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Anarchism is derived from the Greek αναρχία ("without archons (ruler, chief, king)"). Thus "anarchism," in its most general meaning, is the belief that forms of rulership are undesireable, and should be abolished. Anarchism also refers to related social movements that advocate the elimination of coercive institutions. The word "anarchy", as most anarchists use it, does not imply chaos, nihilism, or anomie, but rather a harmonious anti-authoritarian society that is based on individual self-determination and personal involvement. In place of what are regarded as authoritarian political structures and coercive economic institutions, anarchists advocate social relations based upon voluntary association of free individuals in autonomous communities, mutual aid, and self-governance.
The word anarchist originated as a term of abuse. At the Putney Debates (1647) during the English Civil War, Thomas Rainsborough remarked "I know that some particular men we debate with believe we are for anarchy" after Oliver Cromwell had said "No man says that you have a mind to anarchy, but that the consequence of this rule tends to anarchy, must end in anarchy". The term was later used against working class radicals and sans-culottes during and following the French Revolution. Whilst the term is still used in a pejorative way to describe "any act that used violent means to destroy the organization of society", it has also been taken up as a positive label by self-defined anarchists.
While anarchism is most easily defined by what it is against, anarchists also offer positive visions of what they believe to be a truly free society. However, ideas about how an anarchist society might work vary considerably, especially with respect to economics, e.g. there are both capitalist and socialist forms. There is also disagreement about how a free society might be brought about. Beyond the anti-statist commonality that justifies a wide variety of philosophies as all being forms of anarchism, specific forms of anarchism may overlap in additional respects with other forms and may conflict in some ways as well. Moreover, degrees of commonality and conflict also exist within each form of anarchism as a result of the unique opinions of those who theorize within the broad genres.
Origins and predecessors
In Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, Peter Kropotkin argued that mutual aid was a natural feature of animal and human relations. Most anthropologists agree that the State is not a natural phenomenon and that many hunter-gatherer bands were egalitarian and lacked division of labour, accumulated wealth, or decreed law, and had equal access to resources.
Many anarchists cite earlier religious, social, and political movements as inspirational and sometimes as embodying "anarchistic principles" even though they have not proclaimed themselves as anarchist. An example of this is Taoism from ancient China, although Taoism became the state religion in China in 165 C.E.. According to Kropotkin the stoic Zeno of Citium "repudiated the omnipotence of the state, its intervention and regimentation, and proclaimed the sovereignty of the moral law of the individual".
Likewise 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 have been cited as forerunners of modern anarchism.
In the modern era, the first to use the term Anarchy to mean something other than chaos was 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 author to have published an essay explicitly advocating the absence of government was Edmund Burke in "A Vindication of Natural Society" (1756). In 1793, in the thick of the French Revolution, William Godwin published An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice . Although Godwin did not use the word anarchism, many later anarchists have regarded this book as the first major anarchist text, and Godwin as the "founder of philosophical anarchism." But at this point no anarchist movement yet existed, and the term anarchiste was known mainly as an insult hurled by the bourgeois Girondins at more radical elements in the French revolution.
The first self-labelled anarchist
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon is commonly regarded as the first self-proclaimed anarchist, a label he adopted in his ground breaking work What is Property?, published in 1840. It is for this reason that some claim Proudhon as the founder of modern anarchist theory, even though Josiah Warren and William Greene in America had already worked out the system. In What is Property? Proudhon answers with the famous accusation "Property is theft." In this work he opposed the institution of decreed "property" (propriété), where owners have complete rights to "use and abuse" their property as they wish, such as exploiting workers for profit. At first, Proudhon starkly contrasted what he called 'possession' - limited rights to use resources, capital and goods in accordance with principles of equality and justice - with existing forms of 'property.'
His opposition to capitalism, the state and organised religion inspired subsequent anarchists and made him one of the leading socialist thinkers of his time. For Proudhon:
- "Capital . . . in the political field is analogous to government . . . The economic idea of capitalism, the politics of government or of authority, and the theological idea of the Church are three identical ideas, linked in various ways. To attack one of them is equivalent to attacking all of them . . . What capital does to labour, and the State to liberty, the Church does to the spirit. This trinity of absolutism is as baneful in practice as it is in philosophy. The most effective means for oppressing the people would be simultaneously to enslave its body, its will and its reason."
A few years before his death in 1865, when his thinking became dominated by the theory of irreducible "antinomies," he came to support "property" as a necessary counterbalance to State power ("Property is liberty.") - without totally abandoning his earlier critique (as the size of ownership was limited to the amount an individual, family or group could use by themselves).
By then, however, Proudhon was emphasizing The Principle of Federation (1863). Anarchy was to remain a perpetual desideratum, and social and political relations should be based on genuinely voluntary contracts between free and equal producers. He argued for a federative non-state, an "agro-industial federation," with the right of secession. He accepted the need for small-scale property to keep "the State on an even keel" (while property was "an absolutism within an absolutism") and the need to "regulate the market" to "protect the citizens of the federated states from capitalist and financial feudalism, both within them and from the outside." In his political testament, On the Political Capacity of the Working Classes (1865), he argued that a federative political organization could only function based on mutualist economics, which would provide for "the effective sovereignty of the laboring masses" through their mutualist associations
Proudhon's mutualism (mutuellisme) involved an exchange economy where individuals and groups could trade the products of their labor using labor notes which represented the amount of working time involved in production. This would ensure that no one would profit from the labor of others. Workers could freely join together in co-operative workshops. An interest-free bank would be set up to provide everyone with access to the means of production and allow them to manage their own work (i.e. to ensure workers' control of production). Proudhon's ideas were influential within French working class movements, and his followers were active in the Revolution of 1848 in France as well as the Paris Commune of 1871. Anarcho-communists, such as Kropotkin, later disagreed with Proudhon for his support of "private property" in the products of labour (i.e. wages, or "remuneration for work done") rather than free distribution of the products of labour.
As a mutualist, Proudhon opposed private property in workplaces, land and housing in favour of a system of "possession" by their users ("all accumulated capital being social property, no one can be its exclusive proprietor." ). While he opposed communism and favoured remuneration for labour, he also opposed capitalist wage labour (i.e. profiting from someone else's labour). He urged workers "to form themselves into democratic societies, with equal conditions for all members, on pain of a relapse into feudalism." Under capitalism, he argued employees are "subordinated, exploited" and their "permanent condition is one of obedience," a "slave." Capitalist companies "plunder the bodies and souls of wage workers" and they are "an outrage upon human dignity and personality." He advocated workers' co-operatives to replace capitalism. The worker becomes an "associate" and "forms a part of the producing organisation . . . forms a part of the sovereign power, of which he was before but the subject." Without this, people "would remain related as subordinates and superiors, and there would ensue two industrial castes of masters and wage-workers, which is repugnant to a free and democratic society." Support for workers' management of production is shared by all schools of social anarchism.
Proudhon's philosophy of property is complex and often contradictory: it was developed in a number of works over his lifetime, and there are differing interpretations of some of his ideas. For more detailed discussion see Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.
Max Stirner's egoism
Main article: ]In his The Ego and Its Own, Stirner argued that most commonly accepted social institutions - including the notion of State, property as a right, natural rights in general, and the very notion of society - were mere illusions or ghosts in the mind, saying of society that "the individuals are its reality." He advocated egoism and 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 never called himself an anarchist - he accepted only the label 'egoist'. Nevertheless, he is considered by most to be an anarchist, and his ideas were influential on many anarchists, although interpretations of his thought are diverse.
American individualist anarchism
Main article: ]The context of American anarchism can be traced back to the American Revolution and the Whiskey Rebellion, Shays' Rebellion, and similar local revolts following American independence. Social contract theory had been used to justify the secession of the American colonies from Britain, and by extension settlers on the Western frontier claimed the right of counties and towns to secede from American states, and for pioneers to live in what was effectively the state of nature. Although the Whiskey Rebellion was put down by George Washington, West Virginia ultimately did secede from Virginia during the American Civil War, following Virginia's secession into the Confederate States of America. The movement's economic projects also had colonial roots. The mutual bank was a reinvention of the private land banks and public loan offices of the colonies, a tradition extending back to 1681 and the establishment of "The Fund at Boston."
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 experimental 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 the individual's right to own the product of his or her labour as "private property", and believed in a market economy for trading this property. However, like most anarchists, he rejected intellectual property rights as well as opposing private property in land and other natural resources in favour of "occupancy and use" He argued that in a truly free market system without the state, the abundance of competition would eliminate profits, interest and rent and ensure that all workers received the full value of their labor. Many individualists (such as Tucker and Yarros) supported market-provided private defense of labour produced property and land occupied by those who used it.
Other nineteenth century individualists included Lysander Spooner, Stephen Pearl Andrews, and Victor Yarros.
The First International
In 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 French followers of Proudhon, Blanquists, English trade unionists, socialists and social democrats. Due to its genuine links to active workers movements the International became a significant organization.
Karl Marx was a leading figure in the International and a member of its General Council. Proudhon's followers, the Mutualists, opposed Marx's state socialism, advocating political abstentionism and small property holdings. Mikhail Bakunin joined in 1868, allying with the anti-authoritarian socialist sections of the International, who advocated the revolutionary overthrow of the state and the collectivization of property. At first, the collectivists worked with the Marxists to push the First International into a more revolutionary socialist direction. Subsequently, the International became polarised into two camps, with Marx and Bakunin as their respective figureheads. The clearest difference between the camps was over strategy. The anarchist collectivists around Bakunin favoured (in Kropotkin's words) "direct economic struggle against capitalism, without interfering in the political parliamentary agitation." Marx and his followers focused on parliamentary activity and the need for structured political parties with central leadership and control.
Bakunin characterised Marx's ideas as authoritarian, and predicted that if a Marxist party came to power its leaders would simply take the place of the ruling class they had fought against. In 1872 the conflict climaxed with a final split between the two groups, when at the Hague Congress Marx engineered the expulsion of Bakunin and James Guillaume from the International and had its headquarters transferred to New York. In response, the anti-authoritarian sections formed their own International at the St. Imier Congress, adopting a revolutionary anarchist program.
Many contemporary debates among the Left can be traced back to the debate between Bakunin and Marx over the role of revolutionary parties in the revolution and in post-revolutionary society. Many leftists, communist and anarchist, reject the traditional Leninist and Bolshevist concept of a vanguard party prepared to form a new proletarian state, in part because of the historical failures of the Soviet Union but also out of concern for the development of an aparatchik/bureaucratic class that will replace the existing ruling class with their own bureaucratic dictatorship, although the radical communists do not share the anarchists' opposition to all political power (see a 1992 interview with Joelle Aubron, former leader of the militant urban guerilla group Action Directe in France).
Anarchist communism
Main article: Anarchist communism
Whereas Proudhon disliked the collective aspects of communism, Bakunin was originally sympathetic to it, translating the Communist Manifesto into Russian. Bakunin was to repudiate communism, however, which he associated with statism, for a form of collectivist anarchism. The collectivist anarchists advocated remuneration for labor but held out the possibility of a post-revolutionary transition to a communist system of distribution according to need. Bakunin's associate, James Guillaume, put it this way in his essay, Ideas on Social Organization (1876): "When… production comes to outstrip consumption… veryone will draw what he needs from the abundant social reserve of commodities, without fear of depletion; and the moral sentiment which will be more highly developed among free and equal workers will prevent, or greatly reduce, abuse and waste."
An early anarchist communist was Joseph Déjacque, the first person to describe himself as "libertarian". Unlike Proudhon, he argued that "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." He announced his ideas in his US published journal Le Libertaire (1858-1861).
Peter Kropotkin, often seen as the most important theorist of anarchist communism, outlined his economic ideas in The Conquest of Bread and Fields, Factories and Workshops. Kropotkin felt co-operation to be more beneficial than competition, arguing in Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution that this was illustrated in nature. He advocated the abolition of private property through the "expropriation of the whole of social wealth" by the people themselves, and for the economy to be co-ordinated through a horizontal network of voluntary associations. He maintained that in anarcho-communism "houses, fields, and factories will no longer be private property, and that they will belong to the commune or the nation" and money, wages, and trade would be abolished. Individuals and groups would use and control whatever resources they needed as the aim of anarchist-communism was to place "the product reaped or manufactured at the disposal of all, leaving to each the liberty to consume them as he pleases in his own home." Moreover, he repeatedly stressed (like other communist-anarchists) that individuals would not be forced into communism, arguing that the peasant "who is in possession of just the amount of land he can cultivate," the family "inhabiting a house which affords them just enough space… considered necessary for that number of people" and the artisan "working with their own tools or handloom" would be free to live as they saw fit. Some argue that communist-anarchism is based on the same distinction between possession and property as found in Proudhon's work.
Other important anarchist communists include Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman and Errico Malatesta, while Voltairine de Cleyre moved from individualist to communist anarchism. Many in the anarcho-syndicalist movements (see below) saw anarchist communism as their objective. Isaac Puente's 1932 El comunismo libertario was adopted by the Spanish CNT as its manifesto for a post-revolutionary society.
Some anarchists disliked merging communism with anarchism. A number of individualist anarchists 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".
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 of the deed'. However, the term originally referred to exemplary forms of direct action meant to inspire the masses to revolution. Propaganda of the deed may be violent or nonviolent.
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 in revolutionary settings. But at the same time, they denounced acts of individual terrorism. (Bakunin, "The Program of the International Brotherhood" (1869) and Malatesta, "Violence as a Social Factor" (1895)).
Other anarchists, sometimes identified as pacifist anarchists, advocated complete nonviolence. Leo Tolstoy, whose philosophy is often viewed as a form of Christian anarchism (see below), was a notable exponent of nonviolent resistance.
Anarchism in the labour movement
See also: Anarcho-syndicalismAnarcho-syndicalism is anarchism focusing on the labor movement ("syndicalism" being derived from the French syndicalisme, meaning "trade unionism"). Anarcho-syndicalists view labour unions as a potential force for revolutionary social change, replacing capitalism and the State with a society self-managed by workers. Anarcho-syndicalists seek to abolish the wage system and private ownership of the means of production, which they believe lead to class division.
After the 1871 repression French anarchism reemerged, influencing the Bourses de Travails of autonomous workers groups and trade unions. From this movement the Confédération Générale du Travail (General Confederation of Labour, 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.
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), founded in 1910. Prior to the 1940s the CNT was the major force in Spanish working class politics. With a membership of 1.58 million in 1934, the CNT played a major role in the Spanish Civil War. See also: Anarchism in Spain.
Syndicalists like Ricardo Flores Magón were key figures in the Mexican Revolution. Latin American anarchism was strongly influenced, extending to the Zapatista rebellion and the factory occupation movements in Argentina. In Berlin in 1922 the CNT was joined with the International Workers Association, an anarcho-syndicalist successor to the First International.
The largest organised anarchist movement today is in Spain, in the form of the Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT) 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, workplace, and compulsory membership in labor unions, which violates the concept of individual autonomy by denying the right to work.
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 1921 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 North Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists in the northeastern United States and bordering Canada and Québec.
The fight against fascism
In 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."
Italy saw the first struggles between anarchists and fascists. Anarchists played a key role in the anti-fascist organisation Arditi del Popolo. This group was strongest in areas with anarchist traditions and marked up numerous successful victories, including the total humiliation of thousands of Blackshirts in the anarchist stronghold of Parma in August 1922. Unfortunately, anarchist calls for a united front against fascism were ignored by the socialists and communists until it was too late. 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 response 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/Europe), Antifa
Religious anarchism
Most anarchist culture tends to be secular if not outright anti-religious. However, the combination of religious social conscience, historical religiosity amongst oppressed social classes, and the compatibility of some interpretations of religious traditions with anarchism has resulted in religious anarchism.
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.
Christian anarchy can be said to have roots as old as the religion's birth, as the early church exhibits many anarchistic tendencies, such as communal goods and wealth. By aiming to obey utterly certain of the Bible's teachings certain anabaptist groups of sixteenth century Europe attempted to emulate the early church's social-economic organisation and philosophy by regarding it as the only social structure capable of true obedience to Jesus' teachings, and utterly rejected (in theory) all earthly hierarchies and authority (and indeed non-anabaptists in general) and violence as ungodly. Such groups, for example the Hutterites, typically went from initially anarchistic beginnings to, as their movements stabilised, more authoritarian social models.
Chinese anarchism was most influential in the 1920s. Strands of Chinese anarchism included Taixu's Buddhist anarchism which was influenced by Tolstoy and the well-field system. Buddhist anarchism was later revived in the 1960s by writers such as Gary Snyder.
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
Early French feminists such as Jenny d'Héricourt and Juliette Adam criticised the misogyny in the anarchism of Proudhon during the 1850s.
Anarcha-feminism is a kind of radical feminism that espouses the belief that patriarchy is a fundamental problem in society. However, it was not explicitly formulation as anarcha-feminism until early 1970s, 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.
Early first-wave feminist Mary Wollstonecraft held proto-anarchist views, and William Godwin is often considered a feminist anarchist precursor. It became more strictly formulated through the work of a number of late 19th century American individualist anarchists. While most anarchists of the period did not take these ideas seriously, others, such as Florence Finch Kelly and Moses Harman, held gender equality as a topic of significant importance. Anarcha-feminism garnered further attention through the work of early 20th-century authors and theorists including Emma Goldman and Voltairine de Cleyre. 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.
Anarcho-capitalism
Anarcho-capitalism is a predominantly United States-based theoretical tradition that desires an economic system of free market capitalism in which the market would be extended to include such current state functions defence of private property. Because anarcho-capitalism does not oppose profit, rent, interest or capitalism, most anarchists, as well as most well-known anarchist writers, do not acknowledge anarcho-capitalism as a form of anarchism. Anarchist organisations, for example the CNT (spain) and the Anarchist Federation (UK), all take an explicitly anti-capitalist stance. However, several scholars do regard it as a form of anarchism.
Murray Rothbard's synthesis of classical liberalism and Austrian economics was germinal for the development of contemporary anarcho-capitalist theory. Rothbardian anarcho-capitalists believe the private property can result only from being the product of labor and that it may only be transferred by trade, gift, or abandonment (after a given period of time). Another prominent anarcho-capitalist is David D. Friedman. Some minarchists, such as Ayn Rand and Robert A. Heinlein, have influenced anarcho-capitalism.
Some anarcho-capitalists, along with some libertarian historians such as David Hart and Ralph Raico, considered similar philosophies existing prior to Rothbard to be anarcho-capitalist, such as those of Gustave de Molinari and Auberon Herbert
Critics note that neither Molinari nor Herbert considered themselves to be anarchist, and argue that their theories were unanarchist. Interestingly, Molinari described his system as one of "competing governments" as well as "a free state." . Anarcho-capitalist David Hart also suggests Molinari retreated from this view in his later writing, but many anarcho-capitalists nevertheless see Molinari's ideas as the first exposition of anarcho-capitalist theory. Significantly, Hart notes that Molinari was aware of Proudhon and as a direct result rejected the term "anarchist" as this "was intimately linked with socialist and statist economic views." Proudhon, in return, argued that the "school of Say" was "the chief focus of counter-revolution next to the Jesuits" and that, currently, free market capitalism was "the foundation of government."
For more on debate about the place of anarcho-capitalism within anarchism see Anarchism and anarcho-capitalism.
Anarchism and the environment
See also: Green anarchism, Eco-anarchism, Social ecology, Anarcho-primitivism, Ecofeminism, and Green syndicalismSince the late 1970s anarchists in Anglosphere and European countries have been agitating for the natural environment. Eco-anarchists or green anarchists 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. Murray Bookchin's work on social ecology, David Watson's work with Fifth Estate magazine, Steve Booth's work in the UK publication Green Anarchist, and Graham Purchase's writings on green syndicalism have all contributed to the broad variety and scope of green anarchist/eco-anarchist thought and action. 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 ferment in the 1960's and 1970's a number of new 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 seeks to distance itself from the traditional "left" - communists, socialists, 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. 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-Anarchism - 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 should not 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
- Anti-Racism, Anti-Fascism, and Anti-Oppression - 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. Some of these theorists have had past experiences with the Black Panther Party, and came to anarchism after they became critical of the Black Panther Party's brand of Marxist-Leninism. Anarchist People of Color, (or APOC), 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. Anti-Racist Action is not an anarchist group, but many anarchists are involved. It focuses on publicly confronting racist agitators, such as the KKK, neo-nazi groups, etc. The Zapatista movement of Chiapas, Mexico is a cultural sovereignty group with some anarchist proclivities. Anarcha-feminism is also seen as part of the push by anarchists to create a movement that fights against sexism, and patriarchy.
- Neocolonialism and Globalization - Nearly all anarchists oppose neocolonialism as an attempt to use economic coercion on a global scale, carried out through state institutions 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 neocolonialism and/or cultural imperialism (which they may see as related). Many are 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 set up alternatives to state-supported institutions and "outposts," such as Food Not Bombs, worker's councils, indymedia collectives, mutual aid projects, infoshops, educational systems such as free schools, neighborhood mediation/arbitration groups, and so on. The idea is to create the structures for a new anti-authoritarian society in the shell of the old authoritarian one, (also known as dual power).
- 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, collaborative software development, and free software (also called open-source software). These cyber-communities include the GNU, Linux, Indymedia, and Wiki. 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. Although many anarchist projects have been based around the tactic of non-violence, (Earth First!, Food Not Bombs), many anarchists reject pacifism, and support a diversity of tactics, in their organizing efforts. Most anarchists do not see the destruction of property to be violent. 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, largely in protests, demonstrations, and counter-recruiting.
- Parliamentarianism - In general terms, anarchism opposes voting in elections. This is for three reasons. Firstly, it is ineffective, at best resulting in minor reforms. Secondly, taking part in elections has always resulted in radicals becoming part of the system they oppose rather than ending it.. Thirdly, because voting amounts to condoning the state. The anarchist collective CrimethInc. around the 2004 Presidential election in the US, endorsed a campaign called, "Don't Just Vote, Get Active", which promoted the importance of direct action, as opposed to electoral change, regarding social change in society.
- 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. Many anarchists however, draw from a wide range of political perspectives, as there has been a growth in recent decades on the anti-authoritarian left of groups that are against the state, capitalism, and hierarchal organization, and are often highly critical of anarchism. This could include the Zapatistas, situationism, Ultra leftists, the autonomen, Autonomist Marxism, various indigenous cultures, and many more.
Criticisms of anarchism
- Main article: Criticisms of anarchism
Violence. Since anarchism has often been associated with violence and destruction, some people have seen it as being too violent. On the other hand, Frederick Engels criticised anarchists for not being violent enough:
- "A revolution is certainly the most authoritarian thing there is; it is the act whereby one part of the population imposes its will upon the other part by means of rifles, bayonets and cannon — authoritarian means, if such there be at all; and if the victorious party does not want to have fought in vain, it must maintain this rule by means of the terror which its arms inspire in the reactionists. Would the Paris Commune have lasted a single day if it had not made use of this authority of the armed people against the bourgeois?"
Utopianism. Anarchism is often criticised as unfeasible, or plain utopian, even by many who agree that it's a nice idea in principle. For example, Carl Landauer in his book European Socialism criticizes anarchism as being unrealistically utopian, and holds that government is a "lesser evil" than a society without "repressive force." He holds that the belief that "ill intentions will cease if repressive force disappears" is an "absurdity." However, it must be noted that not all anarchists have such a utopian view of anarchism. For example, some, such as Benjamin Tucker, advocate privately-funded institutions that defend individual liberty and property. Other anarchists view anarchy as a utopia that in fact cannot be reached but should be continuously worked toward. Rudolf Rocker once said, "I am an anarchist not because I believe anarchism is the final goal, but because there is no such thing as a final goal" (The London Years, 1956). However, other anarchists, such as Sir Herbert Read, proudly accept the characterization "utopian."
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. While many anarchists, however, dismiss that the personal prejudices of 19th century theorists influence the beliefs of present-day anarchists, others criticise modern anarchism for continuing to be eurocentric and reference the impact of anarchist thinkers like Proudhon on fascism through groups like Cercle Proudhon. Anarcho-capitalist Bryan Caplan argues that the treatment of fascists and suspected fascist sympathizers by Spanish Anarchists in the Spanish Civil War was a form of illegitimate coercion, making the professed anarchists "ultimately just a third faction of totalitarians," alongside the communists and fascists. He also criticizes the willingness of the CNT to join the (statist) Republican government during the civil war, and references Stanley G. Payne's book on the Franco regime which claims that the CNT entered negotiations with the fascist government six years after the war.
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 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' and others of preserving 'tacitly statist', authoritarian or bureaucratic tendencies behind a dogmatic facade. Post-anarchists share similar concerns regarding the methods, rather than intentions, of some anarchists. For instance, they reject revolution, seeing means of forceful anarchism as effectively authoritarian and only transforming power rather than eliminating it.
Nationalism. In recent years, an obscure movement known as national anarchism emerged, which mixes anarchist, fascist and racialist beliefs. They advocate racial separation, as well as political, social, and economic decentralization. The vast majority of anarchists consider national anarchism to be inherently racist and consider it inconsistent with anarchism.
Some critics argue that the reason why anarchism has failed to be a major political movement is that it always invariably leads to a type of feudalism, as different "free" groups begin to bunch together. As the saying goes, "strength in numbers".
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
- author Edward Abbey
- author Robert Anton Wilson
- graphic novelist Alan Moore
- entertainer and author Hans Alfredsson
- UFC fighter and champion Jeff Monson
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. Although not always explicitly anarchist, 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 movement; the band Crass is celebrated for its anarchist and pacifist ideas. For further details, see anarcho-punk and list of anarchist musicians.
See also
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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.
- individualist anarchism, anarcho-communism, anarcho-syndicalism, anarcho-capitalism, mutualism, Christian anarchism, anarcha-feminism, green anarchism, nihilist anarchism, black anarchism, post-anarchism, post-left anarchism
- Libertarian Socialism
- Anarchist symbolism
- List of anarchism links
- List of anarchists
- List of anarchist organizations
- Major conflicts within anarchist thought
- 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)
- Argentine riots (2001)
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?
- Rudolf Rocker, Anarcho-Syndicalism
- Max Stirner, The Ego And Its Own
- Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God is Within You
Anarchism by region/culture
- African Anarchism
- American individualist anarchism
- Anarchism in Mexico
- Anarchism in Spain
- Anarchism in the English tradition
- Chinese anarchism
- Islam and anarchism
- Jewish anarchism
References
- "The Putney debates". Retrieved 2004-03-24.
- Mathieu Deflem (2005). "History of International Police Cooperation". The Encyclopedia of Criminology. Routledge. Retrieved 2006-03-24.
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|work=at position 18 (help) - Kropotkin, Peter. Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution.
- Engels, Friedrich (1884). Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State (HTML). Retrieved 2006-04-28.
- The Anarchy Organization (Toronto). "Taoism and Anarchy" (HTML). Retrieved 2006-04-14.
- "Chian and the West Compared" (HTML). Retrieved 2006-04-28.
- Anarchism, written by Peter Kropotkin, from Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1910]
- Russell, Bertrand. "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
- Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph. "Chapter 3. Labour as the efficient cause of the domain of property" from "What is Property?", 1840
- quoted by Max Nettlau, A Short History of Anarchism, pp. 43-44
- Selected Writings and The Principle of Federation
- Kropotkin, Peter. Chapter 13 The Collectivist Wages System from The Conquest of Bread, G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London, 1906.
- Chapter 3, section 6 of "What is Property?", p. 130
- Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph. The General Idea of the Revolution, p. 281
- Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph. The General Idea of the Revolution, p. 277 and pp. 216-8
- ^ 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.
- Bakunin, Mikhail (1991) . Statism and Anarchy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521369738.
- De l'être-humain mâle et femelle - Lettre à P.J. Proudhon par Joseph Déjacque (in French)
- Kropotkin, Peter. Words of a Rebel, p99.
- Kropotkin, Peter. The Conquest of Bread, p145.
- Kropotkin, Peter. Chapter 13 The Collectivist Wages System from The Conquest of Bread, G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London, 1906.
- The Place of Anarchism in the Evolution of Socialist Thought
- Act for Yourself, pp. 104-5
- A.5.5 Anarchists in the Italian Factory Occupations.
- Anarcho-Feminism - Two Statements - Who we are: An Anarcho-Feminist Manifesto
- Marsh, Margaret S. Anarchist Women, 1870-1920. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1981.
- Peter Marshall, Demanding the Impossible; John Clark, The Anarchist Moment; Albert Meltzer, Anarchism: Arguments for and Against; Noam Chomsky, Understanding Power, David Weick, Anarchist Justice; Brian Morris, "Anthropology and Anarchism," Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed (no. 45); Peter Sabatini, Libertarianism: Bogus Anarchy; Donald Rooum, What is Anarchism?; Bob Black, Libertarian as Conservative
- 1) Raico, Ralph. Authentic German Liberalism of the 19th Century, Ecole Polytechnique, Centre de Recherce en Epistemologie Appliquee, Unité associée au CNRS, 2004. 2) Sylvan, Richard. Anarchism. A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy, editors Goodin, Robert E. and Pettit, Philip. Blackwell Publishing, 1995, p.231.
- 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).
- The General Idea of the Revolution, p. 225 and p. 226
- 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
- J.2 What is direct action?
- "Voting Anarchists: An Oxymoron or What?" by Joe Peacott, and writings by Fred Woodworth.
- On Authority
- Landauer, Carl. European Socialism: A History of Ideas and Movements (1959)
- Jenny P. d'Hericourt, "Contemporary feminist critic of Proudhon"
- Anarchist Integralism
- Caplan, Bryan. "The Anarcho-Statists of Spain"
- G. V. Plekhanov "Anarchism and Socialism"
- Society of the Spectacle Paragraph 91
These notes have no corresponding reference in the article. They might be re-used.
- Against Politics - Appleton - Boston Anarchists
- Yarros, Victor Liberty VII, January 2 1892.
- Noam Chomsky on Anarchism by Noam Chomsky
External links
The overwhelming diversity and number of links relating to anarchism is extensively covered on the links subpage.
- An Anarchist FAQ version 11.4 at Infoshop.org - An Anarchist FAQ - includes a fifty page bibliography.
- Anarchoblogs Blogs by Anarchists.
- Anarchy Archives extensively archives information relating to famous anarchists. This includes many of their books and other publications.
- 1,500+ anarchists listed, with short bios, links & dedicated pages at the Daily Bleed's Anarchist Encyclopedia
- Infoshop.org (wikipedia page)