Emma Goldman
Anarchist writer and organiser · 1869–1940
Goldman was a Lithuanian-born anarchist who became a leading radical speaker in the United States, campaigning against conscription and for birth control and free speech. She was deported to Russia in 1919, became a critic of the Bolshevik state, and later supported the anarchists in the Spanish Civil War.
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Estimated from their documented words and actions. A simplification, not a verdict.
As an anarchist she sought to replace the state with voluntary local association.
She rejected voting as a path to change, but equally opposed dictatorship, including the Bolshevik one.
She was repeatedly jailed for speeches and opposed laws restricting speech, sexuality and movement.
She condemned patriotism as a tool of rulers and worked with radicals across many countries.
She was imprisoned for opposing US conscription in the First World War, though she backed armed anarchists in Spain.
An immigrant herself, she opposed immigration restrictions and nativism.
She advocated the abolition of private property in favour of communal ownership.
She opposed state direction of the economy, including Soviet central control.
No strong recorded view on tariffs, though she rejected national borders generally.
She was an outspoken atheist who saw religion as a pillar of authority.
She campaigned for birth control, free love and the rights of homosexuals long before these were mainstream.
No strong recorded view on technology.