Background
The book was released in the context of the dispute in the newly resurgent anarchist movement between critics of civilisation (primarily anarcho-primitivists exemplified by John Zerzan) and its supporters (notably Murray Bookchin). Although sharply disagreeing on the merits of civilisation, technology and language, both Zerzan and Bookchin derided postmodernism as disempowering the individual and reinforcing the existing order. Another significant factor in the intellectual climate of the book's release was the rediscovery in the 1990s of anarchist theory within academia.
Although foundational work had been done on the philosophy of postanarchism by radical theorists such as Andrew Koch and Todd May, From Bakunin to Lacan introduced a slightly different and more substantive formulation of the theory.
Read more about this topic: From Bakunin To Lacan
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