Statism and Anarchy is the first
completed volume of a larger projected work by Bakunin. Written in
Russian, with special emphasis on Slavic problems, this work
tremendously influenced Russian revolutionary thought.
In the first extract, “Critique of the Marxist Theory of the State,” Bakunin, without specifically naming Marx, nevertheless lays the groundwork for attacking what he saw as Marx’s “statism”.
“The theory of statism as well as that of so-called ‘revolutionary
dictatorship’ is based on the idea that a ‘privileged elite,’ consisting
of those scientists and ‘doctrinaire revolutionists’ who believe that
‘theory is prior to social experience,’ should impose their preconceived
scheme of social organization on the people. The dictatorial power of
this learned minority is concealed by the fiction of a
pseudo-representative government which presumes to express the will of
the people.”
