Joseph Déjacque 1821-1864

Joseph Déjacque was perhaps one of the earliest anarchist communists. Not much is known about his life. Though he only lived to be about 43 years old, Déjacque contributed several points to what would become anarchist communist thought and stands out among contemporary theorists of the time by being firmly rooted in the working-class.

Déjacque was born in Paris, France, on December 27, 1821. Unlike perhaps any other European socialist thinker of note, Déjacque lived for a time in the United States - first in New York City and later in New Orleans. He founded the French anarchist paper, Le Libertaire in New York. A contemporary of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Mikhail Bakunin, and Karl Marx, Déjacque stands apart from these intellectuals (and most other theorists) as being firmly of the working-class - a house painter by trade.

Coining the word "libertarian" in a letter to Proudhon, Déjacque was the first to self-identify with the term. His main contribution to anarchist communist theory, and a point which would be picked up and expounded upon by Peter Kropotkin was the idea that it is not the product of one's labor to which the worker is entitled, but to the fulfillment of their needs. This is in contrast to the thought of Proudhon and Marx.

Though not much is known about Déjacque, he did leave behind a body of work, though entirely in his native French. The majority of his work has never before been translated into English, and it is from his contribution to anarchist communist thought that we at the (an)archive believe him worthy of introduction to English audiences. Most of the work appearing here will be in English for the first time!