A-Infos (en) France, SOCIALISME LIBERTAIRE: EMMA GOLDMAN'S ANARCHISM (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

"Hello everyone! I recently read this short book containing four texts 
by Emma Goldman, which I wanted to briefly discuss with you. --- 
'Anarchism is not a fixed theory. It is a breath of life that embraces 
everything.' --- Emma Goldman, 'An Anarchist's View of Life' (1933) in 
Anarchism, Paris, Nada Éditions, 2021, p. 71. --- Emma Goldman 
(1869-1940) was born in the Russian Empire and emigrated to the United 
States at the age of 16. She became an anarchist around 1886, deeply 
affected by the hasty condemnation of eight anarchists after the 
Haymarket Massacre." I won't go into the details of her biography here, 
which you can easily find on your own, but I will say that she was an 
activist who truly crisscrossed the United States, and even traveled 
beyond, to give lectures and participate in workers' struggles. She 
served several prison sentences and lived partly underground. She was 
indeed a woman of action, but she also wrote extensively, notably 
founding the anarcha-feminist magazine Mother Earth in 1906 and 
publishing several books.

"For us, it is self-evident that all human beings, regardless of race, 
color, or gender, have a right to a place at the banquet of life, and 
that to guarantee this right, economic, political, and social 
emancipation must be encouraged; we further maintain that government 
exists only to preserve privileges, defend private property, subjugate 
the individual, and rob them of their dignity, self-respect, and life." "

Emma Goldman, "A New Declaration of Independence" (July 1909) in 
Anarchism, Paris, Nada éditions, 2021, p. 64.

Deeply attuned to the arts, Emma Goldman's thought combines an 
individualistic vision with a social organization akin to libertarian 
municipalism, and this is evident in this short book.

"Isn't the world's wealth in the hands of just a few? Aren't they the 
absolute rulers, the masters of the situation? Yet, it is not to 
individualism that they owe their success, but to the inertia, 
cowardice, and total submission of the masses. The latter want nothing 
more than to be dominated, directed, and coerced. As for individualism, 
it is, today more than ever, impossible for it to express itself in a 
healthy and normal way." "

Emma Goldman, "Minorities Against Majorities" in Anarchism, Paris, Nada 
Éditions, 2021, p. 53.

For someone like me who had never read Emma Goldman before, I think this 
is a pretty good introduction to her thought, and I recommend reading 
this short book, which is very simple and quick to get into. Personally, 
it's important for me to read the historical anarchists directly to 
familiarize myself with their thinking and refine my own.

"Anarchism is a liberation and an emancipatory force because it teaches 
people to rely on their own abilities and to believe in freedom; it 
encourages women and men to fight for a society where everyone lives 
free and in peace."

Emma Goldman, "An Anarchist's View of Life" (1933) in Anarchism, Paris, 
Nada Éditions, 2021, pp. 69-70.

I hope this short article will make you want to read Emma Goldman...

https://www.socialisme-libertaire.fr/2026/04/l-anarchisme-d-emma-goldman.html
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