The Conquest of Bread

About “The Conquest of Bread”

The Conquest of Bread is an 1892 book by the Russian anarcho-communist Peter Kropotkin. Originally written in French, it first appeared as a series of articles in the anarchist journal Le Révolté. It was first published in Paris with a preface by Élisée Reclus, who also suggested the title. Between 1892 and 1894, it was serialized in part in the London journal Freedom, of which Kropotkin was a co-founder. In the work, Kropotkin critiques the economic systems of feudalism and capitalism, arguing that they create and sustain poverty and scarcity. He proposes a decentralized economic system based on mutual aid and voluntary cooperation, suggesting that such organization already exists in human society and in evolution. The Conquest of Bread has become a classic of political anarchist literature and was heavily influential on the Spanish Civil War and the Occupy movement.