In this afternoon-long seminar, we will trace the lives and ideas of a number of European revolutionaries across several decades in order to understand the emergence of Marxism and anarchism.

Socialism, communism, and anarchism came into their own as social movements in the revolutionary ferment of the 19th century. Starting with the debates among philosophy students and working-class participants in the revolutions of 1848, we will trace the emergence of these three currents in the labor organizing that led up to the Paris Commune and the debates that followed between those who wanted to impose a hierarchical party model on the movement and those who sought to contest domination in all of its forms.

From the 20th-century experiments with state socialism through the 21st-century resurgence of autocracy, the questions that the revolutionaries of the mid-19th century confronted have only become more pressing with the passing of time. In revisiting their experiences and reflections, we can equip ourselves to think and act more effectively today.