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+# Anarchists 
+
+Originating in the late 19th and early 20th centuries across France, Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland, illegalism corresponds to a distinct approach within the anarchist movement, one that finds its philosophical backbone in its outright rejection of legal and moral standards underpinning the current capitalist structure. Practically, illegalism involves direct acts against the economic system, such as theft, fraud, and robbery, often as a means of survival for those in precarious financial situations. These acts of re-appropriation were not only seen as responses to dire circumstances but also as forms of direct resistance, intended to inspire others toward revolutionary endeavors.
+
+The embrace of criminality as a facet of revolutionary life sparked intense debates within anarchist circles, revolving around the weekly publication *L'Anarchie* and the Parisian *Causeries Populaires*, forums for discussion scattered throughout the city. Victor Kibalchich, the editor-in-chief of *L'Anarchie*, encapsulated the illegalist stance, asserting:
+
+> "In the ordinary sense of the word we cannot and will not be honest. By definition, the anarchist lives by expediency; work for him is a deplorable expedient, like stealing... He takes no account of any conventions which safeguard property; for him, force alone counts. Thus we have neither to approve nor disapprove of illegal actions. We say: they are logical." (cited in Simons 2013)
+
+Sébastien Faure's *Encyclopédie anarchiste*, published in four volumes between 1925 and 1934, presents as many as four different and conflicting entries on this term, offering a rich starting point for taking stock of the crux of the matter. The heart of the controversy lay not in the acts themselves but in the motivations behind them and the implications of these motivations for the broader anarchist project.
+
+The discussion in the *Encyclopédie* extends to the relationship between survival-driven material illegalism and broader political transformation, probing whether those engaged in economic illegalism share common ground with their intellectually motivated counterparts. Moreover, the commentators consider the fine line between anarchistic defiance and bourgeois illegalism, where the latter's "crimes from above" are not only overlooked but glorified. This exploration goes beyond legality to question illegalism's role as a survival mechanism, a form of resistance against capitalist exploitation and societal impositions like mandatory military service, or potentially, a stepping stone toward revolutionary change.
+
+Illegalism was one of the topics that solidified the tensions within anarchist movements between the collectivist strands of anarchism and the individualist ones, which finally led to a split, over the course of the 1910s, between anarcho-communist components of these movements and their libertarian counterparts. Illegalists who favored collectivist anarchism mainly advocated for theft as a means of propagating their cause. Central figures of this strand of the praxis were French-born Clément Duval and Marius Jacob, whose criminal acts were intended to serve as revolutionary models and organizational tools aimed at fostering a wider movement of resistance.
+
+Duval is often recognized as the pioneer of illegalism, contributing significantly to its theoretical foundation and engaging in criminal acts as a form of protest. His affiliation with the Panther of the Batignolles, a Parisian affinity group that staged a number of street actions to “imperil police officers and violate laws” (Simon 2013), highlighted his commitment to the cause. His writings from prison argued that “theft exists only through the exploitation of man by man... when society refuses you the right to exist, you must take it..." (Ibid.).
+
+Marius Jacob was another influential figure embodying the specific conjuncture that made illegalism a significant trend within the anarchist movements at the turn of the century. His figure blended revolutionary theory with resistance practice, leading the "Workers of the Night," a collective that rejected employed labor and carried out over a hundred burglaries, redistributing stolen items worth about 5 million francs. His group, active not only in Paris but across France, Italy, and Belgium, chose targets to undermine the wealth of the elite while sparing those seen as socially beneficial. Jacob's strategy of "pacifistic illegalism" emphasized non-violence and escape over confrontation, distinguishing his methods from more violent factions (Simon 2013; Delpech 2019).
+
+The second faction of illegalists that emerged during the Belle Époque was closer to the philosophy of egoist anarchism of Max Stirner, which rejected any idea of institutions as mediators of human relations, affirming the self-interested individual as the sole authority in a social sphere ultimately predetermined by sheer relations of force. Among the most notable figures in this camp was Jules Bonnot, who spearheaded the famous Bonnot Gang in France, a gang of bandits with its roots in Belgium—at the time a safe haven for political refugees and those evading compulsory military service in France. This segment of illegalists prioritized crime, which they saw as an act of rebellion, over the dissemination of anarchist ideals via other means (Parry 197).
+
+Across these two tendencies, the prominence of anarchist illegalism as a defining element of political discourse and action eventually waned. The changing economic landscape and penal policies led to the incarceration or dispersal of many of its adherents. Figures like Victor Serge, a staunch advocate for illegalism and an associate of the Bonnot Gang, later described the movement as a form of "collective suicide" (Serge 1978). Marius Jacob, reflecting later in life, bitterly concluded that “the unequal nature of the struggle” precluded the capacity of theft and petty criminality to successfully liberate the individual within contemporary society. He concluded that illegalism, as a form of revolt, amounted more to an expression of personal “temperament” than a coherent “doctrine” that could be taught to exploited and subaltern classes (cited in Imrie 1994).
+
+
+**References:**
+
+Delpech, Jean-Marc. *Alexandre Marius Jacob, voleur et anarchiste*. Paris: Nada editions, 2019.
+
+Faure, Sébastien (ed.) *Encyclopédie anarchiste, tome 2, Oeuvre Internationale des Editions Anarchistes, 1925-1934?. Available online via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/EncyclopedieAnarchisteTome2/page/n433/mode/2up 
+
+Imrie, Doug (1994–95). "The ‘Illegalists’". *Anarchy: A Journal Of Desire Armed*. Fall-winter 1994-95.
+
+Parry, Richard. *The Bonnot Gang. The Story Of The French Illegalists*. 1987. Available at: https://leftypol.org/dead/src/1630155235784-0.pdf
+
+Serge, Victor. *Memoirs of a Revolutionary*. Oxford University Press, 1978.
+
+Simons, P. Z. (2013). “Illegalism: Why pay for a revolution on the installment plan … When you can steal one?”, *Modern Slavery: The Libertarian Critique of Civilization*, 3, 8–33.
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 # Andare ai resti
 
 In *Andare ai resti*, Emilio Quadrelli delves into the transformation of neighborhood gangs into *batterie*—a uniquely Italian configuration of youthful, tightly-knit criminal camaraderie. By the 1970s, these *batterie* had become fixtures of Italy’s urban landscape, embodying what Quadrelli calls “a continuation of defiance under different forms.” These groups weren’t chasing conventional power or profit; rather, as Quadrelli writes, “to make a mockery of power was the true prize, the smirk on the faces of these young rebels a greater treasure than any material spoils.”