Historical Geographies of Anarchism

A new book edited by Dr Anthony Ince from the School of Geography and Planning, tracks the history of anarchism.

In the last few years, anarchism has been rediscovered as a transnational, cosmopolitan and multifaceted movement. Its traditions, often hastily dismissed, are increasingly revealing insights which inspire present-day scholarship in geography. This book provides a historical geography of anarchism, analysing the places and spatiality of historical anarchist movements, key thinkers, and the present scientific challenges of the geographical anarchist traditions.

Speaking about the book, Anthony said: “This is the first book of its kind in the discipline of geography, and it is exciting to be one of the editors.

“The book also features a Chapter from Julian Brigstocke, on Humour, violence and cruelty in late nineteenth-century anarchist culture. Julian is a Lecturer in Human Geography at the School of Geography and Planning.”

This volume offers rich and detailed insights into the lesser-known worlds of anarchist geographies with contributions from international leading experts. It also explores the historical geographies of anarchism by examining their expressions in a series of distinct geographical contexts and their development over time. Contributions examine the changes that the anarchist movement(s) sought to bring about in their space and time, and the way this spirit continues to animate the anarchist geographies of our own, perhaps often in unpredictable ways. There is also an examination of the historical dimensions of contemporary anarchist geographical thought in the fields of social movements, environmental struggles, post-statist geographies, indigenous thinking and situated cosmopolitanisms.

This is valuable reading for students and researchers interested in historical geography, political geography, social movements and anarchism.

Historical Geographies of Anarchism.  Early Critical Geographers and Present-Day Scientific Challenges is available here.