Pierre-Joseph Proudhon introduced one of the first critiques of centralized authority in 1848, a few years after publishing his now-classic book What is Property? and calling for the abolition of property and the state. As per Proudhon’s view, any political change would be limited without economic change.
His work is at the heart of anarchism, “a political theory that is skeptical of the justification of authority and power,” according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Almost two centuries later, Proudhon’s thoughts about economics and power still echo in society, with encryption tools paving the way for parts of the ideal society envisioned in his theory.