Proudhon became a member of the French Parliament after the Revolution of , whereafter he referred to himself as a federalist. Some consider his mutualism to be part of individualist anarchism [ 6 ] [ 7 ] while others regard it to be part of social anarchism. His best-known assertion is that " property is theft! Recherche sur le principe du droit et du gouvernement , published in The book's publication attracted the attention of the French authorities.
It also attracted the scrutiny of Karl Marx , who started a correspondence with its author. The two influenced each other and they met in Paris while Marx was exiled there. The dispute became one of the sources of the split between the anarchist and Marxist wings of the International Working Men's Association.
He considered social revolution to be achievable in a peaceful manner. Proudhon unsuccessfully tried to create a national bank , to be funded by what became an abortive attempt at an income tax on capitalists and shareholders. Similar in some respects to a credit union , it would have given interest-free loans.
His mother Catherine Simonin was from Cordiron. Proudhon's brothers Jean-Etienne and Claude were born in and respectively and both maintained a very close relationship with Proudhon.
As a boy, he mostly worked in the family tavern, helped with basic agricultural work and spent time playing outdoors in the countryside. Although Proudhon received no formal education as a child, he was taught to read by his mother, who had him spelling words by age three. The only books that Proudhon was exposed to until he was 10 were the Gospels and the Four Aymon Brothers and some local almanacs. Proudhon was unable to afford basic things like books or shoes to attend school which caused him great difficulties and often made him the object of scorn by his wealthier classmates.
