Roads to Freedom

In Roads to Freedom, written at the close of World War I in 1918, the British philosopher Bertrand Russell compares and contrasts three tendencies of socialist thought: Marxism (which Russell refers to as “State Socialism” or simply “Socialism”), Anarchism, and Syndicalism. After giving a historical outline of each ideology, Russell goes on to examine whether the ideal societies proposed by these ideologies would be practicable in reality and how issues such as wages, crime, international relations, art, and science would be addressed by these societies. He comes to the conclusion that the best practicable society is a form of Guild Socialism incorporating some of the proposals of Anarchism, like universal provision of basic needs.