Moribund Society and Anarchy · Chapter
VI: The Family explained
This chapter examines the evolution of the family as a social institution, arguing that it has been shaped by property relations and male authority rather than natural affection.
What happens
This chapter examines the evolution of the family as a social institution, arguing that it has been shaped by property relations and male authority rather than natural affection. The author traces the historical development from primitive promiscuity through maternal and paternal rights, showing how the family became a tool for transmitting private property. Anarchists are portrayed as seeking to abolish the legal family and marriage, replacing them with free unions based on mutual affection, which they argue would be more stable and moral than current coercive arrangements.
Themes in this chapter
Critique of Private Property
The chapter argues that the family was shaped by property interests, with marriage and inheritance serving to transmit private wealth, and that original communal ownership was replaced by individual property through spoliation.
Individualism and Solidarity
The text advocates for free unions based on individual affection, suggesting that such voluntary bonds would be more solid and enduring than legally enforced marriages.
Human Nature and Society
The chapter discusses human nature's creative impulse and the need for freedom to allow natural evolution of feelings, arguing against repressive laws that create hypocrisy.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator presents a historical and critical analysis of the family, arguing for free unions and against legal marriage.
- The Anarchists
The Anarchists are described as rejecting marriage and the legal family, advocating for unions based on affection and freedom.
- Anarchy
Anarchy is implicitly invoked as the principle underlying the critique of legal family structures and the call for free unions.
- Their Masters
Their Masters are referenced as the bourgeoisie who claim the family and property are unassailable, yet have admitted divorce as a corrective.
- Proudhon
Proudhon is mentioned in the context of property critique, though not directly quoted in this excerpt.
Key passages
“The creative impulse is the prime motor of man; we hide it, but we yield to its pressure.”
The sexual drive is a fundamental human motivation that we conceal but ultimately obey.
This introduces the chapter's focus on natural impulses versus social repression.
“Based upon interests, and not upon affection, it is plain that some force and sanction were necessary to prevent separations under the shocks occasioned by the antagonism of interests.”
Because the family is founded on economic interests rather than love, coercion is needed to keep it together when conflicts arise.
This summarizes the anarchist critique of the family as an institution of property.
“We have never set it up as a principle that a man and woman who desire to finish their days together shall not do so, for the reason that we want unions to be free.”
Anarchists do not oppose lifelong partnerships; they simply insist that such unions must be voluntary.
This clarifies the anarchist position against accusations of wanting to destroy the family.