On Anarchism by Mikhail Bakunin

A forceful critique of centralized authority and state power, this work argues for a revolutionary, anti-authoritarian socialism based on liberty, mutual aid, and federal, self-managed associations of workers and communities; it calls for the abolition of the state, private domination, and hierarchical institutions in favor of decentralized collective ownership and direct action, warns against the dangers of any ‘dictatorship’ (including authoritarian interpretations of socialism), and emphasizes spontaneous mass movement and popular emancipation as the means to achieve a free, egalitarian society.