James Guillaume (February 16, 1844, London – November 20, 1916, Paris) was a leading member of the

Jura federation The Jura Federation represented the anarchist, Bakuninist faction of the First International during the anti-statist split from the organization. Jura, a Swiss area, was known for its watchmaker artisans in La Chaux-de-Fonds, who shared anti-s ...

, the

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...

wing of the

First International The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and trad ...

. Later, Guillaume would take an active role in the founding of the

Anarchist St. Imier International The Anarchist International of St. Imier was an international workers' organization formed in 1872 after the split in the First International between the anarchists and the Marxists. This followed the 'expulsions' of Mikhail Bakunin and James G ...

Work

In his 1876 essay, "Ideas on Social Organization," Guillaume set forth his opinions regarding the form that society would take in a post-revolutionary world, expressing the

collectivist anarchist Collectivist anarchism, also called anarchist collectivism and anarcho-collectivism, Buckley, A. M. (2011). ''Anarchism''. Essential Libraryp. 97 "Collectivist anarchism, also called anarcho-collectivism, arose after mutualism." . is an anarchis ...

position he shared with

Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary s ...

and other anti-authoritarians involved in the First International: :Whatever items are produced by collective labor will belong to the community, and each member will receive remuneration for his labor either in the form of commodities (subsistence, supplies, clothing, etc.) or in currency. Only later, he believed, would it be possible to progress to a communist system where distribution will be according to need: :When, thanks to the progress of scientific industry and agriculture, production comes to outstrip consumption, and this will be attained some years after the Revolution, it will no longer be necessary to stingily dole out each worker’s share of goods. Everyone will draw what he needs from the abundant social reserve of commodities, without fear of depletion; and the moral sentiment which will be more highly developed among free and equal workers will prevent, or greatly reduce, abuse and waste. In 1909, James Guillaume assisted Peter Kropotkin with the research in preparing his book, "The Great French Revolution, 1789-1793," particularly helping with regards to the resolutions (arrêtés) of August 4, 1789, where the Assembly declared that it is acting with both constituent and legislative power. Guillaume is said to have played a key role in

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activist ...

's conversion to anarchism.

Writings

* ''L'Internationale: Documents et Souvenirs'' (1864–1878), 4 vols., reprinted in 1969 by Burt Franklin Publishing, New York.
Ideas on Social Organization
* ''Pestalozzi : étude biographique'' (1890), Hachette, Paris.
Michael Bakunin, a Biography (1907)
* ''Karl Marx, pangermaniste, et l’Association internationale des travailleurs de 1864 à 1870'' (1915), A. Colin, Paris. He also edited five of the six volumes of Bakunin's collected works (in French), which included the first biography of Bakunin.
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References

Archive sources

Part of James Guillaume's archives are conserved in the " Archives de l'État de Neuchâtel". The collection contains correspondence, notes, articles and memorabilia. *

International Institute of Social History The International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG) is one of the largest archives of labor and social history in the world. Located in Amsterdam, its one million volumes and 2,300 archival collections include the papers of major figu ...

1844 births 1916 deaths Writers from London Swiss anarchists Members of the International Workingmen's Association Collectivist anarchists Jura Federation {{anarchist-stub

Work

Writings

See also

References

Archive sources

External links