[Polyarchy] [Polyarchy : documents]

[2000-2007]

---

 
[1791]  Wilhelm von Humboldt,  The Limits of State Action, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis, 1993
  -  Contents : Editor's Note; Introduction. Of the individual man, and the highest end of his existence. On the solicitude of the State for the positive welfare of the citizen. On the solicitude of the State for the negative welfare of the citizen - For his security. On the solicitude of the State for security against foreign enemies. On the solicitude of the State for the mutual security of the citizens - Means for attaining this end - Institutions for reforming the mind and character of the citizen - National education. Religion. Amelioration of morals. The solicitude of the State for security more accurately and positively defined - Further development of the idea of security. On the solicitude of the State for security with respect to actions which directly relate to the agent only (Police laws). On the solicitude of the State for security with respect to such of the citizen's action as relate directly to others (Civil laws). On the solicitude of the State for security as manifested in the juridical decision of disputes among the citizens. On the solicitude for security as manifested in the punishment of transgressions of the State's laws (Criminal laws). On the solicitude of the State for the welfare of minors, lunatics and idiots. Measures for the maintenance of the State - Completion of the theory. Practical application of the theory proposed.
  -  Comment : A classic text of liberal thinking, written when the author was only 24.
  -  To be read : On the solicitude of the State for the positive welfare of the citizen.
  -  For quotations see : Education/Learning - Freedom - Individual/Human Being - Law - Police - Security - State administration - Uniformity/Variety - Welfare state.

[1835]  Alexis de Tocqueville,  Memoir on Pauperism [Mémoire sur le paupérisme], with an introduction by Gertrude Himmelfarb, Ivan R. Dee, Chicago, 1997
 -  Comment : A clear and concise indictment of the corrupting and demoralizing effects of state administered charity.
 -  To be read : Part II
 -  For quotations see : Welfare state.

[1835]  Alexis de Tocqueville,  De la Démocratie en Amérique, vol. I, Flammarion, Paris, 1981
 -  Contents : Introduction. Première Partie: 1. Configuration extérieure de l'Amérique du Nord. 2 Du point de départ et de son importance pour l'avenir des Anglo-Américains. 3. État social des Anglo-Américains. 4. Du principe de la souveraineté du peuple en Amérique. 5. Nécessité d'étudier ce qui se passe dans les états particuliers avant de parler du gouvernement de l'Union. 6. Du pouvoir judiciaire aux États-Unis et se son action sur la société politique. 7. Du jugement politique aux États-Unis. 8. De la constitution fédérale. Deuxième Partie: 1. Comment on peut dire rigoureusement qu'aux États-Unis c'est le peuple qui gouverne. 2. Des partis aux États-Unis. 3. De la liberté de la presse aux États-Unis. 4. De l'association politique aux États-Unis. 5. Du gouvernement de la démocratie en Amérique. 6. Quels sont les avantages réels que la société américaine retire du gouvernement de la démocratie. 7. De l'omnipotence de la majorité aux États-Unis et de ses effets. 8. De ce qui tempère aux États-Unis la tyrannie de la majorité. 9. Des causes principales qui tendent à maintenir la république démocratique aux États-Unis. 10. Quelques considérations sur l'état actuel et l'avenir probable des trois races qui habitent le territoire des États-Unis.
 -  Comment : The famous text warning about democracy as the tyranny of the majority.
 -  To be read : 7. De l'omnipotence de la majorité aux États-Unis et de ses effets.
 -  For quotations see : Coordination/Centralization - Democracy - Elections/Representatives - Freedom - Law - Majority rule - Power - Size/Scale.

[1848]  Frédéric Bastiat,  L'État
 - Comment: One of the best depictions of the true nature of the State.
   http://www.panarchy.org/bastiat/etat.1848.html

[1849] Frédéric Bastiat, Maudit Argent
- Comment: Sur la distinction entre argent et richesse. A lire.
http://bastiat.org/fr/maudit_argent.html

[1849]  Henry David Thoreau,  Civil Disobedience, The Riverside Press, Boston, 1960
  -  Comment : A plea on everybody's right to freedom from government's intrusion and oppression.
  -  For quotations see : Elections/Representatives - Freedom - Law - Majority rule - Statism : economy - Taxation.

[1850]  Frédéric Bastiat,  La loi
 - Comment: The ideas of Bastiat on the tyranny of the law.
   http://www.panarchy.org/bastiat/loi.1850.html

[1851]  Herbert Spencer,  The Right to Ignore the State
 - Comment: Originally published in "Social Statics" as Chapter XIX.
   http://www.panarchy.org/spencer/ignore.the.state.1851.html

[1856] Alexis de Tocqueville, L'Ancien Régime et la Révolution, Flammarion, Paris, 1988
- Comment: Tocqueville montre la continuité de la centralisation et de la rapacité fiscale à la suite de l'installation au pouvoir du nouveau ètat.

[1860]  P.E. de Puydt,  Panarchie, publié dans la Revue Trimestrielle, Bruxelles, Juillet 1860
 -  Comment : An incredibly clever and original article, totally ignored by political scholars all over the world, with the exception of some heretical mind.  Reading requires forgetting all silly conventional ideas on social administration we have been brought up with from infancy.
 -  http://www.panarchy.org/depuydt/1860.fr.html (Français)
 -  http://www.panarchy.org/depuydt/1860.eng.html (English)
 -  http://www.panarchy.org/depuydt/1860.de.html (Deutsch)
 -  http://www.panarchy.org/depuydt/1860.it.html (Italiano)
- http://www.panarchy.org/depuydt/1860.es.html (Español)

[1863]  Pierre-Joseph Proudhon,  Du Principe Fédératif, Éditions Bossard, Paris, 1921
  -  Contents : 1 Dualisme politique. - Autorité et liberté : opposition et connexité de ces deux notions. 2 Conception à priori de l'ordre politique : régime d'autorité, régime de liberté. 3 Formes du gouvernement. 4 Transactions entre les principes : origines des contradictions de la politique. 5 Gouvernements de fait : dissolution sociale. 6 Position du problème politique. - Principe de solution. 7 Dégagement de l'idée de Fédération. 8 Constitution progressive. 9 Retard des Fédérations : causes de leur ajournement. 10 Idéalisme politique : efficacité de la garantie fédérale. 11 Sanction économique : fédération agricole-industrielle. Conclusions. Appendice : Tradition jacobine : Gaule fédéraliste, France monarchique.
  -  Comment : A basic document on the anti-statist and pro-federalist thought of Proudhon.
  -  To be read : 8 Constitution progressive.
  -  For quotations see : Federalism - Law - State - State administration.

[1863]  Nikolai Chernyshevsky,  What Is to Be Done? Tales about new people, Virago Press, London, 1982
 -  Contents : New Preface by Cathy Porter. Introduction by E.H.Carr. A Foul. First Consequences of the Foolish Act. Preface. 1 The Life of Vera Pávlovna with Her Parents. 2 The First Love and Legal Marriage. 3 Marriage and Second Love. 4 The Life of Vera Pávlovna with Her Second Husband. 5 New Characters and the Conclusion.
 -  Comment : A wonderful tale that shows what life and love could be if only we thought and acted always as human beings.
 -  For quotations see : Freedom - Individual/Human Being.

[1887] Piotr Kropotkin, In Russian and French Prisons, Schocken Books, New York, 1971
- Contents: Introduction by Paul Avrich. Author's Preface to the Russian Edition (1906). I. My first acquaintance with Russian prisons. II. Russian prisons. III. The fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul. IV. Outcast Russia. V. The exile in Siberia. VI. The exile on Sakhalin. VII A foreigner on Russian prisons. VIII. In French prisons. IX. On the moral influence of prisons on prisoners. X. Are prisons necessary?
- Comment: A powerful exposition of how and why the prisons are 'schools of crime' and foster the degradation and annihilation of the human being.
See: http://www.paanarchy.org/kropotkin/prisons.html

[1894]  Lev Nikolaevic Tolstoy,  On Patriotism
  -  Comment: A superb essay on the alienation and the debasement produced by what the state regards as the noble sentiment of patriotism.
   http://www.panarchy.org/tolstoy/1894.eng.html

[1895]  Gustave Le Bon,  Psychologie des foules, Quadrige/Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1998
  -  Contents : Introduction : L'ère des foules. I. L'ame des foules. II. Les opinions et les croyances des foules. III. Classification et description des diverses catégories de foules.
  -  Comment : A forgotten thinker presenting too unpleasant realities.
  -  To be read : II. Les opinions et les croyances des foules.
  -  For quotations see : Masses/Crowds - Language/Communication - Revolution - State - Taxation - Work/Activity.

[1897]  Piotr Kropotkin,  The State [L'Etat - Son role historique], Freedom Press, London, 1987
  -  Comment : The text of two brilliant lectures that Kropotkin was meant to deliver in France if the French State had not expelled him at his arrival at Dieppe.
  -  For quotations see : Community - Control - Federalism - Power - Revolution - Servitude - State - State administration - Statism - War.

[1899] Bernard Bosanquet, The Philosophical Theory of the State, Macmillan, London, Second Edition 1920
- Contents: Introduction to the Second Edition. I. Rise and Conditions of the Philosophical Theory of the State. II.Sociological Compared with Philosophical Theory. III. The Paradox of Political Obligation; Self-Government. IV. The Problem of Political Obligation More Radically Treated. V. The Conception of a "Real" Will. VI. The Conception of Liberty as Illustrated by the Forgoing Suggestions. VII. Psychological Illustration of the Idea of a Real or General Will. VIII. Nature of the End of the State and Consequent Limit of State Action. IX. Rousseau's Theory as Applied to the Modern State: Kant, Fichte, Hegel. X. The Analysis of a Modern State. Hegel's Philosophy of Right. XI. Institutions Considered as Ethical Ideas.
- Comment: It is strange to realize how even the theory that assigned to the state an ethical supreme role has been overcome by contemporary reality in which we still find the conviction of the irreplaceable role played by an almighty state.

[1905] William L. Riordon, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall. A series of very plain talks on very practical politics delivered by ex senator George Washington Plunkitt and recorded by William L. Riordon, Dutton & Co., New York, 1963
- Contents: Honest graft and dishonest graft - How to become a statesman - The curse of civil service reform - Reformers only mornin' glories - New York city is pie for the hayseeds - To hold your district: study human nature and act accordin' - On The shame of the cities - Ingratitude in politics - Reciprocity in patronage - Brooklynites natural-born hayseeds - Tammany leaders not bookworms - Dangers of the dress suit in politics - On municipal Ownership - Tammany the only lastin' democracy - Concerning gas in politics - Plunkitt's fondest dream - Tammany's patriotism - On the use of money in politics - The successful politician does not drink - Bosses preserve the nation - Concerning excise - A parting word on the future of the democratic party in America - Strenuous life of the Tammany district leader.
- Comment: A sincere declaration on the working of representative democracy, between honest graft and political patronage.
http://www.panarchy.org/plunkitt/graft.1905.html
http://www.panarchy.org/plunkitt/patronage.1905.html

[1906]  Piotr Kropotkin,  The Conquest of Bread, Elephant Editions, London, 1990
 -  Contents : Preface by Kropotkin to the 1913 Edition. 1 Our Riches. 2 Well-being for all. 3 Anarchist Communism. 4 Expropriation. 5 Food. 6 Dwellings. 7 Clothing. 8 Ways and Means. 9 The need for Luxury. 10 Agreeable work. 11 Free agreement. 12 Objections. 13 The collectivist Wages System. 14 Consumption and Production. 15 The division of Labour. 16 The decentralization of Industry. 17 Agriculture.
 -  Comment : A text full of practical insights for the never ending struggle to build a community of free human beings.
 -  To be read : 11 Free agreement.
 -  For quotations see : Cooperation - Law - Majority rule - Work/Activity.

[1907]  Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998
  -  Comment: This can be seen as a reflection on the tragedy of anarchism, torn between agents provocateurs (Verloc) and fake anarchists (Ossipon).

[1909]  Max Nettlau,  Panarchy. A Forgotten Idea of 1860, with an Introductory Note by John Zube
 -  Comment : A very interesting article on the notion of Panarchy or, in simple words, to each the form of social organization of his/her own choice.
http://www.panarchy.org/nettlau/1909.eng.html (English)
http://www.panarchy.org/nettlau/1909.de.html (Deutsch)
http://www.panarchy.org/nettlau/1909.it.html (Italiano)
http://www.panarchy.org/nettlau/1909.esp.html (Español)

[1910]  Emma Goldman,  Anarchism. What it really stands for.
  -  Comment: This is a passionate lucid essay on anarchism. Points worth of attention are the position of Emma Goldman concerning politics and politicians, and the passages on human nature under the captivity of the state.
    http://www.panarchy.org/goldman/anarchism.1910.html

[1911]  Gustav Landauer, For Socialism, second edition 1919, Telos Press, St. Louis, 1978
  -  Comment :  A writing by an advocate of libertarian socialism, killed by the state in Bavaria in 1919.
  -  For quotations see : Community - Exchange/Trade - Socialism - Society - Work/Activity.

[1911]  Roberto Michels,  [Zur Soziologie des Parteiwesens in der modernen Demokratie] La sociologia del partito politico nella democrazia moderna, seconda edizione riveduta e accresciuta, 1925 , il Mulino, Bologna, 1966
  -  Contents : Introduzione. Parte prima : Eziologia della leadership. Parte seconda : L'effettivo carattere della supremazia dei dirigenti. Parte terza : Reazioni psichologiche della leadership come effetto del suo dominio sulle masse. Parte quarta : Analisi sociale della leadership. Parte quinta : Tentativi per prevenire il potere dei capi. Parte sesta : Sintesi : le tendenze oligarchiche dell'organizzazione.
  -  Comment : The analysis of the intrinsic authoritarian mind and practices within the socialist parties.
  -  To be read : Parte seconda : L'effettivo carattere della supremazia dei dirigenti.
  -  For quotations see : Bureaucracy - History - Elections/Representatives - Masses/Crowds - Parties/Factions - Power - Protectionism - Size/Scale - Socialism - State.

[1912]  Piotr Kropotkin, Fields, Factories and Workshops Tomorrow, introduced and edited by Colin Ward, Harper & Row, New York, 1974
  -  Content : Editor's introduction. Author's preface to the first edition 1898. Author's preface to the second edition 1912. 1 The decentralization of industries. 2 The possibilities of agriculture. 3 Small industries and industrial villages. Brain Work and Manual Work. 5 Conclusion
  -  Comment : A wonderful text on the overcoming of social (town/country) and personal (manual/mental) divisions.
  -  To be read : In its entirety
  -  For quotations see : Exchange/Trade - Manual/Mental - Uniformity/Variety.

[1913]  Hilaire Belloc,  The Servile State, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis, 1977
  -  Contents : Introduction by Robert Nisbet. The subject of this book. Definitions. Our civilization was originally servile. How the servile institution was for a time dissolved. How the distributive state failed. The capitalist state in proportion as it grows perfect grows unstable. The stable solutions of this instability. Socialism is the easiest apparent solution of the capitalist crux. The reformers and the reformed are alike making for the servile state. The servile state has begun. Conclusion.
  -  Comment : A prophetic anticipation of the partenalistic authoritarian state and the servile and passive condition it fosters.
  -  To be read : The reformers and the reformed are alike making for the servile state.
  -  For quotations see : Servitude - Socialism.

[1918]  Randolph Bourne,  War is the health of the state (from "The State")
 -  Comment: A very powerful analysis of the genetic link between state and war, and about the exploitation of war by the state in order to bring to the fore the herd instinct of the people. This is fully functional to its role, being the state "the organization of the entire herd."   http://www.panarchy.org/bourne/state.1918.html

[1922]  Eugénij Ivànovic Zamjàtin,  Noi [My], Feltrinelli Editore, Milano, 1963
  -  Comment : Five years after the October Revolution the totalitarianism of the communist State was already visible in this powerful novel that anticipates Orwell's 1984.
  -  For quotations see : Control - Masses/Crowds - Revolution.

[1935]  Albert Jay Nock,  Our Enemy, the State, Hallberg Publishing Corporation, Tampa, Florida, 2001
 - Contents: Introduction: Life, Liberty and ... . I. Social Power vs. State Power. Three Indexes of State Power. State Power Does not Diminish. The Noiseless Revolution. The Modern State Citizens. II. The Origin of State and Class. Conquest and Confiscation. Converting Social Power Into State Power. Economic Means vs. Political Means. III. The State in Colonial America. Natural Rights and Popular Sovereignty. The Company Systems. IV. Land Monopoly and American Independence. The Edict of 1763 and Land Speculation. The Right of the People. V. Politics and Other Fetiches. The Scramble for Access to the Political Means. The Industrial Coup d'Etat of 1789. The Party System. VI. The State and the Remnant. The Unbroken Record of State Power. The Remnant, Certain Alien Spirits. Epilogue: The Classicist's Opportunity.
 - Comment: Nock dismantles the myth of an American society free from the intrusion of an omnipotent state.
 -  For quotations see: Expropriation/Exploitation - Parties - Protectionism - State-Church - Statism: ideology.

 [1936]  Ayn Rand,  We the Living, Penguin Books USA, New York, 1983
  -  Comment : As in the words of the author in the 1958 preface, this is a novel not about Soviet Russia but about the human being against the State. It is a story about Dictatorship, any dictatorship, anywhere, at any time. A passionate cry for the freedom of the individual.

[1936-1937]  André Gide,  Retour de l'URSS, suivi de, Retouches à mon retour de l'URSS, Gallimard, Paris, 1978
  -  Comment : The notes of a journey that opened the eyes of Gide to the reality of communism (that is, stalinist statism) in the Russian empire.
  -  For quotations see : Bureaucracy - Communism/Collectivism.

[1937]  José Ortega Y Gasset,  La Rebelión de las Masas, Espasa-Calpe, Madrid, 1969
  -  Contents : I La rebelión de las masas : 1 El hecho de las aglomeraciones. 2 La subida del nivel histórico. 3 La altura de los tiempos. 4 El crescimiento de la vida. 5 Un dato estadístico. 6 Comienza la disseción del hombre-masa. 7 Vida noble y vida vulgar, o esfuerzo e inercia. 8 Por qué las masas intervienen en todo, y por qué sólo intervienen violentamente. 9 Primitivismo y técnica. 10 primitivismo e historia. 11 La época del 'señorito satisfecho'. 12 La barbarie del 'especialismo'. 13 El mayor peligro, el Estado. II Quién manda en el mundo? 14 Quién manda en el mundo?. 15 Se desemboca en la verdadera cuestión.
  -  Comment : A classic text on the massification of society and the shrinking of the rational individual.
  -  To be read : 13 El mayor peligro, el Estado.
  -  For quotations see : Masses/Crowds

[1937]  Emilio Lussu,  Un anno sull'Altipiano, Einaudi, Torino, 1978
  -  Comment : Personal memories from the first world war, to show the stupidity and brutality of all wars and the mental insanity of those who are in command.
  -  For quotations see : War.

[1938]  George Orwell,  Homage to Catalonia, with Looking back on the Spanish War, Penguin, Harmondwsorth, 1983
  -   Comment : The chronicle of a tragedy within a tragedy, with the  communist more interested to stamp their hegemony on the anarchist than to fight Francoism. A memorable tale full of insights, honesty and passion.
  -  For quotations see : Doublethink - Fascism/Communism - Language/Communication - Socialism.

[1938] Stuart Chase, The Tyranny of Words, Harcourt Brace, New York
- Contents: 1. A writer in search of his words. 2. A look around the modern world. 3. Inside and outside. 4. Cats and babies. 5. Primitive Peoples. 6. Pioneers I. 7. Pioneers II. 8. Meaning for scientists. 9. The language of mathematics. 10. Interpreting the environment. 11. The semantic discipline. 12 Promenade with the philosophers. 13. Turn with the logicians. 14. To the right with the economists. 15. To the left with the economists. 16. Swing your partners with the economists. 17. Round and round with the judges. 18. Stroll with the statesmen. 19. On facing the world outside. Appendix. Selected Bibliography.
- Comment: An interesting text on the manipulation of words and the corruption of thought.

[1938]  Ignazio Silone,  La scuola dei dittatori, Mondadori, Milano, 2001
 -  Contents : 1. Incontro dell'autore con l'americano Mr. Doppio Vu, aspirante dittatore, e col suo consigliere ideologico, il famoso professore Pickup, venuti in Europa alla ricerca dell'uovo di Colombo. 2. Sulla tradizionale arte politica e le sue deficienze nell'epoca della civiltà di massa. 3. Su alcune condizioni che nella nostra epoca favoriscono le tendenze totalitarie. 4. Schema di un colpo di stato dopo una rivoluzione mancata. 5. Sull'amore non corrisposto dell'aspirante dittatore per le Muse, sull'insignificanza degli alberi genealogici e l'inevitabilità delle emicranie. 6. Molti sono i chiamati, pochi gli eletti. 7. Sul partito dell'aspirante dittatore. 8. Sull'inutilità dei programmi e la pericolosità delle discussioni e sulla tecnica moderna per suggestionare le masse. 9. Come la democrazia divora sé stessa, con qualche utile esempio sull'arte di pescare nel torbido. 10. L'arte del doppio gioco e il pericolo di credere nei propri inganni. 11. Sulla nausea della vocazione totalitaria e la nostalgia della vita privata. 12. Sui pericoli dei complotti e delle rivolte senza l'appoggio della polizia e dell'esercito. 13. Sull'operazione piatto di lenticchie e il colpo di stato con l'assistenza delle autorità. 14. Sul consenso plebiscitario, la compenetrazione stato-partito e l'allevamento intensivo di capri espiatori.
 -  Comment : A wonderful book, full of historical insights and anti conventional ideas.
 -  To be read : 9. Come la democrazia divora sé stessa, con qualche utile esempio sull'arte di pescare nel torbido.
 -  For quotations see : Democracy - Fascism/Communism - Language - Parties/Factions - Power - Security - Socialism - State criminality.

[1939]  Bruno Rizzi,  Il Collettivismo Burocratico [La Bureaucratisation du Monde], Sugarco Edizioni, Milano, 1977
  -  Contents : Parte prima : Sul collettivismo burocratico. 1 Natura dello stato sovietico. 2 Nel campo d'Agramante. 3 La proprietà di classe. 4 Lo sfruttamento burocratico. 5 Il proletariato. 6 Le nazionalizzazioni. 7 La restaurazione borghese. 8 Il regno della piccola borghesia. 9 La definizione dell'URSS. Parte seconda : In margine al collettivismo burocratico.
  -  Comment : One of the most famous analysis of the bureaucracy as a new autocratic class. Forget the bourgeoisie, be aware of  the bureaucracy.  Clearly, it found no publisher in 1939.
  -  To be read : 1 Natura dello stato sovietico.
  -  For quotations see : Bureaucracy - Servitude.

[1940]  Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon, Jonathan Cape, London, 1945
  -  Contents : The first hearing. The second hearing. The third hearing. The grammatical fiction.
  -  Comment : A lucid attempt at portraying the contorted criminal mind of Stalinism and its accomplices.
  -  For quotations see : Communism/Collectivism.

[1941]  Erich Fromm,  Escape from Freedom (published in 1942 in England as : Fear of Freedom), Routledge, London, 1960
 -  Contents : I. Freedom - A psychological problem?. II. The emergence of the individual and the ambiguity of freedom. III. Freedom in the age of the Reformation. IV. The two aspects of freedom for modern man. V. Mechanism of escape. VI. Psychology of Nazism. VII. Freedom and democracy. Appendix : Character and the social process.
  -  Comment : A powerful analysis of the freedom of the individual and the sado-masochistic desire of any power to control and subjugate it.
  -  To be read : VI. Psychology of Nazism.
  -  For quotations see : Bureaucracy - Fascism/Communism - Freedom - Individual/Human Being - Security.

[1941]  Leopold Kohr,  Disunion Now : A Plea for a Society Based upon Small Autonomous Units, Telos, n. 91, Spring 1992
  -  Comment : The brilliant essay on communities and federalism by a genial thinker. A must.
  -  For quotations see : Federalism - Size/Scale
http://www.panarchy.org/kohr/1941.eng.html

[1943] William Foote Whyte, Street Corner Society. The Social Structure of an Italian Slum. The University of Chicago Press, Second Edition 1955
- Contents: Part I.  Corner Boys and College Boys. Part II. Racketeers and Politicians. Part III. Conclusion. Appendix: On the Evolution of Street Corner Society.
- Comment: A classic of social research in group dynamics and a penetrating insight on the working of American democracy in the late thirties.

[1943-1944]  George Orwell,  Animal Farm, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1966
-  Comment : A jewel in the art of destroying myths and uncovering the naked reality of power.
-  To be read : First on the reading list.
-  For quotations see : Alienation - Bureaucracy - Law - Left/Right - Power.

[1944]  F. A. Hayek,  The Road to Serfdom, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1986
 -  Contents : Introduction. 1 The abandoned road. 2 The great utopia. 3 Individualism and collectivism. 4 The 'inevitability' of planning. 5 Democracy and planning. 6 Planning and the rule of law. 7 Economic control and totalitarianism. 8 Who, whom ?. 9 Security and freedom. 10 Why the worst get on top. 11 The end of truth. 12 The socialist roots of Nazism. 13 The totalitarians in our midst. 14 Material conditions and ideal ends. 15 The prospects of international order. Conclusion.
 -  Comment : An anticipation of the interfering and controlling role of the contemporary State and a plea for political and economic freedom against the post-war dominating ideology of dirigism and collectivism. An essential text.
 -  To be read : 3 Individualism and collectivism.
 -  For quotations see : Competition/Emulation - Control - Coordination - Exchange/Trade - Fascism/Communism - Individual/Human Being - Majority rule - Monopoly - Power - Security - Statism : economy.

[1945]  Bertrand de Jouvenel,  On Power : its nature and the history of its growth (Du pouvoir : histoire naturelle de sa croissance), Liberty Press, Indianapolis, 1993
 -  Contents : The Minotaur presented. Book I : Metaphysics of power : 1. Of civil obedience. 2 Theories of sovereignty. 3 The organic theories of Power. Book II : Origins of Power : 4 The magical origins of Power. 5 The coming of the warrior. Book III : Of the nature of Power : 6 The dialectic of Command. 7 The expansionist character of Power. 8 Of political rivalry. Book IV : The State as permanent Revolution : 9 Power, assailant of the social order. 10 Power and the common people. 11 Power and Beliefs. Book V : The Face of Power changes, but not its Nature : 12 Of Revolutions. 13 Imperium and Democracy. 14 Totalitarian Democracy. Book VI : Limited Power or Unlimited Power ? : 15 Limited Power. 16 Power and Law. 17 Liberty's Aristocratic Roots. 18 Liberty or Security. 19 Order or Social Protectorate. Epilogue.
 -  Comment : A masterly analysis of Power.
 -  To be read : In its entirety.
 -  For quotations see : Bureaucracy - Elections/Representatives - Freedom - History - Individual/Human Being - Law - Majority rule - Parties/Factions - Police - Power - Revolution - Security - Society - State - Taxation - Uniformity/Variety - War.

[1945]  Arthur Koestler,  The Yogi and the Commissar, Jonathan Cape, London, 1964
-  Contents : 1 Meanderings : The yogi and the commissar. The French' flu. The novelist's temptations. the reader's dilemma. The great crank. In memory of Richard Hillary. The intelligentsia. 2 Exhortations : Scum of the earth 1942. On disbelieving atrocities. Knights in rusty armour. The fraternity of pessimists. Le roi est mort. 3 Explorations : Anatomy of a myth. Soviet myth and reality. The end of an illusion. The yogi and the commissar II.
-  Comment : One of the most chilling documents on the gulag that was the communist statism in the Soviet Union, especially under Stalin.
-  To be read : 3 Explorations
-  For quotations see : Bureaucracy - Communism/Collectivism - Doublethink - Nation/Nationalism.

[1946] Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson, Laissez Faire Books, San Francisco, 2006
- Contents: Part One: The Lesson 1. The Lesson. Part Two: The Lesson Applied. 2. The Broken Window. 3. The Blessing of Destruction. 4. Public Works Mean Taxes. 5. Taxes Discourage Production. 6. Credit Diverts Production. 7. The Curse of Machinery. 8. Spread-the-Work Schemes. 9. Disbanding Troops and Bureaucrats. 10. The Fetish of Full Employment. 11.Who's Protected by Tariffs? 12. The Drive for Exports. 13. "Parity" Prices. 14. Saving the X Industry. 15. How the Price System Works. 16. "Stabilizing" Commodities. 17. Government Price-Fixing. 18. What Rent Control Does. 19. Minimum Wage Laws. 20. Do Unions Really Raise Wages? 21. "Enough to Buy Back the Product". 22. The Function of Profits. 23. The Mirage of Inflation. 24. The Assault on Saving. 25. The Lesson Restated. Part Three: The Lesson after Thirty Years. 26. The Lesson after Thirty Years. A Note on Books.
- Comment: Still powerful and anti-conventional as when it was first written, over fifty years ago.

[1946]  George Orwell,  Politics and the English Language, in,  Inside the Whale and Other Essays, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1962
 -  Comment : A very lucid essay on language, ever so relevant as when it was first written.
 -  For quotations see : Language/Communication.

[1947] Erich Fromm, Man for Himself, Routledge, London, 2003
- Contents: I. The Problem. II Humanistic Ethics: The applied science of the art of living. 1. Humanistic vs. Authoritarian Ethics. 2. Subjectivistic vs. Objectivistic Ethics. 3. The Science of Man. 4. The Tradition of Humanistic Ethics. 5. Ethics and Psychoanalisis. III. Human Nature and Character. 1. The Human Situation. A. Man's biological weakness. B. The existential and the historical dichotomies in man, 2. Personality. A. Temperament. B. Character. (1) The dynamic concept of character. (2) Types of character: the nonproductive orientations. (A) The receptive orientation. (B) The exploitative orientation. (C) The hoarding orientation. (D) The marketing orientation. (3) The productive orientation. (A) General characteristics. (B) Productive love and thinking. (4) Orientations in the process of socialization. (5) Blends of various orientations. IV. Problems of Humanistic Ethics. 1. Selfishness, Self-Love, and Self-Interest. 2. Conscience, Man's Recall to Himself. A. Authoritarian conscience. B. Humanistic conscience. 3. Pleasure and Happiness. A: Pleasure as a criterion of value. B. Types of pleasure. C. The problem of means and ends. 4. Faith as a Character Trait. 5. The Moral Powers in Man. A. Man, good or evil? B. Repression vs. productiveness. C. Character and moral judgment. 6. Absolute vs. Relative, Universal vs. Socially Immanent Ethics. V. The Moral Problem of Today.
- Comment: The delineation of a humanistic ethics on which to base the free development of the individual.

[1948]  Wilhelm Röpke,  Civitas Humana. A human order of society, William Hodge & Company, London, 1948
 -  Contents : Introduction. Part I : Moral foundations. The place of science in the city of man. Part II : The healthy and the sick government. Counterweights to the State. Specific counterweights to the power of the State. Part III : Congestion and proletarianisation of society. Decongestion and deproletarianisation. Part IV : The decentralisation of Industry. The peasant core of society. Alleviation of business cycle fluctuations. Economic System and International New Order.
 -  Comment : A plea in favour of decentralisation, federalism, small units of production, the freedom of the consumers and of the producers against the spreading of the monopolistic State.
 -  To be read : Part II : The healthy and the sick government.
 -  For quotations see : Federalism - Monopoly.

[1948]  George Orwell,  Nineteen Eighty-Four, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1999
 -  Comment : A look at how the world of statism could be and, in several respects, it actually is.
 -  For quotations see : Alienation - Control - Doublethink - Language/Communication - Power - Socialism - Statism : ideology - War.

[1949]  Benjamin M. Anderson,  Economics and the Public Welfare. A financial and economic history of the United States 1914-1946, Liberty Press, Indianapolis, 1979
 -  Contents : Part I : World war I. Part II : The postwar boom, crisis, and revival, 1919-1923. Part III : The first phase of the New Deal, 1924-1932. Part IV : The New Deal in maturity, 1933-39. Part V : World war II.
 -  Comment : A work that bring to attention many less known facts, hidden by the statist eulogy of the New Deal and by the so called keynesian revolution.
 -  To be read : Part IV : The New Deal in maturity, 1933-39.
 -  For quotations see : Expropriation - Protectionism - State administration - Statism : economy.

[1950]  Alex Comfort,  Authority and Delinquency in the Modern State. A criminological approach to the problem of power, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1950
 -  Contents : I. Delinquency in Modern Government : 1 General considerations. 2 Types of Leadership. 3 Aberrant personalities in government. 4 War and the corps d'élite. II. The State and Human Behaviour : Functions of the State. Power and the 'natural man'. 3 Remedies
 -  Comment : A penetrating dissection of conventional ideas on government, war, criminality, law, morality. Clear and direct to the point.
 -  To be read : II. The State and Human Behaviour
 -  For quotations see : Control - Elections/Representatives - Law - Revolution - State - State criminality - War - Work/Activity.

[1950]  VV. AA.,  The God that failed, six studies in communism, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1950
 -  Contents : Introduction by Richard Crossman, M.P. Notes on contributors. Part one : The Initiates : Arthur Koestler, Ignazio Silone, Richard Wright. Part two : Worshippers from afar : André Gide presented by Enid Starkie, Louis Fischer, Stephen Spender.
 -  Comment : A chilling recollection of sincere illusions and burning delusion under the banner of communism.
 -  For quotations see : Communism/Collectivism - Fascism/Communism - Imperialism - Nation/Nationalism - Work/Activity.

[1951]  Albert Camus,  L'homme révolté, Gallimard, Paris, 1951
 -  Contents : Introduction - L'absurde et le meurtre. I. L'homme Révolté. II. La Révolte Métaphysique : Les fils de Cain - La négation absolue - Le refus du salut - L'affirmation absolue - La poésie révoltée - Nihilisme et histoire. III. La Révolte Historique : Les régicides - Les déicides - Le terrorisme individuel - Le terrorisme d'État et la terreur irrationnelle - Le terrorisme d'État et la terreur rationnelle - Révolte et révolution. IV. Révolte et Art. V. La Pensée de Midi : Révolte et meurtre - Mesure et démesure. Au delà du nihilisme.
 -  Comment : The crimes of the State under the banner of reason and freedom.
 -  To be read : Le terrorisme d'État et la terreur irrationnelle.
 -  For quotations see : Communism/Collectivism - Law - Revolution - Servitude.

[1951]  Alessandro Passerin d'Entrèves,  Natural Law, Hutchinson University Library, London, 1967
 -  Contents :  Introduction; 1. A universal systems of laws. 2. A rational foundation of ethics. 3. A theory of natural rights. 4. The essence of law. 5. Law and morals. 6. The ideal law. Conclusion.
 -  Comment : A reminder of the central role that should be given to natural law with respect to conventions and transitory rules imposed by the states under the name of positive law.
 -  To be read : 3. A theory of natural rights.
 -  For quotations see : Law.

[1952]  J. L. Talmon,  The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy, Mercury Books, London, 1961
 -  Contents : Introduction (1) The two types of democracy, liberal and totalitarian. (2) The eighteenth-century origins of political Messianism; the schism. (3) Totalitarianism of the Right and Totalitarianism of the Left. (4) Secular and religious Messianism. (5) Questions of method. Part I : The Eighteenth-Century Origins of Political Messianism.  I. Natural Order : the Postulate. II. The Social Pattern and Freedom (Helvetius and Holbach). III. Totalitarian Democracy (Rousseau) IV. Property (Morelly and Mably). Part II : The Jacobin Improvisation. I. The Revolution of 1789 (Sieyès). II. Balance or Revolutionary Purpose - Under the Constitutional Monarchy. III. Volonté Une. IV. Ultimate Scheme. V. The Social Problem. Part III : The Babouvist Crystallization. I. The Lesson of the Revolution and of Thermidor. II. The Babouvist Social Doctrine. III.The Story of the Plot of Babeuf. IV. Democracy and Dictatorship. V. The Structure of the Conspiracy. VI. The Ultimate Scheme. Conclusions. Notes.
 -  Comment : A presentation of the ideological roots of the current totalitarian democracy in the Western world.
 -  To be read : Introduction (1) The two types of democracy, liberal and totalitarian.
 -  For quotations see : Democracy - Freedom - State-Church - Uniformity-Variety.

[1952] A. J. P. Taylor, Economic Imperialism
- Comment: A lucid essay on the true nature and origin of imperialism..
http://www.panarchy.org/taylor/imperialism.1952.html

[1952] Bertrand de Jouvenel, The Ethics of Redistribution, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis, 1990
- Contents: Lecture I: The Socialist Ideal. Lecture II: State Expenditure. Appendix: The Potentialities of Pure Reditribution.
- To be read: Lecture II: State Expenditure.
- Comment: "Only Hayek has rivaled Bertrand de Jouvenel in demonstrating why redistributionism in the democracies inexorably results in the atrophy of personal responsibility and the hypertrophy of bureaucracy and the centralized state instead of in relief to the hapless minorities it is pledged to serve." Robert Nisbet

[1953]  Robert A. Nisbet,  Community & Power, (formerly : The Quest for Community), Oxford University Press, New York, 1962
 -  Contents : I Community and the problem of order : 1 The loss of community. 2 The image of community. 3 The problem of community. II The state and community : 4 History as the decline of community. 5 The state as revolution. 6 Sovereignty and association. 7 The political community. 8 The total community. III Community and the problem of freedom : 9 The problem of liberalism. 10 The contexts of individuality. 11 The contexts of democracy. Conclusion.
 -  Comment : A text on cultural pluralism and political decentralization against the nationalism and centralism of the state. Certainly not a conservative document.
 -  To be read : Part II : The state and community.
 -  For quotations see : Community - Individual - Law - Masses/Crowds - Power - State.

[1957]  Milovan Djilas, The New Class, An analysis of the communist system, Thames and Hudson, London, 1958
 -  Contents : Origins. Character of the revolution. The new class. The party state. Dogmatism in the economy. Tyranny over the mind. The aim and the means. The essence. National communism. The present-day world.
 -  Comment : The portrait of the communist statism from the inside, unequivocally clear and straightforward.
 -  To be read : Tyranny over the mind.
 -  For quotations see : Bureaucracy - Communism/Collectivism - Fascism/Communism - Nation/Nationalism.

[1957]  Leopold Kohr,  The Breakdown of Nations, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1986
 -  Contents : Preface 1986. Introduction. 1. The philosophy of misery. 2. The power theory of aggression. 3. Disunion now. 4. Tyranny in a small-state world. 5. The physics of politics : the philosophical argument. 6. Individual and average man : the political argument. 7. The glory of the small : the cultural argument. 8. The efficiency of the small : the economic argument. 9. Union through division : the administrative argument. 10. The elimination of great powers. 11 But will it be done ?. 12. The American empire. Appendices : The principle of federation presented in maps.
 -  Comment : The classic text on size and power, written in 1940-1941 and fresh and topical as ever. Recommended reading for atrophied minds.
 -  To be read : From preface to annexes.
 -  For quotations see : Power - Size/Scale.

[1957]  Ayn Rand,  Atlas Shrugged, Signet Books, New York, 1957
 -  Contents : Part 1 : Non-Contradiction. Part 2 : Either-Or. Part 3 : A is A.
 -  Comment : A celebration of life vitality and entrepreneurship against the vicious morass of state bureaucracy.
 -  To be read : Part 3 : Chapter VII : This is John Galt speaking.
 -  For quotations see : Doublethink - Expropriation - Individual/Human Being - Law.

[1958]  Robert Aron et alii,  L'ère des fédérations, Plon, Paris, 1958
 -  Contents : Quatre précurseurs : Proudhon, Sorel, Péguy, Dandieu, par Daniel Halévy. Le fédéralisme répond, par Jean Maze. Qu'est-ce-que le fédéralisme, par Robert Aron. L'esprit du fédéralisme, par Jean Daujat. Principes et méthodes du fédéralisme, par Max Richard. Actualité du fédéralisme, par Robert Aron. L'Idée fédéraliste en France, par Bernard Voyenne. Le fédéralisme et l'Etat, par Georges Vedel. Le fédéralisme et l'Europe, par Henri Brugmans. Fédéralisme et problème social, par Jacques Tessier. Le fédéralisme économique et l'expansion régionale, par Guy De Carmoy. Le fédéralisme et l'industrie, par Bertrand Motte. Le fédéralisme interne, la Commune et l'Europe, par Jean Barete. Le fédéralisme et l'Union Française, par Pierre-Henri Teitgen. Communauté franco-africaine et fédéralisme, par Max Richard. Un accord des volontés, par Louis Périllier. Une politique fédéraliste, par André Voisin. Quatorze ans d'action fédéraliste, par Jean-Maurice Martin. La France, pays du fédéralisme, par André Maurois.
 -  Comment : A collection of essays on Federalism when the debate was still highly stimulating and the hopes still vibrant.
 -  To be read : Principes et méthodes du fédéralisme, par Max Richard. [http://www.panarchy.org/federalism/richard.1956.html]
 -  For quotations see : Federalism - Law - Majority rule - Nation/Nationalism - State criminality.

[1958]  Wilhelm Röpke,  A Humane Economy. The social framework of the free market, Oswald Wolff, London, 1960
 -  Contents : 1 Reappraisal after fifteen years. 2 Modern mass society. 3 The conditions and limits of the market. 4 Welfare State and chronic inflation. 5 Centrism and decentrism. Notes.
 -  Comment : A warning on the danger of a vulgar mass society that crushes the individual and the community and a plea  for a free market in a free economy against the patronising and stultifying role of the Welfare State.
 -  To be read : Chapter 4 : Welfare State and chronic inflation.
 -  For quotations see : Community - Competition/Emulation - Federalism - Taxation - Welfare state.

[1958]  C. Northcote Parkinson,  Parkinson's Law or the pursuit of progress, with illustrations by Osbert Lancaster, John Murray, London, 1958
 -  Contents : Parkinson's law. The short list. Directors and councils. The will of the people. Personality screen. High finance. Palm thatch to Packard. Plans and plants. Injelititis. Pension point.
 -  Comment : The bureaucracy presented in a sarcastic and piercing way or how to do nothing while appearing very busy.
 -  To be read : Parkinson's law.
 -  For quotations see : State administration.

[1960] Elie Kedourie, Nationalism, Blackwell, Oxford, 1998, fourth expanded edition
- Contents: 1. Politics in a new style. 2. Self-determination. 3. State and individual. 4. The excellence of diversity. 5. National self-determination. 6. Nationalism and politics I. 7. Nationalism and politics II. Afterword. Further reading.
- Comment: The classic text on nationalism. 
-  For quotations see : Education/Learning - Left/Right - Nation/Nationalism.

[1961]  Bruno Leoni,  Freedom and the Law, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis, 1991
 -  Contents : Freedom and the Law. 1. Which Freedom? 2. "Freedom" and "Constraint". 3. Freedom and the Rule of Law. 4. Freedom and the Certainty of the Law. 5. Freedom and Legislation. 6. Freedom and Representation. 7. Freedom and the Common Will. 8. Some Difficulties Analysed. Conclusion. The Law and Politics. 1. The Law as Individual Claim. 2. Law and Economy in the Making. 3. The Economic Approach to the Political. 4. Voting Versus the Market.
 -  Comment:: One of the best analyses of the proper role of the law and of the juridical system.
 -  For quotations see: Democracy - Exchange - Law.

[1961] William Lederer, A Nation of Sheep, Cassell, London
- Contents: Preface. I. Some Stories. 1. The Laos Fraud. 2. The Editor from Thailand. 3. What We Aren't Told about Formosa. 4. What We Aren't Told about Korea. 5. The Boomerang in the Foreign Student Programme. II. The Culprits. 6. Government by Misinformation. 7. Secrecy in Government. 8. Government by Publicity. 9. The Press. III. What's to Be Done. 10. Specifics at a National Level. 11. Specifics at a Personal Level. IV. A Response to Challenge. 11. A Response to Challenge. V. Conclusion. 13 Conclusion.
- Comment: A damning essay about the meddling of the USA federal state in the lives of the people of Asia with the propping up of unsavory rulers and the use of nasty practices.

[1962]  Milton Friedman with the assistance of Rose D. Friedman,  Capitalism and Freedom, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1982
 -  Contents : Preface 1982. Introduction . 1. The relation between economic freedom and political freedom. 2. The role of government in a free society. 3. The control of money. 4. International financial and trade arrangements. 5. Fiscal policy. 6. The role of government in education. 7. Capitalism and discrimination. 8. Monopoly and the social responsibility of business and labor. 9. Occupational licensure. 10. The distribution of income. 11. Social welfare measures. 12. Alleviation of poverty. 13 Conclusion.
 -  Comment : A refreshing look at economy and government.
 -  To be read : 2. The role of government in a free society.
 -  For quotations see : Education/Learning - Freedom - Monopoly - Power - State administration - Work/Activity.

[1962]  Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, second edition enlarged, 1970
 -  Contents : Preface. 1 Introduction : A Role for History. 2 The Route to Normal Science. 3 The Nature of Normal Science. 4 Normal Science as Puzzle-Solving. 5 The Priority of Paradigms. 6 Anomaly and the Emergence of Scientific Discoveries. 7 Crisis and the Emergence of Scientific Discoveries. 8 The Response to Crisis. 9 The Nature and Necessity of Scientific Revolutions. 10 Revolutions as Changes of World View. 11 The Invisibility of Revolutions. 12 The Resolution of Revolutions. 13 Progress Through Revolutions. Postscript 1969
 -  Comment : To move from Statism to Polyarchy we need a total change of paradigm. This classic text on the concept of paradigm is a gem. It needs to be read in its entirety more than once.
 -  To be read : From cover to cover and re-read from time to time.

[1964]  Vance Packard,  The Naked Society, Longmans, London, 1964
 -  Contents : Part I : The mounting surveillance. Part II : Some specific areas of assault. Part III : Assaults on traditional rights of free citizens. Part IV : If personal liberty is to be sustained.
 -  Comment : An analysis of the increasing assault on the freedom  of the individual, especially by Big government.
 -  To be read : Part III : Assaults on traditional rights of free citizens.
 -  For quotations see : Control - Freedom - Law - Police - Power - Size/Scale - State administration - War - Welfare state.

[1964]  Tristram Coffin,  The Armed Society. Militarism in modern America, Penguin Books, Baltimore, Maryland
  -  Contents:  1. The American Mission. 2. The Bloody Beast. 3. The Pioneer Fear. 4. The War Hawks. 5. The Military Mystique. 6. The Military Welfare State. 7. The Peacetime Soldier. 8. King Mac. 9. Military True Believers. 10. The Demonologist. 11. The Fighters and Statesmen. 12. The Mirror Army. 13. The Military-Industrial Complex. 14. The Senator-General. 15. The General and the Scientist. 16. The Military Circuit Riders. 17. The General and News. 18. Nuclear Strategy. 19. The Tactical Game. Epilogue.
  -  Comment: An insightful book on the mentality and practices of the American military complex.
-  For quotations see : Alienation - War.

[1965]  Estes Kefauver,  In a Few Hands. Monopoly power in America, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1966
 -  Contents : 1 Monopoly and prices : the case of drugs. 2 Monopoly and waste : the case of automobiles. 3 Monopoly and jobs : the case of steel. 4 Monopoly and small business : the case of bakeries. 5 Monopoly and the community. 6 Public policy and private monopoly.
 -  Comment : A report on monopolistic practices in the American economy and a damning indictment on the role played by the federal government through tariffs, import duties, and all sort of restrictions, in the establishment and consolidation of monopolies and trusts.
 -  To be read : 6 Public policy and private monopoly
 -  For quotations see : Competition/Emulation - Monopoly - Private/Public - Protectionism - Size/Scale - Statism : economy.

[1965]  E. G. West,  Education and the State. A study in political economy, Third Edition, Revised and Expanded,  Liberty Press, Indianapolis, 1994
 -  Contents : Part one : Protection of infants principle. Part two : The political economist's argument of the 'neighbourhood effects' of education. Part three : Theoretical and empirical antecedents. Part four : New patterns of state responsibility. Part five : A further case study of public intervention.
 -  Comment : A book that sets the record straight on the monopolisation of education by the state.
 -  To be read : Part two : The political economist's argument of the 'neighbourhood effects' of education.
 -  For quotations see : Education/Learning - Elections/Representatives - Monopoly - Taxation.

[1967]  Alessandro Passerin d'Entrèves,  The Notion of the State, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1967
 -  Contents : Introduction. I Might : 1 The argument of Thrasymachus. 2 Realism and Pessimism. 3 The State - a neologism. 4 The 'New Principality' and the Method of 'Effectual Truth'. 5 'Reason of State' and Machstaat. 6 'Class Struggle' and 'Governing Élites'. 7 The disruption of the notion of the State in modern political science. II Power : 1 Government by men and government by laws. 2 State and law : the basic notions. 3 The rule of law. 4 In search of sovereignty. 5 The birth of the Modern State. 6 Leviathan unfettered. 7 The 'Mixed State' and the 'Division of Power'. 8 The plurality of legal systems. 9 Church and State. 10 Legality and Legitimacy. III Authority : 1 Law and order. 2 Nature and convention. 3 Country and nation. 4 Divine right. 5 Force and consent. 6 Negative liberty. 7 Positive liberty. 8 The common good.
 -  Comment : A classic text on the State that, in clear and simple language, shatters myths. Full of insights and interesting remarks.
 -  To be read : III Authority : 3 Country and nation.
 -  For quotations see :  Law - Nation/Nationalism - Order - State.

[1967]  Report from Iron Mountain on the Possibility and Desirability of Peace, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1967
 -  Contents : Foreword. Background Information. Statement by 'John Doe'. The Report of the Special Study Group. Letter of Transmittal. Introduction. Section 1  Scope of the Study. Section 2  Disarmament of the Economy. Section 3  Disarmament Scenarios. Section 4  War and Peace as Social Systems. Section 5  The Functions of War. Section 6  Substitutes for the Functions of War. Section 7  Summary and Conclusions. Section 8  Recommendations. Notes
 -  Comment : A chilling text aimed at pinpointing the various functions played by war (hot-cold) for the maintenance of the state.
 -  To be read : Section 5  The Functions of War.
 -  For quotations see : War.

[1967]  Charles I. Schottland editor,  The Welfare State, Harper & Row Publishers, New York
  -  Contents: I. Introduction by Charles I. Schottland. II. Historical Development of the Welfare State Idea. 1. The State, by William Temple, Archbishop of York. 2. The Welfare State in historical perspective, by Asa Briggs. 3. The General-Welfare State in the Twentieth Century, by Sidney Fine. 4. The Unfinished Business of the Welfare State, by Desmond G. Neill. 5. Government as Social Servant, by Henry Abraham. 6. Appraisal of the Welfare State, by Henry Steele Commager.  III. The Welfare State as a Concept. 7. The Spreading State of Welfare, by Fortune Magazine. 8. The Welfare State: Images and Realities, by Richard M. Titmuss. 9. Planning in the Welfare State, by Gunnar Myrdal. 10. The Rule of Law and the Welfare State, by Harry W. Jones. 11. "The Welfare State", by Arthur Schlesinger jr. 12. The True Welfare: America's Continuing Quest, by August Heckacher. 13. Reflections on the Welfare State, by Wallace Petersen. 14. Theory and Practice of the Welfare State, by N. A. Smith. IV. The Great Debate. 15. The Welfare State - The Case for and Against, by Asher Achinstein. 16. "Welfare State" - A Debate that Isn't, by Sidney Hook. 17. Reflections on the Welfare State, by Wilhelm Röpke. 18. The Welfare State - a State of General Welfare, by Hubert H. Humphrey. 19. Liberalism, Paternalism, Security and the Welfare State, by Donald Richberg. 20. Our Welfare State and Our Political Parties: Squaring Political Programs with Realities, by Norman Thomas. 21. The Rise of the Service State and Its Consequences, by Roscoe Pound. 22. The Welfare State: Postscript and Prelude, by Charles Frankel. 23. The State and the Individual, by Gunnar Myrdal. 24. The Welfare State and the State of Human Welfare, by Committee on Economic Policy, USA Chamber of Commerce. 25. "The Welfare State" - Fiction and the Facts, by I. Nazarenko. 26. The Welfare State: the Socialized Sector, by Adolf A. Berle. 27. The Decline of Socialism and the Rise of the Welfare State, by Friedrich August Von Hayek. 28. Whose Welfare State?, by Brian Abel-Smith. 29. The United States as a "Welfare State", by Jacob Viner. 30. The British Debate the Welfare State, by Timothy Raison. Selected Bibliography.
  -  Comment: A multi-faceted anthology on the origin of the Welfare State and on the debate surrounding the idea and its implementation.

[1968]  Quelle université? Quelle societé? Textes réunis par le centre de regroupement des information universitaires, Seuil, Paris, 1968
 -  Contents : 1. Le choc initial : 1.1 La révolte. 1. 2 La contestation. 2. Les luttes présentes : 2.1 L'action. 2.2 La transformation du système éducatif. 2. 3 Révolution de la pédagogie, pédagogie de la révolution. 3 L'utopie directrice : 3.1 Agir. 3.2 Créer. 3.3 Nous sommes en marche.
 -  Comment : The writings of a libertarian uprising.
 -  To be read : 3.3 Nous sommes en marche.
 -  For quotations see : Freedom - Left/Right - Revolution - Work/Activity.

[1969] William McGaffin and Erwin Knoll, Scandal in the Pentagon. A challenge to democracy, Fawcett Publications
- Contents: 1. The Armed Society. 2. ABM - America's Maginot Line. 3. Choose Your Weapons. 4. Contracts and Congressmen. 5. Where the Brass Goes. 6. The Camp-Follower Communities. 7. The Military-Academic Complex. 8. The Propaganda Factory. 9. The Rival State Department. 10. A Matter of Survival.
- Comment: The military-industrial complex presented in this small book bearing on the cover this warning: "In the name of 'security' our military establishment and a profit-hungry defense industry are setting the stage for a dictatorship that can make American democracy a thing of the past."

[1969] Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull, The Peter Principle, William Morrow & Co., New York
- Contents: 1. The Peter Principle. 2. The Principle in Action. 3. Apparent Exceptions. 4. Pull & Promotion. 5. Push & Promotion. 6. Followers & Leaders. 7. Hierarchiology & Politics. 8. Hints & Foreshadowings. 9. The Psychology of Hierarchiology. 10. Peter's Spiral. 11. The Pathology of Success. 12. Non-medical Indices of Find Placement. 13. Health & Happiness at Zero PQ. 14. Creative Incompetence. 15. The Darwinian Extension. Glossary.
- Comment: A humorous little book with plenty of insights about our bureaucratized societies.

[1970]  C. Northcote Parkinson,  The Law of Delay, with illustrations by Osbert Lancaster, John Murray, London, 1971
 -  Contents : Ten years after. The Parkinson prize. Buckmanstership. La ronde. Lords and lackeys. Principalities and Powers. A game called monopoly. Imperative tense. Barbarity. Revolting students. Crabbed youth. The abominable no-man. The law of delay. A Christmas carol.
 -  Comment : More on Parkinson's law and new insights about size, monopolies, procrastination.
 -  To be read : Ten years after. Principalities and Powers.
 -  For quotations see : Size/Scale.

[1973]  E. F. Schumacher,  Small is Beautiful, Economics as if people mattered, Harper & Row, New York, 1975
 -  Contents : Part I : The modern world : 1 The problem of production. 2 Peace and permanence. 3 The role of economics. 4 Buddhist economics. 5 A question of size. Part II : Resources : 1 The greatest resource - Education. 2 The proper use of land. 3 Resources for industry. 4 Nuclear energy - Salvation or damnation?. 5 Technology with a human face. Part III : The third world : 1 Development. 2 Social and economic problems calling for the development of intermediate technology. 3 Two million villages. 4 The problem of unemployment in India. Part IV : Organisation and ownership : 1 A machine to foretell the future?. 2 Towards a theory of large-scale organisation. 3 Socialism. 4 Ownership. 5 New patterns of ownership. Epilogue
 -  Comment : A seminal text, still necessary reading in order to destroy ideas and beliefs out of touch with reality.
 -  To be read : Part I : The modern world.
 -  For quotations see : Order - Size/Scale.

[1974]  Pierre Clastres,  La Société contre l'État, Les Éditions de Minuit, Paris, 1996
 -  Content : 1 Copernic et les sauvages. 2 Echange et pouvoir : philosophie de la chefferie indienne. 3 Indépendance et exogamie. 4 Elément de démographie Amérindienne. 5 L'arc et le panier. 6 De quoi rient les Indiens. 7 Le devoir de parole. 8 Prophètes dans la jungle. 9 De l'Un sans le Multiple. 10 De la torture dans le societés primitives. 11 La société contre l'État.
 -  Comment : Some insights about the establishment of the State and its indispensable role for the formation of classes and of relations of exploitation.
 -  To be read : 11 La société contre l'État.
 -  For quotations see : State.

[1975]  André Glucksmann,  La cuisinière et le mangeur d'hommes. Essai sur l'État, le marxisme, le camps de concentration, Seuil, Paris, 1975
 -  Contents : Introduction : De l'Atlantique à la Kolyma. 1. La Russie dans nos têtes. 2. Le plus gros mensonge du siècle : 1 Des congélateurs brevetés 'socialistes'. 2 L'internement et sa raison sociale ou les nouvelles aventures de Louis XIV. 3 Economie politique du travail forcé. 4 La révolution par la méthode Assimil. 5 Les discours de la servitude volontaire. 6 Lumières à fleur de peau. Conclusion : Zyeute-toujours.
 -  Comment : A vibrant text portraying the horror of stalinism statism.
 -  To be read : 1. La Russie dans nos têtes.
 -  For quotations see : Alienation - Fascism/Communism - Statism : ideology.

[1975]  Roger Errera,  Les libertés à l'abandon, Seuil, Paris, troisième édition 1975
 -  Contents : Introduction. 1 Histoire d'une régression. 2 Les infortunes de la censure. 3 Pour une radiotélévision libre. 4 La justice. 5 Des droits du travail aux droits économiques et sociaux. 6 La protection de la vie privée. 7 Les droits des minorités. 8 Au-dela du cadre étatique. Conclusion
 -  Comment : A report on the abuses of the French state in terms of torture, censorship, monopolistic control, brutalities of the police and miscarriages of justice.
 -  To be read : 1 Histoire d'une régression.
 -  For quotations see : State criminality.

[1975]  Jean-Marie Carzou,  Armenie 1915 - Un Génocide Exemplaire, Flammarion, Paris, 1975
 -  Contents : I Tout Commence ... : 1 Retour en arrière. 2 La vie quotidienne en Arménie au XIX siècle. II Le Temps des Illusions : 1 L'espérance arménienne. 1895 ou la répétition générale. 3 Vers la révolution. 4 Avec les jeunes turcs. III 1915 La Solution Finale : 1 Un génocide réussi. 2 “De regrettable abus” Et Alors. Annexes. Sources. Cartes. Repères chronologiques.
 -  Comment : The tale of an almost forgotten genocide. 1.5 million armenians exterminated by the Turkish state.
 -  To be read : Part III : 1915 La Solution Finale.
 -  For quotations see : State criminality.

[1976] Ashley Montagu, The Nature of Human Aggression, Oxford University Press, Oxford
- Contents: 1. A Controversy. 2. Man as a Killer: An Acceptable Idea. 3. Social Darwinism: A Case History and a Cautionary Note. 4. Instinct and Adaptation. 5. Cannibalism and Aggression. 6. Weapons or Leopards? 7. Cooperation. 8. The Brain and Aggression. 9. The Philosophy of Real Estate and the Biologically Just Decision. 10. War and Violence. 11. Ideological Consequences. 12. Conclusions.
- Comment: A passionate analysis to demystify the purported existence of a territorial and aggressive instinct in the human race.
See: http://www.panarchy.org/montagu/territorialism.html

[1976]  Jean-François Revel,  La Tentation Totalitaire, Éditions Robert Laffont, Paris, 1976
 -  Contents : I La contre-revolution communiste : 1 Le socialisme et ses ennemis. 2 Le désir du totalitarisme. 3 Pourquoi le stalinisme progresse dans le monde. 4 Le malentendue de la démocracie. 5 Le malentendu à propos du socialisme - II De la docilité au stalinisme : 6 La peur de l'anticommunisme. 7 Le stalinisme élargi ou le pidgin-marxisme. 8 L'excommunication de la social-démocratie. III Le suicide des socialistes ou l'apologie indirecte des solutions totalitaires : 9 Les outrances dans la critique économique du capitalisme. 10 Les outrances dans la critique morale du capitalisme. 11 Le mythe de la faillite complète du libéralisme. 12 Le refus d'analyser les causes des échecs. IV L'Etat et la réaction : 13 L'Etat Narcisse. 14 L'union des neuf pouvoirs. V National-Totalitarisme ou socialisme planetaire : 15 De la docilité au stalinisme (essai d'explication). 16 Vers un néo-socialisme?
 -  Comment : A strong attack against the totalitarianism of communism written more than ten years before its demise that the author (and many with him) did not foresee. The pages on the Nation-State are still worth reading.
 -  To be read : Chapter 13 L'Etat Narcisse.
 -  For quotations see : Communism/Collectivism - Coordination - Imperialism - Nation/Nationalism - Socialism - State.

[1976]  Leopold Kohr,  The Over-developed Nations, Christopher Davies, Swansea, Wales, 1976
 -  Contents : Critical Size. Optimum size. Size of nations and living standard. Size and socialism. Size cycles. Budget diagnosis. Velocity theory of population. Sky-scraper economics. Is reason treason. Meta-economics.
 -  Comment : The message is : size matters even when no one acknowledges it.
 -  To be read : Optimum size.
 -  For quotations see : Community - Education/Learning - Size/Scale - Statism : economy.

[1976] A. F. Hayek, Denationalization of Money, Hobart Paper Special, The Institute of Econmic Affairs, London, Third Edition 1990
  - Comment:  A brilliant essay with important unconventional ideas on money.

[1980]  Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman,  Free to Choose, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1983
 -  Contents : Introduction. 1 The power of the market. 2 The tyranny of controls. 3 The anatomy of crisis. 4 Cradle to grave. 5 Created equal. 6 What's wrong with our schools?. 7 Who protects the consumer?. 9 The cure for inflation. 10 The tide is turning.
 -  Comment : A series of damning data and lucid considerations about statism that helped to turn the tide.
 -  To be read : Chapter 4 : Cradle to grave.
 -  For quotations see : Economy - Freedom - Individual/Human Being - History - Language/Communication - Monopoly - Order - Power - Protectionism - Statism : economy - Taxation - Welfare state.

[1980]  Alvin Toffler,  The Third Wave, Pan Books, London, 1981
 -  Contents : Introduction. A collision of waves : 1 Super-struggle. The Second Wave : 2 The architecture of civilization. 3 The invisible wedge. 4 Breaking the code. 5 The technicians of power. 6 The hidden blueprint. 7 A frenzy of nations. 8 The imperial drive. 9 Indust-reality. Coda : the flash flood. The Third Wave : 11 The new synthesis. 12 The commanding heights. 13 De-massifying the media. 14 The intelligent environment. 15 Beyond mass production. 16 The electronic cottage. 17 Families of the future. 18 The corporate identity crisis. 19 Decoding the new rules. 20 The rise of the prosumer. 21 The mental maelstrom. 22 The crack-up of the nation. 23 Gandhi with satellites. Coda : the great confluence. Conclusion : 25 The new psycho-sphere. 26 The personality of the future. 27 The political mausoleum. 28 Twenty-first-century democracy. Notes. Bibliography
 -  Comment : A powerful synthesis of past realities and present trends and possibilities.
 -  To be read : 27 The political mausoleum. 28 Twenty-first-century democracy.
 -  For quotations see :  Coordination - Elections/Representatives - Nation/Nationalism - Parties/Factions - Uniformity/Variety.

[1981]  Pierre Rosanvallon,  La crise de l'État-providence, Éditions du Seuil, Paris, 1992
 -  Contents : 1 La crise de l'État-providence. 2 Le liberalisme, de la critique de l'État-providence à la théorie de la société sans État. 3 État-providence et société solidaire. Annexes : 1 Repéres historiques. 2 Les éléments du debat théorique. 3 Données sur les prélèvements obligatoires.
 -  Comment : A short essay clarifying the main aspects behind the crisis of the Welfare state.
 -  To be read : 3 État-providence et société solidaire.
 -  For quotations see : Private/Public - Taxation - Welfare state.

[1983]  Eugène Enriquez,  De la Horde à l'État. Essai de psychanalyse du lien social, Gallimard, Paris, 1983
 -  Contents : Première partie : Freud et le lien social : 1 Totem et tabou : l'avènement du social. 2 Psychologie des foules et analyse du moi : les avatars du fonctionnement social. 3 L'avenir d'une illusion : la civilisation et l'illusion nécessaire. 4 Malaise dans la civilisation. 5 Moïse et le monothéisme. 6 La guerre et la mort : l'État comme figure de la guerre totale. 7 Le lien social : de la lutte contre le chaos et le meurtre à la séparation et à la domination. Deuxième partie : A. De l'ordre des sexes à l'ordre cosmique : 1 L'ordre des sexes : le rapport hommes/femmes, première forme de domination. 2 L'ordre des générations : le rapport aînés/jeunes. 3 L'ordre naturel et l'ordre culturel : le rapport avec la nature : participation et arraisonnement. 4 L'ordre cosmologique : le rapport profane/sacré. B. Le pouvoir dans les sociétés modernes : 1 Le monde de l'économie et le monde de l'État : l'invention de nouveaux sacrés. 2 Pouvoir et État moderne : l'emprise de l'État. 3 Pouvoir, mort et amour : le sexuel et la mort à l'ombre du pouvoir. 4 L'antisémitisme nazi : la négation du lien social. Conclusion
 -  Comment : An interesting psychoanalytic analysis of the (deadly) role of the State.
 -  To be read : Première partie : 6 La guerre et la mort : l'État comme figure de la guerre totale.
 -  For quotations see : Freedom - Law - Society - State - War.

[1983]  Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Verso, Revised Edition 1991, London 2002
  -  Contents: Preface to the Second Edition. 1. Introduction. 2. Cultural Roots. 3. The Origins of National Consciousness. 4. Creole Pioneers. 5. Old Languages, New Models. 6. Official Nationalism and Imperialism. 7. The Last Wave. 8. Patriotism and Racism. 9. The Angel of History. 10. Census, Map, Museum. 11. Memory and Forgetting. Bibliography.
  - Comment:  Some very interesting ideas and hypotheses on the birth of nationalism. Unfortunately, it contains also some old -style terms and concepts.

[1984]  Robert Axelrod,  The Evolution of Co-operation, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1990
 -  Content : I Introduction : 1 The problem of cooperation. II The emergence of cooperation : 2 The success of TIT FOR TAT in computer tournaments. 3 The chronology of cooperation. III Cooperation without friendship or foresight : 4 The live-and-let-live system in trench warfare in world war I. 5 The evolution of cooperation in biological systems (with William D. Hamilton). IV Advice for Participants and Reformers : 6 How to choose effectively. 7 How to promote cooperation. V Conclusions : 8 The social structure of cooperation. 9 The robustness of reciprocity. Appendix A : Tournament results. Appendix B : Proofs of the theoretical propositions.
 -  Comment : How cooperation can emerge in a society of individuals looking after their interest, without a central power. An interesting and plausible argument.
 -  To be read : V Conclusions.
 -  For quotations see : Cooperation.

[1988]  Shoshana Zuboff,  In the Age of the Smart Machine. The future of work and power, Heinemann, Oxford, 1988
 -  Contents : Introduction : Dilemmas of transformation in the age of the smart machine. Part one : Knowledge and computer-mediated work. 1 The laboring body : suffering and skill in production work. 2 The abstraction of industrial work. 3 The white-collar body in history. 4 Office technology as exile and integration. 5 Mastering the electronic text. Part two : Authority : the spiritual dimension of power. 6 What was managerial authority? 7 The dominion of the smart machine. 8 The limits of hierarchy in an informated organization. Part three : Technique : The material dimension of power. 9 The information panopticon. 10 Panoptic power and the social text. Conclusion : Managing the informated organization. Appendix A : The scope of information technology in the modern workplace. Appendix B : Notes on field-research methodology.
 -  Comment : A powerful picture of the epochal shifts on the nature of work and power.
 -  To be read : Indispensable reading.
 -  For quotations see : Power - Work/Activity.

[1990]  Alvin Toffler,  Powershift. Knowledge, wealth, and violence at the edge of the 21st century, Bantam books, London, 1991
 -  Contents : Part one : The new meaning of power. 1 The powershift era. 2 Muscle, money, and mind. Part two : Life in the super-symbolic economy. 3 Beyond the age of glitz. 4 Force : The Yakuza component. 5 Wealth : Morgan, Milken ... and after. 6 Knowledge : a wealth of symbols. 7 Material-ismo! 8 The ultimate substitute. Part three : The information wars. 9 The checkout battle. 10 Extra-intelligence. 11 Net power. 12 The widening war. 13 The executive thought police. 14 Total information war. Part four : Power in the flex-firm. 15 The cubbyhole crash. 16 The flex-firm. 17 Tribal chiefs and corporate commissars. 18 The autonomous employee. 19 The power-mosaic. Coda : The new system for wealth creation. Part five : powershifts politics. 20 The decisive decades. 21 The invisible party. 22 Info-tactics. 23 Meta-tactics. 24 A market for spies. 25 The info-agenda. 26 The image makers. 27 Subversive media. 28 The 'screenie' generation. Coda : Yearnings for a new dark age. Part six : Planetary powershift. 29 The global 'K-factor'. 30 The fast and the slow. 31 Socialism's collision with the future. 32 The power of balance. 33 Triads : Tokio ... Berlin ... Washington. 34 The global gladiators. Coda : Freedom, order, and chance. Bibliography
 -  Comment : A beautiful text on the changing scenario of power and knowledge.
 -  To be read : Part five : powershifts politics.
 -  For quotations see : Bureaucracy - Left/Right - Private/Public - Uniformity/Variety.

[1990] Bruce L. Benson, The Enterprise of Law. Justice without the State. Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, San Francisco, California
- Contents: 1. Introduction Part I. From Voluntary to Authoritarian Law. 2. Customary Legal Systems with Voluntary Enforcement. 3. The Rise of Authoritarian Law. Part II. A Public Choice Approach to Authoritarian Law. 4. Law and Justice as a Political Market. 5. The Demand Side of the Political Market. 6. The Supply Side of the Political Market. 7. Corruption of Law Enforcement Officials. Part III. Contracting Out for Law and Justice. 9. Current Trends in Privatization. 10. Benefits of Privatization. Appendix to Chapter 10. Part IV. Rationalizing Authoritarian Law. 11. Market Failure in Law and Justice. 12. The Legal Monopoly on Coercion. Appendix to Chapter 12. Part V. From Authoritarian to Private Law. 13. Political Barriers to Privatization. 14. Envisioning a Private System.
- Comment: One of the most articulated presentations in favour of a system of law elaboration and law administration based on voluntarily stipulated contracts between free individuals and free communities.

[1991] Robert C. Ellickson, Order Without Law. How Neighbors Settle Disputes. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Contents: Introduction. Part I. Shasta County. 1 Shasta County and Its Cattle Industry. 2. The Politics of Cattle Trespass. 3. The Resolution of Cattle-Trespass Disputes. 4. Who Pays for Boundary Fences? 5. Disputes Arising out of Highway Collisions Involving Livestock. 6. The Effects of Closed-Range Ordinances. Part II. 7. A Theory of Norms. 7. The System of Social Control. 8. Shortcomings of Current Theories of Social Control. 9. The Puzzle of Cooperation. 10. A Hypothesis of Welfare Maximizing Norms. 11. Substantive Norms: Of Beef, Cattle, and Whales. 12. Remedial Norms: Of Carrots and Sticks. 13. Procedural and Constitutive Norms: Of Gossip, Ritual, and Hero Worship. 14. Controller-Selecting Norms: Of Contracts, Custom, and Photocopies. Part III. 15. Testing the Content of Norms. 16. Conclusions and Implications. Appendix. Research Methods.
- Comment: A lively essay on a matter we should be intuitively aware of, namely the fact that we are basically able to cooperate and solve controversies without the intervention of the state.

[1992]  Basil Davidson,  The Black Man's Burden. Africa and the Curse of the Nation-State, James Curry, Oxford, 1994
 -  Contents : Introduction. 1 Africa without history. 2 The road not taken. 3 Shadows of neglected ancestors. 4 Tribalism and the new nationalism. 5 The rise of the nation-state. 6 The challenge of nationalism. 7 The black man's burden. 8 Pirates in power. 9 The European parallel. Conclusion. Notes.
 -  Comment : A powerful analysis about statism, its product, nationalism and the poisonous legacy left to Africa by the European powers in terms of the nation-state (i.e. parasitism, clientelism and authoritarianism).
 -  To be read : Chapter 7 The black man's burden.
 -  For quotations see : Bureaucracy - Elections/Representatives - Imperialism - Nation/Nationalism - State.

[1992] John Taylor Gatto, Dumbing Us Down. The hidden curriculum of compulsory schooling, New Society Publishers, Canada, 2002
- Contents: 1. The seven-lessons schoolteacher. 2. The psychopathic school. 3. The green monongahela. 4. We need less school, not more. 5. The congregational principle. Afterword: Ten years later.
- Comment: A classic text on the disasters produced by the school dominated by the state.

[1993]  Charles Adams,  For Good and Evil. The impact of taxes on the course of civilization, Madison Books, Lanham, USA
 -  Contents : I. What They Are and Where They Began. II. The Kaleidoscopic Romans. III. The Middle Ages. IV. Russia, Switzerland, Spain, and Germany. V. The Ancien Régime. VI. After Magna Charta. VII. The Rocky Road of Early American Taxation. VIII. The Monster That Laid the Golden Egg.
 -  Comment : The history of how taxation ruined communities, destroyed prosperity and brought misery to individuals all over the world and through the centuries. If only we had been told all this at school!
 -  To be read : IV. Russia, Switzerland, Spain, and Germany.
 -  For quotations see : Taxation - State-Church.

[1995]  Kenichi Ohmae,  The End of the Nation State. The rise of regional economis, HarperCollins, London, 1996
 -  Contents : Introduction: Where the borders fall in a borderless world. 1. The cartographic illusion. 2. The ladder of development. 3. The new 'melting pot.' 4. The civil minimum. 5. 'National interest' as a declining industry. 6. Scaring the global economy away. 7. The emergence of region states. 8. Zebra strategy. 9. The nation state's response. Epilogue: A swing of the pendulum.
 -  Comment : A witty and well documented text on economic and social trends, beyond the nation state.
 -  To be read : 1. The cartographic illusion.
 -  For quotations see : Bureaucracy - Statism : economy.

[1996]  Don Paragon,  Vision of the Future
 -  Contents : A. The Rise and Fall of Government : How the government came into being. The end of the government. The total picture. B. Cultural Progress : The inevitability of change. The direction of change. The nature of change. C. Transformation of the Government : The agricultural age. The industrial age. The information age. D. The coming post-government era : The mobile revolution. The power of the message. Its improvisation time!
 -  Comment : A short history of the coming to preeminence of governments and the highlighting of the signs that herald the new era of optionality.
 -  URL : http://www.optionality.net/mag/vision.html

[1996]  Matt Ridley,  The Origins of Virtue, Softback Preview, England, 1997
 -  Contents : 1. The society of genes. 2. The division of labour. 3. The prisoner's dilemma. 4. Telling hawks from doves. 5. Duty and the feast. 6. Public goods and private gifts. 7. Theories of moral sentiments. 8. The tribal primates. 9. The source of war. 10. The gains from trade. 11. Ecology as religion. 12. The power of property. 13. Trust.
 -  Comment : An interesting text, mixing biology and social thinking.
 -  To be read : 10. The gains from trade; 13. Trust.
 -  For quotations see : Alienation - Community - Control - Cooperation - Exchange/Trade - Order - Welfare state.

[1997] David Boaz, Libertarianism. A Primer, The Free Press, New York
- Contents: 1. The Coming Libertarian Age. 2. The Roots of Libertarianism. 3. What Rights Do We Have. 4. The Dignity of the Individual. 5. Pluralism and Toleration. 6. Law and the Constitution. 7. Civil Society. 8. The Market Process. 9. What Big Government Is All About. 10. Contemporary Issues. 11. The Obsolete State. 12. The Libertarian Future. Appendix: Are You a Libertarian?
- Comment: An interesting and stimulating panorama of what libertarians stand for.

[1997]  Ernest Gellner,  Nationalism, Phoenix, London, 1997
 -  Contents : Preface. 1 Culture and power. 2 Culture and organization, states and nationalism. 3 A short history of mankind. 4 The industrial and industrializing world. 5 The plurality of melting-pots. 6 Stages of transition. 7 The marriage of state and culture. 8 The murderous virulence of nationalism. 9 The three stages of morality. 10 Roots against reason. 11 Roots and man. 12 Faith and culture. 13 Muslim fundamentalism and Arab nationalism. 14 Marxism and Islam. 15 Do nations have navels? 16 Practical implications.
 -  Comment : A short booklet with some interesting ideas and hints  on the "deadly" important problem of nationalism.
 -  To be read : 2 Culture and organization, states and nationalism. 3 A short history of mankind.
 -  For quotations see : Nation/Nationalism - Taxation.

[1997] Michael Maren, The Road to Hell. The ravaging effects of foreign aid and international charity, The Free Press, New York
- Contents: Introduction: Darkness and Light. 1. Land Cruisers. 2. Far from Somalia. 3. Fixers. 4. Potemkin Villages. 5. Death in Mogadishu. 6. Crazy with Food. 7. Geneva. 8. Selling the Children. 9. Creating Dependency. 10. Withdrawal Symptoms. 11. Pigs at a Trough. 12. Feeding the Famine. 13. The Mogadishu Line. 14. The Self-Licking Ice Cream Cone. 15. Running Toward Rwanda. 16. Merchants of Peace. Somalia Timeline.
- Comment: One of the most chilling books I have ever read. Get a copy and start it as soon as possible.

[1999]  Eric S. Raymond,  The Cathedral & the Bazaar. Musing on Linux and open source by an accidental revolutionary, O'Reilly, USA, revised edition 2001
 -  Contents : Preface : Why you should care. A brief history of hackerdom. The cathedral and the bazaar. Homesteading the noosphere. The magic cauldron. Revenge of the Hackers. Afterword : Beyond Software?. Appendix A : How to become a hacker. Appendix B : statistical trends in the Fetchmail projects's growth. Notes, Bibliography and Acknowledgments.
 -  Comment : Brilliant ideas arising from current practices (the open source movement) and offering glimpses of post-statism societies.
 -  To be read : Homesteading the noosphere.
 -  These texts can be found also at: http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/

[1999]  Martin van Creveld,  The Rise and Decline of the State, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999
 -  Contents : 1 Before the state : prehistory to AD 1300. 2 The rise of the state : 1300 to 1648. 3 The state as an instrument : 1648 to 1789. 4 The state as an ideal : 1789 to 1945. 5 The spread of the state : 1696 to 1975. 6 The decline of the state : 1975-  .
 -  Comment : A detailed history of the rise of the state against the church, the empire, the aristocracy, the free communes, and a short view of its current decline. Full of interesting and valuable information.
 -  To be read : 4 The state as an ideal : 1789 to 1945.
 -  For quotations see : Bureaucracy - Control - Cooperation - Elections/Representatives - Masses/Crowds - Monopoly - Nation/Nationalism - Police - Security - State - State-Church - State administration - State criminality - Statism : economy - Statism : ideology - Taxation - War - Welfare state.

[1999]  Louis Bériot,  Abus de Bien Public. Enquête sur les milliards gaspillés par l'Etat. Les chiffres, les preuves, les responsables, Plon, Paris, 1999
 -  Contents : I L'Abus du Service Public. 1 Service publique n'est pas service palace. 2 Enacratie française. 3 La suceuse de sous. 4 De l'Etat à la mairie : un seul mot d'ordre, pomper. 5 Les faux marchands. 6 Les aides Camembert.  7 Affaire étranges à l'étranger. 8 Défense ... du pré carré. 9 Recherche ... de résultats. 10 Education déboussolante. 11 La Culture en jachère. 12 Environnement : l'abus d'égoisme. 13 L'aménagement à la petite semaine. 14 Ça eût payé. II Quand l'Abus de Bien Publique est Social. 15 Charité bien ordonné. 16 La santé, ça n'a vraiment pas de prix. 17 Nos enfants ruinés. 18 Modes d'emplois. 19 Fraternités françaises. III Bilan. 20 Bilan. 21 Et maintenant. Tableaux et Annexes.
 -  Comment : A damning and distressing report on the sucking and squandering by the French state of people's resources.
 -  To be read : 3 La suceuse de sous. 4 De l'Etat à la mairie : un seul mot d'ordre, pomper.
 -  For quotations see : Bureaucracy - Police - Private/Public - State administration - Statism : economy - Welfare state - Work/Activity.

[2000]  John Moore,  Moore's Law of Bureaucracy.
 -  Contents : Large bureaucracies cannot possibly achieve their goals. Large bureaucracies will trash wildly about causing much cost, pain and destruction. Large bureaucracies are evil. Large bureaucracies have no heart. Large bureaucracies are perverse. Large bureaucracies are immortal. Large bureaucracies will grow without bonds.
 -  Comment : An interesting short text, with a quality of serious humour, about the "ghastly subject" (author's words) of bureaucracies.
 -  URL : http://www.tinyvital.com/Misc/Lawsburo.htm

[2000] John Torpey,  The Invention of the Passport. Surveillance, Citizenship and the State, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000
 -  Contents :  Introduction. 1 Coming and Going : On the State Monopolization of the Legitimate "Means of Movement". 2 "Argus of the Patrie" : The Passport Question in the French Revolution. 3 Sweeping Out Augea's Stable : The Nineteenth-Century Trend Toward Freedom of Movement. 4 Toward the "Crustacean Type of Nation" : The Proliferation of Identification Documents from the Late Nineteenth Century to the First World War. 5 From National to Postnational?  Passports and Constraints on Movement from the Interwar to the Postwar Era. Conclusion : A Typology of "Papers".
 -  Comment : A brief historical survey of the state's imposition of people's identity and of the monopolistic practices to control their freedom of movement.
 -  To be read : 5 From National to Postnational?  Passports and Constraints on Movement from the Interwar to the Postwar Era.
 -  For quotations see : Control - Nation/Nationalism - Police.

[2000]  William Blum,  Rogue State. A guide to the world's only superpower,  Zed Books, London, updated edition 2002
 -  Contents : Author's Foreword: Concerning September 11, 2001. Introduction. Ours and Theirs: Washington's Love/Hate Relationship with Terrorists and Human-Rights Violators. 1. Why Do Terrorists Keep Picking on the United States? 2. America's Gift to the World - the Afghan Terrorist Alumni. 3. Assassinations. 4. Excerpts from US Army and CIA Traning Manuals. 5. Torture. 6. The Unsavories. 7. Training New Unsavories. 8. War Criminals: Theirs and Ours. 9. Haven for Terrorists. 10. Supporting Pol Pot. United States Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction. 11. Bombings. 12. Depleted Uranium. 13. Cluster Bombs. 14. United States Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons Abroad. 15. United States Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons at Home. 16. Encouragement of the Use of CBW by Other Nations. A Rogue State versus the World. 17. A Concise History of United States Global Interventions, 1945 to the Present. 18. Perverting Elections. 19. Trojan Horse: The National Endowment for Democracy. 20. The US versus the World at the United Nations. 21. Eavesdropping on the Planet. 22. Kidnapping and Looting. 23. How the CIA sent Nelson Mandela to Prison for 28 Years. 24. The CIA and Drugs: Just Say "Why Not?" 25. Being the World Only Superpower Means Never Having to Say You're sorry. 26. The United States Invades, Bombs and Kills for It ... But Do American Really Believe in Free Enterprise? 27. A Day in the Life of a Free Country.
 -  Comment : A survey of many crimes, small and big, committed by the Federal Government of the United States in the name of peace and freedom. Although the amount of damning material is considerable, it is quite puzzling to remark that the author still believes in the existence of good states and in their positive role for regulating and ameliorating the life of individuals.

[2000] Malcom Gladwell, The Tipping Point. How little things can make a big difference, Abacus, London, 2005
- Contents: Introduction. One: The Three Rules of Epidemics. Two: The Law of the Few: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen. Three: The Stickiness Factor: Sesame Street, Blue’s Clues, and the Educational Virus. Four: The Power of Context (Part One): Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime. Five: The Power of Context (Part Two): The Magic Number One Hundred and Fifty. Six: Case Study: Rumors, Sneakers, and the Power of Translation. Seven: Case Study: Suicide, Smoking, and the Search for the Unsticky Cigarette. Eight: Conclusion: Focus, Test, and Believe. Endnotes
- Comment: The power of interconnected individuals in making things happening.

[2000]  Hernando De Soto, The Mystery of Capital. Why capitalism triumphs in the West and fails everywhere else, Transworld Publishers, London, 2001
  - Contents: 1. The five mysteries of capital. 2. The mystery of missing information. 3. The mystery of capital. 4. The mystery of political awerness. 5. The missing lesson of US history. 6. The mystery of legal failure: why property law does not work outside the West. 7. By way of conclusion.
  - Comment: A stimulating text that clears the way out of conventional views on poverty and underdevelopment.

[2001]   Tomas Larsson,  The Race to the Top. The real story of globalization, Cato Institute, Washington
  -  Contents: Introduction. 1. Thailand - a global brothel. 2. Brazilianization. 3. The real 20/80 society. 4. Legacies of the Ipanema left. 5. The isolation trap. 6. Unfair trade. 7. The WTO trap. 8. Good times, bad policy. 9. Trading up. 10. Errors of the free traders. 11. The cult of secrecy. 12. The mental wall. 13. Third ways. 14. The future is open. 15. French fries vs. the goodness of the sea. 16. The freedom gap. 17. Watch the grass grow. 18. Changing crony capitalism. 19. A course in corruption. 20. Making it happen. 21. "We are all globalizers now." 22. Trial by fire. Notes. References
  -  Comment: One of the first texts exposing lies and myths about globalization.

[2001]  Johan Norberg,  In defence of Global Capitalism, Timbro
 - Contents : 1. Every day in every way ... . 2. ... and it's no coincidence. 3. Free trade is fair trade. 4. The development of the developing countries. 5. Race to the top. 6. Irrational, international capital?  7. Liberalise, don't standardise.
 - Comment : A powerful plea, full of data and ideas, in favour of economic freedom.

[2001]  Harold James,  The End of Globalization. Lessons from the Great Depression, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2002
 -  Contents: 1. Introduction: The End of Globalization and the Problem of the Depression. 2. Monetary Policy and Banking Instability. 3. Tariffs, Trade Policy and the Collapse of International Trade. 4. The Reaction against International Migration. 5. The Age of Nationalism versus the Age of Capital. 6. Conclusion: Can It Happen Again?
 - Comment: An interesting analysis of why and how the previous trend towards globalism was crushed by the economic policies of the nation states, preparing the way for the Second World War.

[2001]  Mauricio Rojas,  Beyond the Welfare State. Sweden and the quest for a post-industrial welfare model. Timbro, Stockholm
 -  Contents: Introduction. 1. Industrial Society and the Old Swedish Model : A maximalist welfare state. The tradition of state centralism. The structure and Utopias of industrialism. The ideology and practice of the maximalist welfare state.  2. The Age of the Web : An agenda for discussion. The mechanical factory system and its consequences. The information revolution. The crisis of the hierarchies and the emergence of the networking enterprise. The revolution of freedom and the departure from the national. Post-national world geography and the black holes of globalization. The death of society and the age of the web.  3. Welfare after the Welfare State : The conditions of social change: introductory thoughts on methodology. Sweden is doing well - but not all the Swedes are. The black holes of Swedish development. The quest for a new Swedish welfare model. References.
 - Comment: Interesting ideas and analyses mixed up with some old ways of thinking, as in the use of statist terms like identity and labour market.

[2002]  Nigel Harris,  Thinking the Unthinkable. The immigration myth exposed, I.B.Tauris publishers, London, 2002
 -  Contents : Introduction : the horrors. 1. Movement. 2. Wrestling with the Hydra. 3. Why Control Immigration? Reactions and Arguments. 4. Why Countries Need Immigration. 5. The System Collapses. 6. The Right to Work, the Freedom to Move and the Eradication of World Poverty. Appendices : I. Inventing Xenophobia : A British Cautionary Tale. II. American Immigration. III. Destroying the Right to Asylum : The Boatpeople. IV. The Ultimate in Government Foolishness : Singapore. V. Average Fees Paid for Clandestine Travel and Entry. VI. Who Says Silicon Valley is American?
 -  Comment : A strong indictment of the criminal idiocy of the Western States with regard to freedom of movement, by a Professor Emeritus of University College, London.
 -  To be read : 6. The Right to Work, the Freedom to Move and the Eradication of World Poverty.

[2002]  John Pilger,  The New Rulers of the World, Verso, London, 2003
 -  Contents: Introduction. The model pupil. Paying the price. The great game. The chosen ones. Notes
 -  Comment: A series of shocking reports on recent crimes and misdeeds of the western states.

[2002]   Brink Lindsey,  Against the Dead Hand. The uncertain struggle for global capitalism, Wiley & Sons, USA
  -  Contents: 1. The weight of the Past. 2. The Industrial Counterrevolution. 3. Centralization versus Uncertainty. 4. From World Economy to World War. 5. Twilight of the Idols. 6. The Dead Hand. 7. Hollow Capitalism. 8. The Rule of Lawlessness. 9. Unpeaceful Coexistence. 10. Recasting the Safety Net. 11. Liberalization by Fits and Starts. Epilogue. Notes. References
  -  Comment: A good text full of data and ideas about statism.

[2002]  Hichem Aboud, La Mafia des Généraux, JC Lattès, Paris
  -  Contents: Introduction. 1. Un enfant du peuple. 2. Un fleuve détourné. 3. Le péché riginel. 4. Les hommes de l'ombre. 5. L'avènement de l'imposture. 6. Octobre 1988: la grande manipulation. 7. Cosa Nostra. 8. Meurtre sur command. 9. Le règne du mensonge. 10. Le syndicat du crime. 11. Pendant des massacres, les affaires continuent. 12. Le temps des marionnettes.13. Justice pour l'Algèrie.
  -  Comment: La présentation agaçante d'un des états (l'Algérie) plus mafieux et violent au monde.

[2002] Emmanuel Todd, Après l'empire. Essai sur la décomposition du système américain, Gallimard, Paris, 2004
- Contents: Ouverture. 1. Le mythe du terrorisme universel. 2. La grande menace démocratique. 3. La dimension impériale. 4. La fragilité du tribut. 5. Le recul de l'universalisme. 6. Affronter le fort, ou attaquer le faible? 7. Le retour de la Russie. 8. L'émancipation de l'Europe. Fin de partie. Postface 2004.
- Comment: Un document intéressant pour comprendre la vision étatiste à l’échelle mondiale. C’est du Orwell (1984) revisité, mise au jour et qui se prend au sérieux.

[2003] E. G. West, Government Failure: E. G. West on Education, The Institute of Economic Affairs, London, 2003
  - Comment: A collection of essays on state schooling and its dismal record.

[2003] Mark Curtis, Web of Deceit, Vintage, London
- Contents: Part I. The Outlaw State. 1. Iraq: Ignoring people, maintaining order 2. Afghanistan; The new Unpeople. 3. Explaining the 'war against terrorism'. 4. Big Brother, our favourite ally. 5. Israel: Siding with the aggressor. 6. Kosovo: Anti-humanitarian intervention. 7. Chechnya; A chronicle of complicity. 8. Labour's real policy on arms exports. Part II. Elites and the Global Economy. 9. Trading off international development. 10. The threat of democracy 11. Our allies, the Gulf elites. 12 The forgotten past in the Middle East. 13. The single-ideology totalitarian state. Par III. Exposing the Secret History. 14. Overthrowing the government of Iran. 15. Deterring development in Kenya. 16. Malaya: War in defence of the rubber industry. 17. British Guiana: Overstepping 'decent government'. Part IV. The Mass Production of Ignorance. 18. Ethical foreign policies and other myths. 19. The media's propaganda role. 20. Indonesia: Complicity in a million deaths. 21. East Timor: Smothering the birth of a nation. 22. Diego Garcia: Removing people from history. 23. The challenges ahead. Chronology of Major Events.
- Comment: The interventions by the British state in favour of tyrants, autocratic elites and military dictators. Some statements by the author about globalization should be taken with caution because to be against British imperialism should not mean to be in favour of other nationalistic and protectionist cliques.

[2003] Jim Powell, FDR's Folly, Three Rivers Press, New York
- Contents: 1. How Could Such Bright Compassionate People Be Wrong? 2. What Caused the Grat Depression? 3. What Fid FDR Borrow from Hoover? 4. Why Did New Dealers Break Up the Strongest Banks? 5. Why Did FDR Seize Everybody's Gold? 6. Why Did FDR Triple Taxes During the Great Depression? 7. Why Was So Much New Deal Relief and Public Works Money Channeled Away fr