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Anarchism

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Anarchism is the political theory that advocates the abolition of all forms of government. The word anarchism derives from Greek roots an (no) and archos (ruler).

Different groups have radically different visions of what anarchism means: libertarian socialists intend anarchism to mean an abolition of all forms of hierarchy: political, economic, and otherwise; anarcho-capitalists envision a capitalist society with governments replaced by capitalist institutions; individualist anarchists insist above all on individual freedom from state.

These visions have created a very polemical debate around the names of various types of anarchism and related ideas. For example, "anarchism" is variously understood as being either socialist or capitalist. In the United States, "libertarianism" typically does not refer to either anarchism or socialism, while in e.g. Latin America it refers to both. Finally, the term "anarchy" is frequently used as a perjorative in reference to anomie.

Libertarian socialism

This theory of anarchism calls for a system of socialism, with collective ownership of means of production, without the need for any government authority or coercion.

Adherents of this view sometimes call themselves libertarian socialists, libertarian communists, left-anarchists, or anarcho-communists. The unadorned word 'anarchist' popularly denotes this brand of anarchist.

While some historians trace the roots of European anarchism to movements such as the Free Spirit in the middle ages, there was no cohesive ideology until the nineteenth century. Major advocates of anarchism in that era included Leo Tolstoy, Proudhon, Peter Kropotkin, and Mikhail Bakunin. Their writings revolved around atheism (with a few exceptions), and cooperative economics based on mutual aid. Anarchist labor unions were a significant element in the social struggles of that era, and many experiments in cooperative living, education, and other institutions were made. Bakunin was thrown out of the International by Karl Marx, which began a long-lasting split between left-anarchists and communists.

Late in the 19th century, anarchist labor unions began to use the tactic of general strike. This was often met with violence and some of the strikes escalated into near-insurrections. In this climate, a minority of anarchists began to advocate regicide, which they referred to as "propaganda of the deed." United States President William McKinley, among others, was assinated by an anarchist.

This has left a lasting public impression that libertarian socialists are violent. In fact there is no consensus on the legitimacy or utility of violence among libertarian socialists. The Tolstoian tradition of non-violent resistance is prevalent among many anarchists; others believe that violence (especially self-defense and property damage) is justified in reaction to what they see as oppression.

Similarly, there is no consensus on what type of socialism libertarian socialists advocate. Many libertarian socialists employ criticisms of capitalism which are similar to those advocated by Marxists. Others focus on mutual aid from an anthropoligical perspective. Anarcho-syndicalists see labor unions as the critical organizing structures of an anarchist economy.

Anarcho-capitalism

The theory of anarchism, based on individualism and natural law, calls for the abolition of any government control or regulation, and promotes capitalist private businesses to replace all of current government's activities.

Adherents of this theory of anarchism call themselves anarcho-capitalists.

Anarcho-capitalism has existed in its modern form at least since Gustave de Molinari in the 1840s, but has mostly been flourishing since it organized in the 1950s in the USA. Anarcho-capitalists consider themselves as radical members of the classical liberal tradition ('libertarianism' as it is now called in the USA), and trace their explicit roots back to Locke and the seventeenth century english Whigs. All classical liberals believe in 'as little government as possible'; anarchists among them believe governments can and must be done without completely, whereas minarchists believe or accept that some government be necessary for e.g. enforcing law and order.


Anarcho-capitalists, like classical liberals in general, tend to loathe violent action and revolutions as a "normal" way to promote or impose their views, even in presence of governments they hate. However, they do support, e.g. the american revolution, that precisely consisted in individuals sharing common views fighting together, against people trying to impose their views on them.

Individualist anarchism

There are several anarchist thinkers, such as Benjamin Tucker, Lysander Spooner and Max Stirner which are known as individualist anarchists. Beyond economic issues of collectivism vs capitalism, they insist on individual liberty and absence of coercion from state.

Like libertarian socialists, they loathe government-supported capitalism, and reject several essential principles of capitalism in general. Like anarcho-capitalists, they put an emphasis on individual rights and liberty, and on market-based approaches rather than collectivism. They are thus acknowledged both by libertarian socialists and anarcho-capitalists, although each side accepts or criticizes differently the works of these thinkers. See individualist anarchism for a discussion of this issue.


On the debate of capitalism vs socialism, the reply of modern individualist anarchism is to let each individual choose the system he is willing to adhere to, and, with experience, each will choose what suits him best; to them, it doesn't matter which system will majoritarily prevail (which doesn't prevent each of them from making one's own educated guess), as long as individual freedom is respected.

Anarchy as Anomie

The popular meaning of anarchy as absolute chaos and disorder, what some scholars call by Durkheim's sociological term "anomie" (absence of standards, values or order), is rejected by all the above anarchist traditions - they think that government is actually a source of disorder, and that society would be more orderly without any. Anarchy and anomie in this context are most often not intended situations, and are more an extension of what the opponents of anarchy imagine would result from if anarchists of any kind were to take power.

This usage has strong negative connotations, and has historically been used as a slur by political groups against their opponents, most notably by monarchists against republicans in past centuries. However, anomie has also been embraced by countercultural elements such as punk rock.

Libertarian socialism vs. Anarcho-capitalism

Both libertarian socialists and anarcho-capitalists share an opposition to states and governments; but beyond that they disagree vehemently.

Libertarian socialists consider that an employer-employee relationship is based on coercion by the employer, and that all coercion should be prevented, even if oppressed employees are passively consenting out of weakness and ignorance. Anarcho-capitalists consider an employer-employee relationship to be an elaborate and mutually profitable form of voluntary association, and that any external power capable of preventing it is itself oppression.

Libertarian socialists and anarcho-capitalists view each other's ideas with hostility. Proponents of each of these two theories tend to claim that theirs is the only true anarchism, while the other position is not anarchism at all, because it opposes a wrong notion of power ('archos'). On the other hand, libertarian socialists consider themselves as part of the collectivist movement, while anarcho-capitalists consider themselves as classical liberals - this shows that the opposition between collectivism and individualism in matters of political economy is indeed more essential than the question of the existence of government.

Many libertarian socialists argue that anarcho-capitalism should not be called anarchism at all, due to the much older use of the word to refer to libertarian socialism. Anarcho-capitalists argue they have just as much right to the word as libertarian socialists have, and that their anti-statist tradition is actually older and more coherent. Individualist anarchists could arguably claim they are the oldest anarchist tradition, but they care little for such macho "length contests" about the age of traditions, since they don't feel like they are part of a collective they must defend.

Historical Anarchist Movements

  • Spanish Civil War - During the Spanish civil war, the anti-fascist forces were comprised of various factions including communists and anarchists. Anarchist groups controlled both territory and factories for a time during the war. Fights broke out between the communists and anarchist in some cities. One of the anarchist groups from that time, the CNT (Confederación National del Trabajo), still exists in Spain and has a website.
  • Russian Revolution - After the overthrow of the czarist state, many revolutionary movements sprang up all throughout the collapsing Russian Empire. Notable amongst these was an anarchist peasant movement in the Ukraine, usually known as the Makhnovists due to the influence of Nestor Makhno, an anarchist peasant/general. The Makhnovists organized resistance against the White counterrevolution, and later on against the consolidation of power by the Bolsheviks, but were eventually crushed.
  • Mexican Revolution - The revolutionary period in Mexico was an extended period usually considered to have begun with the overthrow of the dictator Porfirio Diaz and the installation of the moderate Francisco Madero. Instrumental in this transfer of power were the likes of Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, a mestizo peasant from the state of Morelos. Zapata and his followers, the Zapatistas, mostly Mayan Indians, advocated for a program of radical land reform under the slogan "Tierra y Libertad", or "Land and Liberty". This demand, laid out roughly in the Zapatista's Plan de Ayala, sought to break up the large landholdings (fincas) which maintained power in the hands of the landlords (finqueros) and kept the Indian peasants chained into a system of lifelong debt slavery (peonage). This Zapatista movement was eventually augmented by intellectuals from Mexico City, including the anarchist Antonio Diaz Soto Y Gama and the brothers Jesus and Ricardo Flores Magon (who coined the phrase "Land & Liberty" that Zapata adopted). These intellectuals, more articulate than the illiterate peasants (probably including Zapata himself) became the voice for the Zapatista movement. Zapata quickly broke with Madero, who he felt was not moving quickly enough in the area of land reform, and continued to fight his government and the successive governments of Victoriano Huerta and Venustiano Carranza. Madero, Huerta and Carranza fought each other for control of the Mexican state, but all agreed that Zapata was a thorn that had to be removed. Eventually, after many years of fighting, Carranza succeeded in having Zapata assassinated (on April 10, 1917), and subduing the Zapatista forces.
  • IWW - The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, or "Wobblies") were an anarcho-syndicalist labor union that was prominent in labor struggles in early 20th century America. They advocated the formation of "one big union" comprised of all workers everywhere. The IWW made use of militant tactics in order to effect their demands for improvement in worker's conditions, including sabotage, and popularized the "wildcat strike", a sudden, unannounced work stoppage, as a means of fighting. While they never advocated straight out violence, they were clear in their intent to defend themselves if attacked, and fought back with force against policemen and Pinkerton security guards. The Wobblies were unabashedly revolutionary (as many labor unions were at the time) and saw their struggle for worker's rights only as a tool towards the eventual worker takeover of factories that the syndicalists envisioned at the time. They were racially inclusive, recognizing that black workers and white workers faced the same oppression (in a time when many labor unions were exclusive). They faced fierce resistance, both from the bosses themselves and from the federal government. This resistance, and the slow process of attrition of revolutionary potential as labor unions forced concessions from the capitalists, reduced the IWW to tatters by the early twenties. They still survive in some form and are organizing workers to this day. Their website is here.

Most Famous Anarchists

Here is a small selection of most famous anarchists. For more, see in various categories.

External Links

Web sites with a clear libertarian socialist bent:

Web sites with a clear anarcho-capitalist bent:

See also: nihilism, syndicalism, libertarianism

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