The Individual, Society and the State
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text
- Extent:
- ~5,470 words · 26 passages
Cite this work
- APAEmma Goldman. (n.d.). The Individual, Society and the State. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/emma-goldman/the-individual-society-and-the-state
- MLAEmma Goldman. "The Individual, Society and the State." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/emma-goldman/the-individual-society-and-the-state.
- ChicagoEmma Goldman. The Individual, Society and the State. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/emma-goldman/the-individual-society-and-the-state.
What it is about
The late essay where Goldman sums up her political philosophy: the individual as measure, the State as threat, society as fabric.
Context and history
From the 1930s, after she had seen both fascism and Stalinism, and therefore more nuanced than the early work: the distinction between society and State does all the load-bearing. This is a short article, not a book: its size in the catalogue is no defect of the copy. Much of Goldman's work took this form, in her magazine Mother Earth and in pamphlets.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
The minds of men are in confusion, for the very foundations of our civilization seem to be tottering. People are losing faith in the existing institutions, and the more intelligent realize that capitalist industrialism is defeating the very purpose it is supposed to serve. The world is at a loss for a way out. Parliamentarism and democracy are on the decline. Salvation is being sought in Fascism and other forms of “strong” government. The struggle of opposing ideas now going on in the world involves social problems urgently demanding a solution. The welfare of the individual and the fate of human society depend on the right answer to those questions The crisis, unemployment, war, disarmament, international relations, etc., are among those problems. The State, government with its functions and powers, is now the subject of vital interest to every thinking man. Political developments in all civilized countries have brought the questions home. Shall we have a strong government? Are democracy and parliamentary government to be preferred, or is Fascism of one kind or another, dictatorship - monarchical, bourgeois or proletarian - the solution of the ills and difficulties that beset society today? In other words, shall we cure the evils of democracy by more democracy, or shall we cut the Gordian knot of popular government with the sword of dictatorship? My answer is neither the one nor the other. I am against dictatorship and Fascism as I am opposed to parliamentary regimes and so-called political democracy. Nazism has been justly called an attack on civilization. This characterization applies with equal force to every form of dictatorship; indeed, to every kind of suppression and coercive authority. For what is civilization in the true sense? All progress has been essentially an enlargement of the liberties of the individual with a corresponding decrease of the authority wielded over him by external forces. This holds good in the realm of physical as well as of pol
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