Marie Fleming’s The Geography of Freedom

The Odyssey of Elisée Reclus

John Clark, by way of a book review, introduces us to Elisée Reclus, the 19th century French geographer, and “by far the greatest scholar in the history of anarchism.” While Reclus has long been neglected in the anarchist canon, Clark opines that his theories and work deserve substantially more attention than they have garnered. Having lived through the Paris Commune, worked with Bakunin, and established himself as a pioneering geographer (as well as precursor to modern social ecology), Reclus left us with a legacy of neglected riches.

Originally published in issue 22.