Essential Information & explanations, latest texts & monographs on Anarchism.


The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell

Anarchism and Other Essays by Emma Goldman

The Anarchist Cookbook (C-066) by William Powell

Red Emma Speaks: An Emma Goldman Reader by Emma Goldman

T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone by Hakim Bey

Anarchy and Christianity by Jacques Ellul

Anarchy!: An Anthology of Emma Goldman's Mother Earth by Peter Glassgold

God and the State by Michael Bakunin

Anarchism by Peter Kropotkin

In Defense of Anarchism (with a New Preface) by Robert Paul Wolff

Rebel in Paradise: A Biography of Emma Goldman by Richard. Drinnon

The Spanish Anarchists: The Heroic Years 1868-1936 by Murray Bookchin

Anarcho-Syndicalism by Rudolf Rocker

Instead of a Book by a Man Too Busy to Write One An Exposition of Individualist Anarchism by Benjamin Ricketson Tucker

The Task of Utopia by Erin McKenna


Anarchism

Anarchism is a generic term describing various political philosophies and social movements that advocate the elimination of all forms of hierarchy, including the state, and the instalation of egalitarianism. These philosophies use 'anarchy' to mean a society of free individuals without a government. Philosophical anarchist thought does not advocate chaos or anomie — it intends "anarchy" to refer to a theoretically desirable stateless society. While individual freedom and opposition to the state are primary tenets of anarchism, most anarchists insist that anarchism is much more than that. There is also considerable variation between the anarchist political philosophies, to the point that groups with radically different views may consider themselves anarchist, at the same time denying that other points of view should be called anarchist. Two areas where opinions vary widely are the role of violence in society, and the role of property and/or economics. Generally, anarchists regard all coercive control and authority as unnecessary or undesirable and advocate a society based on voluntary cooperation and free association. However, what constitutes coercion and voluntariness, as well as government, may vary widely from one theorist to another. As Benjamin Tucker put it, anarchism is the philosophy that "all the affairs of men should be managed by individuals or voluntary associations, and that the state should be abolished". Table of contents showTocToggle("show","hide") 1 Anarchy 2 History of anarchism 2.1 Precursors of anarchism 2.2 Modern anarchism 2.3 Anarchist movements 2.4 Historical examples of "successful" anarchies 2.4.1 Christiania 2.4.2 Argentina (2001-2002) 2.4.3 The Zapatistas 2.4.4 Hungarian Revolution (1956) 2.4.5 Spanish revolution (1936-1939) 3 Anarchist organization 3.1 Anarchist social organization 3.2 Anarchist economic organization 3.3 Anarchist political organization 4 Violence and non-violence 4.1 Pacifism 4.2 Non-violence 4.3 The utility of violence 5 See also 5.1 Biographies 5.2 Historical events 5.3 Books 5.4 Periodicals Anarchy One common use of the English word anarchy is "a state of lawlessness or political disorder". This use of the word implies a broad definition: usually, any situation where there is no internationally recognized government is considered anarchy. The current political situation in Somalia, for example, is referred to as a state of anarchy using this definition, since it is in a state of chaos[1]. However, in anarchist philosophies, anarchy means an "anarchist society", that is, a society where individuals are free from coercion. Anarchist theories have a fundamental critique of government, a vision of a society without government, and a proposed method of reaching such a society. The details of the political, economic, and social organization of an anarchist society vary among different branches of anarchist political thought, as do the proposed means to achieve a society organized along those lines. The anarchy sought by these philosophical anarchists is not chaos or anomie — that is, an absence of order, rules, or organized structure — but instead an absence of coercion. In particular, philosophical anarchism does not advocate situations where warlords rule by force, which may come about when a central government collapses and there is a temporary power vacuum. Recent examples of this type of anarchy or warlordism include Afghanistan and Albania around 1990, Rwanda/Burundi in the early 1990s, Somalia from the early 1990s to the present, and Bosnia around 1995. An example of relatively peaceful anarchic transition after a government collapse is that of Argentina in 2002-2003. Historically, the word "anarchist" has been applied to political opponents as a derogatory term with the meaning of "advocating chaos". For instance, the Levellers of the English Civil War and the Enrag�s of the French Revolution were referred to as anarchists by their opponents. Still today, social movements may be dismissed as "anarchist" without further comment, and the term still inspires in many an image of a black clad "mad bomber", terrorist, or other troublemaker. History of anarchism Anarcho-primitivists assert that, for the longest period before recorded history, human society was organized on anarchist principles. However, there is debate over the anthropological evidence to support this. Anarchist ideas are generally held to go back as far as Ancient Greece, where the stoic philosopher Zeno of Citium was, according to Kropotkin, "[t]he best exponent of Anarchist philosophy in ancient Greece". Some alternatively interpret the Ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism as the oldest example of anarchist doctrine [2]. 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. Anarcho-capitalism has roots in classical laissez-faire liberalism but also draws inspiration from the individualist anarchists, despite the latter's rejection of capitalist economics. Primitivism, advocating the dissolution of civilization, is reminiscent of, if not inspired by, the early 19th century Luddite movement. Around the turn of the 20th century anarchists were actively involved in the labour and feminist movements, and later in the fight against fascism. The influence of this on anarchist thought is apparent, as most of the traditional anarchist philosophies emphasize the economic implications of anarchism or arrive at anarchism from economic arguments. There are also a number of feminist anarchist theories, including anarcha-feminism, eco-feminism, and individualist feminism. Since the last third of the 20th century, anarchists have been involved in student protest movements, peace movements, squatter movements, and the anti-globalization movement, among others. It has been argued that the free software movement is an example of anarchist organization, this being an example not of hierarchical business, but of voluntary association for the production of a good. Precursors of anarchism Main article: historical origins of anarchism The Greek philosopher Aristippus said that "the wise should not give up their liberty to the state" while, 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 (free gifts taking the place of the exchanges). Zeno's beliefs have only reached us as fragmentary quotations. [3] The Anabaptists of 16th century Europe are sometimes considered to be as religious forerunners of modern anarchism. Bertrand Russell, in his History of Western Philosophy, writes that the Anabaptists "repudiated all law, since they held that the good man will be guided at every moment by the Holy Spirit...[f]rom this premiss they arrive at communism...." Gerrard Winstanley, who published a pamphlet calling for communal ownership and social and economic organization in small agrarian communities in the 17th century, is considered one of the forerunners of modern anarchism. The first modern author to have published a treatise explicitly advocating the absence of government was William Godwin in An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793); though he did not use the word anarchism, he is today regarded by some as the "founder of philosophical anarchism"[4]. The term "anarchist" is thought to have first come into use during the French Revolution as a derogatory term against the left, but Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, in the 1840s, adopted the term to describe his political philosophy. Modern anarchism See also: anarchism and Marxism William Godwin's An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, in which he presents his vision of a free society published in 1793 alongside a critique of government, is considered by some to be the first anarchist treatise. These commentators credit him with founding modern philosophical anarchism although Godwin never used the word anarchism. He is also considered a forebear of utilitarianism. It wasn't until Pierre-Joseph Proudhon published What is Property? in 1840 that the term "anarchist" was adopted as a self-description. It is for this reason that some claim Proudhon as the founder of modern anarchist theory. Individualists, taking much from the writings of Max Stirner, among others, demanded the utmost respect for the liberty of the individual. Later in the 19th century, Anarchist communist theorists like Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin built on the Marxist critique of capitalism and synthesized it with their own critique of the state, emphasizing the importance of a communal perspective to maintain individual liberty in a social context. Mikhail Bakunin saw a need to defend the working class against oppression and overthrow the ruling class as a means to dissolve the state. Peter Kropotkin's anarchist communism developed from his scientific theory based on evolution in which cooperation equaled or surpassed competition in importance, as illustrated in Mutual Aid (1897). Some revolutionaries of this time encouraged acts of political violence such as bombings and the assassinations of heads of state to further anarchism. However, these actions were regarded by many anarchists as counter-productive or ineffective (see "Violence and non-violence", below). In the late 19th century Anarcho-syndicalism developed as the industrialized form of libertarian communism, emphasizing industrial actions, especially the general strike, as the primary strategy to achieve anarchist revolution, and "build the new society in the shell of the old". Anarchists played a role in many of the labour movements, uprisings, and revolutions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the Russian Revolution (1917). In Europe, in the first quarter of the 20th century anarchist movements achieved relative, if short-lived, successes and were violently repressed by states. However, in the 1920's and 1930's the conflict between anarchism and the state was eclipsed by the one among liberal democracy, fascism and communism, which ended with the defeat of fascism in World War II. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-9), which many consider a prelude to World War II, a widely popular anarchist movement supported by militias loyal to the republic took control of rural areas of north-east Spain in 1936-1937 and collectivized the land, being crushed in short order by the Communist-controlled republican army. At the end of World War II Europe was mostly divided into a democratic region under United States influence and a communist region under control of the Soviet union, and the major political dichotomy became that between capitalism and communism. The philosophical influence of anarchism remained latent until it resurfaced in the 1960's. After World War II a political theory known as anarcho-capitalism developed, mainly in North America. Drawing as much from classical laissez-faire liberalism as well as from traditional anarchist thought, it is disowned by many anarchists. Anarcho-capitalism took the classical liberal critique of government intervention to its utmost consequences, claiming that free markets can provide not only economic goods, but also justice and security and that the state is not only unnecessary to maintain the market mechanism but harmful to it. From a very different perspective but also in North America, primitivists like John Zerzan proclaimed that civilization — not just the state — would need to be abolished to foster liberty and a just social order. A rejection of modern Technology is also prominent in the views of many primitivists, such as Theodore Kaczynski (the Unabomber). A surge of popular interest in anarchism occurred during the 1960's and 1970's. In Britain this was associated with the punk rock movement; the band Crass is celebrated for its anarchist and pacifist ideas; of note is also the Sex Pistols' hit Anarchy in the UK In Denmark, the Free City of Christiania was created in downtown Copenhagen. The housing and employment crisis in most of Western Europe led to the formation of communes and squatter movements like the one still thriving in Barcelona, Spain. In the 1990's anarchism became an important part of the anti-globalization movement. Anarchist movements See also: Today, traditional anarchist organizations continue to exist across the globe and, in recent years, anarchism as a political philosophy has gained a higher profile as a result of the rise in protest against globalisation. Feminism has always been a part of the anarchist movement, in the form of anarcha-feminism. North American anarchism also takes strong influences from the American Civil Rights Movement and the movement against the war in Vietnam. European anarchism has developed out of the labour movement, and both have incorporated animal rights activism. Globally, anarchism has also grown in popularity and influence as part of the anti-war, anti-capitalist, and anti-globalisation movements. Recently, anarchists have been known for their involvement in protests against World Trade Organization and Group of Seven meetings, and the World Economic Forum; protests which are generally portrayed in mainstream media coverage as violent riots. Many anarchists are part of the black blocs at these protests and some engage in rioting, vandalism, and violent confrontations with police. Others peacefully protested, upholding non-violent principles. Andrew Heywood writes in Political Ideologies, Anarchists have highlighted the coercive and destructive nature of political power, and in so doing have countered statist tendencies within other ideologies... anarchism has had a growing influence on modern political thought. Both the new left [including "anticolonialism, feminism and environmentalism"] and the new right [including anarcho-capitalism and free market economics], for instance, have exhibited libertarian tendencies, which bear the imprint of anarchist ideas. (Political Ideologies (second edition, 1998) p.210-211.) Anarchists and others might say that "changes in capitalist society during the 1980s have commodified information". Many people use cell phones or the internet to form loose communities which could be said to be organized along anarchist lines. Some of these communities have as their purpose the production of information in a non-commodified or use-value format, a goal made attainable by the availability of personal computing, desktop publishing and digital media. These things have made it possible for individuals to share music files over the internet, without economic incentive, and even with a certain amount of risk. There are also open source programming communities, who donate their time, and offer their product freely as well. Examples include Usenet, the free software movement (including the GNU/Linux community and the wikiwiki paradigm), and Indymedia. A book analyzing how this new "anarchic" mode of production is possible is Eric S. Raymond's The Cathedral and the Bazaar. Traditional historical materialist analysis, used by many libertarian socialists, is one means of interpreting the above, and would describe it as a "political economy of non-commodity information production". Historical examples of "successful" anarchies In recent history there have been numerous instances of collapse of state authority, sometimes prompted by war but also often due to implosion of the state. In some cases, state collapse is followed by lawlessness, rioting, looting and, if disarray lasts long enough, eventually warlordism; such societies are often described as anarchy. In some rare cases, society spontaneously and peacefully organizes itself without a government along philosophical anarchist lines. A functioning anarchy would then be a society maintaining stability and civil society without hierarchies. There are some examples, usually small and/or short-lived, which are considered successful anarchies in this sense. Christiania The Free City of Christiania is a quarter of Copenhagen that became semi-independent and self-governing in the 1970s after an anarchist commune took over army barracks in the center of the city. While in principle governed by the laws of Denmark, it is usually left alone by the authorities. For a third of a century, this self-described social experiment has successfully resolved conflicts threatening its continued existence, arising both internally and from the Danish state. Argentina (2001-2002) After the non-violent collapse of the Argentinean government in 2001/2002, the social and economic organization of Argentina has undergone major changes, though how important these changes are remains to be seen. Worker occupations of factories and popular assemblies have both been seen functioning in Argentina, and both are the kind of action endorsed by anarchists: the first is a case of direct action and the latter a case of direct democracy. A description by the CIA of present-day Argentinean politics is available here [5]. The Zapatistas Hungarian Revolution (1956) The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 can be seen as an excellent example of a functioning anarchy, perhaps even of successful communism. From October 22 1956 Hungarian workers refused to obey their managers or their government. Claiming sovereignty for their own workers councils they organized economic, military and social production on an increasing scale. An example of the anarchic social organization was that vast sums of money were freely donated for injured revolutionary fighters; and that this money was left unattended in the street for days at a time. Peasants supplied the workers with food on a voluntary basis. Between October 22 and December 14 Hungary's economy and society was governed by the democratic opinion of workers councils and voluntary associations. These councils constantly increased in scope and depth, eventually forming a Central Workers Council of Greater Budapest (CWC-GB), with intellectual and student associations affiliated to the body. The attempts to form a national Workers Council were crushed by Soviet military violence. The workers councils fought off one invasion by the Soviet Union between October 23 and 28, and fought a second invasion to an armistice of exhaustion between November 3 and November 10. After this time the Soviet Union negotiated directly with the Workers Councils. However, arrests of the primary and reserve leaderships of the CWC-GB, and massive reprisal executions and deportations of Hungarian revolutionaries lead to voluntary dissolution of the CWC-GB as it was no longer able to uphold its aims and ideals. Sporadic resistance by Hungarian revolutionaries and workers continued until mid 1957. Only one self-proclaimed anarchist, the Marxist playwright Julius Hay (Hay Gyulia), was involved in organizing the revolution. Most revolutionary Hungarians adopted their own "anarchist" way of organizing spontaneously. Spanish revolution (1936-1939) In 1936, at the outset of the Spanish Civil War, groups such as the anarcho-syndicalist CNT took control of rural regions of Aragon and Catalunya in northeastern Spain. The relative power vacuum created by the war allowed these groups to attempt a revolution. Throughout the war the Republican (loyal to the government) side was torn by internal strife between anarchists, socialists and communist, and in 1937 the revolution was ended by the communist-controlled army under general Lister. Anarchist organization Many political theorists have described different modes in which an anarchist society might be organized, and the details are discussed below. However, in the theoretical absence of coercion and society organized on the basis of voluntary associations, it would seem inevitable that different modes of organization would arise on different scales, as well as evolve in time. Some would argue that it is therefore unlikely that a sufficiently large anarchist social organization would conform to any single anarchist theory without resorting to some form of hierarchy or authoritarian control. That of course would be antithetical to philosophical anarchism. Anarchist social organization All human societies can be seen to have mechanisms to promote social cohesion, resolve conflicts amongst individuals, and maintain the necessary peace. How anarchists propose that an anarchist society would achieve these goals varies widely. See also: anarchism and sex Anarchist economic organization See also: anarchist political economy All societies, and anarchist ones are no exception, apply methods of producing and distributing goods, including food and shelter, and services, to satisfy the needs of individuals. The means in which proposed anarchic economic organizations might satisfy the needs of individuals vary widely among different branches of anarchist philosophy. Anarchist political organization See also: anarchism and democracy If an anarchy is to be more than the conventional chaos inspired by the term, collective decision-making or conflict resolution mechanisms would need to be in place. Different anarchist philosophies have a wide variety of theories on how they might deal with this problem. Violence and non-violence Main article: anarchism and 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. Since the 1970s, the punk image of irresponsible youths has also been associated with anarchist symbolism, so furthering the association with violence. The use of terrorism and assassination, however, is condemned by many anarchists, though there remains no consensus on the legitimacy or utility of violence. The Tolstoian tradition of non-violent resistance is prevalent among some anarchists, though others see self-defense as a right. Some anarchists believe that violence is justified as a way to provoke social upheaval that could lead to a social revolution. The writer J. R. R. Tolkien, in a letter to his son, briefly described anarchy as "philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control, not whiskered men with bombs"[6]. Pacifism Pacifism, referring to opposition to the practice of war, is considered by most anarchists 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. Pacifism, referring to opposition to the practice of war, is considered by the vast majority of anarchists to be inherent in their philosophy. Wars are often portrayed in anarchist literature as an activity of the state in which the state seeks to gain and consolidate power, both domestically and in foreign lands. Many anarchists subscribe to the view expressed by Randolph Bourne that "war is the health of the state"[7]. Anarchists believe that if they were to support a war they would, by default, be strengthening the state — indeed, Peter Kropotkin was alienated from other anarchists when he expressed support for the British side in World War I. Just as they are very 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. Non-violence Some anarchists share Leo Tolstoy's Christian anarchist belief in non-violence. These anarcho-pacifists advocate non-violent 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. Other Non-Violent anarchists advocate Marshall Rosenberg's non-violent communication that relates to peoples fundamental needs and feelings using strategies of requests, observations and empathy yet providing for the use of protective force while rejecting pacifism as a compromising strategy of the left that just perpetuates violence. The utility of violence Famous anarchists of the nineteenth century such as Mikhail Bakunin and Errico Malatesta saw violence as a necessary and sometimes desirable force. Malatesta took the view that it is "necessary to destroy with violence, since one cannot do otherwise, the violence which denies [the means of life and for development] to the workers" (Umanit� Nova, number 125, September 6, 1921[8]). Between 1894 and 1901, individual anarchists assassinated numerous heads of state, including: Such "propaganda of the deed" is now said not to have been a popular tactic among anarchists, and many in the movement did condemn the tactic. For example, McKinley's assassin, Leon Czolgosz, claimed to be a disciple of Emma Goldman, but she disavowed any association with Czolgosz. Goldman included in her definition of anarchism the observation that all governments rest on violence, and this is one of the many reasons they should be opposed. Goldman herself didn't oppose tactics like assassination until she went to Russia, where she witnessed the violence of the Russian state and the Red Army. From then on she condemned the use of terrorism, especially by the state, and advocated violence only as a means of self-defense. Depictions in the press and popular fiction (for example, a malevolent bomb-throwing anarchist in Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent) 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. More recently, anarchists have been involved in protests against World Trade Organization (WTO) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings across the globe, which have often turned violent (being described by some as "riots"). Traditionally, Mayday in London has been a day of marching, but in recent years the Metropolitan Police have warned that a "hardcore of anarchists" are intent on causing violence. Anarchists often respond that it is the police who initiate violence at these demonstrations, with the anarchist intent being only to defend themselves. The anarchists involved in such protests often formed black blocs at these protests and some engaged in property destruction, vandalism, or in violent conflicts with police, though others stuck to non-violent principles. See also Biographies Historical events Books Periodicals
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