The Principle Of Federation

142 Pages·1979·5.097 MB·English

by  Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

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The Principle
of Federation by
E-J. Proudhon
Tra nslated and
introduced by
RichardVernon
JC
353
.P9613
1979

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2019 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/principleoffederOOOOprou
The Principle
of Federation by
P.-J. Proudhon
Translated and
introduced by
Richard Vernon
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
TC ,
2
mc\
© University of Toronto Press 1979
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Proudhon, Pierre Joseph, 1809-1865.
The principle of federation.
Translation of the 1st pt. and the 1st chapter of the
2d pt. of Du principe fédératif et de la nécessité
de reconstituer le parti de la révolution.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Federal government. 2. France — Politics and
government. I. Vernon, Richard, 1945- II. Title.
JC353.P96132 1979 321’.02 79-4192
ISBN 0-8020-5458-7
ISBN 0-8020-6365-9 pbk.
CONTENTS
Preface / vii
Introduction / xi
Notes to the introduction / xliv
The principle of federation and the need to
reconstitute the party of revolution
PART ONE
1 Political dualism — authority and liberty:
opposition and interconnection of the two ideas / 5
2 A priori conceptions of political order:
regime of authority, regime of liberty / 8
3 Forms of government / 12
4 Compromise between the principles:
origins of political contradictions / 18
5 De facto governments: social dissolution / 23
6 The political problem posed: the principle of a solution / 30
7 Isolation of the idea of federation / 36
8 A progressive constitution / 43
9 What has delayed federation: factors hindering the idea / 50
10 Political idealism: efficacy of federal guarantees / 57
11 Economic sanctions: the agro-industrial federation / 67
PART TWO
1 The Jacobin tradition:
federalist Gaul, monarchical France / 77
Translator’s notes on the text / 83

PREFACE
This edition of Du Principe fédératif et de la nécessité de recon¬
stituer le parti de la révolution springs from a long-standing
interest in the political and social thought of Proudhon and a
novice interest in federalism. In the latter regard, especially, I
have relied extensively upon the generous help of many col¬
leagues, among whom M.W. Westmacott provided invaluable
bibliographical advice, and S.J.R. Noel and L.J. Sharpe offered
some stimulating and far-reaching comments on a draft of my
introduction, presented as a paper in a departmental seminar. In
a department as congenial and expert as my own, an author has
only himself to blame for the deficiencies of his work.
As far as the translation itself is concerned, I have tried to
follow Proudhon’s literal sense closely enough that for all but
the most specialized purposes the translation may serve as a
substitute for the French original, but where literalness would
be distracting I have not hesitated to adopt an English idiom.
The edition used is the first, Paris: E. Dentu 1863. I have trans¬
lated here only the first part and the first chapter of the second
part, these being the theoretical core of the work. This work has
been published with the assistance of grants from the Social
Science Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada,
and from the Publications Fund of the University of Toronto
Press.