How power, belief, and class shape society are laid bare in this critique of state and religion.
This work argues that state power relies on moral sanction and often uses religion to keep the masses compliant. It traces how different social classes, especially the bourgeoisie, have shaped and used religion to justify political privilege and economic control.
Bakunin contrasts two paths for convincing the masses: the abolition of the state and the direct satisfaction of people's needs, versus a religion-based approach that preserves ruling power. He surveys how Protestantism and Catholicism have interacted with politics across France, Germany, and beyond, showing how religious institutions can align with or resist those in power. The discussion moves through historical currents from Voltairean liberalism to doctrinaire Deism, linking ideas to social and economic interests.
- See how religion has been used as a tool to legitimize political and economic power.
- Understand the clash between materialism and idealism in shaping history.
- Explore how the bourgeoisie leveraged religion to maintain control while claiming liberty.
- Learn how the author connects church, state, and social classes to broader political change.
Ideal for readers interested in political philosophy, history of ideas, and critiques of religion’s role in society.
Mikhail A. Bakunin was a famous 19th century Russian anarchist, often known as the father of anarchist theory. In Russia among the students, in Germany among the insurgents of Dresden, in Siberia among his brothers in exile, in America, in England, in France, in Switzerland, in Italy, among all earnest men, his direct influence has been considerable. The originality of his ideas, the imagery and vehemence of his eloquence, his untiring zeal in propagandism, helped too by the natural majesty of his person and by a powerful vitality, gave Bakunin access to all the revolutionary groups, and his efforts left deep traces everywhere, even upon those who, after having welcomed him, thrust him out because of a difference of object or method. His correspondence was most extensive; he passed entire nights in preparing long letters to his friends in the revolutionary world, and some of these letters, written to strengthen the timid, arouse the sluggish, and outline plans of propagandism or revolt, took on the proportions of veritable volumes. These letters more than anything else explain the prodigious work of Bakunin in the revolutionary movement of the century. The pamphlets published by him, in Russian, French, and Italian, however important they may be, and however useful they may have been in spreading the new ideas, are the smallest part of Bakunin’s work.
