On Community and Revolution: Connections between Walden Two and The Conquest of Bread

B.F. Skinner’s Walden Two (1948) and Peter Kropotkin’s The Conquest of Bread (1892/2007) both describe communal ways of living that are distinct from modern capitalist society and suggest an alternative: a more just community which would improve people’s lives. Skinner, a successful scientist and public intellectual, wrote Walden Two’s small community as informed by experimentation and the principles of behavior. In contrast, Kropotkin, a twice-jailed revolutionary born into a royal family, described his vision for worldwide anarchism after a social revolution. Despite these differences, we find significant parallels in how the two texts contend with authority and hierarchy, democracy, organization of labor, and the role of the arts and sciences. As we work to extend our clinical successes, exploring these connections and the shared ideals between radical behaviorism and anarchist thought can help us imagine ways to shape a brighter future for all, resist present threats toward global authoritarianism, guiding our work toward the design of culture (Skinner, 1953).