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'''''Schools of Anarchism''''' | |||
'''Anarchism''' is the name of a ] or a group of doctrines and attitudes that are centered on rejection of ], or the ], as harmful and unnecessary and support its elimination.<ref name=definitions> | |||
*''Anarchism''. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. ] ] <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9117285>. Anarchism is "a cluster of doctrines and attitudes centred on the belief that government is both harmful and unnecessary." | |||
*''Anarchism''. The Shorter Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2005. P. 14 "Anarchism is the view that a society without the state, or government, is both possible and desirable."</ref>The term "anarchism" is ] the ] '']'' ("without ]s" or "without rulers"). Thus "anarchism," in its most general meaning, is the belief that all forms of ] are undesirable and should be abolished. The rise of anarchism as a cohesive philosophical movement began in the late 18th century, with ]'s .<ref>Godwin drew on arguments contained in ]'s ''Vindication of Natural Society'', taking seriously arguments that had originally been intended satirically (Kirstie McClure, "Reflections on Political Literature: History, Theory, and the Printed Book," | |||
in David Armitage, ed., ''British political thought in history, literature and theory, 1500-1800'' ).</ref> | |||
*] | |||
On its own anarchism does not provide a world view beyond the idea that imposed authority is oppressive, abusive and unnecessary. There are a variety of types of anarchism which all emphasize their points of difference.<ref>Kropotkine, Petr Alekseevich. ''Anarchism: A Collection of Revolutionary Writings'', Courier Dover Publications, 2002, p.5</ref> Economic arrangements are one of the main areas of disagreement for anarchists. Historically, most self-described anarchists have been ], ranging from advocates of ] and distribution according to need, to supporters of some forms of private ownership and payment for labor. Pro-capitalist opponents of the state have generally not called themselves "anarchists" due to the term's perceived association with socialism and violence.<ref>Some scholars, however, now refer to some 19th century supporters of capitalism as anarchists: "Say made an initial attack on all government monopolies which Molinari was later to develop into his theory of free-market anarchism." - David Hart, </ref> | |||
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==Origins== | |||
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===Pre-Nineteenth Century=== | |||
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'''''Anarchism in Culture''''' | |||
Opposition to the state and hierarchical authority had a long history prior to the formation of the anarchist movement in Nineteenth Century Europe. Many claim that anarchist themes can be detected in works going as far back as those of the ] sage ] <ref name="EB1910">Peter Kropotkin, .</ref><ref></ref> and ], the founder of ] ] <ref name="EB1910"/> | |||
*] | |||
Anarchism in the modern sense however has its roots in the secular political thought of the ], particularly ]'s arguments for the moral centrality of freedom. <ref name=Encarta>''Anarchism'', Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2006 (UK version) http://uk.encarta.msn.com © 1997-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved | |||
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</ref> The word "anarchist" was originally used as a term of ] but by the ] some groups such as the ''Enrages'' had started to use the term in a positive sense,<ref>Sheehan, Sean. ''Anarchism'', London: Reaktion Books Ltd., 2004. pg. 85</ref> seeing the ] concept of a ''"revolutionary government"'' as a contradiction in terms. It was in this political climate that ] would develop his philosophy which is considered by many to be the first expression of modern anarchist thought.<ref> Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosopy, First published Sun Jan 16, 2000; substantive revision Sat May 20, 2006</ref> | |||
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:''This article surveys a broad range of political philosophies that oppose the state and communism. For pro-communism usages, see ]''. | |||
===William Godwin=== | |||
{{main|William Godwin}} | |||
According to Peter Kropotkin, ], in his ''Enquiry Concerning Political Justice'' (2 vols., 1793), was "the first to formulate the political and economical conceptions of anarchism, even though he did not give that name to the ideas developed in his work." <ref name="EB1910"/> | |||
The terms "anarchy" and "anarchism" are derived from the ] '']'' ("without ]s (rulers)"). Thus "anarchism," in its most general meaning, is the belief that the ] should be abolished. The word "anarchy", as most anarchists use it, does not imply ] or ], but rather a stateless society with voluntary social harmony. An advocacy of voluntary human interaction and opposition to aggression are the unvarying principles of anarchism. | |||
Godwin felt that the evil of man was the result of societal corruption, and his view on government slowly changed from as little interference as possible to none at all when he stated that "government by its very nature counteracts the improvement of original mind." <ref> William Godwin, </ref> Godwin also felt that discrimination on any grounds besides ability was intolerable. Godwin is also well known for marrying the feminist ]. Their daughter ] achieved fame as the author of ]. | |||
<blockquote>"We are anarcho-capitalists. In other words, we believe that capitalism is the fullest expression of anarchism, and anarchism is the fullest expression of capitalism. Not only are they compatible, but you can't really have one without the other. True anarchism will be capitalism, and true capitalism will be anarchism." - Murray Rothbard </blockquote> | |||
===Pierre-Joseph Proudhon=== | |||
{{main|Pierre-Joseph Proudhon}} | |||
], 1865]] | |||
] is commonly regarded as the first self-proclaimed anarchist, a label which he adopted in his 1840 work '']''. It is for this reason that some claim Proudhon as the founder of modern anarchist theory.<ref>Daniel Guerin, ''Anarchism: From Theory to Practice'' (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1970).</ref> He developed the theory of ] in society, where organization emerges without any central authority, a "positive anarchy" in which order arises from every individual "doing what he wishes and only what he wishes."<ref> Proudhon, ''Solution to the Social Problem'', ed. H. Cohen (New York: Vanguard Press, 1927), p.45. </ref> He saw anarchy as: | |||
==History of anarchism== | |||
<blockquote> | |||
"a form of government or constitution in which public and private consciousness, formed through the development of science and law, is alone sufficient to maintain order and guarantee all liberties. In it, as a consequence, the institutions of the police, preventive and repressive methods, officialdom, taxation, etc., are reduced to a minimum. In it, more especially, the forms of monarchy and intensive centralization disappear, to be replaced by federal institutions and a pattern of life based on the commune."<ref>''Selected Writings'', Pierre-Joseph Proudhon</ref> | |||
</blockquote> | |||
=== Precursors of anarchism === | |||
His opposition to capitalism, the state, and organised religion inspired subsequent anarchists, and made him one of the leading socialist thinkers of his time.<ref name="EB-Proudhon"> From Encyclopedia Britannica article "Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph" (2006)</ref> However, he was also opposed to "communism, whether of the utopian or the Marxist variety, that it destroyed freedom by taking away from the individual control over his means of production." <ref name="EB-Proudhon"/> | |||
] assert that, for the longest period before recorded ], human society was organized on anarchist principles. They point to the lack of decreed law or rulers. Some anarchists have embraced ], which developed in ], as a source of anarchistic attitudes . Similarly, anarchistic tendencies can be traced to the philosophers of ], such as ], the founder of the ], and ], who said that the wise should not give up their ] to the state . | |||
==Schools of Anarchist Thought== | |||
Later movements – such as ] in the 1300's, the ] in the ], | |||
===Mutualism=== | |||
the ]s, and ] | |||
{{main|Mutualism (economic theory)}} | |||
– have also expounded ideas that have been interpreted as anarchist. | |||
The first known usage of the word ''anarchy'' appears in the play '']'' by ], dated ]. There, ] openly refuses to abide by the rulers' decree to leave her brother Polyneices' body unburied, as punishment for his participation in the attack on ], 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 tênd anarkhian polei'')". | |||
] is a school of anarchism mostly associated with ], the first to call himself and his politics anarchist. In his landmark book '']'' (''Qu'est-ce que la propriété?'', published in 1840), he expounded an economic theory based on a ] which states that the actual price of a thing (or the "true cost") is the amount of labor that was undertaken to produce it. Consequently no one who sells goods should charge more than the labor exerted to obtain or produce each good. According to Proudhon, "It is labor, labor alone, that produces all the elements of wealth...according to a law of variable, but certain, proportionality." He was also careful to advise, however, that "The value of labor is a figurative expression, an anticipation of effect from cause." <ref>Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph ''The Philosophy of Poverty'' (1847)</ref> Mutualist economics is characterised by a dedication to free association, a democratically run mutualist bank and contract/federation. | |||
Ancient Greece also saw the first western instance of anarchism as a philosophical ideal, in the form of the ] philosopher ], who was, according to ], "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 ], Zeno's vision of a free community without government is opposed to the state-] of ]. Zeno argued that although the necessary instinct of self-preservation leads humans to ], nature has supplied a corrective to it by providing man with another instinct — ]. Like many modern anarchists, he believed that if people follow their instincts, they will have no need of law ] or ], no ]s and no public ], and use no ] (a ] taking the place of the exchanges). Zeno's beliefs have only reached us as fragmentary quotations. | |||
Many mutualists believe that a market without government intervention would result in no profit because firms would be forced to compete over workers just as workers compete over firms. If government stopped intervening to protect monopolies, they argue, each laborer would naturally receive his "full product" with no deductions for profit to the employer.<ref></ref> However, less productive worker would receive less than more productive one and personal and small-scale property would be protected.<ref name="Encarta"/> | |||
The ]s of ] Europe are sometimes considered to be religious forerunners of modern anarchism. ], in his '']'', writes that the Anabaptists "repudiated all law, since they held that the good man will be guided at every moment by ]...rom this premise they arrive at communism...." The novel ] provides a fictional depiction of this movement and its revolutionary ideology. ] of the ], who published a pamphlet calling for communal ownership and social and economic organization in small agrarian communities in the ], is considered another of the forerunners of modern anarchism. | |||
Proudhon's mutualism had a large influence in American individualist anarchism,<ref name="Woodcock">" Proudhon's mutualism was introduced into the United States...its similarity to native individualism was quickly recognized. The Proudhonians remained a small sect, but they and the disciples of Warren helped focus interest on "currency reform." ], ''Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements'', Chapter 14, p.459.</ref> with ]'s experiments enacting in very similar economics and ] translating him into English for an American audience. Proudhon does emphasise associations amongst producers;<ref name="Woodcock"/> some see mutualism as being situated somewhere between individualism and collectivism.<ref>Avrich, Paul. ''Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America'', Princetone University Press 1996 ISBN 0-691-04494-5, p.6<br/> | |||
Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought, Blackwell Publishing 1991 ISBN 0-631-17944-5, p.11</ref> | |||
=== |
===Modern anarchism=== | ||
<TABLE WIDTH=460 BORDER="3" CELLSPACING="1" CELLPADDING="22" ALIGN="right" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"> | |||
{{main|Collectivist anarchism}} | |||
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<TD COLSPAN="4" ALIGN="center"><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#660000" FACE="Helvetica, Arial"><B>Timeline of Modern Anarchism</B></FONT></TD> | |||
</TR> | |||
<TR> | |||
], also known as 'anarcho-collectivism', is most commonly associated with ] and the anti-authoritarian section of the ] (1864-1876). Unlike mutualists, collectivist anarchists oppose all private ownership of the means of production, instead advocating that ownership be collectivized. Workers would be compensated for their work on the basis of the amount of time they contributed to production, rather than goods being distributed "according to need" as in anarcho-communism. By the early 1880s, most of the European anarchist movement had adopted an ] position, advocating the abolition of wage labour and distribution according to need rather than labor, although the ] is sometimes associated with collectivism. Although the ] advocated compensation for labor, they held out the possibility of a post-revolutionary transition to a communist system of distribution according to need. <ref>Bakunin's associate, ], put it this way in his essay, ''''(1876): | |||
<TD>1756 </TD> | |||
<blockquote> | |||
<TD>First anarchist essay.</TD> | |||
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. | |||
<TD>Edmund Burke</TD> | |||
</blockquote></ref> Collective anarchism arose contemporary with ] but was opposed to it, despite Marxism striving for a collectivist stateless society, because of an opposition to the Marxist ].<ref>Bakunin, Mikhail; '''': | |||
<TD WIDTH=200></TD> | |||
<blockquote>They maintain that only a dictatorship — their dictatorship, of course — can create the will of the people, while our answer to this is: No dictatorship can have any other aim but that of self-perpetuation, and it can beget only slavery in the people tolerating it; freedom can be created only by freedom, that is, by a universal rebellion on the part of the people and free organization of the toiling masses from the bottom up. </blockquote></ref> | |||
</TR> | |||
<TR> | |||
===Anarchist communism=== | |||
<TD>1793</TD> | |||
{{main|Anarchist communism}} | |||
<TD>First anarchist treatise.</TD> | |||
<TD>William Godwin</TD> | |||
<TD></TD> | |||
</TR> | |||
<TR> | |||
] was an early anarchist communist and the first person to describe himself as "]".<ref> (in ])</ref> 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."<ref name=Graham-05>Graham, Robert ''Anarchism'' (Montreal: Black Rose Books 2005) ISBN 1-55164-251-4</ref> Other important anarchist communists include ], ], ] and ]. Many in the anarcho-syndicalist movements (see below) saw anarchist communism as their objective. ]'s 1932 '']'' <ref name="LibCom">Puente, Isaac "Libertarian Communism" (The Cienfuegos Press Anarchist Review' #6 Orkney 1982)</ref> was adopted by the Spanish CNT as its manifesto for a post-revolutionary society. | |||
<TD>1840</TD> | |||
<TD>First self-described anarchist.</TD> | |||
<TD>Pierre Proudhon</TD> | |||
<TD></TD> | |||
</TR> | |||
<TR> | |||
Anarchist communism places as its goal a society composed of "an infinite variety of groups and federations of all sizes and degrees... for all possible purposes", where wealth is distributed in accordance with the self-determined needs of each person, enabling everyone "to obtain the full development of his faculties, intellectual, artistic and moral," rather than a privileged few.<ref> Kropotkin, "Anarchism," ''Encyclopedia Britannica.''</ref> | |||
<TD>1841</TD> | |||
<TD>First individualist anarchist.</TD> | |||
<TD>Josiah Warren</TD> | |||
<TD></TD> | |||
</TR> | |||
<TR> | |||
===Anarcho-syndicalism=== | |||
<TD>1844</TD> | |||
{{main|Anarcho-syndicalism}} | |||
<TD>First egoist anarchist.</TD> | |||
<TD>Max Stirner</TD> | |||
<TD></TD> | |||
</TR> | |||
<TR> | |||
] | |||
<TD>1849</TD> | |||
<TD>First anarcho-capitalist.</TD> | |||
<TD>Gustave de Molinari</TD> | |||
<TD></TD> | |||
</TR> | |||
<TR> | |||
The early twentieth century saw the rise of ] as a distinct school of thought within the anarchist tradition. More heavily focused on the labour movement than previous forms of anarchism, syndicalism posits trade unions as a potential force for revolutionary social change, replacing capitalism and the State with a new society democratically 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 divisions. Three important principles of syndicalism are workers' solidarity, ] and ]. They are also proponents of the ]. ] was one of the most popular voices in the anarcho-syndicalist movement. He outlined a view of the origins of the movement, what it sought and why it was important to the future of labour in his 1938 pamphlet ''Anarchosyndicalism''<ref> ''retrieved 7 September 2006</ref>. Although more frequently associated with labor struggles of the the early twentieth century (particularly in ] and ]) there are many syndicalist organisations active today. However, anarcho-syndicalism is viewed as anachronism by some contemporary anarchists.<ref>Heider, Ulrike. (1994) ''Anarchism: Left, Right and Green'', San Francisco: City Lights Books, p.4</ref> | |||
<TD>1866</TD> | |||
<TD>First anarcho-socialist.</TD> | |||
<TD>Michael Bakunin</TD> | |||
<TD></TD> | |||
</TR> | |||
<TR> | |||
===Individualist anarchism=== | |||
<TD>1886</TD> | |||
{{main|Individualist anarchism}} | |||
<TD>Individualist anarchist publisher.</TD> | |||
] is an anarchist philosophical tradition that has a strong emphasis on ] and ], drawing much from the tradition of ].<ref name="Madison">{{cite journal | author = Madison, Charles A. | year = 1945 | title = Anarchism in the United States | journal = Journal of the History of Ideas | volume = 6 | issue = 1 | pages = 46-66}}</ref> Individualist anarchists believe that "individual conscience and the pursuit of self-interest should not be constrained by any collective body or public authority."<ref>Heywood, Andrew, Key Concepts in Politics, Palgrave, ISBN 0-312-23381-7, 2000, p. 46</ref> | |||
<TD>Benjamin Tucker</TD> | |||
====Max Stirner's egoism==== | |||
<TD></TD> | |||
{{main|Max Stirner|Ethical egoism}} | |||
</TR> | |||
<TR> | |||
] was the author of a form of individualist anarchism called "Egoism." Stirner's "name appears with familiar regularity in historically-orientated surveys of anarchist thought as one of the earliest and best-known exponents of ]."<ref name="SEP-Stirner">Leopold, David "Max Stirner", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2006 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), forthcoming URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2006/entries/max-stirner/>.</ref> In 1844, Max Stirner's '']'' (sometimes translated as "The Individual and His Property") was published, which is considered to be "a founding text in the tradition of individualist anarchism."<ref name = "SEP-Stirner"/> Stirner believed 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." | |||
<TD>1902</TD> | |||
<TD>First anarcho-communist.</TD> | |||
<TD>Peter Kropotkin</TD> | |||
<TD></TD> | |||
</TR> | |||
</FONT> | |||
</TABLE> | |||
The first modern author to have published an essay explicitly advocating the absence of government was Edmund Burke in "" (1756). In ] ] published '''', in which he presented his vision of a free society alongside a critique of government. Some consider this the first anarchist treatise, calling Godwin the "founder of philosophical anarchism". Godwin advocated an extreme type of individualism opposing every kind of cooperation among individuals. The term "anarchist" was used during the ] as an ] against anti-monarchists, but ], adopted the term to describe his own political philosophy in the ]. Since Proudhon was the first to adopt the term "anarchist" as a self-description, some claim Proudhon as the founder of modern anarchist theory. | |||
] were often labeled "anarchists" by ], even though they did not call for the abolition of the State. Still, they did promote the idea of a minimal State, ], and the responsibility of the people to judge their governments, which provided a groundwork for the development of anarchist thought. "" (1849) by ] is a good example of an anti-statist liberal tract. The earliest anarcho-capitalist was ], who wrote about private defense agencies in (1849). This was the first attempt to solve the problem of security in a stateless manner. Previous thinkers had generally either assumed that statelessness would lead to a quick change in human nature, claimed personal justice would suffice, or simply avoided the issue. In the ], anarchist thoughts were expressed in the writings of ] (]), Josiah Warren, and Benjamin Tucker. Individualist anarchists such as Tucker were influenced by the writings of ] and ], among others. | |||
Stirner never called himself an anarchist - he accepted only the label 'egoist'. Nevertheless, he is considered by most to be an anarchist because of his rejection of the state, law and government and his ideas influenced many anarchists, although interpretations of his thought are diverse. Anarchists including ], ] and the ] claimed him as an influence, while ] gave lectures on his thought.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman/Guide/chronology0119.html|title=Emma Goldman: Chronology 1901-1919|accessdate = 2006-05-30|publisher=Berkeley Digital Library}}</ref> | |||
Later in the ], ] theorists like ] and ] paralleled the ] critique of capitalism and synthesized it with their own critique of the state. Their rejection of private property, and the authoritarianism that implies, puts them outside the anarchist sphere. As Benjamin Tucker wrote in ''Liberty'', "Anarchism is a word without meaning, unless it includes the liberty of the individual to control his product or whatever his product has brought him through exchange in a free market - that is, private property. Whoever denies private property is of necessity an Archist." | |||
====Individualist anarchism in the United States==== | |||
{{main|Individualist anarchism#Individualist anarchism in the United States}} | |||
{{main|Anarchism in the United States}} | |||
]]] | |||
In the 1950's, the anti-war, anti-state Old Right defected from the new Cold War big-government Republicans, and alligned with segments of the ] and radical ]s. Eventually this alliance evolved into the US Libertarian party and various anarcho-capitalist movements, sparked by the minarchist writings of Ayn Rand and the philosophical guidance and activism of Murray Rothbard ("The Libertarian Manifesto"). In the 21st century, the global growth and interest in ] and ] beliefs have given anarchism a new life. Many anarchists believe that the internet and strong cryptography provide a technological advantage for freedom over statism. | |||
American individualist anarchists believe individuals should only receive property through labor and trade and that provision of defense of liberty and property should be provided by the ]. This form of ] originated in the ] with ] as its author. In 1825, Josiah Warren had participated in a ] experiment at ]. The experiment failed with in a few years amidst much internal conflict. Warren attributed the community's failure on a lack of individual sovereignty and dedicated himself to promoting economic cooperation on the basis of individual liberty and self-ownership. Other prominent nineteenth century individualists included ], ], ], ], and ]. | |||
===Anarchism today=== | |||
These thinkers held that ] was the foremost source of inequality and oppression. They argued that provision of protection of liberty and property should be provided by businesses in a ] rather than by the state <ref>], "defense is a service like any other service; that it is labor both useful and desired, and therefore an economic commodity subject to the law of supply and demand; that in a free market this commodity would be furnished at the cost of production; that, competition prevailing, patronage would go to those who furnished the best article at the lowest price; that the production and sale of this commodity are now monopolized by the State; and that the State, like almost all monopolists, charges exorbitant prices" "Instead of a Book" (1893)<br/> | |||
"Anarchism does not exclude prisons, officials, military, or other symbols of force. It merely demands that non-invasive men shall not be made the victims of such force. Anarchism is not the reign of love, but the reign of justice. It does not signify the abolition of force-symbols but the application of force to real invaders." Tucker, Benjamin. ''Liberty'' ] ].</ref>. They argued that the state prevents true free competition in the market<ref>"When Warren and Proudhon, in prosecuting their search for justice to labor, came face to face with the obstacle of class monopolies, they saw that these monopolies rested upon Authority, and concluded that the thing to be done was, not to strengthen this Authority and thus make monopoly universal, but to utterly uproot Authority and give full sway to the opposite principle, Liberty, by making competition, the antithesis of monopoly, universal." Tucker, Benjamin ''State Socialism and Anarchism'' (Liberty ] ])</ref> and that government intervention results in prices that don't reflect the amount of labor invested in them. They supported private property<ref>"Anarchism is a word without meaning, unless it includes the liberty of the individual to control his product or whatever his product has brought him through exchange in a free market - that is, private property. Whoever denies private property is of necessity an Archist." "ANARCHISM AND PROPERTY", by Benjamin Tucker in "The New Freewoman", ] ]</ref> and a free market under the ] which they thought would eliminate profit, which they viewed as exploitation of employees. | |||
Anarchism is not constrained to political protest. Anarchists also engage in building parallel structures and organizations and alternatives to statist institutions (e.g. ]). This is in line with the general anarchist concept of "building freedom" or creating "tending your own garden." The idea is to create voluntary alternatives to services currently provided by the State. | |||
The American individualist anarchists oppose what Tucker called four "monopolies": the '']'' of control over currency and credit by state restrictions on who is allowed to operate a bank; the ''land monopoly'' of land-titles for absentee owners; '']s'', prohibiting competition; '']s'', restricting competition in favor of established firms. It should be noted that there was not agreement among the early American individualists on all issues: Tucker allowed for wage labour<ref>" carrying on business for themselves or from assuming relations between themselves as employer and employee if they prefer." Tucker, Benjamin. ''Liberty or Authority''</ref> while Spooner did not<ref>"...they must sell labor for much less than the amount of wealth it produces. In this way ten, twenty, or a hundred men are literally robbed of an important portion of the fruits of their labor, solely that a single monopolist may be gorged with wealth." Spooner, Lysander, ''Poverty: Its Illegal Causes and Legal Cures'' </ref>. However, unlike Tucker, he did support intellectual property rights<ref>Spooner, Lysander. </ref> and did not require that land remain in use to retain ownership.<ref>Watner, Carl. in The Libertarian Forum. March 1975. Volume VII, No 3. ISSN: 0047-4517. pp. 5-6.</ref> | |||
Some have said that recent technological developments have made the anarchist cause both easier to advance and more conceivable to people. Many people use ]s or the Internet to form loose communities which could be said to be organized along anarchist lines. Anarchists are also excited about new technology. Digital anonymous currency provide 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. | |||
Since early 20th century, Tucker's form of individualist anarchism has sometimes been attacked by social anarchists as a "middle-class indulgence, rooted far more in liberalism than in anarchism."<ref>Bookchin, Murray. </ref> Some social anarchists claim that this is not a legitimate form of anarchism<ref> For example, ] says that "it is sometimes too readily conceded that" individualist anarchism is a form of anarchism. He argues that Tucker's philosophy actually supports "government" because it supports a private police force. He believes that true anarchism has to be communistic. Metzer, Albert. ''Anarchism: Arguments for and Against'', AK Press (1999), pp. 13-14</ref>, though others, such as Emma Goldman, sought to incorporate elements of both schools into her philosophy.<ref>Goldman, Emma. '''' from ''Anarchism and Other Essays'' (1910) New York: Mother Earth Publishing Association.</ref> | |||
===Historical examples=== | |||
====Anarcho-capitalism (disputed)==== | |||
{{main|Anarcho-capitalism}} | |||
{{see|Anarchism and anarcho-capitalism}} | |||
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 ] | |||
Anarcho-capitalism is referred to as a form of individualist anarchism lying outside the mainstream of anti-capitalistic anarchism, mainly by academics.<ref> Such accounts specifying anarcho-capitalism as a form of individualist anarchism include: | |||
*Alan and Trombley, Stephen (Eds.) Bullock, ''The Norton Dictionary of Modern Thought'', W. W. Norton & Company (1999), p. 30 | |||
*Outhwaite, William. ''The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought'', ''Anarchism'' entry, p. 21, 2002. | |||
*Bottomore, Tom. '' Dictionary of Marxist Thought'', ''Anarchism'' entry, 1991. | |||
*Barry, Norman. ''Modern Political Theory'', 2000, Palgrave, p. 70 | |||
*Adams, Ian. ''Political Ideology Today'', Manchester University Press (2002) ISBN 0719060206, p. 135 | |||
*Grant, Moyra. ''Key Ideas in Politics'', Nelson Thomas 2003 ISBN 0-7487-7096-8, p. 91 | |||
*Heider, Ulrike. ''Anarchism: Left, Right, and Green'', City Lights, 1994. p. 3. | |||
*]. ''''. Peace Pledge Union Publications | |||
*]. ''Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America, Abridged Paperback Edition (1996), p. 282 | |||
*Sheehan, Sean. ''Anarchism'', Reaktion Books, 2004, p. 39 | |||
*Tormey, Simon. ''Anti-Capitalism'', One World, 2004. pp. 118-119 | |||
*]. ''Authentic German Liberalism of the 19th Century'', Ecole Polytechnique, Centre de Recherce en Epistemologie Appliquee, Unité associée au CNRS, 2004. | |||
*Offer, John. ''Herbert Spencer: Critical Assessments'', Routledge (UK) (2000), p. 243 | |||
*Levy, Carl. Anarchism. MS Encarta (UK). | |||
*Heywood, Andrew. ''Politics: Second Edition'', Palgrave (2002), p. 61 | |||
Sources stating anarcho-capitalism as a form of anarchism in general: | |||
*]. Anarchism. A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy, editors Goodin, Robert E. and Pettit, Philip. Blackwell Publishing, 1995, p.231 | |||
*Perlin, Terry M. Contemporary Anarchism. Transaction Books, New Brunswick, NJ 1979, p. 7 * DeLeon, David. The American as Anarchist: Reflections of Indigenous Radicalism, Chapter: The Beginning of Another Cycle, John Hopkins University Press, 1979, p. 117 | |||
*Brown, Susan Love, The Free Market as Salvation from Government: The Anarcho-Capitalist View, Meanings of the Market: The Free Market in Western Culture, edited by James G. Carrier, Berg/Oxford, 1997, p. 99 | |||
*Kearney, Richard. ''Continental Philosophy in the 20th Century'', Routledge (UK) (2003), p. 336 * Sargent, Lyman Tower. ''Extremism in America: A Reader'', NYU Press (1995), p. 11 | |||
*Dahl, Robert Alan. ''Democracy and Its Critics. Yale University Press (1991), p. 38 | |||
*Goodwin, Barbara. ''Using Political Ideas'', Fourth Edition, John Wiley & Sons (1987), p. 137</ref> Anarcho-capitalists would like for security against aggressors to be performed by multiple private providers all competing for business, rather than by a single agency funded by taxation. Anarcho-capitalism was influenced by ] and ]<ref>DeLeon, David. The American as Anarchist: Reflections on Indigenous Radicalism. John Hopkins University Press, 1978, p. 127</ref>, but rejects their ] which regards profit to be exploitative and caused by state intervention. Anarcho-capitalists instead espouse the subjective theory of value, so they do not believe that the proper price of anything depends on how much labor was exerted. They also disagree that competition in the absence of a state would cause profit to disappear, nor consider ], rent, or interest to be exploitative, but natural and beneficial.<ref>Rothbard, Murray. The Spooner-Tucker Doctrine: An Economist's View </ref> Anarcho-capitalism has a theory of ] that supports private property as long as it is not attained by coercion.<ref>Rothbard, Murray (1969) '''' The Libertatian Forum Vol. I, No. VI (] ]) Retrieved ] ]</ref> Anarcho-capitalism's leading proponents are ] and ], and it has been influenced by libertarians such as ], ] and ]. | |||
==Schools of anarchist thought== ] | |||
Some notable anarchist writers, as well as most activists, do not accept it as a legitimate form of anarchism. <ref>Such accounts include: | |||
From ]'s utilitarian anarchism to ]'s ], to ]'s ], to ]'s ], to ]'s ], the roots of anarchist thought in modern political philosophy are varied, with many different views of what a society without government should be like. ], advocating the dissolution of ], is reminiscent of, if not inspired by, the early 19th century ] movement. There are also a number of feminist anarchist theories, including ], ], and ]. Another tradition in anarchism follows from individuals like ] and ] 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. | |||
*], ''Anarchism: Arguments for and Against'', AK Press, 2000 | |||
*], ''Chomsky on Anarchism'', Notes on Anarchism, 2005, AK Press, 126 | |||
*], ''Libertarianism: Bogus Anarchy'', issue #41 (Fall/Winter 1994-95) of Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed | |||
*, An Anarchist FAQ, infoshop.org ''retrieved 6 September 2006''</ref> Most anarchists regard the term anarcho-capitalism as an oxymoron.<ref>*Peter Marshall, ''Demanding the Impossible: History of Anarchism'', Ch. 36. | |||
*"The term 'anarcho-capitalism' for this domain of right wing libertarianism is generally regarded as a political oxymoron by anarchists" Sean M. Sheehan ''Anarchism'', 2004. (page 39)</ref> | |||
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. | |||
==Anarchism as a Social Movement== | |||
Individualist anarchism does not represent the majority of anarchists, as most anarchists favor some form of communitarianism or collectivism.<ref>Johnston, Larry. ''Politics: An Introduction to the Modern Democratic State'', Broadview Press (2001), pp. 146-147</ref> Advocacy of collectivism and violent revolution dominated mainstream anarchism from the days of the ] until the destruction of anarchism as a mass movement at the end of the ].<ref name="EB">"Anarchism." Encyclopædia Britannica, from Encyclopaedia Britannica 2003 Ultimate Reference Suite CD-ROM. Copyright © 1994-2002 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. ] ].</ref> | |||
=== |
===Anarcho-capitalism=== | ||
] 1814-1876]] | |||
{{main|International Workingmen's Association|Anarchism and Marxism}} | |||
In Europe, harsh reaction followed the ]. Twenty years later in 1864 the ], sometimes called the 'First International', united some diverse European revolutionary currents, including French followers of ], ], English trade unionists, ] and ]. Due to its genuine links to active workers' movements, the International became a significant organization. | |||
''Main article:'' ] | |||
] ] became a leading figure in the International and a member of its General Council. Proudhon's followers, the ], opposed Marx's ], advocating political abstentionism and small property holdings. ] 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 ] worked with the Marxists to push the First International in a more revolutionary socialist direction. Subsequently, the International became polarized into two camps, with Marx and Bakunin as their respective figureheads. | |||
] (1926-1995)]] | |||
Also known as "market anarchism" and "right anarchism," anarcho-capitalism envisions a stateless society with predominantly sticky (neo-Lockean) property arrangements. This is an anathema to the libertarian socialist schools of "anarchism" which hold an exploitation theory with regard to rent and wage labor. Instead of the anarcho-socialist labor theory of value, anarcho-capitalists tend to hold to the ] propounded by the ] of economics. Much of the credit for melding classical liberalism with anti-statism goes to ]. While Rothbard based his anarchism on ], ] ("The Machinery of Freedom") based it on ], and Jan Narvison on ]. Other important anarcho-capitalists include ], ], and ]. Early influences on anarcho-capitalism include ], ], ], and ]. | |||
=== Individualist anarchism === | |||
Bakunin characterised Marx's ideas as ] and predicted that, if a Marxist party came to power, its leaders would simply take the place of the ] they had fought against.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bakunin|first=Mikhail|authorlink=Mikhail Bakunin|origyear=1873|year = 1991|title =Statism and Anarchy | publisher = Cambridge University Press|location = | id = ISBN 0-521-36973-8}}</ref> In 1872, the conflict climaxed with a final split between the two groups, when, at the ], Marx engineered the expulsion of Bakunin and ] from the International and had its headquarters transferred to New York. In response, the anti-authoritarian sections formed their own International at the ], adopting a revolutionary anarchist program.<ref name=Graham-05/> | |||
:''Main articles: ], ] | |||
Individualist anarchism, having as its precursors the European individualists ], ], and ] became relatively formalized in 19th century America. America's ] is commonly regarded to be the first individualist anarchist. Some other notable figures include ] and ]. These 19th century individualists espoused the ideas of "]", a right to retain as private property the product of one's labor, a market economy unfettered by coercion (free market) where individuals may trade their private property and labor, private ownership of land (with the caveat that the land must be put into use by the owner), and a right to labor for wages as long wages adhered to their ]. However, these individualists opposed ] as being exploitative and this is their basis for opposing capitalism. Though they saw profit as unjust they opposed coercively interfering in the contractual relationships of others, prefering instead to compete with alternative business models (see ]) as well as educate through philosophy. These individuals tended to reject the notion that the collectivist schools such as anarcho-communism and anarcho-syndicalism were in fact anarchism. Contemporary individuals who claim the the individualist anarchist title include ], ], and ]. Contemporary individualist anarchist of the anticapitalism tradition, Joe Peacott, regards anarcho-capitalism to be a form of individualist anarchistm . Wendy Mcelroy, an anarcho-capitalist, also considers herself to be an individualist anarchist. | |||
===Anarchism and organized labor=== | |||
] | |||
{{main|Anarcho-syndicalism|Anarchism in Spain}} | |||
] (1808-1887)]] | |||
The anti-authoritarian sections of the First International were the precursors of the anarcho-syndicalists, seeking to "replace the privilege and authority of the State" with the "free and spontaneous organization of labor."<ref> Resolutions from the St. Imier Congress, in ''Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas'', Vol. 1, p.100 </ref> | |||
The individualists were particularly adamant about a right of private property. Spooner supported a "right to acquire property...as one of the natural, inherent, inalienable rights of men one which government has no power to infringe " He also supported the freedom of individuals to charge interest for loans free of government regulation: "All legislative restraints upon the rate of interest, are arbitrary and tyrannical restraints upon a man's natural capacity amid natural right to hire capital, upon which to bestow his labor." Spooner was staunchly against government interference in private economic matters, and he was particularly vocal in opposing collusion between banks and government. Spooner's ideas were widely reprinted in early libertarian journals, particularly his individualist critique of the state, arguing for the right to ignore or withdraw from it. Benjamin Tucker supported private ownership of all wealth produced by an individual, and as a staunch advocate of private property, a ], and anarchism in the American tradition, he says in an essay in ''The New Freewoman'': "Anarchism is a word without meaning, unless it includes the liberty of the individual to control his product or whatever his product has brought him through exchange in a free market—that is, private property." These individualists also advocated "free banking" where any individual or group of individuals would be allowed to lend private currency for interest and enter into competition with each other. With mutual banks, they hoped increased competition would eventually drive interest rates on loans down to a negligible level. | |||
The ] (General Confederation of Labour, CGT), formed in France in 1895, was the first major anarcho-syndicalist movement, but it had been preceded by the Spanish Workers Federation in 1881. Anarchist trade union federations were of special importance in Spain. The most successful was the ] (National Confederation of Labour: CNT), founded in 1910. Before the 1940s, the CNT was the major force in Spanish working class politics and played a major role in the ]. The CNT was affiliated with the International Workers Association, a federation of anarcho-syndicalist trade unions founded in 1922, with delegates representing two million workers from 15 countries in Europe and Latin America. | |||
T19th century individualist anarchists described their economic and political positions as a ''radicalization'' of the classical liberal defense of free markets and civil society — Tucker, for example, described his individualist conception of anarchism as "consistent Manchesterism" and anarchists as "unterrified Jeffersonian Democrats" . According to political historian Carl Levy, in his MS Encarta Encyclopedia ''Anarchism'' article, "Since ], this tradition has been reborn and modified in the United States as ] or ]." | |||
The largest organised anarchist movement today is in Spain, in the form of the ] (CGT) and the ]. CGT membership was estimated to be around 100,000 for the year 2003.<ref>Carley, Mark "Trade union membership 1993-2003" (International:SPIRE Associates 2004)</ref> Other active syndicalist movements include the US ] and the UK ]. The revolutionary industrial unionist ], claiming 2,000 paying members, and the ], an anarcho-syndicalist successor to the ], also remain active. | |||
=== |
===Geoanarchism=== | ||
{{main|Russian Revolution of 1917}} | |||
Geoanarchism (aka Georgism and Geoism) is an individualist philosophy that supports private property in the product of labor but opposes ownership of unused land. However, unlike classical individualist anarchism, geoanarchists believe that using land necessitates that the rest of the community should be compensated by paying them rent for its use. In the case of geoanarchism, rent would be collected by private associations with the opportunity to secede from a geocommunity (and not receive the geocommunity's services) if desired. | |||
Anarchists participated alongside the ] 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 that culminated in the 1921 ]. Anarchists in central Russia were either imprisoned or driven underground or joined the victorious Bolsheviks. In the ], anarchists fought in the ] against Whites and then the Bolsheviks as part of the Makhnovshchina peasant army led by ]. | |||
Expelled American anarchists ] and ] were amongst those agitating in response to Bolshevik policy and the suppression of the Kronstadt uprising, before they left Russia. Both wrote classic accounts of their experiences in Russia, aiming to expose the reality of Bolshevik control. For them, ]'s predictions about the consequences of Marxist rule<ref>"You can see quite well that behind all the democratic and socialistic phrases and promises in Marx’s program for the State lies all that constitutes the true despotic and brutal nature of all states, regardless of their form of government." Bakunin, Mikhail (1872) "On the International Workingmen's Association and Karl Marx" (Bakunin on Anarchy, translated and edited by Sam Dolgoff, 1971)</ref> had proved all too true. | |||
<TABLE BORDER="3" CELLSPACING="1" CELLPADDING="12" ALIGN="center" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"> | |||
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 ] and ] began to realign themselves away from anarchism and towards the ]. | |||
<FONT SIZE="3" FACE="Helvetica, Arial"> | |||
<TR> | |||
<TD ALIGN="center" WIDTH=240><B>Anarchist Schools</B> | |||
</TD> | |||
<TD ALIGN="center" WIDTH=140>Collectivist | |||
</TD> | |||
<TD ALIGN="center" WIDTH=140>Individualist (traditional) | |||
</TD> | |||
<TD ALIGN="center" WIDTH=140>Anarcho-Capitalist | |||
</TD> | |||
</TR> | |||
<TR> | |||
In Paris, the ] group of Russian anarchist exiles, which included ], concluded that anarchists needed to develop new forms of organisation in response to the structures of Bolshevism. Their 1926 manifesto, known as the ] | |||
<TD ALIGN="center">Is land legitimate private property? | |||
<ref name=Platformtext>{{cite book | last = Dielo Trouda group | authorlink = Dielo Trouda | title = Organizational Platform of the Libertarian Communists | origyear = 1926 | url = http://struggle.ws/platform/plat_preface.html | accessdate = 2006-05-30 | year = 1997 | publisher = Workers' Solidarity Movement | location = Ireland}}</ref>, was supported by some communist anarchists, though opposed by many others. Platformist groups today include the ] in Ireland and the ] of North America. | |||
</TD> | |||
<TD ALIGN="center">No | |||
</TD> | |||
<TD ALIGN="center">Yes (qualified)<BR> | |||
*as long as owner uses it<BR> | |||
*it can't be used as collateral. | |||
</TD> | |||
<TD ALIGN="center">Yes | |||
</TD> | |||
</TR> | |||
<TR> | |||
===The fight against fascism=== | |||
<TD ALIGN="center">Are man-made capital goods<BR> | |||
], 1936. Members of the ] construct ]s to fight against the ]s in one of the ] factories.]] | |||
legitimate private property? | |||
{{main|Anti-fascism|Anarchism in Spain}} | |||
</TD> | |||
In the 1920s and 1930s, the familiar dynamics of anarchism's conflict with the state were transformed by the rise of ] in Europe. 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 driving back ] in the anarchist stronghold of Parma in August 1922<ref>Holbrow, Marnie "Daring but Divided" (Socialist Review Nov 2002)</ref>. In France, where the fascists came close to insurrection in the February 1934 riots, anarchists divided over a 'united front' policy.<ref>Berry, David "Fascism or Revolution" (Le Libertaire August, 1936)</ref> In Spain, the ] 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 ] (1936-1939) was underway. | |||
<TD ALIGN="center">No, in most cases. | |||
</TD> | |||
<TD ALIGN="center">Yes | |||
</TD> | |||
<TD ALIGN="center">Yes | |||
</TD> | |||
</TR> | |||
<TR> | |||
In response to the army rebellion, an ] movement of peasants and workers, supported by armed militias, took control of ] and of large areas of rural Spain where they ] the land. But even before the eventual fascist victory in 1939, the anarchists were losing ground in a bitter struggle with the ]. The CNT leadership often appeared confused and divided, with some members controversially entering the government. According to ] and other foreign observers, Stalinist-led troops suppressed the collectives and persecuted both ] and anarchists. | |||
<TD ALIGN="center">Is it immoral to collect profit<BR> | |||
from capital and interest? | |||
</TD> | |||
<TD ALIGN="center">Yes.<BR><FONT SIZE="-1">It's a crime, and<BR> | |||
should be expropriated in most circumstances.</FONT> | |||
</TD> | |||
<TD ALIGN="center">Yes.<BR><FONT SIZE="-1">It's a vice, but<BR> | |||
should not be expropriated.</FONT> | |||
</TD> | |||
<TD ALIGN="center">No.<BR><FONT SIZE="-1">It's permissable,<BR> | |||
and generally a virtue.</FONT> | |||
</TD> | |||
</TR> | |||
</FONT> | |||
==Issues in anarchism== | |||
</TABLE> | |||
===Ends and means=== | |||
{{main|Propaganda of the deed|direct action}} | |||
In general, anarchists advocate ] and oppose voting in elections. Most anarchists feel that real change is not possible through voting. Further, many argue that voting amounts to condoning the state,<ref>*], BAD Broadside #8, Boston Anarchist Drinking Brigade 1992 | |||
*] , originally published in New Society 15 May 1987; reprinted in Freedom Vol 48 No 6 June 1987. | |||
* infoshop.org</ref> while others argue for a more pragmatic approach including voting in referendums.<ref> Workers Solidarity No 69, published in March 2002 ''retrieved 7 September 2006''</ref> | |||
==Conceptions of an anarchist society== | |||
Direct action may be violent or non-violent. While some anarchists argue that violence is justified in overthrowing existing authority, most anarchists reject terrorism as authoritarian. ] and ], for example, wrote of violence as necessary in revolutionary settings, but denounced terrorism as counter-revolutionary.<ref>Bakunin, (1869) and Malatesta, (1895).</ref> | |||
''Main article:'' ] | |||
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 ], 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. While some anarchists reject organized defense of liberty outright, many have proposed forms of ]. Traditional individualist anarchists, as well as anarcho-capitalists advocate ] and courts to protect private property and enforce contracts. | |||
Anarchists have often been portrayed as dangerous and violent, due mainly to a number of high-profile violent acts, including ]s, ]s, ]s, and ] by some anarchists, as well as persistently negative media portrayal <ref>Albert, Michael , Z Communications ''retrieved 6 September 2006</ref>. Many anarchists do not see the destruction of property as a violent act. Anarchists see war, however, as an activity in which the state seeks to gain and consolidate power, both domestically and in foreign lands, and subscribe to ]'s view that "war is the health of the state."<ref></ref> | |||
==Anarchist economic organization== | |||
Anarchists also engage in building parallel structures and organizations, such as ], ], ] and ]. This is in line with the general anarchist concept of creating ], creating the structures for a new anti-authoritarian society in the shell of the old, hierarchical one. | |||
''Main article:'' ] | |||
The modern state is deeply involved in society's economic activities, ranging from monopolized protection of property, to the regulation of markets, the plunder (taxation) of productive people, and the redistribution of goods. Most anarchists would agree that radical restructuring of existing economic systems is necessary. Collectivist anarchists or ] believe that wage-labor must end, markets must be abolished, and labor exchange must be destroyed. Traditional individualist anarchists do not oppose wage-labor as long as wages paid adhere to the ], whereas anarcho-capitalists, believing that value is subjective, do not oppose profit in wages. Both traditional individualist anarchists and ] believe that people should not be prevented from producing, trading, and interacting as they choose, so long as it is voluntary. They consider it right and natural that some are able to create and save wealth better than others, and consider the division of labor to be a boon to mankind. For a classification of government interventions in the market, see "Power and Market" by Murray Rothbard. | |||
===Capitalism=== | |||
{{main|Anarchism and capitalism}} | |||
==Conflicts within anarchist thought== | |||
Most anarchists traditions not only seek rejection of the ], but also seek rejection of ], which they perceive as authoritarian. For mutualists, this opposition does not include opposition to the product of labor or capital goods ("means of production") run by individuals, but only "usary," i.e. rent, interest, and profit from other's labor. Thus individualist anarchists, even those who are not anarcho-capitalist, support ], free trade, free competition, and private property, like in ] and ].<ref name="Madison">{{cite journal | author = Madison, Charles A. | year = 1945 | title = Anarchism in the United States | journal = Journal of the History of Ideas | volume = 6 | issue = 1 | pages = 46-66}}</ref><ref name="Madison2">{{cite journal | author = Madison, Charles A. | year = 1943 | title = Benjamin R. Tucker: Individualist and Anarchist | journal = New England Quarterly | volume = 16 | issue = 3| pages = 444-467}}</ref> | |||
===Capitalism vs. Socialism=== | |||
===Globalization=== | |||
This is by far the most controversial conflict among anarchists. ] believe in a stateless free market allowing general property ownership (private property.) ] want to restrict property ownership (except for personal possessions) to certain 'legitimate' collectives (e.g. workers' collectives are okay, but joint stock companies are not.) They oppose rent, interest, and employment ('wage labor.'). Much of the debate is a ] problem, with both sides defining capitalism differently from the other. The debate even extends to the meaning of "free market," as some claim that capitalism as a system is an "anti-market force". | |||
The majority of anarchists oppose ] ] as an attempt to use coercion on a global scale, carried out through institutions such as the ], ], ] and the ]. Anarchist groups, such as ]<ref> Donnacha DeLong, RTÉ News Online 2002 ''retrieved 5 September 2006''</ref>, were among the instigators of the so-called ]<ref> David Graeber, New Left Review 13, January-February 2002 ''retrieved 6 September 2006''</ref>. The ] on ] ], is generally regarded as the first of the major anti-globalisation protests. <ref> C. L. Staten, EmergencyNet News journalist, writing for ]'s website in 2002 ''retrieved 5 September 2006''</ref> Anarchists, such as the ], often played a major role in planning, organising and participating in the subsequent protests. <ref> Thrall issue #21, 2001 ''retrieved 5 September 2006''</ref> The protests tended to be organised on anarchist ] principles with a general tolerance for a range of different activities ranging from those who engage in ] to the ]s. <ref> Josie Appleton, spiked-politics, 2002 ''retrieved 5 September 2006''</ref> | |||
===Private property vs. Collective property=== | |||
===Communism=== | |||
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.''” | |||
While communism is proposed as a form of social and economic organisation by many anarchists, individualist anarchists oppose communism in all its forms. Individualist such as Benjamin Tucker, Victor Yarros, and Henry Appleton have denied that ] is a genuine form of anarchism.<ref>For instance, Benjamin Tucker says, "Yes, genuine Anarchism is consistent ], and Communistic or pseudo-Anarchism is inconsistent Manchesterism." Victor Yarros says, "There is no logical justification, no rational explanation, and no scientific reasoning has been, is, will be, or can be advanced in defence of that unimaginable impossibility, Communistic Anarchism." Henry Appleton says, "All Communism, under whatever guise, is the natural enemy of Anarchism, and a Communist sailing under the flag of Anarchism is as false a figure as could be invented."</ref> They rejected its strategies and argued that it is inherently authoritarian.<ref name="Brooks">Brooks, Frank H. (ed) (1994) ''The Individualist Anarchists: An Anthology of Liberty (1881-1908)'', Transaction Publishers, p.76</ref> The socialist ] also opposed communism, "whether of the utopian or the Marxist variety, that it destroyed freedom by taking away from the individual control over his means of production."<ref> From Encyclopedia Britannica article (2006)</ref> Anarchist communists reject the criticism, pointing to the principle of ] that underpins the theory. | |||
===Feminism and anti-racism=== | |||
{{main|Anarcha-feminism|Antifa}} | |||
Anarcha-feminism is a kind of ] that espouses the belief that ] is a fundamental problem in society. However, it was not explicitly formulated as ''anarcha-feminism'' until early 1970s,<ref></ref> during the ] feminist movement. Anarcha-feminism views ] as the first manifestation of hierarchy in human history; thus, the first form of oppression occurred in the dominance of male over female. | |||
] 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 ], ], and ]. | |||
===Tolerance vs. Expansionism=== | |||
Since the late 1970s anarchists have been involved in fighting the rise of ] groups. In Germany and the United Kingdom some anarchists worked within ] ] groups alongside members of the ] 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. | |||
Since any belief consistent with anti-statism is anarchist, there are vastly different and often opposing ideas about: what constitutes aggression, what is valid property, and what forms and conventions societies should adopt. As a result, there is difference of opinion ''within'' each school about how to react to, or interact with, those with opposing ideologies. E.g. How should an anarcho-socialist commune react to an anarcho-capitalist firm next door? (And vice-versa.) | |||
The tolerant attitude is to live with it - let reality be the judge. One should not use force to promote your program. Those who take this ] approach to 'foreign policy' generally predict that, since their system is better, it will attract more people in the long run. ] is a good example of this tolerant approach. | |||
===The environment=== | |||
{{seealso|Green anarchism|Eco-anarchism|Social ecology|Anarcho-primitivism|Ecofeminism|Green syndicalism}} | |||
The intolerant (evangelical or expansionist may be more descriptive) attitude considers the other system aggressive and/or authoritarian by its very nature. Thus it is permissable, perhaps even a moral imperitive, to use force against the perceived criminals. This attitude occurs among anarcho-capitalists, particularly those who cannot conceive of an anti-statist form of socialism. Indeed, "socialism" in colloquial speech is generally understood as "statist socialism." This attitude also occurs among anarcho-socialists, particularly those who cannot conceive of an anti-statist form of ]. Indeed, conventional socialist theory deems capitalism as necessarily authoritarian and exploitative. | |||
] ]]] | |||
===Violence and non-violence=== | |||
The environment and sustainability have been an issue for anarchists from at least as far back as Kropotkin's '], but since the late 1970s anarchists in ] and European countries have been agitating for the natural environment. ] or ] believe in ]. This is a worldview that embraces ] and ]. Eco-anarchists often use ] against what they see as earth-destroying institutions. Of particular importance is the ] movement, that takes action such as ]. The more militant ], which grew out of Earth First!, also has connections with the anarchist movement. Another important component is ], which sees the domination of nature as a metaphor for the domination of women. | |||
Anarchists have often been portrayed as dangerous and violent, due mainly to a number of high-profile violent acts including ]s, ]s, and ]s involving anarchists. The use of ] and ], however, is condemned by most anarchist ideology, though there remains no ] on the legitimacy or utility of violence. | |||
Some anarchists share Leo Tolstoy's ] belief in ]. These ] advocate ] 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 ] followers even saw ] as coercive and refused to take part in such traditional socialist tactics. | |||
] 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 ] and ] have ] people from the natural world. This philosophy develops themes present in the political action of the ] and the writings of ]. Some primitivists advocate a complete process of ']' and a return to ] ] lifestyles while others only wish to see an end to industrial society and do not oppose ] or ]. Key theorists in the former category include ] and ] while the 'Unabomber' ] belongs in the latter. Today there is much conflict between primitivists and followers of more traditional forms of ] anarchism, such as the ] of ]. | |||
] and ] 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 to the workers" ('']'', number 125, September 6, 1921). | |||
===Religion=== | |||
] ]]]{{main|Anarchism and religion|Buddhist anarchism|Christian anarchism|Islam and anarchism}} | |||
From ] and ] to the Spanish anarcho-syndicalists, Anarchists have traditionally been skeptical about and opposed to ], believing that most organized religions are ] in nature and, more often than not, aligned with contemporary power structures like ] and ]. Nonetheless, there are those who reconcile anarchism with religion. | |||
Between 1894 and 1901, individual anarchists assassinated numerous heads of state. Such "]" was not popular among anarchists, and many in the movement condemned the tactic. For example, McKinley's assassin, ], claimed to be a disciple of ], but she disavowed any association with him. | |||
] believe that there is no higher authority than ], and oppose earthly authority such as ] and established churches. They believe that Jesus' teachings and the practice of the ] were clearly anarchistic, but were corrupted when "Christianity" was declared the official religion of Rome. The most famous Christian anarchist was the Russian novelist ] whose ']' is considered a key christian anarchist text. The ] is a modern Christian anarchist organisation. | |||
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 ], where anarchists were blamed for throwing a bomb at police who came to break up a public meeting in ]. | |||
] was most influential in the 1920s. Strands of Chinese anarchism included ]'s ] which was influenced by ] and the ]. | |||
Some anarcho-socialists 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. | |||
==Recent Developments within Anarchism== | |||
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. | |||
===Pacifism=== | |||
]]] | |||
Some anarchists consider ] (opposition to ]) to be inherent in their philosophy. Some anarchists take it further and follow ]'s belief in ] (note, however, that these ] are not necessarily ] as Tolstoy was), advocating ] as the only method of achieving a truly anarchist ]. | |||
*'''Post-left anarchy''' - ] seeks to distance itself from the traditional "left" - communists, socialists, social democrats, etc. - and to escape the confines of ] in general. Post-leftists argue that anarchism has been weakened by its long attachment to contrary "leftist" movements and single issue causes (], ], 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: ], the magazine ] and its editor ], ], ] and others. | |||
*'''Post-Anarchism''' - The term ] was originated by ], first receiving popular attention in his book '']'' to refer to a theoretical move towards a synthesis of classical anarchist theory and ] 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 ], ], ], ] 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 ], ], ] and ]. | |||
*'''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 ] and ], author of works including "Armed Joy" and "The Anarchist Tension". This tendency is represented in the US in magazines such as ] and ]. | |||
*'''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 . 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 ]. ] and ] 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."<ref> by David Graeber | |||
and Andrej Grubacic</ref> | |||
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 ]'s view that "war is the health of the state". Anarchists believe that if they were to support a war they would be strengthening the state — indeed, ] was alienated from other anarchists when he expressed support for the British in ]. | |||
==Criticisms of anarchism== | |||
{{main|Criticisms of anarchism}} | |||
The theory and practice of anarchism has been controversial since it came to prominence in the 19th century. Some of the criticisms made of anarchism come from the interests it opposes, such as governments. Other criticisms have been made internally of other anarchists or by political movements that appear to share similar goals, such as ]. Many question the idealist nature of anarchism, and have misgivings about its practical application in the real world. Some point to anarchism's inability to establish a viable anti-state. Some social scientists note that hierarchies appear to be synonymous with human civilization, although others note that many indigenous societies have been largely egalitarian. | |||
Just as they are critical and distrustful of most government endeavours, anarchists often view the stated reasons for war with a ] eye. Since the ] protests in ] and, most recently, the protests against the ], much anarchist activity has been ] based. | |||
==Cultural phenomena== | |||
] (1928–)]] | |||
The kind of anarchism that is most easily encountered in popular culture is represented by well-known figures who publicly identify themselves as anarchists. The following figures are examples of prominent publicly self-avowed anarchists: | |||
*the ] professor of ] ] | |||
*the social historian ]<ref>"Something of an anarchist," , 2003</ref> | |||
*author ] | |||
*author and speaker ] | |||
*author ] | |||
*]ist ] | |||
*] fighter and champion ] | |||
*], author and critic ] | |||
*], actor, film director, writer and comedian. | |||
Many anarchists in the current movement however, reject complete pacifism, (although groups like Earth First!, and ] 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. | |||
In ], the ] was created in downtown ]. The housing and employment crisis in most of ] led to the formation of ] and squatter movements like the one still thriving in ], in ]. Although not always explicitly anarchist, militant ] in places like Germany, and the uprisings of ], ], and ] groups in France and Italy also helped to give popularity to anti-authoritarian, non-capitalist ideas. | |||
===Parliamentarianism=== | |||
In various musical styles, anarchism rose in popularity. Most famous for the linking of anarchist ideas and music has been ], although in the modern age, hip hop, and folk music are also becoming important mediums for the spreading of the anarchist message. In the ] this was associated with the ] movement; the band ] is celebrated for its anarchist and ] ideas. | |||
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. ] is a anarchist school of thought which emphasizes "tending your own garden" and "neither ballets nor bullets." The anarchist case against voting is explained in by George H. Smith. | |||
''For further details, see ] and ].'' | |||
== Critique == | |||
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. ] has been undermined to some extent and a gift-culture supported by ], collaborative software development, and ] (] ]) has arisen. These cyber-communities include those that support ], ], ], and ]s. Others use technology to remain anonymous, communicate securely using ], and maintain financial privacy through ]. ''See also'': ] and ]. | |||
See ] for a general critique of socialism, some of which may apply. There are also some specific criticisms of anarchism. | |||
== |
=== Violence === | ||
Some critics claim that lack of police and military would leave the anarchist communities defenseless against organized internal and external aggressors like ], ], or military ]. The criticism about lack of police only applies to those schools of 'anarchism' that would deny people's freedom to organize voluntarily for defense. | |||
{{Political ideology entry points}} | |||
<!-- (Please take care in adding to this list that it not grow excessively large, consider adding to the list of anarchist concepts page) --> | |||
There are many concepts relevant to the topic of anarchism, this is a brief summary. There is also a more extensive ]. | |||
*], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] | |||
*] | |||
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*] <!-- hmm should this and the article above be merged? didn't see it before...--> | |||
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] theory allows PDAs (private defense agencies), i.e. private arbitration and police associations, which it is argued would be more moral and efficient than monopoly statist police. In other words, anarchists are not against police, courts, and laws ''per se'', simply the monopoly provision of such by a coercive organization - the State. Advantages over statist legal systems are: 1) less likelihood of victimless crime laws, 2) people may choose what rules to live by, and 3) competition for customers favors liberty compared to monopoly statist police. Since people can choose their preferred security product, this allows for e.g. the Happy Hippie Defense Association which allows ganja and public nudity, and the God's Own Security, Inc. that stones adulterers and has mandatory church attendence. Such different legal products may exist peacefully side-by-side, since they are voluntary and people can opt out or switch at any time. (Presumably not to avoid prosecution.) Cf: "The Market for Liberty" by Morris and Linda Tannahill, "The Ethics of Liberty" by Murray Rothbard, and articles on "]." | |||
===Historical events=== | |||
*] (1871) | |||
*] (1886) | |||
*] (1910) | |||
*] (1918-1922) (see also ]) | |||
*] (1921) | |||
*] (1923) | |||
*] (1929-1931) | |||
*] (1936) (see also ]) | |||
*May 1968, France (1968) | |||
*] (1999) | |||
*] (2001) | |||
Similarly, ] would allow private defense associations to organize against foreign invasion. Local private militias are seen as likely, while interventionist military actions would become more difficult compared to statist military policy. Since they depend on voluntary funding, private militaries would not have taxpayers to plunder or subjects to conscript. Thus interventionism becomes an expense to bear that more peaceful competitors don't have. Peaceful defense firms therefore have a competitive advantage over warmonger firms. Furthermore, unlike States, PDAs are not necessarily territorially based. Thus the use of weapons of mass destruction is less likely for private militaries than statist militaries. E.g. Coke doesn't bomb Pepsi because they have bottling plant and customers in the same cities and towns, whereas statist militaries and ideology allows mass-murder of everyone on the enemy State's 'turf.' | |||
===Anarchism by region=== | |||
{{main|Anarchism by country}} | |||
*] | |||
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Some express doubts concerning the effectiveness of a voluntary militia against a ruthless modern military using ] and hierarchical structure. Critics also argue that historical examples, like the ], do not support the theory that anarchist communities can defend themselves. Also, critics see violence among ] as evidence that anarchist societies will be violent. Yet examples like Hong Kong, a near free market virtually defenseless from Mao's China not only wasn't attacked, but thrived. Anarchists argue that free trade makes attack unlikely. E.g. Since China owned the biggest bank in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong provided much needed trade and financial services to China, it would have been irrational for China to attack. Similar experience in other merchant cities supports this view. As Fredric Bastiat wrote, "When goods don't cross borders, soldiers will." Anarcho-capitalists believe that converse is also true: when goods ''do'' cross borders, war is less likely. As for hunter gatherers, many such societies did get along peacefully. Again, it depended largely on whether freedom of trade was allowed and property rights were respected. A study of the Yurok Indians of northern California showed that they got along peacibly with neighboring tribes, and even allowed people from other tribes to own property in their jurisdiction. Cf: Also, the Xeer of Somaliland has a peaceful record, especially compared to the chaos of the statist system (and its breakdown) in neighboring Somalia. | |||
===Anarchism by culture=== | |||
*] | |||
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=== Production === | ||
Some critics of Anarchism claim that production in an unorganized society will suffer and dwindle to a primitive state. This critique assumes that order can only result from central planning, as opposed to decentralized/pluralistic decision-making or some other form of emergent order. | |||
{{main|List of anarchist books}} | |||
In a stateless society where one community has no formal relationship with another, as some ] envision, production would be localized, eliminating the benefits of ] and ]. Even if it is cheaper to produce goods in one geographic location over another, anarchism could mean that people farther away cannot benefit from this efficient production because safe, organized production and transportation is prevented. Of course, this objection doesn't apply at all to the ] vision of free trade and open markets. On the contrary, without government regulation, barriers to trade, and plunder, production would be expected to compare favorably to statist ]. | |||
*], '']'' | |||
*], '']'' | |||
*], '']'' | |||
*], '']'' | |||
*], '']'' | |||
*], '']'' | |||
*], '']'' | |||
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Another critique of the ] position is that business relationships between organizations/firms/individuals will be limited to inefficient contracts. Without a government and judicial system to enforce a contract, organizations will be forced to use ] schemes and other paralegal methods to enforce contract negotiations. In particular, firms may feel safer doing businesses with other groups that they have a long-term relationship with. A newer organization will be viewed with distrust because it could renege on its contract obligations and forgo payment or delivery. This creates a formidable ] for new organizations and limits the profitable relationships organized producers can engage in. Again, this critique does not apply to ], which allows private polycentric law protecting contracts - law which is likely to be more efficient (and more moral) than the monopoly law of the State. The fact that new businesses have to build up a reputation for honesty and quality is seen as a good consequence from the consumers' point of view, and a natural (as opposed to coercive) barrier to entry. | |||
==Notes and references== | |||
<div class="references-small"> | |||
<references /> | |||
</div> | |||
== |
==See also== | ||
* ] | |||
An overwhelming diversity and number of links relating to anarchism exist. Below are but a few. | |||
* ] | |||
{{wikiquote|Definitions of anarchism}} | |||
* ] | |||
* at ] - "]" written by a group of ]. | |||
* ] | |||
* - a FAQ written by ] economics professor ]. | |||
* ] | |||
* 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 | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
==Books== | |||
<!-- Attention! The external link portion of this article regularly grows far beyond manageable size. Please only list an outside link if it applies to anarchism in general and is somewhat noteworthy. Links to lesser known sites or submovements will be routinely | |||
===Anarcho-capitalist=== | |||
moved to the list page to keep this article free of clutter --> | |||
*], '']'' Radical classical liberalism | |||
*], '']'' Historians look at technology & implications | |||
*], '']'' Classic utilitarian defense of anarchism | |||
*], '']'' | |||
*], '']'' Oppenheimer's thesis applied to early US history | |||
*], '']'' Analysis of State; political means vs. economic means | |||
*] Father of modern anarcho-capitalism: | |||
**'']'' The ultimate Austrian economics book, | |||
**'']'' Classification of State economic interventions, | |||
**'']'' Moral justification of a free society | |||
*], '']'' Academic philosopher on libertarianism | |||
*], '']'' Includes the essay "The Right to Ignore the State" | |||
*], '']'' Classic on PDAs (private defense agencies) | |||
===Anarcho-socialist=== | |||
{{Forms of leadership}} | |||
*], '''', ''Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist'', others | |||
*], '''', ''The Paris Commune and the Idea of the State'', others | |||
*], '''', ''Living My Life'', others | |||
*], '']'' | |||
*], '']'', '']'', others | |||
*], '']'' | |||
*], ''Anarcho-Syndicalism'' | |||
*], ''The Unknown Revolution'' | |||
*], '']'' | |||
===General/Other=== | |||
*], '''' | |||
*], '']'' Contractarian (as opposed to Natural Law or utilitarian) anarchism | |||
*], ''The Kingdon of God is Within You'' - Christian pacifist anarchism | |||
*], ''The Society of the Spectacle'' | |||
*], '']'' Small is beautiful | |||
*], ''Temporary Autonomous Zones'' Ontological anarchism | |||
==External links== | |||
* Bryan Caplan's covers both socialist and capitalist varieties of anarchism. | |||
* An is written from the perspective of the traditional "social anarchist" movement. | |||
* Peter Kropotkin's for the 11th edition Encylopedia Britannica (1911). | |||
* from ''The Conquest of Power'', by communist and historian Albert Weisbord | |||
* from ''The Conquest of Power'', by communist and historian Albert Weisbord | |||
* Hundreds of anarchists are listed, with short bios, links & dedicated pages | |||
* intends to be an anarchist encyclopedia using the ] engine. | |||
* extensively archives information relating to famous anarchists. This includes many of their books and other publications. | |||
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Revision as of 01:52, 18 September 2006
Schools of Anarchism
Anarchism in Culture |
- This article surveys a broad range of political philosophies that oppose the state and communism. For pro-communism usages, see libertarian socialism.
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 the State 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. An advocacy of voluntary human interaction and opposition to aggression are the unvarying principles of anarchism.
"We are anarcho-capitalists. In other words, we believe that capitalism is the fullest expression of anarchism, and anarchism is the fullest expression of capitalism. Not only are they compatible, but you can't really have one without the other. True anarchism will be capitalism, and true capitalism will be anarchism." - Murray Rothbard
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 lack of decreed law or rulers. Some anarchists have embraced Taoism, which developed in Ancient China, as a source of anarchistic attitudes . 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 . 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 tênd 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, "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.
The Anabaptists of 16th century Europe are sometimes considered to be religious forerunners of modern anarchism. Bertrand Russell, in his History of Western Philosophy, writes that the Anabaptists "repudiated all law, since they held that the good man will be guided at every moment by the Holy Spirit...rom this premise they arrive at communism...." The 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
Timeline of Modern Anarchism | |||
1756 | First anarchist essay. | Edmund Burke | A Vindication of Natural Society |
1793 | First anarchist treatise. | William Godwin | An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice |
1840 | First self-described anarchist. | Pierre Proudhon | What is Property? |
1841 | First individualist anarchist. | Josiah Warren | Manifesto |
1844 | First egoist anarchist. | Max Stirner | The Ego and Its Own |
1849 | First anarcho-capitalist. | Gustave de Molinari | The Production of Security |
1866 | First anarcho-socialist. | Michael Bakunin | Revolutionary Catechism |
1886 | Individualist anarchist publisher. | Benjamin Tucker | State Socialism and Anarchism: How far they agree, & wherein they differ |
1902 | First anarcho-communist. | Peter Kropotkin | Mutual Aid |
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 William Godwin published An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, in which he presented his vision of a free society alongside a critique of government. Some consider this the first anarchist treatise, calling Godwin the "founder of philosophical anarchism". Godwin advocated an extreme type of individualism opposing every kind of cooperation among individuals. The term "anarchist" was used during the French Revolution as an insult against anti-monarchists, but Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, adopted the term to describe his own political philosophy in the 1840s. Since Proudhon was the first to adopt the term "anarchist" as a self-description, some claim Proudhon as the founder of modern anarchist theory.
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. "The Law" (1849) by Frederic Bastiat is a good example of an anti-statist liberal tract. The earliest anarcho-capitalist was Gustave de Molinari, who wrote about private defense agencies in The Production of Security (1849). This was the first attempt to solve the problem of security in a stateless manner. Previous thinkers had generally either assumed that statelessness would lead to a quick change in human nature, claimed personal justice would suffice, or simply avoided the issue. In the United States, anarchist thoughts were expressed in the writings of Henry David Thoreau (Civil Disobedience), Josiah Warren, and Benjamin Tucker. Individualist anarchists such as Tucker were influenced by the writings of Herbert Spencer and Max Stirner, among others.
Later in the 19th century, Anarcho-socialist theorists like Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin paralleled the Marxist critique of capitalism and synthesized it with their own critique of the state. Their rejection of private property, and the authoritarianism that implies, puts them outside the anarchist sphere. As Benjamin Tucker wrote in Liberty, "Anarchism is a word without meaning, unless it includes the liberty of the individual to control his product or whatever his product has brought him through exchange in a free market - that is, private property. Whoever denies private property is of necessity an Archist."
In the 1950's, the anti-war, anti-state Old Right defected from the new Cold War big-government Republicans, and alligned with segments of the New Left and radical Objectivists. Eventually this alliance evolved into the US Libertarian party and various anarcho-capitalist movements, sparked by the minarchist writings of Ayn Rand and the philosophical guidance and activism of Murray Rothbard ("The Libertarian Manifesto"). In the 21st century, the global growth and interest in anti-statist and secessionist beliefs have given anarchism a new life. Many anarchists believe that the internet and strong cryptography provide a technological advantage for freedom over statism.
Anarchism today
Anarchism is not constrained to political protest. Anarchists also engage in building parallel structures and organizations and alternatives to statist institutions (e.g. Habitat for Humanity). This is in line with the general anarchist concept of "building freedom" or creating "tending your own garden." The idea is to create voluntary alternatives to services currently provided by the State.
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. Anarchists are also excited about new technology. Digital anonymous currency provide 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.
==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.
Anarcho-capitalism
Main article: Anarcho-Capitalism
Also known as "market anarchism" and "right anarchism," anarcho-capitalism envisions a stateless society with predominantly sticky (neo-Lockean) property arrangements. This is an anathema to the libertarian socialist schools of "anarchism" which hold an exploitation theory with regard to rent and wage labor. Instead of the anarcho-socialist labor theory of value, anarcho-capitalists tend to hold to the subjectivist theory of value propounded by the Austrian School of economics. 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.
Individualist anarchism
- Main articles: Individualist anarchism, American individualist anarchism
Individualist anarchism, having as its precursors the European individualists William Godwin, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and Max Stirner became relatively formalized in 19th century America. America's Josiah Warren is commonly regarded to be the first individualist anarchist. Some other notable figures include Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker. These 19th century individualists espoused the ideas of "self-ownership", a right to retain as private property the product of one's labor, a market economy unfettered by coercion (free market) where individuals may trade their private property and labor, private ownership of land (with the caveat that the land must be put into use by the owner), and a right to labor for wages as long wages adhered to their labor theory of value. However, these individualists opposed profit as being exploitative and this is their basis for opposing capitalism. Though they saw profit as unjust they opposed coercively interfering in the contractual relationships of others, prefering instead to compete with alternative business models (see mutualism (economic theory)) as well as educate through philosophy. These individuals tended to reject the notion that the collectivist schools such as anarcho-communism and anarcho-syndicalism were in fact anarchism. Contemporary individuals who claim the the individualist anarchist title include Robert Anton Wilson, Joe Peacott, and Wendy McElroy. Contemporary individualist anarchist of the anticapitalism tradition, Joe Peacott, regards anarcho-capitalism to be a form of individualist anarchistm . Wendy Mcelroy, an anarcho-capitalist, also considers herself to be an individualist anarchist.
The individualists were particularly adamant about a right of private property. Spooner supported a "right to acquire property...as one of the natural, inherent, inalienable rights of men one which government has no power to infringe " (Spooner 1843) He also supported the freedom of individuals to charge interest for loans free of government regulation: "All legislative restraints upon the rate of interest, are arbitrary and tyrannical restraints upon a man's natural capacity amid natural right to hire capital, upon which to bestow his labor." (Spooner 1846) Spooner was staunchly against government interference in private economic matters, and he was particularly vocal in opposing collusion between banks and government. Spooner's ideas were widely reprinted in early libertarian journals, particularly his individualist critique of the state, arguing for the right to ignore or withdraw from it. (Spooner 1867) Benjamin Tucker supported private ownership of all wealth produced by an individual, and as a staunch advocate of private property, a market economy, and anarchism in the American tradition, he says in an essay in The New Freewoman: "Anarchism is a word without meaning, unless it includes the liberty of the individual to control his product or whatever his product has brought him through exchange in a free market—that is, private property." These individualists also advocated "free banking" where any individual or group of individuals would be allowed to lend private currency for interest and enter into competition with each other. With mutual banks, they hoped increased competition would eventually drive interest rates on loans down to a negligible level.
T19th century individualist anarchists described their economic and political positions as a radicalization of the classical liberal defense of free markets and civil society — Tucker, for example, described his individualist conception of anarchism as "consistent Manchesterism" (Tucker 1926) and anarchists as "unterrified Jeffersonian Democrats" (Tucker 1888). According to political historian Carl Levy, in his MS Encarta Encyclopedia Anarchism article, "Since World War II, this tradition has been reborn and modified in the United States as anarcho-capitalism or libertarianism."
Geoanarchism
Geoanarchism (aka Georgism and Geoism) is an individualist philosophy that supports private property in the product of labor but opposes ownership of unused land. However, unlike classical individualist anarchism, geoanarchists believe that using land necessitates that the rest of the community should be compensated by paying them rent for its use. In the case of geoanarchism, rent would be collected by private associations with the opportunity to secede from a geocommunity (and not receive the geocommunity's services) if desired.
Anarchist Schools | Collectivist | Individualist (traditional) | Anarcho-Capitalist |
Is land legitimate private property? | No | Yes (qualified)
|
Yes |
Are man-made capital goods legitimate private property? |
No, in most cases. | Yes | Yes |
Is it immoral to collect profit from capital and interest? |
Yes. It's a crime, and should be expropriated in most circumstances. |
Yes. It's a vice, but should not be expropriated. |
No. It's permissable, and generally a virtue. |
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. While some anarchists reject organized defense of liberty outright, many have proposed forms of polycentric law. Traditional individualist anarchists, as well as anarcho-capitalists advocate private defense agencies and courts to protect private property and enforce contracts.
Anarchist economic organization
Main article: Anarchist economics
The modern state is deeply involved in society's economic activities, ranging from monopolized protection of property, to the regulation of markets, the plunder (taxation) of productive people, and the redistribution of goods. Most anarchists would agree that radical restructuring of existing economic systems is necessary. Collectivist anarchists or Anarcho-socialists believe that wage-labor must end, markets must be abolished, and labor exchange must be destroyed. Traditional individualist anarchists do not oppose wage-labor as long as wages paid adhere to the labor theory of value, whereas anarcho-capitalists, believing that value is subjective, do not oppose profit in wages. Both traditional individualist anarchists and Anarcho-capitalists believe that people should not be prevented from producing, trading, and interacting as they choose, so long as it is voluntary. They consider it right and natural that some are able to create and save wealth better than others, and consider the division of labor to be a boon to mankind. For a classification of government interventions in the market, see "Power and Market" by Murray Rothbard.
Conflicts within anarchist thought
Capitalism vs. Socialism
This is by far the most controversial conflict among anarchists. Anarcho-capitalists believe in a stateless free market allowing general property ownership (private property.) Anarcho-socialists want to restrict property ownership (except for personal possessions) to certain 'legitimate' collectives (e.g. workers' collectives are okay, but joint stock companies are not.) They oppose rent, interest, and employment ('wage labor.'). Much of the debate is a semantic problem, with both sides defining capitalism differently from the other. The debate even extends to the meaning of "free market," as some claim that capitalism as a system is an "anti-market force".
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.”
Tolerance vs. Expansionism
Since any belief consistent with anti-statism is anarchist, there are vastly different and often opposing ideas about: what constitutes aggression, what is valid property, and what forms and conventions societies should adopt. As a result, there is difference of opinion within each school about how to react to, or interact with, those with opposing ideologies. E.g. How should an anarcho-socialist commune react to an anarcho-capitalist firm next door? (And vice-versa.)
The tolerant attitude is to live with it - let reality be the judge. One should not use force to promote your program. Those who take this panarchist approach to 'foreign policy' generally predict that, since their system is better, it will attract more people in the long run. Benjamin Tucker is a good example of this tolerant approach.
The intolerant (evangelical or expansionist may be more descriptive) attitude considers the other system aggressive and/or authoritarian by its very nature. Thus it is permissable, perhaps even a moral imperitive, to use force against the perceived criminals. This attitude occurs among anarcho-capitalists, particularly those who cannot conceive of an anti-statist form of socialism. Indeed, "socialism" in colloquial speech is generally understood as "statist socialism." This attitude also occurs among anarcho-socialists, particularly those who cannot conceive of an anti-statist form of propertarianism. Indeed, conventional socialist theory deems capitalism as necessarily authoritarian and exploitative.
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 to the workers" (Umanità Nova, number 125, September 6, 1921).
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.
Some anarcho-socialists 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
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". 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 ballets nor bullets." The anarchist case against voting is explained in The Ethics of Voting by George H. Smith.
Critique
See Criticisms of Socialism for a general critique of socialism, some of which may apply. There are also some specific criticisms of anarchism.
Violence
Some critics claim that lack of police and military would leave the anarchist communities defenseless against organized internal and external aggressors like pirates, terrorists, or military imperialism. The criticism about lack of police only applies to those schools of 'anarchism' that would deny people's freedom to organize voluntarily for defense.
Anarcho-capitalist theory allows PDAs (private defense agencies), i.e. private arbitration and police associations, which it is argued would be more moral and efficient than monopoly statist police. In other words, anarchists are not against police, courts, and laws per se, simply the monopoly provision of such by a coercive organization - the State. Advantages over statist legal systems are: 1) less likelihood of victimless crime laws, 2) people may choose what rules to live by, and 3) competition for customers favors liberty compared to monopoly statist police. Since people can choose their preferred security product, this allows for e.g. the Happy Hippie Defense Association which allows ganja and public nudity, and the God's Own Security, Inc. that stones adulterers and has mandatory church attendence. Such different legal products may exist peacefully side-by-side, since they are voluntary and people can opt out or switch at any time. (Presumably not to avoid prosecution.) Cf: "The Market for Liberty" by Morris and Linda Tannahill, "The Ethics of Liberty" by Murray Rothbard, and articles on "polycentric law."
Similarly, anarcho-capitalists would allow private defense associations to organize against foreign invasion. Local private militias are seen as likely, while interventionist military actions would become more difficult compared to statist military policy. Since they depend on voluntary funding, private militaries would not have taxpayers to plunder or subjects to conscript. Thus interventionism becomes an expense to bear that more peaceful competitors don't have. Peaceful defense firms therefore have a competitive advantage over warmonger firms. Furthermore, unlike States, PDAs are not necessarily territorially based. Thus the use of weapons of mass destruction is less likely for private militaries than statist militaries. E.g. Coke doesn't bomb Pepsi because they have bottling plant and customers in the same cities and towns, whereas statist militaries and ideology allows mass-murder of everyone on the enemy State's 'turf.'
Some 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. Also, critics see violence among hunter-gatherers as evidence that anarchist societies will be violent. Yet examples like Hong Kong, a near free market virtually defenseless from Mao's China not only wasn't attacked, but thrived. Anarchists argue that free trade makes attack unlikely. E.g. Since China owned the biggest bank in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong provided much needed trade and financial services to China, it would have been irrational for China to attack. Similar experience in other merchant cities supports this view. As Fredric Bastiat wrote, "When goods don't cross borders, soldiers will." Anarcho-capitalists believe that converse is also true: when goods do cross borders, war is less likely. As for hunter gatherers, many such societies did get along peacefully. Again, it depended largely on whether freedom of trade was allowed and property rights were respected. A study of the Yurok Indians of northern California showed that they got along peacibly with neighboring tribes, and even allowed people from other tribes to own property in their jurisdiction. Cf: Enforcement of Private Property Rights in Primitive Societies: Law without Government Also, the Xeer of Somaliland has a peaceful record, especially compared to the chaos of the statist system (and its breakdown) in neighboring Somalia.
Production
Some critics of Anarchism claim that production in an unorganized society will suffer and dwindle to a primitive state. This critique assumes that order can only result from central planning, as opposed to decentralized/pluralistic decision-making or some other form of emergent order.
In a stateless society where one community has no formal relationship with another, as some anarcho-socialists envision, production would be localized, eliminating the benefits of Economies of Scale and regional specialization. Even if it is cheaper to produce goods in one geographic location over another, anarchism could mean that people farther away cannot benefit from this efficient production because safe, organized production and transportation is prevented. Of course, this objection doesn't apply at all to the anarcho-capitalist vision of free trade and open markets. On the contrary, without government regulation, barriers to trade, and plunder, production would be expected to compare favorably to statist neo-mercantilism.
Another critique of the anarcho-socialist position is that business relationships between organizations/firms/individuals will be limited to inefficient contracts. Without a government and judicial system to enforce a contract, organizations will be forced to use black market schemes and other paralegal methods to enforce contract negotiations. In particular, firms may feel safer doing businesses with other groups that they have a long-term relationship with. A newer organization will be viewed with distrust because it could renege on its contract obligations and forgo payment or delivery. This creates a formidable barrier to entry for new organizations and limits the profitable relationships organized producers can engage in. Again, this critique does not apply to anarcho-capitalism, which allows private polycentric law protecting contracts - law which is likely to be more efficient (and more moral) than the monopoly law of the State. The fact that new businesses have to build up a reputation for honesty and quality is seen as a good consequence from the consumers' point of view, and a natural (as opposed to coercive) barrier to entry.
See also
- Anarchism and capitalism
- Anarchist symbolism
- Christian anarchism
- Individualist anarchism
- List of anarchists
- List of anarchist organizations
- Temporary Autonomous Zone
- Utopian Anarchism
Books
Anarcho-capitalist
- Frederic Bastiat, The Law Radical classical liberalism
- Davidson & Rees-Mogg, The Sovereign Individual Historians look at technology & implications
- David Friedman, The Machinery of Freedom Classic utilitarian defense of anarchism
- Auberon Herbert, The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the State
- Albert Jay Nock, Our Enemy the State Oppenheimer's thesis applied to early US history
- Franz Oppenheimer, The State Analysis of State; political means vs. economic means
- Murray Rothbard Father of modern anarcho-capitalism:
- Man, Economy, and State The ultimate Austrian economics book,
- Power and Market Classification of State economic interventions,
- The Ethics of Liberty Moral justification of a free society
- Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia Academic philosopher on libertarianism
- Herbert Spencer, Social Statics Includes the essay "The Right to Ignore the State"
- Morris & Linda Tannahill, The Market for Liberty Classic on PDAs (private defense agencies)
Anarcho-socialist
- 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
- Daniel Guérin, Anarchism
- Peter Kropotkin, Mutual Aid, The Conquest of Bread, others
- Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, What is Property?
- Rudolf Rocker, Anarcho-Syndicalism
- Voline, The Unknown Revolution
- Robert Paul Wolff, In Defense of Anarchism
General/Other
- William Godwin, An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice
- Max Stirner, The Ego And Its Own Contractarian (as opposed to Natural Law or utilitarian) anarchism
- Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdon of God is Within You - Christian pacifist anarchism
- Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle
- Leopold Kohr, The Breakdown of Nations Small is beautiful
- Hakim Bey, Temporary Autonomous Zones Ontological anarchism
External links
- Bryan Caplan's "Anarchism Theory FAQ" covers both socialist and capitalist varieties of anarchism.
- An Anarchist FAQ is written from the perspective of the traditional "social anarchist" movement.
- Peter Kropotkin's article on anarchism for the 11th edition Encylopedia Britannica (1911).
- Collectivist-Anarchism from The Conquest of Power, by communist and historian Albert Weisbord
- American Liberal-Anarchism from The Conquest of Power, by communist and historian Albert Weisbord
- Hundreds of anarchists are listed, with short bios, links & dedicated pages at the Daily Bleed's Anarchist Encyclopedia
- 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.
- Infoshop.org
- Green Anarchy
- Autonome
- Industrial Workers of the World
- Anarcha-feminism
- Earth First!
- Collection of critical articles
Category:Anarchism Category:Forms of government Category:Political theories Category:Social philosophy