Kropotkin on communes and wages by Peter Kropotkin.

Published by Bastard Press

English – 24 pages

The Wage System first published in 1920. On a proposed communist settlement first published in 1895.

This is a single-volume edition of two previous Bastard Press titles.

In On a proposed Communist settlement, Kropotkin warns a group of communists about the dangers isolated communes face in the real world. With clear and precise insight developed by his early work as a geographer, he outlines the risks such communities face when starting, the problems existing social and economic models have in small numbers and the difficulties faced by the isolation and separation from day-to-day life and the literal invasion faced by those who do manage to achieve success. This edition also features a preface by Sydney anarchist and ecologist Graham Purchase.

In The Wage System Kropotkin argues against collectivist use of alternative currencies, such as the ‘labour note’ and exchange currencies (such as Ithaca Hours and LETS) by systematically investigating the problems with assessing the worth of labour and the the valuing of one kind of labour against another – the basis of wages and the economic systems of both capitalism and socialism. Over a century after it was written, The Wage System continues to offer a concise and skilled insight into the fundamental problems of wages, work and labour.

 

Print copy – First-last landscape layout. 0.3Mb

Reading copy – Sequential portrait layout. 0.3Mb.