Jean Grave (1854-1939) was a leading French anarchist whose theoretical works and activity place him alongside such luminaries as William Godwin, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Michael Bakunin, and Peter Kropotkin. One of the few leading socialists to come from a working-class background, Grave, who inherited his spirit for revolt from his politicized father, was profoundly influenced by witnessing the unsuccessful fight of the 1871 Paris Commune and developed into an exceptional journalist. Grave was able to pioneer the fusion of revolutionary politics and art, enlist leading members of the art world to propagate socialism through their work, to effectively combine the cultural and social struggles, and to advocate for his own anarchist ideal: a democratic society of self-managed worker collectives. Drawing on various archival and library sources, Louis Patsouras traces the controversies and convictions that shaped the life and career of this extraordinary radical thinker, extending the work into the broader realms of revolution, class struggle, and the vision of a new society.
The Anarchism of Jean Grave : Editor, Journalist and Militant