O pensamento político da anarquista Emma Goldman: uma contextualização social.

Abstract

The mainstream of Political Science is composed of a homogeneous group of men, European, white and heterosexual, raised to the category of "classics" of this field as if they were the only human beings who were interested in think about politics. Are there women whose political thinking might be considered relevant to Political Science? Emma Goldman, a militant and anarchist, published several texts about politics, developing a thought in which she reflected on the relations between individual, state and society. Did she produces consistent political thinking about such issues and deserve to stand alongside of the "classics" of political science? To answer this question, we apply the "social contextualism" method - developed by Neal Wood and Ellen Meiksins Wood - for two main reasons. First, because it makes it possible to show that all political thinkers were also partisans in the social conflict of the period in which they lived and wrote – the fact that Emma Goldman is openly anarchist and feminist does not invalidate her chances of being considered a "thinker" of politics. Second, it allows us to understand how the ideas of an author are organically linked to the social context in which he lived and wrote - in the case of the "classics" of political science, this shows that they were also "partisans" engaged in the political conflict of its time, but that does not invalidate its importance for the understanding about "politics". In Emma Goldman's case it is a question of "inserting" her writings in the social context in which they were produced to analyze the extent that her reflections on politics - which are "marked" by her experiences - could constitute a political thought that is able to do a rational reflection and consistent approach to "politics". Therefore, it is necessary to analyze and discuss "if" besides being clearly "partisan" - anarchist and feminist - she was also a political thinker. With this aim, we show how she reflected about concepts considered relevant to Political Science - State, Power, Politics and Government - and also how she showed that other themes - love, marriage, maternity, abortion and homosexuality, among others - are also "political", because they are bound to the way that social relations are organized and normalized, in other word, how ways of living and loving, that are part of social and political "conflict", become object of political institutionalization by the State.