Audiobook · read by volunteers
God and the State
Mikhail Bakunin (1814–1876)
Read by Carl Manchester · 6 chapters · 3 h 13
About the book
Does God exist, and does anyone need him? In this famous and fiery pamphlet, the Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin argues that belief in a divine authority and obedience to an earthly state support each other, and that human freedom requires the rejection of both.
Bakunin writes in the heat of controversy. He takes aim at religion, at the idea of a ruling class guided by supposed expertise, and at the notion that liberty can be granted from above. His prose is vigorous and polemical, full of striking images, and his aim is to move his readers as much as to convince them.
The work remained unfinished, and this edition collects what has come down to us in its most complete form. In six chapters, over about three hours, it offers a direct way into the thought of one of the best-known figures of nineteenth-century radical politics. Whatever you make of his conclusions, the energy of his argument is unmistakable.
Introduction
Mikhail Bakunin (1814-1876) was a Russian revolutionary and one of the founding figures of anarchist thought. Born into a family of landowners, he travelled widely through Europe, took part in revolutionary movements, was imprisoned and exiled, and spent his later years in Switzerland and Italy. He clashed with Karl Marx in the International Workingmen’s Association, and their dispute helped to divide the socialist movement.
God and the State was put together after his death from manuscripts he wrote in the early 1870s. It was originally titled in French, Dieu et l’État, and Bakunin intended it as part of a larger work. The first edition appeared in 1882, published by his followers Carlo Cafiero and Élisée Reclus, and the text became one of the best-known anarchist works. It was translated into English by Benjamin R. Tucker (1854-1939), an American anarchist publisher, and this is the version heard here.
The pamphlet is, in essence, an argument against authority. Bakunin sets out a view of history in which religion and political power reinforce each other, and he defends a vision of freedom grounded in solidarity and science, rather than in command and obedience. Readers will notice how much of the text is polemic, and how often he addresses opponents directly.
This recording has six chapters and lasts about three hours, read by a LibriVox volunteer. It is a good starting point for understanding the history of anarchism and the debates of the nineteenth-century left. Whether you agree with it or not, it is a historically important document, and it repays careful listening.
Public domain
Mikhail Bakunin died in 1876: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text