2, Chapter 17 : Progress (1905)
17: Progress “Progress” is the final chapter of Reclus’ final work, L’Homme et la Terre. It is one of the most comprehensive statements of his view of human nature, historical development, and social values. This text is translated in its entirety from volume 6 of L’Homme et la Terre (Paris: Librairie Universelle, 1905–8), 501–41. “Progress,” in the strictest sense of the word, is meaningless, for the world is infinite, and in its unlimited vastness, one is always as distant from the beginning as from the end. The movement of society ultimately reduces to the movements of the individuals who are its constitutive elements. In view of this fact, we must ask what progress in itself can be determined for each of these beings whose total life span from birth to death is only a few years. Is it no more than that of a spark of light glancing off a pebble and vanishing instantly into the... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

The Feeling for Nature in Modern Society (1866)
Part II: Selected Writings of Elisée Reclus 8: The Feeling for Nature in Modern Society The following discussion is taken from the relatively early article “Du sentiment de la nature dans les sociétés modernes,” which was published in La Revue des Deux Mondes 63 (May–June 1866): 352–81. It is noteworthy as an example of Reclus’ view of nature in his earlier work. Most of the social analysis in the three-part essay appears in the third section (371–81), which is translated here. It becomes ever more essential to expand and refine our feeling for nature as the multitude of men who are exiled from the countryside by force of circumstances increases daily. Pessimists have long feared the ... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Anarchy (1894)
10: Anarchy The following text was originally a talk presented on June 18, 1894, in Brussels to the members of “The Philanthropic Friends,” a Masonic lodge. It was published as “L’Anarchie” in Les Temps nouveaux 18 (May 25–June 1, 1895). Anarchy is far from being a new theory. The word itself, in its accepted meaning of “the absence of government” and “a society without leaders,” is of ancient origin and was used long before the time of Proudhon. Besides, what difference do words make? There were “acratists” before there were anarchists, but the acratists were not given their name—a learned construction—until many generations had passed. In all ages there ha... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

A Philosophy of Progress
4: A Philosophy of Progress Although the myth of progress has taken on myriad forms over the ages, it has remained powerful through much of the history of Western civilization. Indeed, in various guises it has constituted the dominant myth of modernity. Even radical critics of existing society have had difficulty challenging it, and the classical anarchist thinkers, including Bakunin, Kropotkin, and Reclus, were no exception. Indeed, they sometimes rivaled their capitalist and statist opponents in their confidence in the inexorable advance toward a better future. When one examines Reclus’ view of history, one is struck by the strongly progressivist nature of his thought. In this, he seems to be quintessentially modern in his thought, ... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Culture and Property (1905)
16: Culture and Property Some of Reclus’ most extensive comments on historical forms of property are found in “Culture and Property,” which is in volume 6 of L’Homme et la Terre (Paris: Librairie Universelle, 1905–8), 225–311. There he discusses the differences between large and small property holdings, individual and communal property, and cooperative and competitive practices. The following selections are taken from that chapter (268–71, 280–85). The text includes some of Reclus’ most eloquent encomiums to cooperation and stinging criticisms of concentrated economic power. There is not a single European country in which the traditions of the old communal property have entirely disappea... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

The Critique of Domination
6: The Critique of Domination Reclus was always an anarchist by temperament, and his libertarian ideas began to develop early in his life. However, his anarchism became increasingly deeper and more consistent as his social analysis expanded into a detailed critique of all forms of domination. As has been shown, Reclus was unusual in questioning the conception of human domination of nature that was accepted not only by mainstream thinkers but also by most critics of the prevailing order. He is also distinctive for the comprehensiveness of his critique of domination within human society. His analysis of various institutional forms of social domination constitutes one the most far-reaching accounts in classical radical thought, and his positio... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)