Portal:Anarchism
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Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is sceptical of authority and rejects all involuntary, coercive forms of hierarchy. Anarchism calls for the abolition of the state which it holds to be undesirable, unnecessary and harmful. It is usually described alongside libertarian Marxism as the libertarian wing (libertarian socialism) of the socialist movement and as having a historical association with anti-capitalism and socialism. The history of anarchism goes back to prehistory, when some humans lived in anarchistic societies long before the establishment of formal states, realms or empires. With the rise of organised hierarchical bodies, scepticism toward authority also rose, but it was not until the 19th century that a self-conscious political movement emerged. During the latter half of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th century, the anarchist movement flourished in most parts of the world and had a significant role in workers' struggles for emancipation. Various anarchist schools of thought formed during this period. Anarchists have taken part in several revolutions, most notably in the Spanish Civil War, whose end marked the end of the classical era of anarchism. In the last decades of the 20th century and into the 21st century, the anarchist movement has been resurgent once more. Read more...
Selected articleAnarcho-capitalism is a form of individualist anarchism that advocates the elimination of the state and the elevation of the sovereign individual in a free market. Anarcho-capitalists argue for a society based in voluntary trade of private property in order to maximize individual liberty and prosperity. In the place of the state's tax-funded, centrally controlled security, infrastructure, banking and other services, an anarcho-capitalist society relies on individuals to voluntarily fund socially desirable services through the self-regulated free market. Developed by Murray Rothbard in the latter half of the 20th century, anarcho-capitalist thought is derived from the American individualist anarchism of people like Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker, the neo-classical economic theory of people like Gustave de Molinari and Ludwig von Mises, and the anti-imperialist ideas of people like Albert Jay Nock and Frank Chodorov. Some, particularly anti-propertarian anarchists, deny that anarcho-capitalism is a type of anarchism at all. (read more...)Selected imageOscar Wilde, novelist, poet and playwright, was so enchanted by the work of Peter Kropotkin that he converted to anarchism and wrote the essay The Soul of Man under Socialism. Did you know?
Selected quoteAnniversaries for October 28
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