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Education and upbringing problems in P.A. Kropotkin's socio-political heritage

Chernysheva E.S.

Annotation

In the article there are analyzed works of P.A. Kropotkin, the theorist of anarchism. It is shown that along with sharp criticism of a traditional upbringing system and Marxist ideas of polytechnic education he has offered the concept of creation of a new system of craft education which should be realized in the “industrial village” conditions. It is characterized an educational ideal - free comprehensively developed personality possessing encyclopedic knowledge and abilities, providing its life activity.

Keywords: education, complex education, craft education, emigration, educational ideal, criticism of traditional morality, industrial villages, universalism, free personality

The theoretical heritage of the known Russian revolutionary, scientist-geographer, historian and writer P.A. Kropotkin (1842-1921) reflects features of his specific world vision. Giftedness and the complicated twists and turns of his destiny allowed him, being a student of the physic-mathematical branch of St. Petersburg Imperial University, at the same time to perform scientific researches in the field of geography, specializing on a problem of location of plateaus and ridges of mountain Asia, to be the correspondent of “The Petersburg bulletin” newspaper. Kropotkin was arrested for revolutionary promotion and placed at first in the Peter and Paul Fortress (1874), and then in the prison hospital from which he escaped in 1876. having left the Russian Empire, at first he moved to great Britain, then lived in Switzerland, France, and since 1886 moved to great Britain where lived before the voluntary return to Russia in 1917. His return to Russia was caused by the occurred February Revolution. Remigration of P.A. Kropotkin was widely covered in the press, benevolently interpreted by public organizations and the provisional government. Thus, it is possible to distinguish three life periods of Kropotkin: pre-migratory (1842-1876), period of emigration (1876-1917), re-migratory (1917-1921). Kropotkin's main works, reflecting problems of education and upbringing, fall on the emigration period while after return to Russia these problems aren't object of his special reflections any more.

The system of pedagogical views of Kropotkin started to develop when he was still an undergraduate, when he began to translate into Russian works of known theorists of the liberal direction - A. Disterveg, German pedagogue, and g. Spenser, British sociologist and pedagogue, for a bare living. P.A. Kropotkin's thoughts concerning upbringing found the development in a sketch “The moral principles of anarchism” written in 1890 [1]. The criticism of bourgeois upbringing bases which forms the immoral (in his opinion) person by means of religion, the law and formation of the habit of subordination becomes stronger in it. Whether a person should be moral only because he/she was educated in such way? The theorist definitely negatively answers on this question. In the analysis of the system of views of Russian nihilists who, at first sight, deny traditional morality systems, the philosopher has shown that “having rejected morality lessons of their parents and having rejected all and sundry ethical systems”, the nihilistic youth has already acquired traditional moral algorithm. Owing to the influence of the moral maxims accepted from the religious doctrine, the behavior of the nihilistically aiming youth is even more moral, than the behavior of their parents as young people aren't focused on the expectation of requital for their acts. According to P.A. Kropotkin, equality being a synonym of justice is a moral basis of anarchy; it rejects erudition of “blue blood” which allows it to manipulate others, using their innocence. Entering into the struggle against all types of deception, guile, vice as inequality types which are “instilled” into hearts of people by the law and religion managers, the theorist of anarchism declares war on their way of action and a thinking form. Wishing to provide the complete freedom of personality, to make its existence full and integral, the freedom of development of all its abilities, A.P. Kropotkin persist in that the old system of pedagogical influences based on the feeling of uncertainty, fear and thirst for retribution for a moral act, has exhausted its humanistic potential. It is necessary to develop a new system of pedagogical measures which won't impose moral and social ideals to the forming person, but can develop the natural potential of his/her dispositions, stimulate his/her activity in knowledge and creation.

The problem of an educational ideal is also considered in P.A. Kropotkin's work “Fields, factories and workshops”, written in 1899 [2]. Estimating the leading idea of Adam Smith's economic doctrine, who sees the nature and reasons of richness of some nations in division of labor, the theorist of anarchism addresses to the analysis of the society divided into the few consuming producers and the few producing consumers. Labor division into the factory and agricultural led to that “a modern ideal of the worker is a man, a woman, even a girl or a boy who weren't trained in any special specialty and have no idea of a branch in which they work, and all the life, day by day are only capable to produce one smallest detail of something. <...> They are the pity servants of any machinery acting in accordance with the set instructions” [2]. Alienation of the bulk of producers from the system of craft professional education conducts to irreparable consequences: “Under the pretext of labor division we have sharply separated the workers of mental labor from the workers of physical labor. Today the great part of workers doesn't get that scientific education which have got their grandfathers, besides they are deprived of knowledge and experience which could get in small workshops. Their sons and daughters at the age of 13 years are forced to go into mines or factories where they quickly forget the little they probably learned at school” [2]. Noting that the qualified craft training is forced out everywhere, and it is replaced by the short-term system of formation of a narrow labor skill, P.A. Kropotkin asserts that it is in comprehension of crafts where there is a formation of the beginnings of esthetic senses, and craft training may create the bases of labor morality which is based on professional pride of own work individual results.

According to the theory of social development which is developed by P.A. Kropotkin, it is necessary to create the so-called “industrial villages” in which the mankind will distribute its labor among fields and workshops. In this regard he addresses to the economic concept of development of K. Marx' capitalism which was shared by the Russian followers of Marxism. however in Kropotkin's work it is possible to find the objections turned to proposition of not only the economic concept, but also the bases of upbringing theory of the founder of scientific communism. They consist in K. Marx' understanding of education as a system of preparation of the lab our force of necessary qualification corresponding to a level of industrial production development. P.A. Kropotkin's criticism of K. Marx' system of upbringing views is shown in his terminology which was entered into science by the theorist of Marxism in the work “The instruction of temporary Central Council on concrete problems”. Following the logic of K. Marx' treatment of the concept of “upbringing”, P.A. Kropotkin considers this phenomenon in its three measurements (intellectual and physical education, technical education). The criticism consists in the following statement: “ Instead of “technical education” which means preservation of the present division into intellectual and physical workers, we support the integrated, complete education meaning disappearance of this harmful division” [2]. Proclaiming the integration in the upbringing treatment, P.A. Kropotkin asserts that the future “newborn society” should take care of “complex education”. It consists in simultaneous science and craft education of all members of society irrespective of their sex and property status. Without denying the necessity of knowledge specialization, the theorist of anarchism insists that that special education should follow “general education”, “and this general education should concern both sciences, and physical skills. As to society division into workers of intellectual and manual labour, we oppose to it the integration (association) of the both activity kinds” [2]. It is defined the school purpose which should provide both the completeness of scientific knowledge, and skills in the field of crafts which will enable the graduate of school to take own place at the enterprise of manual labor for production for the sake of the common advantage.

In the work “Revolutionary idea in revolution”, published in 1913 [3], P.A. Kropotkin addresses to upbringing problems in a context of appraisal of cruelty with which the revolutionary people of France deal shortly with their former governors in 1792. The analysis of concrete examples of ruthless punishments of the ruling elite representatives or of the persons having a considerable fortune, P.A. Kropotkin explains by the centuries-old social practice constructed on realization of a principle of legal punishment. Considering such types of upbringing as Roman upbringing, Christian and revolutionary upbringing as the mutual successive, the theorist shows that they have provoked people's aspiration for “use the same means with which they have simplified it” [3]. Besides, through many centuries privileged classes “brought up the feeling of hatred in people, however, not for the rich of their nation, but for the other people, saying that they were enemies” [3]. The hatred for the others, which was deliberately cultivated, finally turned against the representatives of the power and wealth. Therefore, creating new forms of social life in the liberated communes, socializing houses and instruments of production, means of communication and exchange, it is necessary for modern revolutionaries first of all to get rid of the main oppression tool - the states with its system of taxes, monopoly for truth, total control of morality and citizens' life. P.A. Kropotkin, thus, isn't the supporter of popular European idea about the omnipotence of upbringing and on the forefront he puts forward problems of a society social and economic reorganization.

In Kropotkin's works, which formally aren't pedagogical, there are reported the most important problems of education and upbringing which were stated in the logic of his sociopolitical doctrine of anarchism. The most important subjects of his creativity were: the problem of an educational ideal, the critic of the upbringing and educational policy realized by official institutes of the state and church, criticism of the Marxist concept of upbringing regarding the system of technical education, explanation of the concept of “complex education”, including combination of “the general” and vocational education, science and craft in the conditions of residence in “industrial villages”.

P.A. Kropotkin's system of views on formation of the person of the future is concretized at a level of the planned educational practice. Education is considered as means of all-round formation of personality possessing encyclopedic knowledge and abilities which thanks to special organization of educational process will gain the professionally focused character. This idea is urgent even now.

References

1. Kropotkin P.A. The moral principles of anarchism

2. Kropotkin P.A. Fields, factories and workshops

3. Kropotkin P.A. Revolutionary idea in revolution

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