Emma Goldman

Emma Goldman was an anarcho-revolutionary for whom violence was a legitimate means for change. How did this Russian émigré end up gravitating towards anarchism? What were her beliefs, and how were they informed? We'll tackle all of these questions as we explore Emma Goldman's life, ideology, and some of her most influential works.

Emma Goldman Biography

Emma Goldman was an influential anarchist revolutionary born in Russia in 1869. The child of Jewish parents, Goldman migrated to the United States at the age of 16 due to growing antisemitism in Russia.

Once in New York City, Goldman quickly became involved in politics, taking a particular interest in anarchism. Her anarchist views were influenced by Johann Most, a radical anarchist who supported and promoted revolutionary violence. Most introduced her to the ideas of key thinkers such asPeter Kropotkin, whose work helped convince Goldman of the anarchist vision.

Goldman is widely viewed as the founder ofanarcha-feminismeven though she never labelled herself a feminist. In fact, during her life, she sought to distance herself from the first-wave feminism movement altogether.

As apolitical ideology,anarchism is oftenwrongly associated with violence, chaos, and disorder.Anarchismin itself is not a violent ideology and many anarchist thinkers are, in fact, opposed to the use of violence. However, Emma Goldman belonged to that school of anarchist thought that advocated the use of violence to bring about revolutionary change. We will explore Goldman's views on violence later in this article.

Emma Goldman's beliefs

Therejection of the stateis the central idea of anarchist thought. Anarchists believe that state and government place morally unjustifiable restrictions on individual freedoms, as the state is founded on hierarchy and a coercive relationship between the ruler and the ruled. In her writings, Goldman argued that the state was a 'cold monster' and called itimmoral.

Fig. 1 Emma Goldman

Goldman believed the way the state was organised stood in opposition to the needs of human nature. She also believed that the existence of the state prevented humans from exercising individual liberty and undermined social harmony.

In Goldman's view, the state uses its authority to protect the ruling classes and those who own property. InPatriotism: A Menace to Liberty(1908), Goldman argues that the state manipulates its population by encouraging patriotism, which in turn helps the state engage in military operations with other nations to expand its territories. For Goldman, thestate creates conflict and war.

In her work, she outlined her rejection ofcapitalismand the influence that anarchist philosopherPeter Kropotkinhad on her beliefs. Kropotkin argued thatmutual aid and cooperationwithin species were the defining factors of evolution. He also embraced the idea that mutual aid andaltruismare natural morality traits that exist biologically in humans. According to Kropotkin becausehumans were naturally altruistic, the state, and in particular the capitalist state, was an unnecessary protector of order.

In line with her views on the role of the state, Emma Goldman sawcapitalismas incompatible with human needs. This was becausecapitalismaims to maximise profit and power and to this, it dehumanises the workers. This perspective, as well as her calling for a revolution, conforms with the thinking ofanarcho-communism.

In her workThe Hypocrisy of Puritanism(1917),Goldman argued thatreligion and the church are used to coercepeople. Her criticism of religion was in line with the anarchist rejection of all forms of coercive relationships. Goldman, who was an atheist, believed that religion leveraged concepts of hell and heaven to force people into obedience against their own will.

She also argued thatreligion helped to uphold class inequality, as it kept the poor and working-class disillusioned, maintaining their belief that despite their struggles on earth, they would receive their reward in heaven. For Goldman, it was this disillusion that stopped people from realising the truly coercive nature of religion and rising up against it.

Emma Goldman and revolutionary violence

Whilst many anarchists oppose violence, Goldman was a supporter of the use of violence to bring about revolution and even participated in theSpanish Civil Warto advance anarchism in Spain.

Goldman’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War came after herexile to Europefrom the US. She was exiled due to the increased concerns over the spread of anarchist ideologies in the US. These concerns were exacerbated by the assassination of the 25th President of the United States, William McKinley, by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in 1901. As a result, subsequent governments sought to crack down on anarchism.

Anarchism and Other Essays

In 1910, Emma Goldman published a series of essays that outlined her relationship with anarchism, titledAnarchismand Other Essays. The collection of essays consisted of 12 works that use an anarchist framework to discuss a variety of issues, including violence andnationalism.

Emma Goldman and patriotism

One of the essays Goldman wrote was titledPatriotism: A Menace to Liberty,in whichGoldman outlined her views on patriotism. In the essay, Goldman criticises America's use of patriotism, arguing that patriotism is used as a tool to justify the murder of people throughmilitarism.

Goldman heavily criticised the US use of patriotism and how patriotism breeds ideals that make the people view themselves as superior to other nations. She argued that people are therefore willing to defend their nation from imagined threats by mobilising the military to commit acts of murder and violence.

Emma Goldman and women's rights

Emma Goldman was heavily concerned with the way women were perceived and treated in society. The use of anarchist perspectives to interpret and examine women's issues has been referred to as anarcho-feminism.

Fig. 2 The symbol for anarcha-feminism

Emma Goldman and Anarcho-feminism

Emma Goldman’s most distinguished contribution toanarchismwas arguably how she linked it with feminism. Goldman viewed thepatriarchyas a coercive hierarchy. Because anarchists oppose all forms of coercive relationships, Goldman not only challenged institutions such as the state, but she challenged thepatriarchytoo.

Challenging both of these institutions is something that the majority of anarchist thinkers had previously overlooked.

Although some refer to Goldman as an anarcha-feminist, Goldman sought to distance herself from the first-wave feminist current of her time. This is because first-wave feminism's main aim was the achievement of women'ssuffrage.As an anarchist, Goldman did not seek for the state to grant women the right to vote, but rather sought theabolition of the stateitself.

As mentioned previously, in Goldman’sThe Hypocrisy of Puritanism,she criticises the church andlikens marriage to prostitution. In her view, those within the church condemn prostitution while upholding the idea of marriage, even though in both scenarioswomen are circulated and sold. Goldman was also a staunch critic of the double standards placed on women, male sexuality, and sexual freedom.

Emma Goldman's quotes

Here you can read some of Goldman's most famous quotes onanarchismand patriotism.

References

1 Goldman, EmmaThe Traffic in Women and Other Essays, 1970, p.20

2 Goldman, Emma “Patriotism, a Menace to Liberty” (Essay), 1911

3高盛艾玛,演讲在联合广场,新的York, 21 August 1893