Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph (1809-1865)

French journalist, economist, philosopher and sociologist. Member of the First Socialist International. He held that “property is theft”, but believed that the social revolution could be carried out peacefully. He was opposed to profit, to worker exploitation and even to public property, and he rejected both capitalism and communism, preferring the form of associations called mutualism. For Proudhon the goods produced by cooperatives or individuals should be exchanged by persons, using barter instead of money; the State was supposed to be limited to a federation of “free” municipalities (communes).