Colin Ward R.I.P.

Colin Ward disguised as Jimmy Carter

Colin Ward disguised as Jimmy Carter

I’m saddened to learn that Colin Ward has died.

Jesse Walker has rightly called Ward’s Anarchy in Action the left-wing equivalent of The Machinery of Freedom.

Ward may or may not have called anarchy the cement that holds the bricks of society together, but the quote is a nice summary of his outlook – that spontaneous, voluntary, non-hierarchical cooperation is all around us, in the interstices of statist society, routing around authority to get things done.

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3 Responses to Colin Ward R.I.P.

  1. Kevin Carson February 18, 2010 at 3:04 pm #

    Anarchy in Action is a wonderful book. For anyone interested in the history of mutuals, self-built housing, and other self-organized working class alternatives, Social Policy and Talking Houses both deserve a place alongside the work of Kropotkin, E.P. Thompson and David Beito.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Attack the System » Blog Archive » Updated News Digest February 20-21, 2009 - February 20, 2010

    […] Colin Ward, R.I.P. by Roderick Long […]

  2. Adios, Colin Ward. | Pittsburgh Alpha to Omega - March 4, 2010

    […] learning of Colin Ward’s death (on 2-11, no less) recently via Roderick Long (whose blog I finally checked out [it’s rad], drawn thither by a post on the forthcoming Barsoom […]

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