Mobilising William Godwin, the ‘Father of British Anarchism’: History, strategy, and the intellectual cultures of post-war British anarchism

This article examines the reconfigurations of British anarchist politics and culture through the reception of William Godwin by three influential anarchist writers and activists: George Woodcock, Colin Ward, and Albert Meltzer. It argues that mobilising Godwin was an important part of their efforts to define, and then defend, a particular version of anarchist intellectual culture in Britain, each with its own unique history and strategic perspectives for social and political change. These competing conceptualisations of Godwin’s legacy and significance thus reflected both their independent political and intellectual concerns, but also developing rifts in the broader anarchist movement, especially between proponents of gradualism and more militant forms of anarchism. Ultimately, for all three, Godwin became a cipher for internal ideological struggles in anarchist politics, as his pliable ideas were mobilised in the battle for the meaning of British anarchism.