Marx, Bookchin, and the communes: Communist, decolonial, and planetary communalism

This article discusses Marx’s and Bookchin’s conceptions of communalism. It shows that, as part of his critical analysis of colonization, Marx began from 1857 onward to develop a new vision of communism grounded in pre-capitalist peasant communes, breaking with his earlier productivist communism. It then shows how this communism of the commune takes shape in his work as the communal self-government of communes grounded in communal ownership of the land. Next, the article compares Marx’s communalism with Bookchin’s from economic, political, ecological, and geographical perspectives.