His social conflict analysis, naturalist materialism, and organisational dualism continue to inspire

~ Felipe Corrêa ~

Mikhail Bakunin (1814–1876) was a central figure in the 19th-century European revolutionary movement. Born into the lower Russian nobility, he embarked on an intellectual and political journey that led him from the study of Hegelian dialectics to active militancy. Between 1848 and 1849, he participated in armed uprisings across Europe, including the Spring of Nations (France), the Prague Uprising (1848), and the Dresden Uprising (1849). He fell victim to harsh repression, spending 12 years imprisoned in various countries before being exiled to Siberia. Following a cinematic escape through Japan and the United States, he returned to Europe to resume his political militancy.

From 1868 onward, he embraced anarchism and joined the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA), founded in 1864. Bakunin founded the Alliance, the first anarchist political organisation in history, seeking what he termed a “real unity of thought and action.” His theoretical reflections developed hand in hand with organisational practice, influencing the International – and its subsequent anti-authoritarian wing, which lasted until 1877.

Bakunin was not merely a man of action, but a substantial and profound thinker on three levels— social (conflict analysis), programmatic (organisational dualism), and methodological (naturalist materialism)—offering essential analytical and strategic tools for contemporary militancy.

In Bakunin’s social theory, society is a permanent interplay of forces, and social reality is the temporary outcome of the clash between oppressors and the oppressed. The social force of each side depends on organisation, resources, and education, with the monopoly of knowledge serving as a crucial tool of domination.

For Bakunin, the statist-capitalist system is a mode of domination in which the State is not a mere reflection of the economy, but possesses its own inherently dominating nature, with imperialist and enslaving tendencies. State and capitalism are thus inseparable. The statist-capitalist system is structured by specific forms of domination: imperialism, physical coercion, bureaucratic rule, and labour exploitation, alongside religious and educational forms of legitimation.

Furthermore, Bakunin’s theory of social classes is multi-causal, defined by economic property (land, means of production, capital), political property (administration, control, and coercion), and cultural property (knowledge). The class struggle pits a dominant minority (landowners, bourgeoisie, bureaucracy, clergy, and savants) against the oppressed masses (the urban and rural proletariat, the peasantry, and the marginalised).

By positioning the state bureaucracy as a ruling class, the Russian anarchist anticipated the critique of 20th-century authoritarian deviations: seizing the State does not liberate; it merely creates new oppressors. Finally, placing class struggle at the heart of capitalist and statist society provides tools not only for a class-based analysis of reality, but for a class-oriented conception of national, women’s, and racialised peoples’ struggles. This stands in sharp contrast to liberal and postmodern approaches that fragment oppressions while ignoring or minimising the role of social classes.

In programmatic terms, contrary to reformist positions Bakunin advocates for a social revolution that breaks with capitalism and the State to build a collectivist-federalist socialism from the bottom up, ensuring the self-management of industrial and agricultural associations.

As an organisational strategy, Bakunin champions organisational dualism to counter both anti-organisational and purely spontaneous views. He asserts the necessity of organising on two complementary levels. The first is the mass organisation (the International), which unites workers through the economic struggle and the practical education of class warfare, utilising the strike as a pedagogical and preparatory tool, while prefiguring the future society within the present. His program for mass organisations formalises the nascent strategy of syndicalism.

The second is the cadre organisation (the Alliance), an anarchist organisation of minorities operating within the masses as a “midwife of the revolution” to propel the socialist program and prevent bureaucratisation. It functions as an engine that does not replace, but rather reinforces and guarantees popular protagonism. In terms of organisational principles, the Russian anarchist argues that this organisation must rest on three pillars: common thought, common action, and mutual commitment among members. These pillars clearly demonstrate that the Alliance is the precursor to the platformist and especifista traditions of anarchism.

Finally, Bakunin’s scientific-naturalist materialism (or realist method) offers a potent framework for understanding reality by breaking with the divide between nature and society – thus providing the groundwork to rethink the relationship between humanity and the environment. By defining nature-matter as a self-effectuating totality that creates and recreates the universe, Bakunin establishes the foundations for a scientific method that opposes both anti-scientific approaches and dogmatic scientism. This method is simultaneously experimental, comprehensive, and critical; it aims to reconcile the particular with the general, history with theory.

Unlike liberal worldviews, the Russian anarchist conceives freedom as a social fact, inseparable from equality. Individual freedom can only be realised through collective freedom, since human beings are the product of solidarity and socialisation, rather than isolated atoms existing prior to a social contract. This perspective allows us to overcome both methodological individualism and structuralist determinism, recognising that, while naturally and socially conditioned, rational will and human agency possess a genuine and conscious transformative potential.

These dimensions of Mikhail Bakunin’s legacy for the present lie in his ability to offer elements of thought and action capable of reconciling a rigorous understanding of reality with a revolutionary, egalitarian, and libertarian perspective of transformation. He demonstrates that real emancipation demands the concurrent end of capital and the State through the socialisation of wealth and power – an emancipation capable of building a new society based on equality and freedom. Such legacies make it evident that Bakunin’s work remains a living tool for contemporary popular struggles and for anarchism.

Felipe Corrêa is author of Freedom or Death: The Theory and Practice of Mikhail Bakunin (Black Rose Books, 2024, 476 pp.)