Staat, Fortschritt, Anarchie

In life as in thought, Élisée Reclus' political, anthropological, and ecological writings are as relevant as ever, radical like few others. Striving for human freedom, he rejects all authorities except for that of reason and knew 150 years ago that humanity is inextricably linked to the planet. In the midst of the emergence of modernity, he foresaw its ecological crisis and called for the invention of new forms of solidarity that include not only humans but also animals and plants. While Reclus denounces the ecological and social devastations of his time, he simultaneously celebrates the progress of freedom and the emergence of new ways of living and social models, despite all resistance. For him, every generation is the "last generation," yet it can also be the first of a redeemed Earth: "people of desire," as he called them, individuals working to realize the ideal of another world and another Earth.