page_title: Individualist anarchism in Europe
section_title: Illegalism
hierarchical_section_title: Individualist anarchism in Europe / Development by country / France / Illegalism
caption_attribution_description: Português: Desenho do Bando Bonnot - Flavio Costantini
context_page_description: Individualist anarchism in Europe proceeded from the roots laid by William Godwin, Individualist anarchism expanded and diversified through Europe, incorporating influences from American individualist anarchism. Individualist anarchism refers to several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasize the individual and his or her will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions, and ideological systems.
  Early European individualist anarchism was influenced by many philosophers, including Pierre Joseph Proudhon, Max Stirner, and Henry David Thoreau. Proudhon was an early pioneer of anarchism as well as of the important individualist anarchist current of mutualism. Stirner became a central figure of individualist anarchism through the publication of his seminal work The Ego and Its Own which is considered to be "a founding text in the tradition of individualist anarchism." The philosophy of Max Stirner supports the individual doing exactly what he pleases – taking no notice of God, state, or moral rules.
context_section_description: Illegalism developed primarily in France, Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland during the early 20th century as an outgrowth of Stirner's IA. Illegalists typically did not seek moral basis for their actions, recognizing only the reality of "might" rather than "right". They advocated illegal acts to satisfy personal desires, not a larger ideal, although some committed crimes as a form of direct action or propaganda of the deed .
  Influenced by Stirner's egoism as well as Proudhon's "property is theft", Clément Duval and Marius Jacob proposed the theory of la individual reclamation.
  Illegalism first rose to prominence among a generation of Europeans inspired by the unrest of the 1890s. Ravachol, Émile Henry, Auguste Vaillant, and Caserio committed daring crimes in anarchism's name. France's Bonnot Gang was the most famous group to embrace illegalism.
caption: Caricature of the Bonnot gang
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