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Description of Exquisite Rebel
Exquisite Rebel: The Essays of Voltairine de Cleyre by Sharon Presley and Crispin Sartwell; preface by Candace Falk SUNY Press Pb., $29.95; Hd. $68.50; 348 pp.
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2005 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award Brings the writings of de Cleyre out of undeserved obscurity. Emma Goldman called Voltairine de Cleyre "the most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced." Yet her writings and speeches on anarchism and feminism—radical, passionate, and popular at the time as Goldman's—are virtually unknown today. This important book brings de Cleyre's eloquent and incisive work out of undeserved obscurity. Twenty–one essays are reprinted here, including her classic works: "Anarchism and the American Tradition," "The Dominant Idea," and "Sex Slavery." Three biographical essays are also included: two new ones by Sharon Presley and Crispin Sartwell, and a rarely reprinted one from Emma Goldman. At a time when the mainstream women's movement asked only for the right to vote and rarely challenged the status quo, de Cleyre demanded an end to sex roles, called for economic independence for women, autonomy within and without marriage, and offered a radical critique of the role of the Church and State in oppressing women. In today's world of anti–globalization actions, de Cleyre's anarchist ideals of local self–rule, individual conscience, and decentralization of power still remain fresh and relevant. Voltairine de Cleyre (1866—1912) was one of the most original and important anarchist intellectuals of her time. Sharon Presley taught psychology at California State University East Bay at Hayward. She is the founder and Executive Director of Resources for Independent Thinking and the National Coordinator of the Association of Libertarian Feminists. She is the author of Standing Up to Experts and Authorities: How to Avoid Being Intimidated, Manipulated and Abused. Crispin Sartwell is Chair of Humanities at the Maryland Institute College of Art and the author of several books. His most recent book is Extreme Virtue: Truth and Leadership in Five Great American Lives, also published by SUNY Press. His political writing appears in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Harper's, among other outlets. He also writes a syndicated weekly opinion column.
Endorsements of Exquisite Rebel
"Voltairine de Cleyre and Emma Goldman are the two most important women of the American anarchist movement. Emma Goldman is celebrated in film, song, and even on a coffee mug. Voltairine de Cleyre is barely known. Beautiful, tormented, and driven by an identification with the weak and powerless, she articulated both a powerful intellectual vision of the movement at the turn of the twentieth century and exercised a unique personal mystique. She was a prescient feminist; her attitudes towards women's liberation anticipated the second–wave feminist movement of the 1970s. Sharon Presley and Crispin Sartwell have brought this extraordinary woman back to life nearly a century after her premature death at forty five nearly a century ago. This book of de Cleyre's essays, with illuminating biographical essays and introductions to each section, provides a wonderful window into the life and work of one of the most extraordinary feminists and radicals in American history." Margaret Marsh Rutgers University Professor of History and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School–Camden Campus Author of Anarchist Women, 1870–1920 "Exquisite Rebel is a remarkable collection of essays by a woman who deserves a place of pride in American Letters. Voltairine de Cleyre, an anarchist without adjectives, understood that the essence of anarchism — the "spirit of individuality" — has roots deep in American political thought. Even those who disagree with her political ideas will appreciate De Cleyre's keen insights into the psychology of freedom, as well her understanding that voluntary social arrangements are the only lasting solution to human diversity. Her ideas, which are perhaps best described as utopian realism, are beautifully expressed throughout." George H. Smith Author of Atheism, the Case Against God, Why Atheism? and The Lysander Spooner Reader
"Anarchist feminist writings are rediscovered and reprinted at surprising intervals, and the start of this century seems to be one of those periods of rediscovery. One could hardly ask for a more intellectually exciting and historically valuable collection as that assembled by Presley and Sartwell. Their commentaries place DeCleyre in her sociohistorical context framing her original and often provocative writings in a manner that makes them even more cogent. 'I am an anarchist," DeCleyre wrote, "because I cannot help it." Read this and you may not be able to help it either."
Howard J. Ehrlich, Editor
“Anyone interested in libertarian thought should be grateful for the overdue opportunity to become familiar with the poetic, passionate and beautifully expressed thoughts of the American anarchist Voltairine de Cleyre. A contemporary of Emma Goldman's and equally compelling intellectually, de Cleyre was prevented by personal reserve from receiving similar fame or notoriety. Nevertheless, Goldman called her 'the greatest woman anarchist of America.' In Exquisite Rebel, Sharon Presley and Crispin Sartwell have ferreted out from obscure journals and lectures, 22 of de Cleyre's essays on such subjects as the Church and State as oppressors, anti–authoritarian education, marriage as sexual slavery, and justifications for violent action. They have prefaced these writings with biographical sections that admirably reveal the purity of de Cleyre's revolutionary spirit and intensity of emotions and have introduced each essay with interpretive commentaries.”
“...Sharon Presley and Crispin Sartwell... [bring] de Cleyre's caustic, incisive essays back in print ... A good introduction to de Cleyre's prose and ideas.” Utne Reader Table of Contents Preface by Candace Falk
Acknowledgments Part I: Biographical Essays: Three Views of Voltairine de Cleyre
"Priestess of Pity and Vengeance" by Crispin Sartwell Part II: Loving Freedom: Anarchism Without Adjectives Introduction by Sharon Presley
"Why I am an Anarchist" Part III: Wild Freedom: A Passion for Liberty and Justice Introduction by Sharon Presley
"The Dominant Idea" Part IV: Neither Gods nor Superstitions: Freethought and Religion Introduction by Sharon Presley
"The Economic Tendency of Freethought" Introduction by Sharon Presley
"Those Who Marry Do Ill" Part VI: Not Another Brick in the Wall: Nonauthoritarian Education Introduction by Crispin Sartwell and Sharon Presley "Modern Educational Reform" Part VII: Breaking the Chains: Changing Society through Direct Action Introduction by Crispin Sartwell
"Direct Action" Part VIII: The Political is the Personal: Anarchist Esthetics Introduction by Crispin Sartwell "Literature the Mirror of Man" Index
About the Editors: Sharon Presley and Crispin Sartwell |
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