Anarchism

\'\'\'Anarchism\'\'\' is a term which encompasses a variety of political philosophies, social movements, and political ideologies that advocate the abolition of all forms of coercion. Individual freedom and opposition to the State are the unvarying principles of anarchism; less agreed upon are such matters as the role of violence in changing society, the preferred type of economic system, the support, rejection, or interpretation of egalitarian ideals, and the degree of organization desirable to effect social change.

The terms \"anarchy\" and \"anarchism\" are derived from the Greek \'\'αναρχία\'\' (\"without archons (rulers)\"). Thus \"anarchism,\" in its most general meaning, is the belief that rulership is unnecessary and should be abolished. The word \"anarchy\", as most anarchists use it, does not imply chaos or anomie, but rather a stateless society with voluntary social harmony. All proponents of anarchism argue that relations based upon voluntary cooperation (as opposed to statism) will lead to a society of free individuals.

History of anarchism

Precursors of anarchism

Anarcho-primitivists assert that, for the longest period before recorded history, human society was organized on anarchist principles. They point to the egalitarian structure of hunter-gatherer bands, to the lack of division of labour and accumulated wealth as indicators of such primitive anarchy. There is debate over the anthropological evidence on this issue.

Some anarchists have embraced Taoism, which developed in Ancient China, as a source of anarchistic attitudes [1]. Similarly, anarchistic tendencies can be traced to the philosophers of Ancient Greece, such as Zeno, the founder of the Stoic philosophy, and Aristippus, who said that the wise should not give up their liberty to the state [2]. Later movements – such as Stregheria in the 1300\'s, the Free Spirit in the Middle Ages, the Anabaptists, and The Diggers – have also expounded ideas that have been interpreted as anarchist.

The first known usage of the word \'\'anarchy\'\' appears in the play \'\'Seven Against Thebes\'\' by Aeschylus, dated 467 BC. There, Antigone openly refuses to abide by the rulers\' decree to leave her brother Polyneices\' body unburied, as punishment for his participation in the attack on Thebes, saying that \"even if no one else is willing to share in burying him I will bury him alone and risk the peril of burying my own brother. Nor am I ashamed to act in defiant opposition to the rulers of the city (\'\'ekhous apiston t�nd anarkhian polei\'\')\".

Ancient Greece also saw the first western instance of anarchism as a philosophical ideal, in the form of the stoic philosopher Zeno of Citium, who was, according to Kropotkin, \"[t]he best exponent of Anarchist philosophy in ancient Greece\". As summarized by Kropotkin, Zeno \"repudiated the omnipotence of the state, its intervention and regimentation, and proclaimed the sovereignty of the moral law of the individual\". Within Greek philosophy, Zeno\'s vision of a free community without government is opposed to the state-Utopia of Plato\'s Republic. Zeno argued that although the necessary instinct of self-preservation leads humans to egotism, nature has supplied a corrective to it by providing man with another instinct — sociability. Like many modern anarchists, he believed that if people follow their instincts, they will have no need of law courts or police, no temples and no public worship, and use no money (a gift economy taking the place of the exchanges). Zeno\'s beliefs have only reached us as fragmentary quotations. [3]

In Athens, the year 404 BC was commonly referred to as \"the year of anarchy\". According to the historian Xenophon, this happened even though Athens was at the time under the rule of the oligarchy of \"The Thirty,\" installed by the Spartans following their victory in the second Peloponnesian war, and despite the presence of an Archon, nominated by the oligarchs, in the person of Pythodorus. However, Athenians refused to apply here their custom of calling the year by that archon\'s name, since he was elected during the oligarchy, and \"preferred to speak of it as the \'year of anarchy\'\".

The Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle used the term anarchy negatively, in association with democracy which they mistrusted as inherently vulnerable and prone to deteriorate into tyranny. Plato believed that the corruption created by democracy loosens the \"natural\" hierarchy between social classes, genders and age groups, to the extent that \"anarchy finds a way into the private houses, and ends by getting among the animals and infecting them\" (\'Republic\', book 8). Aristotle spoke of it in book 6 of the \'Politics\' when discussing revolutions, saying that the upper classes may be motivated to stage a coup by their contempt for the prevailing \"disorder and anarchy (\'\'ataxias kai anarkhias\'\')\" in the affairs of the state. He also claimed it would give, \"license among slaves (\'\'anarkhia te doul�n\'\')\" as well as among women and children. \"A constitution of this sort\", he concludes, \"will have a large number of supporters, as disorderly living (\'\'z�n atakt�s\'\') is pleasanter to the masses than sober living\".

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...[f]rom this premise they arrive at communism....\" The novel Q provides a fictional depiction of this movement and its revolutionary ideology. Gerrard Winstanley of the Diggers, who published a pamphlet calling for communal ownership and social and economic organization in small agrarian communities in the 17th century, is considered another of the forerunners of modern anarchism.

Modern anarchism

File:Proudhon-young.jpg

Pierre Proudhon (1809-1865)

Later William Godwin advocated anti-statism in \"An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice\" (1793); though he did not use the word \'\'anarchism\'\', some today regard him as the \"founder of philosophical anarchism\" [4]. 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.

Individualists, taking much from the writings of Max Stirner, among others, demanded the utmost respect for the liberty of the individual. Liberals were often labeled \"anarchists\" by monarchists, even though they did not call for the abolition of the State. Still, they did promote the idea of a minimal State, individual rights, and the responsibility of the people to judge their governments, which provided a groundwork for the development of anarchist thought. As American political society developed along the liberal model, anarchist thoughts were expressed in the writings of the individualist anarchists Josiah Warren (the first American individualist anarchist), Henry David Thoreau (Civil Disobedience), Lysander Spooner, and Benjamin Tucker. The American tradition of individualist anarchism is firmly in support of individual sovereignty, private property, a free market economy; and, in opposition to profit and buying and selling of raw land (hence, in opposition to capitalism).

Later in the 19th century, Anarchist communist theorists like Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin paralleled the Marxist critique of capitalism and synthesized it with their own critique of the state, emphasizing the importance of a communal perspective to maintain individual liberty in a social context, and the critical role of workers self-managed organs of production and creation.

The International Workingmen\'s Association, at its founding, was an alliance of socialist groups, including both anarchists and Marxists. Both sides had a common aim (stateless communism) and common political opponents (conservatives and other right-wing elements). But each was critical of the other, and the inherent conflict between the two groups soon embodied itself in an ongoing argument between Mikhail Bakunin, representative of anarchist ideas, and Karl Marx himself. Generally Marx wanted to work within the system, use hierarchical organizational structures, and run people in elections. Bakunin hated these ideas, and predicted that if a revolution was won under a Marxist revolutionary party, they would end up being as bad as the ruling class that they fought against. In 1872, the conflict in the First International climaxed with the expulsion of Bakunin and those who had become known as the \"Bakuninists\" when they were outvoted by the Marx party at the Hague Congress. This is often cited as the origins of the conflict between anarchists and Marxists.

Mikhail Bakunin saw a need to defend the working class against oppression and overthrow the ruling class as a means to dissolve the state. Peter Kropotkin\'s anarchist communism developed from his scientific theory based on evolution in which co-operation equaled or surpassed competition in importance, as illustrated in \'\'Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution\'\' (1897).

Some revolutionaries of this time encouraged acts of political violence such as bombings and the assassinations of heads of state to further anarchism. However, these actions were regarded by many anarchists as counter-productive or ineffective (see \"Violence and non-violence\", below).

In the late 19th century anarcho-syndicalism developed as the industrialized form of \'\'libertarian communism\'\', emphasizing 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\".

Anarchists played a role in many of the labour movements, uprisings, and revolutions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the Russian Revolution (1917). In the United States, many new immigrants were anarchists; an especially notable group was the large number of Jewish immigrants who had left Russia and Eastern Europe during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These groups were disrupted by the Red Scare of 1919. Emma Goldman was a very influential anarchist and feminist during this period. She traveled the country and the world spreading anarchist ideas and attempting to live an anarchist life.

The anarcho-syndicalist orientation of many early American labor unions played a large part in the formation of the American political spectrum. The United States is the only industrialized former British colony to not have a labor-based political party. In Mexico, anarcho-syndicalists like [[Ricardo Flores Mag�n]] led various revolts and uprisings, that would help overthrow the dictator Diaz, and lead the way for the growth of anarchism in Latin America (and also go on to influence the modern day Zapatista rebellion).

In Europe, in the first quarter of the 20th century, anarchist movements achieved relative, if short-lived, successes and were violently repressed by states. However, in the 1920s and 1930s the conflict between anarchism and the state was eclipsed by the one among liberal democracy, fascism and communism, which ended with the defeat of fascism in World War II. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), a widely popular anarchist movement supported by militias loyal to the republic, took control of rural areas of north-east Spain in 1936-1937 and collectivized the land. They were eventually suppressed by the Communist-controlled republican army.

A surge of popular interest in anarchism occurred during the 1960s and 1970s. In the UK this was associated with the punk rock movement; the band Crass is celebrated for its anarchist and pacifist ideas. 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.

Beginning in the later part of the 20th century anarchist primitivists like John Zerzan began to proclaim that civilization — not just the state — would need to fall for anarchy to be achieved. A rejection of industrial technology is also prominent in the views of many green anarchists. This worldview was associated with the growth of the anti-roads movement in the UK, Earth First! and the Earth Liberation Front in the US, and the actions of Theodore Kaczynski (aka the \"Unabomber\").

Through the 20th century anarchists were actively involved in the labour, animal-rights, radical ecological, feminist movements, and later in the fight against fascism. The influence of this on anarchist thought is apparent, as most of the traditional anarchist philosophies emphasize the economic implications of anarchism, or arrive at anarchism from economic arguments. Since the mid-1960s, anarchists have been involved in student protest movements, peace movements, squatter movements, and the anti-globalization movement, among others.

Anarchism today

North American anarchism takes strong influences from the American Civil Rights Movement and the movement against the Vietnam War. European anarchism has developed out of the labour movement, and both have incorporated animal rights and environmental activism from a direct action approach which gave growth to the anti-roads movement, and Reclaim the Streets. Since the late 1990s, anarchists have been known for their involvement in protests against World Trade Organization and Group of Eight meetings, and the World Economic Forum; protests which are generally portrayed in mainstream media coverage as violent riots. Some anarchists form \'\'black blocs\'\' at protests, in which members of the bloc wear black and cover their faces to avoid police identification and to create one large solid mass.

Anarchism is not constrained to political protest. Anarchists also engage in building parallel structures and organizations, such as Food Not Bombs, radical labor unions, infoshop and radical social centers, new sets of schooling systems, media in various forms, organizing around housing and land issues, and work toward accountability with police and other institutions through such tools as consensus decision-making. This is in line with the general anarchist concept of creating \"dual-power\", the idea of creating the structures for a new anti-authoritarian society in the shell of the old, hierarchal one.

Some have said that recent technological developments have made the anarchist cause both easier to advance and more conceivable to people. Many people use cell phones or the Internet to form loose communities which could be said to be organized along anarchist lines. Some of these communities have as their purpose the production of information in a non-commodified or use-value format, a goal made attainable by the availability of personal computing, desktop publishing, and digital media. These things have made it possible for individuals to share music files over the Internet, without economic incentive, and even with a certain amount of risk. There are also open source programming communities, who donate their time, and offer their product freely as well. Examples include Usenet, the free software movement (including the GNU/Linux community and the wiki paradigm), and Indymedia.

From the free-market perspective, digital anonymous currency provides non-statist money and a defense against State extortion (taxation.) Strong cryptography allows private communication and the ability to verify identity of trading partners. A non-statist infrastructure for trade is being created in cyberspace.

Historical examples

Various examples of societies which have been organized by anarchist principles, examples of societies which have been created in the event of anarchist revolution, and also uprisings, revolts and attempted revolutions that have involved anarchist and anti-authoritarians which have proved successful.

See Past and present anarchist communities

Schools of anarchist thought

From William Godwin\'s utilitarian anarchism to Pierre-Joseph Proudhon\'s mutualism, to Max Stirner\'s egoism, to Benjamin Tucker\'s radical individualism, to Peter Kropotkin\'s anarchist communism, the roots of anarchist thought in modern political philosophy are varied, with many different views of what a society without government should be like. Primitivism, advocating the dissolution of civilization, is reminiscent of, if not inspired by, the early 19th century Luddite movement. There are also a number of feminist anarchist theories, including anarcha-feminism, eco-feminism, and individualist feminism. Another tradition in anarchism follows from individuals like Errico Malatesta and Voltairine de Cleyre in claiming no adjective. These \"anarchists without adjectives\" seek to unify all anarchists around the basic shared principles of being anti-state, arguing that the diverse forms of anarchism can work together in relative harmony.

Contemporary anarchists often will not accept the label of one school or another. Rather than disparate sects, these \"schools\" should be thought of as specific applications of anarchist theory to certain topics. Anarcha-feminism, for example, is the application of anarchist theory to feminist issues.

Anarcha-feminism

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Emma Goldman 1869-1940

\'\'Main article:\'\' Anarcha-Feminism

Anarcha-feminism is a kind of radical feminism that espouses the belief that patriarchy is a fundamental problem in some societies. Feminist anarchism, or anarcha-feminism (a term allegedly created during the 1960s\' second-wave 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 a anarchist school of thought which 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. 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

\'\'Main article:\'\' Anarcho-Capitalism

File:Murray Rothbard Smile.JPG

Murray Rothbard (1926-1995)

Also known as \"right anarchism,\" anarcho-capitalism envisions a stateless society anarcho-capitalism envisions a stateless society where all of the means of production may be privately owned and operated for profit and where investments, production, distribution, income, and prices are determined through the operation of a \"free market\" rather than by centralized state control. This is an anathema to the other schools of anarchism which regard some or all types of private property and/or profit to be exploitative. Instead of an intrinsic labor theory of value espoused by socialists and traditional individualist anarchists, anarcho-capitalists tend to hold to the subjective theory of value propounded by the Austrian School of economics. For this reason, they see no malfeasance in paying labor less than its full produce if the payee values labor at such a rate (thereby profiting). Much of the credit for melding classical liberalism with anti-statism goes to Murray Rothbard. While Rothbard based his anarchism on Natural Law, David Friedman (\"The Machinery of Freedom\") based it on utilitarianism, and Jan Narvison on contractarianism. Other important anarcho-capitalists include Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Lew Rockwell, and Bryan Caplan. Early influences on anarcho-capitalism include Gustave de Molinari, Lysander Spooner, Benjamin Tucker, and Herbert Spencer.

Collectivist anarchists tend to deny that anarcho-capitalism is a form of anarchism, often based upon the argument that all traditional forms of anarchism have opposed essential elements of capitalism. However, contemporary traditional individualist anarchists, who indeed oppose \'\'profit\'\', an essential element of capitalism, tend to regard anarcho-capitalism as a form of individualist anarchism. [5] Notable is the fact that some 19th century individualist anarchists denied that collectivist forms were anarchism. The debate between collectivist anarchism and anarcho-capitalism is covered further under Anarchism and capitalism and under the main Anarcho-Capitalism article.

Anarcho-communism

\'\'Main article:\'\' Anarcho-Communism

Anarcho-communism shares many things in common with anarcho-syndicalism, but generally strives for a society without markets, an elimination of all private property, (as in the means of production), any kind of money system or wages, and proposes instead societies based on direct workers control, gift economies, self-management over community institutions, and mutual aid based upon the idea of \"from each according to their ability, to each according to need\". Anarcho-communists also propose large and small scale connections of communities, groups, and workplaces through federations and networks created by free association and popular affinity. Anarcho-communists want direct worker control over production, and have decisions made through workers councils and assemblies. Communities would be organized through systems of direct democracy, and through various organizations and collectives to carry out various tasks.

Peter Kropotkin, Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman, and most recently, groups like NEFAC (North Eastern Federation of Anarcho-Communists), have advocated various forms of anarcho-communism. Historically, anarcho-communism has been said to have been put into practice by millions of people in the anarchist collectives and communes of the anarchist-controlled region of Ukraine during the Russian Revolution, and during the Spanish Civil War in the Aragon and Catalonia regions of Spain.

Anarcho-communists are split generally on the Platform, or the \"Organizational Platform of Libertarian Communists\", written by Ukrainian anarchist militant, Nestor Makhno. The platform calls for various forms of structures within the anarchist movement, and has been accepted by some anarchists and scorned by others.

Anarcho-communists today are involved in various broad labor and community issues; generally revolving around housing, labor struggles/strikes, anti-racism, and building the anarchist movement. Anarcho-communists have generally called for more cohesive groups and structures of anarchist groups and thereby garnered criticism from other anarchist sects. Various large scale groups of anarcho-communists exist today with the larger groups existing throughout various countries.

Anarcho-syndicalism

\'\'Main article:\'\' Anarcho-syndicalism

File:Blkred flag.png

The red-and-black flag, coming from the experience of anarchists in the labour movement, is particularly associated with anarcho-syndicalism.

Anarcho-syndicalism is the anarchist wing of the labor union movement. Its primary aim is the end of the wage system. It functions on principles of workers solidarity, direct action, and self-management.

Workers\' solidarity means that anarcho-syndicalists believe all workers, no matter what their race, gender, or ethnic group are in a similar situation vis-a-vis their bosses. Furthermore, it means that, within capitalism, any gains or losses made by some workers in their relation to bosses will eventually impact all workers. Therefore, it says that in order to gain liberation, all workers must support one another in their struggle against bosses.

Anarcho-syndicalists only believe in direct action — that is, action directly designed to confront a problem. Direct action can range from traditional strike action to active sabotage.

Furthermore, anarcho-syndicalists believe that workers\' organizations — the organizations which struggle against the wage system and which, in anarcho-syndicalist theory, will eventually form the basis of a new society – should be self-managing. They should not have bosses or \"business agents\"; rather, the workers should be able to make decisions that affect them amongst themselves.

The International Workers Association is an international anarcho-syndicalist federation of various labor unions from different countries. The Industrial Workers of the World, a once-powerful, still active, and again growing labor union, is considered a leading organ of the anarcho-syndicalist philosophy in the United States. The Spanish [[Confederaci�n Nacional del Trabajo]] played a major role in the Spanish Civil War and today, the [[Confederaci%f3n_General_del_Trabajo_%28Spain%29|Confederaci�n General del Trabajo]] is the third biggest union in Spain. Other major anarcho-syndicalist organizations include the Workers Solidarity Alliance, and the Solidarity Federation in the UK.

Some critics of anarcho-syndicalism contend that its focus on proletarian class struggle overlooks the needs of segments of society such as parents or others occupied with child-rearing or domestic labor, although some anarcho-syndicalist thought attempts to address other sectors of economic life. Some primitivist authors, notably Bob Black, contend that an anarcho-syndicalist revolution would leave in place social systems they find oppressive (work and workplaces, for example), although anarcho-syndicalists contend that worker self-management would render those systems fundamentally more humane.

Individualist anarchism

Main article: Individualist anarchism

Benjamin Tucker

Individualist anarchism is a philosophical tradition that emphasises the sovereignty of the individual, most noteably in regard to its advocacy of private property, its adherence to the principle of worker ownership of their full product, and its advocacy of a market economy where goods, as well as labor, are traded. Traditional individualists espouse a labor theory of value, and, as a result, they regard profit (and thus capitalism), as being exploitative. Wage labor is supported as long as wages adhere to the labor theory of value, hence, traditional individualists tend to advocate, and practice, an economic system called \'\'mutualism\'\' as an alternative to capitalism. Traditional individualists, influenced by the liberals such as John Locke, oppose property titles to raw land --land must be in use to be rightfully possessed. Individualism contrasts with collectivist forms of anarchism (anarcho-communism and anarcho-syndicalism), and the relationships between these groups of been characterized by varying degrees of antagonism and harmony throughout their history.

Individualist anarchism\'s roots extend to William Godwin, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and Max Stirner. Notable figures that assist in comprising the American tradition (sometimes called \"liberal-anarchism\" [6]) include Josiah Warren, Benjamin Tucker, Lysander Spooner, and Ezra Heywood. Many also consider Henry David Thoreau as an individualist anarchist due to his position that individuals should not be governed and his belief that he should be allowed to withdraw himself from \"any incorporated body.\" Noteworthy anarchist writer and poet John Henry Mackay is also considered an individualist anarchist. Contemporary individualist anarchists include Robert Anton Wilson, and Joe Peacott.

Anarcho-primitivism

File:Zerzan.jpeg

John Zerzan

\'\'Main article:\'\' Primitivism

Primitivism is a philosophy advocating a return to a pre-industrial and usually pre-agricultural society, and a critique of industrial civilization, and the alienation that technology, progress, etc, have created between people and the natural world. Primitivism believes that industrial society inevitably produces oppressive structures through specialization of tasks or division of labor, and that technology has similar negative implications. Most forms of primitivism question civilization itself. Primitivism generally sees that by the birth of agriculture, and the birth of cities and the creating of production surplus, gave rise to structures of hierarchy, and later statism. Anarcho-primitivists point to the anti-authoritarian nature of many \'primitive\' or hunter gather societies throughout the world\'s history, as examples of anarchist societies.

The primitivist movement has connections to radical environmentalism movements such as the Earth Liberation Front and Earth First!. Primitivism has been notably advocated by John Zerzan, and to some extent by Theodore Kaczynski (the Unabomber) and Derrick Jensen.

Others

\'\'\'Ecological anarchism\'\'\'

Eco-anarchism generally is a belief in deep ecology, direct action against earth destroying institutions and systems, and generally a critique of industrial capitalism, although generally not against civilization per se.

There is a significant anarchist element to the environmental movement, including those that are known as eco-anarchists and green-anarchists. Eco-anarchism is generally a broad term that broadly refers to anarchists engaged in the earth liberation movement. The largest segment of \'eco-anarchists\' are those involved in the Earth First! movement, which is a network of various collectives formed along anarchist principles. Earth First! generally engages in direct action and eco-defense, such as tree sitting and \'locking down\'. In the modern anarchist movement, eco-anarchists generally adhere to deep ecology, which is a world view that embraces biodiversity and sustainability. Eco-feminism is also sometimes considered the form of eco-anarchist feminism.

\'\'\'Insurrectionary anarchism\'\'\'

Insurrectionary anarchism is critical of formal anarchist labor unions and federations. Instead, 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. Here, Wolfi Landstreicher writes some of the basis points of its praxis.

Insurrectionary anarchism is not an ideological solution to all social problems, a commodity on the capitalist market of ideologies and opinions, but an on-going praxis aimed at putting an end to the domination of the state and the continuance of capitalism, which requires analysis and discussion to advance. We don’t look to some ideal society or offer an image of utopia for public consumption. Throughout history, most anarchists, except those who believed that society would evolve to the point that it would leave the state behind, have been insurrectionary anarchists. Most simply, this means that the state will not merely wither away, thus anarchists must attack, for waiting is defeat; what is needed is open mutiny and the spreading of subversion among the exploited and excluded. Here we spell out some implications that we and some other insurrectionary anarchists draw from this general problem: if the state will not disappear on its own, how then do we end its existence? It is, therefore, primarily a practice, and focuses on the organization of attack...The State of capital will not “wither away,” attack is the refusal of mediation, pacification, sacrifice, accommodation, and compromise.

[Landstreicher, Wolfi]

Alfredo M. Bonanno, an Italian insurrectionary anarchist also had a great impact on this specific tendency, writing such works as \"Armed Joy,\" \"The Anarchist Tension,\" and others. In the US, Willful Disobedience, Killing King Abacus, and other magazines caused interest in insurrectionary anarchism to grow. Although insurrectionary anarchists are generally interested in class struggle anarchism, in the US, many insurrectionary anarchists consider themselves to be primitivists, or green anarchists, as well.

\'\'\'Post-Anarchism\'\'\'

The term post-anarchism was originated by Saul Newman in his book \"From Bakunin to Lacan: Antiauthoritarianism and the Dislocation of Power\" to refer to a theoretical move towards a synthesis of classical anarchist theory and poststructuralist thought. In this sense it has similarities with post-Marxism associated with Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffee. 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 have been suggested for inclusion under the rubric. Others have argued that the term \"poststructuralist anarchism\" is preferable in order to maintain an unbroken link with the anarchist heritage.

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 Felix Guattari.

The Postanarchism Clearinghouse is probably the best place to start for anyone wanting to find out more.

\'\'\'Post-left anarchy\'\'\' \'\'Main article:\'\' Post-left anarchy

Post-left anarchy (anarchy often used instead of \"anarchism\" to avoid the connotations of doctrine that the \'\'-ism\'\' suffix brings) is a more recent current in anarchist thought that seeks to distance itself from the traditional \"left\" - communists, liberals, social democrats, etc. - and to escape the confines of ideology in general. It has rapidly developed since the fall of the Soviet Union, which many view as the death of authoritarian leftism; however, its roots are clearly visible in the ideas of the 1960s Situationists. It is not an independent \"movement\" as such but rather a critical way of thinking about anarchist ideas.

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 hierarchy. Total individual liberation is a key focus, rather than merely economic liberation.

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, and others. For more information, see Infoshop.org\'s Anarchy After Leftism section, and the Post-left section on anarchism.ws.

\'\'\'Small \'a\' anarchism\'\'\'

The term \"small \'a\' anarchism\" has been 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 refered 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, while Neal\'s insistence that it entails a rejection of the idea that there can be an \"ultimate Truth\" recalls the poststructuralist turns of post-anarchism (see above).

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.\" [7] Graeber and Grubacic do not offer a comprehensive list of groups within this rubric, but suggest that it includes the likes of autonomism, Zapatismo and radical democracy. It should be stressed that many of these groups do not describe themselves as \"anarchist\", perhaps deliberately, and are grouped instead on the basis of what they do, implying that the criteria for inclusion are similar to those articulated by Neal.

It is unclear how far the term has been picked up by the wider anarchist movement, but it does help to clarify and begin to explain some of the conflicts and disagreements within contemporary anarchism.

\'\'\'Technological anarchism\'\'\'

Some anarchists see information technology as the way to replace hierarchy, defeat monopoly, and prevent war, and support culture jamming in particular as a way to do so. Some writers — particularly Iain M. Banks, who has written quite extensively in the science fiction genre about The Culture, a futuristic society which has disposed of government — have theorised that anarchism would be inevitable with the technological advances that would make travelling and living in space plausible [8]. The Electro-anarchy Collective poses a similar theory that technological power will naturally overthrow human government (although some question their anarchist credentials, claiming that technological governance is no less oppressive than human governance).

It has also been argued that the free software movement is an example of anarchic organization, this being an example not of hierarchical business, but of voluntary association for the production of a good.

See also Crypto-anarchism and Cypherpunk.

\'\'\'Utopian anarchism\'\'\' \'\'Main article:\'\' Utopian anarchism

A Utopian anarchist believes, primarily, that nothing is static, everything is relative, and constantly affecting everything else. However, purpose is important, as is progress of purpose, and progress towards fulfillment of purpose. A Utopian anarchist is always thinking of the end desire, and makes decisions through life keeping this context in mind.

Much stress is put upon developing education and evolution. Through free association, a complex web of desires and goals will be strived for, each influencing and perhaps assisting one another in our paths.

The system strives for perfection, through unified diversity. Any static system will have flaws, and flaws fester. If one brushes one\'s teeth the same way every day, what happens to the missed spot?

Some critics perceive a lack of safety in the absence of enforced moral judgement. One Utopian anarchist response would be to consider this an issue with ego and desire for personal power and appreciation.

Conceptions of an anarchist society

\'\'Main article:\'\' Anarchism and 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 do not justify the establishment of a state, and in fact many argue that the state is incompatible with those goals. Anarchists argue that the state helps to create a monopoly on violence, and uses force and violence to expand and protects the elite\'s interests. Much effort has been dedicated to explaining how anarchist societies would handle criminality.

Anarchist economic organization

\'\'Main article:\'\' Anarchist economics

Though anarchists are against a centrally controlled or coordinated economic system, most do believe that some sort of system (or multiple co-existing systems) must replace the current, capitalist system, either with a gift economy, a time-based currency, or other, theoretical exchange/production paradigms. Bob Black proposed that anarchy would allow for \"the abolition of work\"[9].

Conflicts within anarchist thought

Private property vs. Collective property

The anarcho-communists and anarcho-syndicalists advocate the elimination of private property, while the individualist anarchists support it as being essential to liberty. The 19th century individualists anarchists, such as Benjamin Tucker, believed that the idea of collective ownership of land was incoherent and incompatible with anarchism: \"\'\'That there is an entity known as the community which is the rightful owner of all land, Anarchists deny. I . . . maintain that ‘the community’ is a non-entity, that it has no existence, and is simply a combination of individuals having no prerogatives beyond those of the individuals themselves.\'\'”

Violence and non-violence

Anarchists have often been portrayed as dangerous and violent, due mainly to a number of high-profile violent acts including riots, assassinations, and insurrections involving anarchists. The use of terrorism and assassination, however, is condemned by most anarchist ideology, though there remains no consensus on the legitimacy or utility of violence.

Some anarchists share Leo Tolstoy\'s Christian anarchist belief in nonviolence. These anarcho-pacifists advocate nonviolent resistance as the only method of achieving a truly anarchist revolution. They often see violence as the basis of government and coercion and argue that, as such, violence is illegitimate, no matter who is the target. Some of Proudhon\'s French followers even saw strike action as coercive and refused to take part in such traditional socialist tactics.

Mikhail Bakunin and Errico Malatesta saw violence as a necessary and sometimes desirable force. Malatesta took the view that it is \"necessary to destroy with violence, since one cannot do otherwise, the violence which denies [the means of life and for development] to the workers\" (\'\'[[Umanit� Nova]]\'\', number 125, September 6, 1921[10]).

Between 1894 and 1901, individual anarchists assassinated numerous heads of state. Such \"propaganda of the deed\" was not popular among anarchists, and many in the movement condemned the tactic. For example, McKinley\'s assassin, Leon Czolgosz, claimed to be a disciple of Emma Goldman, but she disavowed any association with him.

Depictions in the press and popular fiction helped create a lasting public impression that anarchists are violent terrorists. This perception was enhanced by events such as the Haymarket Riot, where anarchists were blamed for throwing a bomb at police who came to break up a public meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

Some anarchists distinguish between \"violence\" and \"property destruction\": they claim that violence is when a person inflicts harm to another person, while property destruction or property damage is not violence, although it can have indirect harm such as financial harm.

Pacifism

File:Food Not Bombs logo.png

Food Not Bombs logo, which plays off the classic \"militant fist\".

Some anarchists consider Pacifism (opposition to war) to be inherent in their philosophy. Some anarchists take it further and follow Leo Tolstoy\'s belief in non-violence (note, however, that these anarcho-pacifists are not necessarily Christian anarchists as Tolstoy was), advocating non-violent resistance as the only method of achieving a truly anarchist revolution.

Anarchist literature often portrays war as an activity in which the state seeks to gain and consolidate power, both domestically and in foreign lands. Many anarchists subscribe to Randolph Bourne\'s view that \"war is the health of the state\"[11]. Anarchists believe that if they were to support a war they would be strengthening the state — indeed, Peter Kropotkin was alienated from other anarchists when he expressed support for the British in World War I.

Just as they are critical and distrustful of most government endeavours, anarchists often view the stated reasons for war with a cynical eye. Since the Vietnam War protests in North America and, most recently, the protests against the war in Iraq, much anarchist activity has been anti-war based.

Many anarchists in the current movement however, reject complete pacifism, (although groups like Earth First!, and Food Not Bombs are based on principles of non-violence), and instead are in favor of self-defense, and sometimes violence against oppressive and authoritarian forces which they in fact also consider as defensive violence. Anarchists are skeptical however of winning a direct armed conflict with the state, and instead concern themselves mostly with organizing. Most anarchists however, do not consider the destruction of property to be violent, as do most activists who believe in non-violence.

Parliamentarianism

While most anarchists firmly oppose voting, or otherwise participating in the State institution, there are a few that disagree. Even hard-core anarchists (e.g. Proudhon) have succumbed to the temptation of electoral politics - and inevitably regretted it. Voluntaryism is a 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. Anarcho-capitalists have sometimes been involved in the Libertarian Party.

Critique

See Criticisms of Socialism for a general critique of socialism, some of which may apply. There are also some specific criticisms of anarchism. Criticisms specific to an anarchist faction can be found in their own articles.

Violence

One criticism of anarchism claims that the lack of a state (in particular, police and military forces) would leave the community defenseless against organised violence.

Many anarchists believe in a distinction between interpersonal violence and state violence. They see interpersonal violence as a creation of class society and patriarchy, effectively producing people predisposed to violence. State violence is viewed by all anarchists as the result of power structures and the nature of the state. Briefly, anarchists believe that the establishment of anarchy will preclude most individual and social violence.

Most anarchists perceive the need for some kind of organised communal self-defence, in the context of a world with continuing states and other repressive institutions. For many, this would take the form of an armed voluntary militia undifferentiated from the community at large, and organised on a fundamentally collective basis. Additionally, most anarchists perceive the need for social systems of mediation and arbitration to resolve disputes in a voluntary manner, replacing the judicial functions of courts.

Critics, however, express doubts concerning the effectiveness of a voluntary militia against a ruthless modern military using weapons of mass destruction and hierarchical structure. Critics also argue that historical examples, like the Spanish Civil War, do not support the theory that anarchist communities can defend themselves. Some anarchists argue that examples like the Spanish Civil War actually support their contention that even communities who face vastly superior forces and are poorly supplied can hold out when they believe they are fighting for a just cause.

Production

Some critics of Anarchism claim that modern economic production in an stateless society is impossible. This critique assumes that economic order can only result from State central planning or capitalist market forces. Social, democratic or other emergent structures of production are seen as impossible within this critique.

In a stateless society where one community has no formal relationship with another, as some anarchists envision, production would be localized, eliminating the benefits of Economies of Scale and regional specialization. Some anarchists see a positive social value in communities producing the majority of their own needs, this would mean socially chosen losses in economic efficiency. Other anarchists oppose the transportation of goods for environmental reasons, the mass production of goods for cultural or environmental reasons, or industrial production for ethical and environmental reasons. However, many anarchists support the socialisation of industrial production, and see no contradiction between producing for economies of scale and community interests.

See also

• Anarchism and Marxism
• Anarchism and capitalism
• Anarchist symbolism
• Anarcho-punk
• Anarcho-Skinheads
• Punk ideology
• Libertarian Socialism
• Anarcho-syndicalism
• Black cat, for a symbol of anarchism
• Christian anarchism
• Equalism
• Crimethinc
• Earth First!
• Infoshop
• Individualist anarchism
• List of anarchists
• List of anarchist organizations
• List of creative works about anarchism
• Past and present anarchist communities
• Situationist
• Alternative society
• Syndicalism
• Temporary Autonomous Zone
• Free store
• Utopian Anarchism

Historical events

• Paris Commune (1871)
• Haymarket Riot (1886)
• Kronstadt rebellion (1921)
• Spanish Revolution (1936) (see Anarchism in Spain)
• May 1968, France (1968)
• WTO Meeting in Seattle (1999)

Books

\'\'\'Classics\'\'\'

• Alexander Berkman, \'\'What is Anarchism?\'\', \'\'Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist\'\', others
• Mikhail Bakunin, \'\'God and the State\'\', \'\'The Paris Commune and the Idea of the State\'\', others
• Emma Goldman, \'\'Anarchism and Other Essays\'\', \'\'Living My Life\'\', others
• Peter Kropotkin, \'\'Mutual Aid\'\', \'\'The Conquest of Bread\'\', others
• Errico Malatesta - \'\'Anarchy\'\'
• Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, \'\'What is Property?\'\'
• Guy Debord, \'\'The Society of the Spectacle\'\' (Situationist, May 1968)
• Max Stirner, \'\'The Ego And Its Own\'\'
• Rudolf Rocker, \'\'Anarcho-Syndicalism\'\'
• Voline, \'\'The Unknown Revolution\'\'
• William Godwin, \'\'An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice\'\'
• Leo Tolstoy, \'\'The Kingdon of God is Within You\'\' (Christian anarchism)

\'\'\'Contemporary\'\'\'

• [[Daniel Gu�rin]], \'\'Anarchism: From Theory to Practice\'\'
• Noam Chomsky - \'\'Notes on Anarchism\'\'
• Hakim Bey, \'\'Temporary Autonomous Zones\'\' (Ontological anarchism)
• John Zerzan, \'\'Against Civilization: A Reader\'\' (Primitivism)
• Bob Black, \'\'The Abolition of Work\'\' (Post-left anarchy)
• Murray Bookchin - \'\'Post-Scarcity Anarchism\'\'
• Robert Paul Wolff, \'\'In Defense of Anarchism\'\'
• CrimethInc. - \'\'Days of War, Nights of Love\'\' (Post-left anarchy)

Concepts

\'\'Main article: List of anarchist concepts\'\'

• Anarchist economics
• Anti-Capitalism
• Animal Liberation
• Anti-Authoritarianism
• Antifa
• Animal Liberation Front
• Anarchist People of Color
• Black Bloc
• Consensus Democracy
• Deep Ecology
• Direct action
• Direct democracy
• Dual Power
• Earth First!
• Earth Liberation Front
• Ecofeminism
• Free Association
• General Strike
• Gift economy
• Indymedia
• Intellectual worker
• Libertarianism
• Media democracy
• Mutual aid
• Monopoly on violence
• Parecon
• Radical Feminism
• Revolution
• Self-ownership
• Sovereignty of the individual
• Squatting
• Self-Management
• Voluntaryism
• Voluntary association
• Workers\' council

Anarchist organizations

\'\'Main article: List of anarchist organizations\'\'

• AK Press
• Alternative Media Project
• Anarchist Black Cross
• Anarchist Federation
• Anarchist Football Network
• Anarchist People of Color
• Animal Liberation Front
• Biotic Baking Brigade
• CrimethInc.
• Critical Mass
• Earth Liberation Front
• Food Not Bombs
• Freedom Press
• Green Anarchy
• Homes Not Jails
• Industrial Workers of the World
• Indymedia
• Institute for Anarchist Studies
• Midwest Unrest
• NEFAC
• Peoples\' Global Action
• Red and Anarchist Action Network
• Red and Anarchist Skinheads
• Workers Solidarity Movement
• Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation

While all of these organizations have anarchists as members, many are inclusive beyond anarchist and include anti-authoritarians and greens.

Anarchism by region/culture

• African Anarchism
• Anarchism in Spain
• Anarchism in the English tradition

External links

• \'\'Manifesto\'\' by Josiah Warren, the first in the American tradition of individualist anarchism
• American Liberal-Anarchism from \'\'The Conquest of Power\'\', by Albert Weisbord
• A IDEIA - Revista Libertaria - Portugal
• An Anarchist FAQ is written from the perspective of the traditional anarchist movement.
• Peter Kropotkin\'s article on anarchism for the 11th edition Encylopedia Britannica (1911).
• Fake Anarchists and Libertarians
• Hundreds of anarchists are listed, with short bios, links & dedicated pages at the Daily Bleed\'s Anarchist Encyclopedia
• African Anarchism: The History of a Movement
• Anarchoblogs Blogs by Anarchists.
• Anarchopedia intends to be an anarchist encyclopedia using the MediaWiki engine.
• Anarchy Archives extensively archives information relating to famous anarchists. This includes many of their books and other publications.
• Antflip.com | Anarchism Page A selection of websites, books, and online articles that explore social anarchism.
• Infoshop.org
• International Workers Association (IWA-AIT)
• Melbourne Anarchist Archives 1966-1973
• The Inefficient Utopia - an analysis of anarchist use of consensus, by the Curious George Brigade.
• Jura Books (Sydney, Australia)
• North Eastern Federation of Anarcho-Communists - (NEFAC)
• Green Anarchy
• Network of Green Anarchist Collectives
• Autonome
• Industrial Workers of the World
• IWW Retail Workers
• Crimethinc.com
• Crimethinc.net
• Earth Liberation Front (ELF)
• Animal Liberation Front (ALF)
• Anarchist People of Color
• Anarcha-feminism
• Earth First!
• Towards an another anarchism by Andrej Grubacic at the World Social Forum
• Libertari.org Italian anarchist site
• ROAD Collective Ontario Anarchist Networking

Opposing Views

• Collection of critical articles

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