On Anarchism by Noam Chomsky

Next book for the Book Group (meeting on Tuesday 18 June) is On Anarchism by Noam Chomsky: the Penguin Special edition of 2013 – not to be confused with Chomsky on Anarchism, a collection of essays selected and edited by Barry Pateman, AK Press, 2005.

On Anarchism has an Intro and five chapters. I recommend that gentle readers focus on:

• Intro (9 pages) by Nathan Schneider. The Intro is helpful in setting the present-day scene for the discussion that follows. 
• Notes on Anarchism, which is also available at theanarchistlibrary.org. This is one of the more demanding chapters in the book. It is a survey of the history of the anarcho-syndicalist tradition of anarchism. Neither this chapter (nor the rest of the book) deals much with the opposite tradition of anarchism, namely the free-market, libertarian tradition of, for example, Robert Nozick. 
• Interview with Harry Kreisler,which is also available at chomsky.info/20020322. This is helpful in providing some background biographical detail on Chomsky’s life and on dealing with some questions that are typically posed to anarchists. 

Also helpful in providing some answers to questions that are typically posed to anarchists is chapter 2, Excerpts from Understanding Power.