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Anarchism derives from the Greek αναρχία ("without archons (ruler, chief, king)"). Thus anarchism, in its most general meaning, is the belief that rulers are unnecessary and should be abolished. Anarchism refers to various political philosophies and related social movements that advocate the elimination of authoritarian institutions, particularly the state. Most anarchists also oppose capitalism, though some theorists have espoused anarcho-capitalism. In place of authoritarian political structures and coercive economic institutions, anarchists advocate social relations they claim to be based upon voluntary association of autonomous individuals, mutual aid, and self-governance.
While anarchism is defined by what it is against, anarchists also offer positive visions of what they believe to be a truly free society. The word "anarchy," as anarchists use it, does not imply chaos or anomie, but rather a harmonious anti-authoritarian society. However, ideas about how an anarchist society might work vary considerably, especially with respect to economics. Also, there is disagreement about how a free society might be brought about.
Origins of anarchism
Kropotkin, and others, argue that before recorded history, human society was organized on anarchist principles. Some anthropologists follow Kropotkin and Engels in believing that hunter-gatherer bands had an egalitarian structure due lack of a division of labour, accumulated wealth, or decreed law.
Anarchists including the The Anarchy Organisation and Rothbard find anarchist attitudes in the philosophy of Taoism in Ancient China. . Kropotkin found an early instance of anarchist philosophy in the ideas of stoic Zeno of Citium. According to Kropotkin, Zeno "repudiated the omnipotence of the state, its intervention and regimentation, and proclaimed the sovereignty of the moral law of the individual".
The Anabaptists of 16th century Europe are sometimes considered to be religious forerunners of modern anarchism. Bertrand Russell, in his History of Western Philosophy, writes that the Anabaptists "repudiated all law, since they held that the good man will be guided at every moment by the Holy Spirit...rom this premise they arrive at communism...." The Diggers or "True Levellers" were an early communistic movement during the time of the English Civil War, and are considered by some as forerunners of modern anarchism.Brit94 The first use of the term anarchy in the modern era to mean something other than chaos was by Louis-Armand, Baron de Lahontan in his Nouveaux voyages dans l'Amérique septentrionale, (1703), where he described the indigenous American society, which had no state, laws, prisons, priests, or private property, as being in anarchy . Russell Means, a libertarian and leader in the American Indian Movement, has repeatedly stated that he is "an anarchist, and so are all ancestors."
The first modern essay explicitly advocating the absence of government was A Vindication of Natural Society (1756) by Edmund Burke, although most historians believe this to be a satire. The first positive theory of anarchism was William Godwin's An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793) . This was a very influential tract; though he did not use the word anarchism, some today regard him as the "founder of philosophical anarchism." The themes of his work would become central to the future development of anarchism. But at this point no anarchist movement yet existed, and the term anarchiste was known only as an insult hurled by the bourgeois Girondins at more radical elements in the French revolution. Other liberal anarchists include Gustave de Molinari, Thomas Hodgskin, Auberon Herbert, and Herbert Spencer.
The first self-labelled anarchist
Main articles: Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and MutualismIt is commonly held that it wasn't until Pierre-Joseph Proudhon published What is Property? in 1840 that the term "anarchist" was adopted as a self-description. It is for this reason that some claim Proudhon as the founder of modern anarchist theory. In What is Property Proudhon answers with the famous accusation "Property is theft." In this work he opposed the institution of "property" (propriété), Ian where owners have complete rights to 'use and abuse' their property as they wish. In its place Proudhon supported what he called 'possession' - individuals can have limited rights to use resources, capital and goods in accordance with principles of equality and justice. However, it should be noted that in later works Proudhon modified his ideas on property : in his Theory of Property he argues that property, in the full Roman Law sense he had previously opposed, is a necessary counterweight to the centralising force of the state. One of his famous statements is that "anarchy is order", which is believed by some to be the source of the circled-A.
Proudhon's vision of anarchy, which he called mutualism (mutuellisme), involved an exchange economy where individuals and groups could trade the fruits of their labor by using labor-backed money (labor notes). The use of labor notes would insure that no one purchased a good with less of his own labor than the labor undertaken to produce the good he was purchasing. Hence, with labor notes, profitless transactions would be facilitated. Proudhon's ideas were influential within French working class movements, and his followers were active in the Revolution of 1848 in France.
Max Stirner's Egoism
Main articles: Max Stirner and EgoismAnarchists sometimes avoid criticisms of their ideology by claiming that these criticisms are part of the ideology. In his The Ego and Its Own Stirner argued that most commonly accepted social institutions - including the notion of property as a right and the very notion of society itself - were mere illusions or ghosts, saying of society that "the individuals are its reality." He advocated a form of amoralism, in which individuals would unite in 'associations of egoists' only when it was in their self interest to do so. For him, property simply comes about through might: "Whoever knows how to take, to defend, the thing, to him belongs property." And, "What I have in my power, that is my own. So long as I assert myself as holder, I am the proprietor of the thing."
Stirner's ideas were influential on a wide range of anarchists, although interpretations of his thought are various. For example, American Individualist Benjamin Tucker's ideas on property were founded on egoism, as he believed that property could only come about by self-interested parties contracting to establish it: "the right of might and the right of contract - are the only rights that ever have been or ever can be."
American individualist anarchism
In 1825 Josiah Warren had participated in a communitarian experiment headed by Robert Owen called New Harmony, which failed in a few years amidst much internal conflict. Warren blamed the community's failure on a lack of individual sovereignty and a lack of private property. Warren proceeded to organise experimenal anarchist communities which respected what he called "the sovereignty of the individual' at Utopia and Modern Times In 1833 Warren wrote and published The Peaceful Revolutionist, which some have noted to be the first anarchist periodical ever published. Benjamin Tucker says that Warren "was the first man to expound and formulate the doctrine now known as Anarchism." (Liberty XIV (December, 1900):1)
Benjamin Tucker became interested in anarchism through meeting Josiah Warren and William B. Greene. He edited and published Liberty from August 1881 to April 1908; it is widely considered to be the finest individualist-anarchist periodical ever issued in the English language. Tucker's conception of individualist anarchism incorporated the ideas of a variety of theorists: Greene's ideas on mutual banking; Warren's ideas on cost as the limit of price (a heterodox variety of labour theory of value); Proudhon's market anarchism; Max Stirner's egoism; and, Herbert Spencer's "law of equal freedom". Tucker strongly supported "private property" in the product of labor and a market economy for trading in private property.
The economic system of the individualists was called mutualism, which differs from capitalism, as it sees profit as subverting labor-value, therefore being exploitation; and socialism, as it sees collective ownership as subverting self-ownership. Tucker believed that in a laissez-faire system, the ability to make a profit would be nearly non-existent due to an abundance of economic competition. Other 19th century individualists include Lysander Spooner, Stephen Pearl Andrews, and Victor Yarros. Unlike anarcho-communists, the individualists aimed for equality of opportunity rather than equality of wealth. As Laurance Labadie explains: "In a world where inequality of ability is inevitable, anarchists do not sanction any attempt to produce equality by artificial or authoritarian means. The only equality they posit and will strive their utmost to defend is the equality of opportunity." (Anarchism Applied to Economics)
Political historian Carl Levy writes that "Since World War II, this tradition has been reborn and modified in the United States as anarcho-capitalism or libertarianism." However, labor-value individualist anarchism is still extant today, primarily in the United States, and is currently espoused by Joe Peacott and Kevin Carson.
The First International
Main articles: International Workingmen's Association and Anarchism and MarxismIn Europe, harsh reaction followed the revolutions of 1848. Twenty years later in 1864 the International Workingmen's Association, sometimes called the 'First International', united some diverse European revolutionary currents including anarchism. Due to its genuine links to active workers movements the International became signficiant.
From the start Karl Marx was a leading figure in the International: he was elected to every succeeding General Council of the association. The first objections to Marx came from the Mutualists who opposed communism and statism. Shortly after Mikhail Bakunin and his followers joined in 1868, the First International became polarised into two camps, with Marx and Bakunin as their respective figureheads. The clearest difference between the camps was over strategy. The anarchists around Bakunin favoured (in Kropotkin's words) "direct economical struggle against capitalism, without interfering in the political parliamentary agitation." At that time Marx and his followers focused on parliamentary activity.
Bakunin characterised Marx's ideas as authoritarian, and predicted that if a Marxist party gained to power its leaders would end up as bad as the ruling class they had fought against. In 1872 the conflict climaxed with a final split between the two groups at the Hague Congress. This is often cited as the origin of the conflict between anarchists and Marxists. From this moment the social democratic and libertarian currents of socialism had distinct organisations including rival 'internationals'.
Anarchist Communism
Main article: Anarchist communismProudhon and Bakunin both opposed communism, which in their time was strongly associated with the statist ideas of thinkers such as Étienne Cabet. However, in the early 1870s the majority of Bakunin's followers moved away from Bakunin's philosophy (called "collectivism"), and embraced a new anarchist theory incorporating many communist concepts.
Anarcho-communists believe in the collectivization of the products of labor, as opposed to private ownership. Carlo Cafiero, a member of the Italian section of the International which embraced anarchist communism at its 1876 congress, explained in his Anarchy and Communism : "If we preserve the individual appropriation of the products of labour, we would be forced to preserve money, leaving more or less accumulation of wealth according to more or less merit rather than need of individuals."
This position was anticipated by Joseph Déjacque, notable as the first person to describe himself as a "libertarian". He argued for the satisfaction of human needs over remuneration of labour in his US published journal Le Libertaire (1858-1861), rejecting the Proudhonian support of individual ownership of the product of labor and markets. He wrote a letter admonishing Proudon saying: "it is not the product of his or her labor that the worker has a right to, but to the satisfaction of his or her needs, whatever may be their nature."
Peter Kropotkin was the most important nineteenth century proponent of anarchist communism. In The Conquest of Bread and Fields, Factories and Workshops Kropotkin outlined anarchist communist society and how to achieve it. Kropotkin's communism was based on his theory of mutual aid where co-operation is more beneficial than competition, illustrated in nature in Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution (1897). Subsequent anarchist communists include Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman. The anarcho-syndicalist movements (see below) generally saw anarchist communism as their objective. Isaac Puente's 1932 Comunismo Libertario was adopted by the Spanish CNT as its manifesto for an anarchist communist society.
Some anarchists disliked this merging of communism with anarchism. They maintained that abolition of private property was not consistent with liberty. For example, Benjamin Tucker, whilst professing respect for Kropotkin and publishing his work, described communist anarchism as "pseudo-anarchism". The view that anarcho-communism is not anarchism was the view of several individualist anarchists.
Propaganda of the deed
Anarchists have often been portrayed as dangerous and violent, due mainly to a number of high-profile violent acts including riots, assassinations, insurrections, and terrorism by some anarchists. Some revolutionaries of the late 19th century encouraged acts of political violence, such as bombings and the assassinations of heads of state to further anarchism. Such actions have sometimes been called 'propaganda by the deed'.
One of the more outspoken advocates of this strategy was Johann Most, who said "the existing system will be quickest and most radically overthrown by the annihilation of its exponents. Therefore, massacres of the enemies of the people must be set in motion." Most's preferred method of terrorism, dynamite, earned him the moniker "Dynamost."
However, there is no consensus on the legitimacy or utility of violence in general. Mikhail Bakunin and Errico Malatesta, for example, wrote of violence as a necessary and sometimes desirable force. At the same time, they both denounced violence and terrorist acts (Malatesta in "On Violence" and Bakunin when he refuted Nechaev).
Other anarchists, sometimes identified as pacifist anarchists, share a belief in nonviolence. Leo Tolstoy, whose philosophy is often viewed as a form of Christian anarchism, believed that nonviolent resistance was the only method to achieve any lasting social change. For Tolstoy and other pacifists all violence is illegitimate, irrespective of whether it is perpetrated by the state or by its opponents.
Anarchism in the labour movement
See also: Anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism and Industrial Unionism are two early 20th century working class industrial movements which sought to overthrow capitalism, states and institute a worker controlled society. In the late 19th century, anarcho-syndicalism developed as a movement pursuing industrial actions, especially the general strike, as the primary strategy to achieve anarchist revolution, and "build the new society in the shell of the old". Most anarcho-syndicalists shared a belief in anarchist communism as the best form of the future society, although not all anarchist communists agreed with syndicalism.
After the 1871 repression French anarchism began to resurface and influenced the Bourses de Travails of autonomous workers groups and trade unions. From this movement the Confédération Générale du Travail (General Confederation of Work, CGT) was formed in 1895 as the first major anarcho-syndicalist movement. Emile Pataud and Emile Pouget's writing for the CGT saw libertarian communism developing from a general strike. After 1914 the CGT moved away from anarcho-syndicalism due to the appeal of Bolshevism. French-style syndicalism was a significant movement in Europe prior to 1921, and remained a significant movement in Spain until the mid 1940s.
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was founded in 1905 in the United States. It espoused industrial unionism, and sought to use the general strike to usher in an Industrial Commonwealth (a stateless society). At its peak in 1923 the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. While not explicitly syndicalist or anarchist, the IWW organised using working class rank and file democracy, and embodied a spirit of resistance and freedom which has inspired many Anglophone syndicalists.
Spanish anarchist trade union federations were formed in the 1870's, 1900 and 1910. The most successful was the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (National Confederation of Labour: CNT), was founded in 1910. Prior to the 1940s the CNT was the major force in Spanish working class politics. It had a membership of 1.58 million in 1934. The CNT played a major role in the Spanish Civil War. See also: Anarchism in Spain.
In the 1910-1917 Mexican Revolution anarcho-syndicalists like Ricardo Flores Magón were key figures. This success has been influential for Latin American anarchism. This influence extends to the Zapatista rebellion and the factory occupation movements in Argentina and elsewhere. In Berlin in 1922 the CNT was amongst trade unions who joined together to form the International Workers Association, an anarcho-syndicalist successor to the First International.
Contemporary anarcho-syndicalism continues as a minor force in many socities; much smaller than in the 1910s, 20s and 30s.
The largest organised anarchist movement today is in Spain, in the form of the Confederación General del Trabajo and the CNT. The CGT claims a paid-up membership of 60,000, and received over a million votes in Spanish syndical elections. Other active syndicalist movements include the US Workers Solidarity Alliance, and the UK Solidarity Federation. The revolutionary industrial unionist Industrial Workers of the World also exists, claiming 2,000 paid members. Contemporary critics of anarcho-syndicalism and revolutionary industrial unionism claim that they are workerist and fail to deal with economic life outside work. Post-leftist critics such as Bob Black claim anarcho-syndicalism advocates oppressive social structures, such as work and the workplace.
Anarcho-syndicalists in general uphold principles of workers solidarity, direct action, and self-management.
The Russian Revolution
Main article: Russian Revolution of 1917The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a seismic event in the development of anarchism as a movement and as a philosophy.
Anarchists participated alongside the Bolsheviks in both February and October revolutions, many anarchists initially supporting the Bolshevik coup. However the Bolsheviks soon turned against the anarchists and other left-wing opposition, a conflict which culminated in the 1918 Kronstadt rebellion. Anarchists in central Russia were imprisoned or driven underground, or joined the victorious Bolsheviks. In Ukraine anarchists fought in the civil war against both Whites and Bolsheviks within the Makhnovshchina peasant army led by Nestor Makhno).
Expelled American anarchists Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman before leaving Russia were amongst those agitating in response to Bolshevik policy and the suppression of the Kronstadt uprising. Both wrote classic accounts of their experiences in Russia, aiming to expose the reality of Bolshevik control. For them, Bakunin's predictions about the consequences of Marxist rule had proved all too true.
The victory of the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution and the resulting Russian Civil War did serious damage to anarchist movements internationally. Many workers and activists saw Bolshevik success as setting an example; Communist parties grew at the expense of anarchism and other socialist movements. In France and the US for example, the major syndicalist movements of the CGT and IWW began to realign themselves away from anarchism and towards the Communist International.
In Paris, the Dielo Truda group of Russian anarchist exiles which included Nestor Makhno concluded that anarchists needed to develop new forms of organisation in response to the structures of Bolshevism. Their 1926 manifesto, known as the Organisational Platform of the Libertarian Communists, was supported by some communist anarchists, though opposed by many others.
The Platform continues to inspire some contemporary anarchist groups who believe in an anarchist movement organised around its principles of 'theoretical unity', 'tactical unity', 'collective responsibility' and 'federalism'. Platformist groups today include the Workers Solidarity Movement in Ireland, the UK's Anarchist Federation, and the late North Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists in the northeastern United States and bordering Canada.
The fight against fascism
Main articles: Anti-fascism and Anarchism in SpainIn the 1920s and 1930s the familiar dynamics of anarchism's conflict with the state were transformed by the rise of fascism in Europe. In many cases, European anarchists faced difficult choices - should they join in popular fronts with reformist democrats and Soviet-led Communists against a common fascist enemy? Luigi Fabbri, an exile from Italian fascism, was amongst those arguing that fascism was something different:
- Fascism is not just another form of government which, like all others, uses violence. It is the most authoritarian and the most violent form of government imaginable. It represents the utmost glorification of the theory and practice of the principle of authority.
In France, where the fascists came close to insurrection in the February 1934 riots, anarchists divided over a 'united front' policy. In Spain, the CNT initially refused to join a popular front electoral alliance, and abstention by CNT supporters led to a right wing election victory. But in 1936, the CNT changed its policy and anarchist votes helped bring the popular front back to power. Months later, the ruling class responded with an attempted coup, and the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) was underway.
In reponse to the army rebellion an anarchist-inspired movement of peasants and workers, supported by armed militias, took control of the major city of Barcelona and of large areas of rural Spain where they collectivized the land. But even before the eventual fascist victory in 1939, the anarchists were losing ground in a bitter struggle with the Stalinists. The CNT leadership often appeared confused and divided, with some members controversially entering the government. Stalinist-led troops suppressed the collectives, and persecuted both dissident marxists and anarchists.
Since the late 1970s anarchists have been involved in fighting the rise of neo-fascist groups. In Germany and the United Kingdom some anarchists worked within militant anti-fascist groups alongside members of the Marxist left. They advocated directly combating fascists with physical force rather than relying on the state. Since the late 1990s, a similar tendency has developed within US anarchism. See also: Anti-Racist Action (US), Anti-Fascist Action (UK), Antifa
Religious Anarchisms
Main articles: Christian anarchism and Anarchism and religion
Most anarchist culture tends to be secular if not outright anti-religious. However, the combination of religious social conscience, historical religiousity amongst oppressed social classes, and the compatability of some interpretations of religious traditions with anarchism has resulted in religious anarchisms.
Christian anarchists believe that there is no higher authority than God, and oppose earthly authority such as government and established churches. They believe that Jesus' teachings were clearly anarchistic, but were corrupted when "Christianity" was declared the official religion of Rome. Christian anarchists, who follow Jesus' directive to "turn the other cheek", are strict pacifists. The most famous advocate of Christian anarchism was Leo Tolstoy, author of The Kingdom of God is Within You, who called for a society based on compassion, nonviolent principles and freedom. Christian anarchists tend to form experimental communities. They also occasionally resist taxation. Many Christian anarchists are vegetarian or vegan.
Chinese Anarchism was most influential in the 1920s. Strands of Chinese anarchism included Tai-Xu's Buddhist Anarchism which was influenced by Tolstoy and the well-field system.
Neopaganism, with its focus on the environment and equality, along with its often decentralized nature, has lead to a number of neopagan anarchists. One of the most prominent is Starhawk, who writes extensively about both spirituality and activism.
Anarchism and feminism
Main article: Anarcha-Feminism
Anarcha-feminism is a kind of radical feminism that espouses the belief that patriarchy is a fundamental problem in society. While anarchist feminism has existed for more than a hundred years, its explicit formulation as anarcha-feminism dates back to the early 70s , during the second-wave feminist movement. Anarcha-feminism, views patriarchy as the first manifestation of hierarchy in human history; thus, the first form of oppression occurred in the dominance of male over female. Anarcha-feminists then conclude that if feminists are against patriarchy, they must also be against all forms of hierarchy, and therefore must reject the authoritarian nature of the state and capitalism.
Anarcho-primitivists see the creation of gender roles and patriarchy a creation of the start of civilization, and therefore consider primitivism to also be an anarchist school of thought that addresses feminist concerns. Eco-feminism is often considered a feminist variant of green anarchist feminist thought.
Anarcha-feminism is most often associated with early 20th-century authors and theorists such as Emma Goldman and Voltairine de Cleyre, although even early first-wave feminist Mary Wollstonecraft held proto-anarchist views, and William Godwin is often considered a feminist anarchist precursor. It should be noted that Goldman and de Cleyre, though they both opposed the state, had opposing philosophies, as de Cleyre explains: "Miss Goldman is a communist; I am an individualist. She wishes to destroy the right of property, I wish to assert it. I make my war upon privilege and authority, whereby the right of property, the true right in that which is proper to the individual, is annihilated. She believes that co-operation would entirely supplant competition; I hold that competition in one form or another will always exist, and that it is highly desirable it should." In the Spanish Civil War, an anarcha-feminist group, "Free Women", organized to defend both anarchist and feminist ideas.
In the modern day anarchist movement, many anarchists, male or female, consider themselves feminists, and anarcha-feminist ideas are growing. The publishing of Quiet Rumors, an anarcha-feminist reader, has helped to spread various kinds of anti-authoritarian and anarchist feminist ideas to the broader movement. Wendy McElroy has popularized an anarcho-capitalist take on feminism in her books, articles, and individualist feminist website .
Anarcho-capitalism
Anarcho-capitalism is a predominantly United States based theoretical tradition that desires a stateless society with the economic system of free market capitalism. Anarcho-capitalists believe all voluntary transactions between consenting adults should be legal. They do not oppose employment or interest. Unlike 19th century American individualism, anarcho-capitalism does not generally hold with the labour theory of value, but rather holds the subjectivist theory of value. As such they do not oppose profit. Anarcho-capitalists oppose state capitalism.
Murray Rothbard's synthesis of classical liberalism and Austrian economics was germinal for the development of contemporary anarcho-capitalist theory. Rothbard defines anarchism in terms of the non-aggression principle. For Rothbard, "an anarchist society one where there is no legal possibility for coercive aggression against the person or property of any individual." Anarcho-capitalists favor complete laissez-faire capitalism as opposed to state capitalism; Rothbard says the "difference between free-market capitalism and state capitalism is precisely the difference between, on the one hand, peaceful, voluntary exchange, and on the other, violent expropriation." Though the term anarcho-capitalism was coined by Rothbard, similar philosophies existed prior to Rothbard that noted anarcho-capitalists, along with some historians such as David Hart and Ralph Raico, consider to be anarcho-capitalist. These include the philosophies of 18th and 19th theorists such as Gustave de Molinari, Julius Faucher, Jakob Mauvillon, and Auberon Herbert Rothbard's conception is based on the concept of Natural Law. Competiting theorists use egoism, utilitarianism (David Friedman), or contractarianism (Jan Narveson).
Important anarcho-capitalists include Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Lew Rockwell, and Bryan Caplan. Some minarchists, such as Ayn Rand, Robert Nozick, and Robert A. Heinlein, have influenced anarcho-capitalism.
Most anarchists, societarians and individualists, deny that anarcho-capitalism is a form of anarchism, arguing that capitalism runs contrary to an egalitarian power structure and is an inherently authoritarian institution. The latter criticism is contested by anarcho-capitalists, and by some American individualist anarchists. Anarcho-capitalism is also criticized by anarchists that compare it with feudalism. In Noam Chomsky on Anarchism, Chomsky writes, "Anarcho-capitalism, in my opinion, is a doctrinal system which, if ever implemented, would lead to forms of tyranny and oppression that have few counterparts in human history", although he adds that he finds himself, "in substantial agreement with people who consider themselves anarcho-capitalists on a whole range of issues".
Anarchism and the environment
See also: Anarcho-primitivism, Green anarchism, Eco-anarchism, and EcofeminismSince the late 1970s anarchists in Anglophone and European countries have been taking action for the natural environment. Eco-anarchism or Green anarchism believe in deep ecology. This is a worldview that embraces biodiversity and sustainability. Eco-anarchists often use direct action against what they see as earth-destroying institutions. Of particular importance is the Earth First! movement, that takes action such as tree sitting. Another important component is ecofeminism, which sees the domination of nature as a metaphor for the domination of women. Green anarchism also involves a critique of industrial capitalism, and, for some green anarchists, civilization itself.
Primitivism is a predominantly Western philosophy that advocates a return to a pre-industrial and usually pre-agricultural society. It develops a critique of industrial civilization. In this critique technology and development have alienated people from the natural world. This philosophy develops themes present in the political action of the Luddites and the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Primitivism developed in the context of the Reclaim the Streets, Earth First! and the Earth Liberation Front movements. John Zerzan wrote that civilization — not just the state — would need to fall for anarchy to be achieved. Anarcho-primitivists point to the anti-authoritarian nature of many 'primitive' or hunter-gatherer societies throughout the world's history, as examples of anarchist societies.
Other branches and offshoots
Anarchism generates many eclectic and syncretic philosophies and movements. Since the Western social formet in the 1960s and 1970s a number new of movements and schools have appeared. Most of these stances are limited to even smaller numbers than the schools and movements listed above.
- Post-left anarchy - Post-left anarchy (also called egoist-anarchism) seeks to distance itself from the traditional "left" - communists, liberals, social democrats, etc. - and to escape the confines of ideology in general. Post-leftists argue that anarchism has been weakened by its long attachment to contrary "leftist" movements and single issue causes (anti-war, anti-nuclear, etc.). It calls for a synthesis of anarchist thought and a specifically anti-authoritarian revolutionary movement outside of the leftist milieu. It often focuses on the individual rather than speaking in terms of class or other broad generalizations and shuns organizational tendencies in favor of the complete absence of explicit hierarchy. Important groups and individuals associated with Post-left anarchy include: CrimethInc, the magazine Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed and its editor Jason McQuinn, Bob Black, Hakim Bey and others. For more information, see Infoshop.org's Anarchy After Leftism section, and the Post-left section on anarchism.ws. See also: Post-left anarchy
- Post-structuralism - The term postanarchism was originated by Saul Newman, first receiving popular attention in his book From Bakunin to Lacan to refer to a theoretical move towards a synthesis of classical anarchist theory and poststructuralist thought. Subsequent to Newman's use of the term, however, it has taken on a life of its own and a wide range of ideas including autonomism, post-left anarchy, situationism, post-colonialism and Zapatismo. By its very nature post-anarchism rejects the idea that it should be a coherent set of doctrines and beliefs. As such it is difficult, if not impossible, to state with any degree of certainty who should or shouldn't be grouped under the rubric. Nonetheless key thinkers associated with post-anarchism include Saul Newman, Todd May, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. External reference: Postanarchism Clearinghouse See also Post-anarchism
- Insurrectionary anarchism - Insurrectionary anarchism is a form of revolutionary anarchism critical of formal anarchist labor unions and federations. Insurrectionary anarchists advocate informal organization, including small affinity groups, carrying out acts of resistance in various struggles, and mass organizations called base structures, which can include exploited individuals who are not anarchists. Proponents include Wolfi Landstreicher and Alfredo M. Bonanno, author of works including "Armed Joy" and "The Anarchist Tension". This tendency is represented in the US in magazines such as Willful Disobedience and Killing King Abacus. See also: Insurrectionary anarchism
- Small 'a' anarchism - Small 'a' anarchism is a term used in two different, but not unconnected contexts. Dave Neal posited the term in opposition to big 'A' Anarchism in the article Anarchism: Ideology or Methodology?. While big 'A' Anarchism referred to ideological Anarchists, small 'a' anarchism was applied to their methodological counterparts; those who viewed anarchism as "a way of acting, or a historical tendency against illegitimate authority." As an anti-ideological position, small 'a' anarchism shares some similarities with post-left anarchy. David Graeber and Andrej Grubacic offer an alternative use of the term, applying it to groups and movements organising according to or acting in a manner consistent with anarchist principles of decentralisation, voluntary association, mutual aid, the network model, and crucially, "the rejection of any idea that the end justifies the means, let alone that the business of a revolutionary is to seize state power and then begin imposing one's vision at the point of a gun."
Other issues
- Conceptions of an anarchist society - Many political philosophers justify support of the state as a means of regulating violence, so that the destruction caused by human conflict is minimized and fair relationships are established. Anarchists argue that pursuit of these ends does not justify the establishment of a state; many argue that the state is incompatible with those goals and the cause of chaos, violence, and war. Anarchists argue that the state helps to create a monopoly on violence, and uses violence to advance elite interests. Much effort has been dedicated to explaining how anarchist societies would handle criminality.See also: Anarchism and Society
- Civil rights and cultural sovereignty - Black anarchism opposes the existence of a state, capitalism, and subjugation and domination of people of color, and favors a non-hierarchical organization of society. Theorists include Ashanti Alston, Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, and Sam Mbah. Anarchist People of Color was created as a forum for non-caucasian anarchists to express their thoughts about racial issues within the anarchist movement, particularly within the United States. National anarchism is a political view which seeks to unite cultural or ethnic preservation with anarchist views. Its adherents propose that those preventing ethnic groups (or races) from living in separate autonomous groupings should be resisted. Anti-Racist Action is not an anarchist group, but many anarchists are involved. It focuses on publicly confronting racist agitators. The Zapatista movement of Chiapas, Mexico is a cultural sovereignty group with some anarchist proclivities.
- Neo-imperialism and Globalization - To anarchists, neo-imperialism amounts to inter-state loan-sharking. All anarchists oppose neo-imperialism and the state cartels which carry it out, such as the World Bank, World Trade Organization, Group of Eight, and the World Economic Forum. Globalization is an ambiguous term that has different meanings to different anarchist factions. Most anarchists use the term to mean neo-imperialism, with many active in the anti-globalization movement. Others, particularly anarcho-capitalists, use "globalization" to mean the worldwide expansion of the division of labor and trade, which they see as beneficial so long as governments do not intervene.
- Parallel structures - Many anarchists try to set up alternatives to state-supported institutions and "outposts," such as Food Not Bombs, infoshop, educational systems such as home-schooling, neighborhood mediation/arbitration groups, and so on. The idea is to creating the structures for a new anti-authoritarian society in the shell of the old, authoritarian one.
- Technology - Recent technological developments have made the anarchist cause both easier to advance and more conceivable to people. Many people use the Internet to form on-line communities. Intellectual property is undermined and a gift-culture supported by sharing music files, open source programming, and the free software movement. These cyber-communities include the GNU, Linux, Indymedia, and Wiki. Public key cryptography has made anonymous digital currencies such as e-gold and Local Exchange Trading Systems an alternative to statist fiat money. Some anarchists see information technology as the best weapon to defeat authoritarianism. Some even think the information age makes eventual anarchy inevitable. See also: Crypto-anarchism and Cypherpunk.
- Pacifism - Some anarchists consider Pacifism (opposition to war) to be inherent in their philosophy. anarcho-pacifists take it further and follow Leo Tolstoy's belief in non-violence. Anarchists see war as an activity in which the state seeks to gain and consolidate power, both domestically and in foreign lands, and subscribe to Randolph Bourne's view that "war is the health of the state" . A lot of anarchist activity has been anti-war based.
- Parliamentarianism - In general terms, the anarchist ethos opposes voting in elections, because voting amounts to condoning the state. . Voluntaryism is an anarchist school of thought which emphasizes "tending your own garden" and "neither ballots nor bullets." The anarchist case against voting is explained in The Ethics of Voting by George H. Smith. (Also see "Voting Anarchists: An Oxymoron or What?" by Joe Peacott, and writings by Fred Woodworth).
- Sectarianism - Most anarchist schools of thought are, to some degree, sectarian. There is often a difference of opinion within each school about how to react to, or interact with, other schools. Some, such as panarchists, believe that it is possible for a variety of modes of social life to coexist and compete. Some anarchists view opposing schools as a social impossibility and resist interaction; others see opportunities for coalition-building, or at least temporary alliances for specific purposes. See anarchism without adjectives.
Criticisms of anarchism
Violence. The very word anarchism originated as a term of abuse first used during against the working class sans-culottes during the French Revolution. Since then, anarchism has often been associated by with violence and destruction.
Utopianism. Anarchism is often criticised as unfeasible, or plain utopian, even by many who agree that it's a nice idea in principle.
Class character. Marxists have characterised anarchism as an expression of the class interests of the petite bourgeoisie or perhaps the lumpenproletariat. See e.g. Plekhanov for a swingeing Marxist critique of 1895. Anarchists have also been characterised as spoilt middle-class dilettantes, most recently in relation to anti-capitalist protesters.
Tacit authoritarianism. In recent decades anarchism has been criticised by 'situationists', 'post-anarchists' and others of preserving 'tacitly statist', authoritarian or bureaucratic tendencies behind a dogmatic facade.
Hypocrisy. Some critics point to the sexist and racist views of some prominent anarchists, notably Proudhon and Bakunin, as examples of hypocrisy inherent within anarchism. Most anarchists, however, dismiss that the personal prejudices of 19th century theorists influence the beliefs of present-day anarchists.
Cultural phenomena
The kind of anarchism that is most easily encountered in popular culture is represented by celebrities who publicly identify themselves as anarchists. Although some anarchists reject any focus on such famous living individuals as inherently élitist, the following figures are examples of prominent publicly self-avowed anarchists:
- the MIT professor of Linguistics Noam Chomsky
- the science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin
- the social historian Howard Zinn
- entertainer and author Hans Alfredsson
- the Avant-garde artist Nicolás Rosselló
In Denmark, the Freetown Christiania was created in downtown Copenhagen. The housing and employment crisis in most of Western Europe led to the formation of communes and squatter movements like the one still thriving in Barcelona, in Catalonia. Militant resistance to neo-Nazi groups in places like Germany, and the uprisings of autonomous Marxism, situationist, and Autonomist groups in France and Italy also helped to give popularity to anti-authoritarian, non-capitalist ideas.
In various musical styles, anarchism rose in popularity. Most famous for the linking of anarchist ideas and music has been punk rock, although in the modern age, hip hop, and folk music are also becoming important mediums for the spreading of the anarchist message. In the UK this was associated with the punk rock movement; the band Crass is celebrated for its anarchist and pacifist ideas. The Dutch punk band The Ex further exemplifies this expression. For further details, see anarcho-punk
See also
There are many concepts relevant to the topic of anarchism, this is a brief summary. There is also a more extensive list of anarchist concepts.
- Anarchist symbolism
- List of anarchism links
- List of anarchists
- List of anarchist organizations
- Past and present anarchist communities
Historical events
- Paris Commune (1871)
- Haymarket Riot (1886)
- The Makhnovschina (1917 — 1921)
- Kronstadt rebellion (1921)
- Spanish Revolution (1936) (see Anarchism in Spain and Spanish Revolution)
- May 1968, France (1968)
- WTO Meeting in Seattle (1999)
Books
Main article: List of anarchist booksThe following is a sample of books that have been referenced in this page, a more complete list can be found at the list of anarchist books.
- Mikhail Bakunin, God and the State
- Emma Goldman, Anarchism & Other Essays
- Peter Kropotkin, Mutual Aid
- Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, What is Property?
- Murray Rothbard The Ethics of Liberty
- Max Stirner, The Ego And Its Own
- Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God is Within You
Anarchism by region/culture
References
- Peter Kropotkin. Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution. 1902.
- Friedrich Engels. Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State. 1884.
- The Anarchy Organization (Toronto). Taoism and Anarchy. April 14, 2002 Toxicpop mirror as of 23 January 2006 Vanity site mirror as of 23 January 2006
- Murray Rothbard. "The Ancient Chinese Libertarian Tradition" extract from "Concepts of the Role of Intellectuals in Social Change Toward Laissez Faire" The Journal of Libertarian Studies 9 (2) Fall 1990. extract web published at lewrockwell.com Full original web published as PDF at mises.org
- Anarchism - from The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1910. Written by Peter Kropotkin
- Bertrand Russell. "Ancient philosophy" in A History of Western Philosophy, and its connection with political and social circumstances from the earliest times to the present day. 1945.
- An Anarchist Timeline - from Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1994
- Dictionary of the History of Ideas - ANARCHISM
- MSN Encarta - Anarchism
- Bakunin: Statism and Anarchy by Michael Bakunin
- De l'être-humain mâle et femelle - Lettre à P.J. Proudhon par Joseph Déjacque (in French)
- Tucker, Benjamin Labor and Its Pay Individual Liberty: Selections From the Writings of Benjamin R. Tucker, Vanguard Press, New York, 1926, Kraus Reprint Co., Millwood, NY, 1973.
- Anarcho-Feminism - Two Statements - Who we are: An Anarcho-Feminist Manifesto
- I-feminists.net
- Preface to The Production of Security by Gustave de Molinari, translated by J. Huston McCulloch, Occasional Papers Series #2 (Richard M. Ebeling, Editor), New York: The Center for Libertarian Studies, May 1977.
- Rothbard, Murray N. The Future of Peace and Capitalism Modern Political Economy, James H. Weaver, ed. pp. 419-430, Chapter 28, (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1973)
- Preface to The Production of Security by Gustave de Molinari, translated by J. Huston McCulloch, Occasional Papers Series #2 (Richard M. Ebeling, Editor), New York: The Center for Libertarian Studies, May 1977
- Hart, David Gustave de Molinari and the Anti-Statist Liberal Tradition Journal of Libertarian Studies, in three parts, (Summer 1981), V, no. 3: 263-290; (Fall 1981), V. no. 4: 399-434; (Winter 1982), VI, no. 1: 83-104
- Raico, Ralph Authentic German Liberalism of the 19th Century Ecole Polytechnique, Centre de Recherce en Epistemologie Appliquee, Unité associée au CNRS (2004).
- Hoppe, Hans-Hermann Anarcho-capitalism: An Annotated Bibliography, (December 3, 2001).
- Noam Chomsky on Anarchism by Noam Chomsky
- Infoshop.org - Anarchy After Leftism
- Post anarchist clearing house
- The Sovereign Individual -- Mastering the transition to the information age
- War is the Health of the State
- The Voluntaryist - Why I would not vote against Hitler
- Voluntaryist - The ethics of voting
- G.V. Plekhanov Anarchism and Socialiam
These notes have no corresponding reference in the article. They might be re-used.
External links
The overwhelming diversity and number of links relating to anarchism is extensively covered on the links subpage.
- Anarchoblogs Blogs by Anarchists.
- Anarchy Archives extensively archives information relating to famous anarchists. This includes many of their books and other publications.
- Hundreds of anarchists are listed, with short bios, links & dedicated pages at the Daily Bleed's Anarchist Encyclopedia
- Infoshop Online Anarchist Datebase
- Industrial Workers of the World