Professor Alex Prichard (he/him)

Professor Prichard is co-author, with Ruth Kinna (Loughborough), of Constitutionalising Anarchy, forthcoming in the LSE International Studies series, published by Cambridge University Press.

 

This book presents an original account of anarchism as a tradition of constitutional thought. It opens with a discussion of our contemporary constitutional predicament, and the anarchistic currents in modern anti-authoritarian constitutional political theory. It then reconnects this with the 19th century anarchist critique of constitutionalism to show the affinities with contemporary critical theory and practice. The reconstruction begins with an original account of the social theory of anarchism, grounding anarchism in an ontology of anarchy that was deeply informed by European social science, and an engagement with the theories of dividing and balancing power common to republican constitutionalism. These ideas were given new twists and inflections by a raft of anarchist thinkers, from Proudhon to Lucy Parsons, Leo Tolstoy to Kōtoku Shūsui, all of whom struggled to developing concrete alternatives to the old imperial orders. The fourth chapter explores their theories of decentralised federalism - the antidote to the state and capitalism. The book then charts the development of this constitutional tradition through the emergence of militant labour organising in the IWW, from 1905 to the present, in chapter five, through to twentieth century protest movements and their peak in Occupy Oakland in chapter six, and closes with the anarchist constitutionalism practiced by Radical Routes, at the inspirational end of the radical cooperative movement.

 

Far from an oxymoron, Kinna and Prichard demonstrate that anarchists constitutionalise routinely, founding their constitutional experiments on a principle of anarchy.

 

The book speaks to debates accross constitutional political and legal theory, the history of ideas, political and international theory. 

 

This book was made possible by an ESRC Transforming Social Science research grant, led by Professor Ruth Kinna at Loughborough University, two ISRF grants. The preliminary reserach has appreared in a number of leading journals, edited collections, and books, as well as in some more popular media outlets, and podcasts (see publications).

 

Prichard is Director of Research for SPSPA, was the Director of Postgraduate Research for the College of Social Sciences and International Studies (2021-2022), and Director of Education for the Department of Politics between 2018-2020. He has been a UCU rep and caseworker since 2018, was Predident of the University of Exeter UCU Branch between 2022-2023, and is branch co-chair 2024-2025.

 

In 2005 Prichard co-founded the PSA Anarchist Studies Network, and the Manchester University Press monograph series, Contemporary Anarchist Studies in 2012. Professor Prichard has been an Associate Editor of Anarchist Studies since 2010.

 

Prichard's publications are available here and at his Research Gate page. For an archive of Dr Prichard's research on anarchist constitutionalising, head to the Anarchy Rules website.

 

If you're after some audio, Michael Albert recently interviewd Alex Prichard on his work for his RevolutionZ podcasts, available here. And he and Professor Kinna explain anarchist constitutionalising here. An older interview on the theory and practice of anarchism, with Professor Saul Newman, on Australia's ABC Radio, can be found here. A podcast introduction to Professor Prichard's Very Short Introduction to anarchism can be found on SoundCloud. A longer interview on the topic with Morteza Hajizadeh and the New Books Network, can be found here.