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Anarchism, Or The Revolutionary Movement Of The Twenty-first Century
,
Mutualism began in 18th-century English and French labor movements, then took an anarchist form associated with Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in France and others in the United States. This influenced individualist anarchists in the United States such as Benjamin Tucker and
", An Anarchist FAQ. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
Anarcho-communism is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state,
Post-left anarchy">Post-left Contemporary anarchism within the history of anarchism is the period of the anarchist movement continuing from the end of World War II and into the present. Since the last third of the 20th century, anarchists have been involved in anti-globalisat ...
anarcho-communist
Bob Black. ''Nightmares of Reason''.
Most anarcho-communists view it as a way of reconciling the opposition between the individual and society. Anarcho-communism developed out of radical socialist currents after the French Revolution,From Wage slavery: Robert Graham, '' Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas – Volume One: From Anarchy to Anarchism (300CE to 1939)'', Black Rose Books, 2005 but it was first formulated as such in the Italian section of the First International.Nunzio Pernicone, "Italian Anarchism 1864–1892", pp. 111–13, AK Press 2009. The theoretical work of
"Anarchist-Communism" by Alain Pengam
To date, the best-known examples of an anarchist communist society, i.e. established around the ideas as they exist today and achieving worldwide attention and knowledge in the historical canon) are the
''Mini-Manual of Individualism'' by Han Ryner
"I do not admit anything except the existence of the individual, as a condition of his sovereignty. To say that the sovereignty of the individual is conditioned by Liberty is simply another way of saying that it is conditioned by itself.""Anarchism and the State" in ''Individual Liberty''
In founding philosophical anarchism,
"Anarchism"
, '' Encyclopædia Britannica, 1910'' Philosophical anarchism contends that the state lacks moral legitimacy; that there is no individual obligation or duty to obey the state and conversely that the state has no right to command individuals, but it does not advocate revolution to eliminate the state. According to ''The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought'', philosophical anarchism "is a component especially of individualist anarchism".Outhwaite, William & Tourain, Alain (Eds.). (2003). Anarchism. ''The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought'' (2nd Edition, p. 12). Blackwell Publishing Philosophical anarchists may accept the existence of a minimal state as an unfortunate and usually temporary "necessary evil", but argue that citizens do not have a moral obligation to obey the state when its laws conflict with individual autonomy. As conceived by Godwin, it requires individuals to act in accordance with their own judgments and to allow every other individual the same liberty—conceived egoistically as by Max Stirner, it implies that "the unique one" who truly "owns himself" recognizes no duties to others; and within the limit of his might, he does what is right for him. Godwin opposed revolutionary action and saw a
Egoist anarchism originated in the
"Anarchism"
Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007
Archived
2009-10-31. Enrico Arrigoni (pseudonym: Frank Brand) was an Italian American
''Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America''
. Stirner's philosophy also found followers in Colombia in
Josiah Warren is widely regarded as the first American anarchistPalmer, Brian (29 December 2010
What do anarchists want from us?
, '' Slate.com'' and the four-page weekly paper he edited during 1833, ''The Peaceful Revolutionist'', was the first anarchist periodical published. For American anarchist historian Eunice Minette Schuster, " is apparent...that Proudhonian Anarchism was to be found in the United States at least as early as 1848 and that it was not conscious of its affinity to the Individualist Anarchism of Josiah Warren and
European Individualist anarchism proceeded from the roots laid by
, by Doug Imrie (published by '' Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed'') is an anarchist philosophy that developed primarily in France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland during the early 1900s as an outgrowth of Stirner's individualist anarchism."Parallel to the social, collectivist anarchist current there was an individualist one whose partisans emphasized their individual freedom and advised other individuals to do the same. Individualist anarchist activity spanned the full spectrum of alternatives to authoritarian society, subverting it by undermining its way of life facet by facet."Thus theft, counterfeiting, swindling and robbery became a way of life for hundreds of individualists, as it was already for countless thousands of proletarians. The wave of anarchist bombings and assassinations of the 1890s (Auguste Vaillant, Ravachol, Emile Henry, Sante Caserio) and the practice of illegalism from the mid-1880s to the start of the First World War (Clément Duval, Pini, Marius Jacob, the Bonnot gang) were twin aspects of the same proletarian offensive, but were expressed in an individualist practice, one that complemented the great collective struggles against capital." Illegalists usually did not seek moral basis for their actions, recognizing only the reality of "might" rather than "right" and for the most part illegal acts were done simply to satisfy personal desires, not for some greater ideal,Parry, Richard. The Bonnot Gang. Rebel Press, 1987. p. 15 although some committed crimes as a form of propaganda of the deed. The illegalists embraced
"LA INSUMISIÓN VOLUNTARIA. EL ANARQUISMO INDIVIDUALISTA ESPAÑOL DURANTE LA DICTADURA Y LA SEGUNDA REPÚBLICA (1923–1938)" by Xavier Diez
as well as Leo TolstoyEL NATURISMO LIBERTARIO EN LA PENÍNSULA IBÉRICA (1890–1939) by Jose Maria Rosello
and Élisée Reclus."The pioneers"
In the late 19th century there emerged anarcho-naturism as the fusion of anarchism and naturist philosophies within
Important contemporary currents are anarcho-primitivism and
"Anarchism – Nudism, Naturism" by Carlos Ortega at Asociacion para el Desarrollo Naturista de la Comunidad de Madrid. Published on Revista ''ADN''. Winter 2003
Mainly it had importance within
"Anarchisme et naturisme, aujourd'hui." by Cathy Ytak
in Spain,"La insumisión voluntaria: El anarquismo individualista español durante la Dictadura y la Segunda República (1923–1938)" by Xavier Díez
France,
Portugal"Anarchisme et naturisme au Portugal, dans les années 1920" in ''Les anarchistes du Portugal'' by João Freire and Cuba. Anarcho-naturism advocated vegetarianism, free love,
Anarcha-feminism is a form of anarchism that synthesizes
Anarcho-pacifism is a form of anarchism which completely rejects the use of violence in any form for any purpose. The main precedent was
In the words of historian George Richard Esenwein, anarchism without adjectives "referred to an unhyphenated form of anarchism, that is, a doctrine without any qualifying labels such as
Synthesis anarchism is a form of anarchist organization which tries to join anarchists of different tendencies under the principles of anarchism without adjectives."J.3.2 What are 'synthesis' federations?"
''An Anarchist FAQ''. It intends to bringing together anarchists of the anarchists main tendencies, namely individualist anarchism, anarchist communism and mutualism. In the 1920s, this form found as its main proponents Volin and
In the early 20th century, ''Anarchosyndicalism'' by Rudolph Rocker
'.' Retrieved 7 September 2006. Noam Chomsky sees anarcho-syndicalist and libertarian socialist ideas as the descendants of the classical liberal ideas of the Age of Enlightenment, He envisions an anarcho-syndicalist future with direct worker control of the means of production and government by workers' councils, who would select representatives to meet together at general assemblies. Although more frequently associated with labor struggles of the early 20th century (particularly in France and Spain), many syndicalist organizations are active today, including the Central Organisation of the Workers of Sweden">SAC SAC or Sac may refer to: Organizations Education * Santa Ana College, California, US * San Antonio College, Texas, US * St. Andrew's College, Aurora, Canada * Students' Administrative Council, University of Toronto, Canada * SISD Student Activiti ...
in Sweden, the USI in Italy and the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo">CNT in Spain. A number of these organizations are united across national borders by membership in the IWA–AIT">International Workers' Association.
Anarchism
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...
is the political philosophy which holds ruling classes and the state to be undesirable, unnecessary and harmful, The following sources cite anarchism as a political philosophy: Slevin, Carl. "Anarchism." ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics''. Ed. Iain McLean and Alistair McMillan. Oxford University Press, 2003. or alternatively as opposing authority
In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...
and hierarchical organization in the conduct of human relations.
Proponents of anarchism, known as anarchists, advocate stateless societies based on non-hierarchical
A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
voluntary associations. However, anarchist schools of thought can differ fundamentally, supporting anything from extreme individualism to complete collectivism to more syncretic tendencies (such as Insurrectionary anarchism). Strains of anarchism have often been divided into the categories of social anarchism and individualist anarchism or similar dual classifications, also including green anarchism
Green anarchism (or eco-anarchism"green anarchism (also called eco-anarchism)" in ''An Anarchist FAQ'' by various authors.) is an anarchist school of thought that puts a particular emphasis on ecology and environmental issues. A green anarchist ...
and post-left anarchism. Ostergaard, Geoffrey. "Anarchism". ''The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought''. Blackwell Publishing. p. 14.
Anarchism is usually considered a radical
Radical may refer to:
Politics and ideology Politics
*Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change
*Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...
left-wing or far-left
Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...
ideology
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...
. and much of anarchist economics and legal philosophy reflect anti-authoritarian, anti-statist
Anti-statism is any approach to social, economic or political philosophy that rejects statism. An anti-statist is one who opposes intervention by the state into personal, social and economic affairs. In anarchism, this is characterized by a comp ...
and libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
interpretations of radical
Radical may refer to:
Politics and ideology Politics
*Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change
*Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...
left-wing and socialist politics such as communism, collectivism, the free-market, individualism, mutualism, parecon and syndicalism, among other libertarian socialist philosophies. At some point, "the collectivist, communist, and liberal and individualist strands of thought from which anarchists drew their inspiration began to assume an increasingly distinctive quality, supporting the rise of a number of anarchist schools".
Anthropologist David Graeber
David Rolfe Graeber (; February 12, 1961September 2, 2020) was an American anthropologist and anarchist activist. His influential work in economic anthropology, particularly his books '' Debt: The First 5,000 Years'' (2011) and ''Bullshit Jobs ...
has noted that while the major Marxist schools of thought always have founders (e.g. Leninism, Trotskyism and Mao
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ...
ism), schools of anarchism "almost invariably emerge from some kind of organizational principle or form of practice", citing anarcho-syndicalism, individualist anarchism and platformism as examples.David Graeber
David Rolfe Graeber (; February 12, 1961September 2, 2020) was an American anthropologist and anarchist activist. His influential work in economic anthropology, particularly his books '' Debt: The First 5,000 Years'' (2011) and ''Bullshit Jobs ...
and Andrej Grubacic,Anarchism, Or The Revolutionary Movement Of The Twenty-first Century
,
ZNet
Z Communications is a left-wing activist-oriented media group founded in 1986 by Michael Albert and Lydia Sargent.Max Elbaum''Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao and Che'' London, England, UK; New York, New York, US: Verso, ...
. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
Classical anarchism
The decades of the late 19th and the early 20th centuries constitute the belle époque of anarchist history.Levy, Carl (2004). "Anarchism, Internationalism and Nationalism in Europe, 1860–1939". ''Australian Journal of Politics and History''. 50 (3): 337–338. In this classical era, roughly defined as the 1840s or the 1860s to 1939, anarchism played a prominent role in working-class struggles alongside Marxism in Europe as well as North and Latin America, Asia and Australia. Modernism, mass migration, railroads and access to printing all helped anarchists to advance their causes.Mutualism
Mutualism began in 18th-century English and French labor movements, then took an anarchist form associated with Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in France and others in the United States. This influenced individualist anarchists in the United States such as Benjamin Tucker and William B. Greene
William Batchelder Greene (April 4, 1819 – May 30, 1878) was a 19th-century individualist anarchist, Unitarian minister, soldier, and promoter of free banking in the United States. Greene was a member of the First International.
Biography
...
. Josiah Warren proposed similar ideas in 1833 after participating in a failed Owenite experiment. In the 1840s and 1850s, Charles A. Dana and William Batchelder Greene
William Batchelder Greene (April 4, 1819 – May 30, 1878) was a 19th-century individualist anarchist, Unitarian minister, soldier, and promoter of free banking in the United States. Greene was a member of the First International.
Biography ...
introduced Proudhon's works to the United States. Greene adapted Proudhon's mutualism to American conditions and introduced it to Benjamin Tucker.
Mutualist anarchism is concerned with reciprocity
Reciprocity may refer to:
Law and trade
* Reciprocity (Canadian politics), free trade with the United States of America
** Reciprocal trade agreement, entered into in order to reduce (or eliminate) tariffs, quotas and other trade restrictions on ...
, free association, voluntary contract, federation and credit and currency reform. Many mutualists believe a market without government intervention
Economic interventionism, sometimes also called state interventionism, is an economic policy position favouring government intervention in the market process with the intention of correcting market failures and promoting the general welfare of ...
drives prices down to labor-costs, eliminating profit, rent and interest according to the labor theory of value. Firms would be forced to compete over workers just as workers compete over firms, raising wages.
Some see mutualism as between individualist and collectivist anarchism. In ''What Is Property?'', Proudhon develops a concept of "liberty", equivalent to "anarchy", which is the dialectical "synthesis of communism and property". Greene, influenced by Pierre Leroux
Pierre Henri Leroux (7 April 1797 – 12 April 1871), was a French philosopher and political economist. He was born at Bercy, now a part of Paris, the son of an artisan.
Life
His education was interrupted by the death of his father, which com ...
, sought mutualism in the synthesis of three philosophies—communism, capitalism and socialism. Later individualist anarchists used the term mutualism, but retained little emphasis on synthesis while social anarchists
Social anarchism is the branch of anarchism that sees individual freedom as interrelated with mutual aid.Suissa, Judith (2001). "Anarchism, Utopias and Philosophy of Education". ''Journal of Philosophy of Education'' 35 (4). pp. 627–646. . S ...
such as the authors of '' An Anarchist FAQ'' claim mutualism as a subset of their philosophical tradition.Are there different types of social anarchism?", An Anarchist FAQ. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
Social anarchism
Social anarchism is a broad category of anarchism independent of individualist anarchism. Where individualist forms of anarchism emphasize personal autonomy and the rational nature of human beings, social anarchism sees "individual freedom as conceptually connected with social equality and emphasize community and mutual aid". Social anarchism is used to specifically describe anarchist tendencies within anarchism that have an emphasis on the communitarian and cooperative aspects of anarchist theory and practice. Social anarchism includes (but is not limited to)collectivist anarchism
Collectivist anarchism, also called anarchist collectivism and anarcho-collectivism, Buckley, A. M. (2011). ''Anarchism''. Essential Libraryp. 97 "Collectivist anarchism, also called anarcho-collectivism, arose after mutualism." . is an anarchis ...
, anarcho-communism, libertarian socialism, anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence in b ...
and social ecology Social ecology may refer to:
* Social ecology (academic field), the study of relationships between people and their environment, often the interdependence of people, collectives and institutions
* Social ecology (Bookchin), a theory about the relat ...
.
Collectivist anarchism
Collectivist anarchism
Collectivist anarchism, also called anarchist collectivism and anarcho-collectivism, Buckley, A. M. (2011). ''Anarchism''. Essential Libraryp. 97 "Collectivist anarchism, also called anarcho-collectivism, arose after mutualism." . is an anarchis ...
is a revolutionaryPatsouras, Louis. 2005. Marx in Context. iUniverse. p. 54 form of anarchism most commonly associated with Mikhail Bakunin, Johann Most and the anti-authoritarian section of the First International. Unlike mutualists, collectivist anarchists oppose all private ownership of the means of production, instead advocating that ownership be collectivized. This was to be initiated by small cohesive elite group through acts of violence, or " propaganda by the deed", which would inspire the workers to revolt and forcibly collectivize the means of production. 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. Although the collectivist anarchists advocated compensation for labor, some held out the possibility of a post-revolutionary transition to a communist system of distribution according to need. Collective anarchism arose contemporaneously with Marxism, but it opposed the Marxist dictatorship of the proletariat despite Marxism striving for a collectivist stateless society.
Some collectivist anarchists do not oppose the use of currency. Some support workers being paid based on the amount of time they contributed to production. These salaries would be used to purchase commodities in a communal market. This contrasts with anarcho-communism where wages would be abolished and where individuals would take freely from a storehouse of goods "to each according to his need". Many modern-day collectivist anarchists hold their form of anarchism as a permanent society rather than a carryover to anarcho-communism or a gift economy. Some collectivist anarchists such as proponents of participatory economics believe in remuneration and a form of credit but do not believe in money or markets.
Although collectivist anarchism shares many similarities with anarchist communism, there are several key differences between them. For example, collectivist anarchists believe that the economy and most or all property should be collectively owned by society while anarchist communists by contrast believe that the concept of ownership should be rejected by society and replaced with the concept of usage. In addition, collectivist anarchists often favor using a form of currency to compensate workers according to the amount of time spent contributing to society and production while anarcho-communists believe that currency and wages should be abolished all together and goods should be distributed " to each according to his or her need".
Anarcho-communism
Anarcho-communism is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, markets
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
* Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
* Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, a ...
, money, private property
Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and personal property, which is owned by a state entity, and from collective or ...
(while retaining respect for personal property
property is property that is movable. In common law systems, personal property may also be called chattels or personalty. In civil law systems, personal property is often called movable property or movables—any property that can be moved fr ...
) and capitalism in favor of common ownership
Common ownership refers to holding the assets of an organization, enterprise or community indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members or groups of members as common property.
Forms of common ownership exist in every economi ...
of the means of production, direct democracy
Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...
and a horizontal network of voluntary associations and workers' councils with production and consumption based on the guiding principle: " From each according to his ability, to each according to his need".
Some forms of anarchist communism such as insurrectionary anarchism are strongly influenced by egoism and radical individualism, believing anarcho-communism is the best social system for the realization of individual freedom. "Towards the creative Nothing" by Renzo NovatorePost-left anarchy">Post-left Contemporary anarchism within the history of anarchism is the period of the anarchist movement continuing from the end of World War II and into the present. Since the last third of the 20th century, anarchists have been involved in anti-globalisat ...
Bob Black
Robert Charles Black Jr. (born January 4, 1951) is an American anarchist and author. He is the author of the books '' The Abolition of Work and Other Essays'', ''Beneath the Underground'', ''Friendly Fire'', ''Anarchy After Leftism'', and ''Def ...
after analysing Insurrectionary anarchism, insurrectionary anarcho-communist Luigi Galleani's view on anarcho-communism went as far as saying that "communism is the final fulfillment of individualism...The apparent contradiction between individualism and communism rests on a misunderstanding of both...Subjectivity is also objective: the individual really is subjective. It is nonsense to speak of "emphatically prioritizing the social over the individual,"...You may as well speak of prioritizing the chicken over the egg. Anarchy is a "method of individualization." It aims to combine the greatest individual development with the greatest communal unityBob Black. ''Nightmares of Reason''.
Most anarcho-communists view it as a way of reconciling the opposition between the individual and society. Anarcho-communism developed out of radical socialist currents after the French Revolution,From Wage slavery: Robert Graham, '' Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas – Volume One: From Anarchy to Anarchism (300CE to 1939)'', Black Rose Books, 2005 but it was first formulated as such in the Italian section of the First International.Nunzio Pernicone, "Italian Anarchism 1864–1892", pp. 111–13, AK Press 2009. The theoretical work of
Peter Kropotkin
Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activis ...
took importance later as it expanded and developed pro-organizationalist and insurrectionary anti-organizationalist sections."This inability to break definitively with collectivism in all its forms also exhibited itself over the question of the workers' movement, which divided anarchist-communism into a number of tendencies"Anarchist-Communism" by Alain Pengam
To date, the best-known examples of an anarchist communist society, i.e. established around the ideas as they exist today and achieving worldwide attention and knowledge in the historical canon) are the
anarchist territories
This is a list of anarchist communities representing any society or portion thereof founded by anarchists that functions according to anarchist philosophy and principles. Anarchists have created and been involved in a plethora of community experi ...
after the Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
, the Korean People's Association in Manchuria and the Spanish Revolution.
During the Russian Civil War, anarchists such as Nestor Makhno worked through the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine
The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine ( uk, Революційна Повстанська Армія України), also known as the Black Army or as Makhnovtsi ( uk, Махновці), named after their leader Nestor Makhno, was a ...
to create and defend anarcho-communism in Ukraine from 1919 before being conquered by the Bolsheviks in 1921. In 1929, anarcho-communism was achieved in Manchuria by the Korean People's Association in Manchuria (KPAM), with help from anarchist general and independence activist Kim Chwa-chin
Kim Chwa-jin or Kim Jwa-jin (December 16, 1889 – January 24, 1930), sometimes called by his pen name Baegya, was a Korean general, independence activist, and anarchist who played an important role in the early attempts at development of anarch ...
, lasting until 1931, when Imperial Japan assassinated Kim and invaded from the south while the Chinese Nationalists invaded from the north, resulting in the creation of Manchukuo
Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...
, a puppet state of the Empire of Japan. Through the efforts and influence of the Spanish anarchists during the Spanish Revolution within the Spanish Civil War, starting in 1936 anarcho-communism existed in most of Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
; parts of Andalusia and the Levante; and in the stronghold of Revolutionary Catalonia, before being crushed by the combined forces of fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
Francoism, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...
as well as Spanish Communist Party
The Spanish Communist Party (in es, Partido Comunista Español), was the first communist party in Spain, formed out of the Federación de Juventudes Socialistas (Federation of Socialist Youth, youth wing of Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). Th ...
repression backed by the Soviet Union and economic and armaments blockades from the capitalist countries and the Spanish Republic
The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 A ...
itself.
Individualist anarchism
Individualist anarchism is a set of several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasize theindividual
An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own Maslow ...
and their will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
over any kinds of external determinants such as groups, society, traditions and ideological systems."What do I mean by individualism? I mean by individualism the moral doctrine which, relying on no dogma, no tradition, no external determination, appeals only to the individual conscience''Mini-Manual of Individualism'' by Han Ryner
"I do not admit anything except the existence of the individual, as a condition of his sovereignty. To say that the sovereignty of the individual is conditioned by Liberty is simply another way of saying that it is conditioned by itself.""Anarchism and the State" in ''Individual Liberty''
Philosophical anarchism
In founding philosophical anarchism, William Godwin
William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism and the first modern proponent of anarchism. Godwin is most famous for ...
developed what many consider the first expression of modern
Modern may refer to:
History
* Modern history
** Early Modern period
** Late Modern period
*** 18th century
*** 19th century
*** 20th century
** Contemporary history
* Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century
Phil ...
anarchist thought. According to Peter Kropotkin
Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activis ...
, Godwin 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".Peter Kropotkin"Anarchism"
, '' Encyclopædia Britannica, 1910'' Philosophical anarchism contends that the state lacks moral legitimacy; that there is no individual obligation or duty to obey the state and conversely that the state has no right to command individuals, but it does not advocate revolution to eliminate the state. According to ''The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought'', philosophical anarchism "is a component especially of individualist anarchism".Outhwaite, William & Tourain, Alain (Eds.). (2003). Anarchism. ''The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought'' (2nd Edition, p. 12). Blackwell Publishing Philosophical anarchists may accept the existence of a minimal state as an unfortunate and usually temporary "necessary evil", but argue that citizens do not have a moral obligation to obey the state when its laws conflict with individual autonomy. As conceived by Godwin, it requires individuals to act in accordance with their own judgments and to allow every other individual the same liberty—conceived egoistically as by Max Stirner, it implies that "the unique one" who truly "owns himself" recognizes no duties to others; and within the limit of his might, he does what is right for him. Godwin opposed revolutionary action and saw a
minimal state
A night-watchman state, or minarchy, whose proponents are known as minarchists, is a model of a state that is limited and minimal, whose functions depend on libertarian theory. Right-libertarians support it only as an enforcer of the non-aggres ...
as a present "necessary evil" that would become increasingly irrelevant and powerless by the gradual spread of knowledge. Godwin advocated extreme individualism, proposing that all cooperation in labor be eliminated. Godwin felt discrimination on any grounds besides ability was intolerable.
Rather than throwing bombs or taking up arms to bring down the state, philosophical anarchists "have worked for a gradual change to free the individual from what they thought were the oppressive laws and social constraints of the modern state and allow all individuals to become self-determining and value-creating". They may oppose the immediate elimination of the state by violent means out of concern that it would be left unsecured against the establishment of a more harmful and oppressive state. This is especially true among those anarchists who consider violence and the state as synonymous, or who consider it counterproductive where public reaction to violence results in increased "law enforcement" efforts.
Egoist anarchism
Egoist anarchism originated in the philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
of Max Stirner, a 19th-century Hegelian philosopher whose "name appears with familiar regularity in historically orientated surveys of anarchist thought as one of the earliest and best-known exponents of individualist anarchism". Stirner's philosophy is usually called " egoism" as he says that the egoist rejects devotion to "a great idea, a cause, a doctrine, a system, a lofty calling", saying that the egoist has no political calling but rather "lives themselves out" without regard to "how well or ill humanity may fare thereby". Stirner held that the only limitation on the rights of the individual is his power to obtain what he desires. He proposes 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 ''spooks'' in the mind. Stirner wanted to "abolish not only the state but also society as an institution responsible for its members".
Stirner's idea of the Union of egoists was first expounded in '' The Ego and Its Own''. The Union is understood as a non-systematic association, which Stirner proposed in contradistinction to the state. The Union is understood as a relation between egoists which is continually renewed by all parties' support through an act of will. The Union requires that all parties participate out of a conscious egoism. If one party silently finds themselves to be suffering, but puts up with it and keeps up appearances, the Union has degenerated into something else. This Union is not seen as an authority
In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...
above a person's own will. This idea has received interpretations for politics, economic and sex/love.
Forms of libertarian communism such as insurrectionary anarchism are influenced by Stirner. Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...
was influenced by both Stirner and Peter Kropotkin
Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activis ...
and blended their philosophies together in her own.
The Scottish-born German writer John Henry Mackay found out about Stirner while reading a copy of Friedrich Albert Lange's '' History of Materialism and Critique of its Present Importance''. Later, Mackay looked for a copy of ''The Ego and Its Own'' and after being fascinated with it he wrote a biography of Stirner (''Max Stirner – sein Leben und sein Werk''), published in German in 1898. Mackay's propaganda of stirnerist egoism and of male homosexual and bisexual rights affected Adolf Brand
Gustav Adolf Franz Brand (14 November 1874 – 2 February 1945) was a German writer, egoist anarchist, and pioneering campaigner for the acceptance of male bisexuality and homosexuality.
Early life
Adolf Brand was born on 14 November 1874 in Be ...
, who in 1896 published the world's first ongoing homosexual publication, '' Der Eigene''. Another later German anarchist publication influenced deeply by Stirner was ''Der Einzige
''Der Einzige'' is the title of a German egoist anarchist magazine, which appeared in 1919, as a weekly, then sporadically until 1925. It was edited by Anselm Ruest (anagramic pseud. for Ernst Samuel), and co-edited, in the first year, by Mynona ( ...
''. It appeared in 1919, as a weekly, then sporadically until 1925 and was edited by cousins Anselm Ruest (pseud. for Ernst Samuel) and Mynona (pseudonym for Salomo Friedlaender).
Stirnerian egoism became a main influence on European individualist anarchism including its main proponents in the early 20th century such as Émile Armand and Han Ryner
Jacques Élie Henri Ambroise Ner (7 December 1861 – 6 February 1938), also known by the pseudonym Han Ryner, was a French individualist anarchist philosopher and activist and a novelist. He wrote for publications such as ''L'Art social ...
in France, Renzo Novatore
Abele Rizieri Ferrari (May 12, 1890 – November 29, 1922), better known by the pen name Renzo Novatore, was an Italian individualist anarchist, illegalist and anti-fascist poet, philosopher and militant, now mostly known for his posthumously pu ...
in Italy, Miguel Giménez Igualada in Spain and in Russia Lev Chernyi. Illegalism was an anarchist practice that developed primarily in France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland during the early 1900s that found justification in Stirner's philosophy. The illegalists openly embraced criminality as a lifestyle. Some American individualist anarchists such as Benjamin Tucker, abandoned natural rights
Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights.
* Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are ''universal'', ''fundamental'' and ...
positions and converted to Max Stirner's egoist anarchism. John Beverley Robinson wrote an essay called "Egoism" in which he states that " dern egoism, as propounded by Stirner and Nietzsche, and expounded by Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...
, Shaw
Shaw may refer to:
Places Australia
*Shaw, Queensland
Canada
*Shaw Street, a street in Toronto
England
*Shaw, Berkshire, a village
*Shaw, Greater Manchester, a location in the parish of Shaw and Crompton
*Shaw, Swindon, a List of United Kingdom ...
and others, is all these; but it is more. It is the realization by the individual that they are an individual; that, as far as they are concerned, they are the only individual". Anarchist communist Emma Goldman was influenced by both Stirner and Peter Kropotkin as well as the Russian strain of individualist anarchism and blended these philosophies together in her own, as shown in books of hers such as ''Anarchism And Other Essays''.Levy, Carl"Anarchism"
Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007
Archived
2009-10-31. Enrico Arrigoni (pseudonym: Frank Brand) was an Italian American
individualist anarchist
Individualist anarchism is the branch of anarchism that emphasizes the individual and their Will (philosophy), will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions and ideological systems."What do I mean by individualism? I mean ...
Lathe operator, house painter, bricklayer, dramatist and political activist influenced by the work of Stirner. Paul Avrich''Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America''
. Stirner's philosophy also found followers in Colombia in
Biófilo Panclasta
Vicente Rojas Lizcano (October 26, 1879, in Chinácota, Colombia – March 1, 1943, in Pamplona, Colombia, Pamplona, Colombia), known as Biófilo Panclasta, was a political activist, writer, and Colombian individualist anarchism, individualist an ...
and in Japan in Jun Tsuji
was a Japanese author: a poet, essayist, playwright, and translator. He has also been described as a Dadaist, nihilist, Epicurean, shakuhachi musician, actor and bohemian. He translated Max Stirner's ''The Ego and Its Own'' and Cesare Lom ...
and Sakae Osugi Sakae may refer to:
Places in Japan
* Sakae, Chiba (Japanese: 栄町; ''sakae-machi''), a town in Chiba Prefecture
* Sakae, Niigata (Japanese: 栄町; ''sakae-machi''), a town in Niigata Prefecture
* Sakae, Nagano (Japanese: 栄村; ''sakae-mura'') ...
.
In the 1980s, it emerged in the United States the tendency of post-left anarchy
Contemporary anarchism within the history of anarchism is the period of the anarchist movement continuing from the end of World War II and into the present. Since the last third of the 20th century, anarchists have been involved in anti-globalisat ...
which was influenced profoundly by Stirnerist egoism in aspects such as the critique of ideology.
Individualist anarchism in the United States
Josiah Warren is widely regarded as the first American anarchistPalmer, Brian (29 December 2010What do anarchists want from us?
, '' Slate.com'' and the four-page weekly paper he edited during 1833, ''The Peaceful Revolutionist'', was the first anarchist periodical published. For American anarchist historian Eunice Minette Schuster, " is apparent...that Proudhonian Anarchism was to be found in the United States at least as early as 1848 and that it was not conscious of its affinity to the Individualist Anarchism of Josiah Warren and
Stephen Pearl Andrews
Stephen Pearl Andrews (March 22, 1812 – May 21, 1886) was an American libertarian socialist, individualist anarchist, linguist, political philosopher, outspoken Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and author of several books on the ...
...William B. Greene
William Batchelder Greene (April 4, 1819 – May 30, 1878) was a 19th-century individualist anarchist, Unitarian minister, soldier, and promoter of free banking in the United States. Greene was a member of the First International.
Biography
...
presented this Proudhonian Mutualism in its purest and most systematic form".''Native American Anarchism: A Study of Left-Wing American Individualism'' by Eunice Minette SchusterHenry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural su ...
(1817–1862) was an important early influence in individualist anarchist thought in the United States and Europe. Thoreau was an American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher and leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his books '' Walden'', a reflection upon simple living
Simple living refers to practices that promote simplicity in one's lifestyle. Common practices of simple living include reducing the number of possessions one owns, depending less on technology and services, and spending less money. Not only is ...
in natural surroundings, as well as his essay, ''Civil Disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...
'', an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state. Later, Benjamin Tucker fused Stirner's egoism with the economics of Warren and Proudhon in his eclectic
Eclectic may refer to:
Music
* ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014
* ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996
* Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act
* Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...
influential publication '' Liberty''.
An important concern for American individualist anarchism was free love. Free love particularly stressed women's rights since most sexual laws discriminated against women—for example, marriage laws and anti-birth control measures. The most important American free love journal was ''Lucifer the Lightbearer
Moses Harman (October 12, 1830January 30, 1910) was an American schoolteacher and publisher notable for his staunch support for women's rights. He was prosecuted under the Comstock Law for content published in his anarchist periodical ''Lucifer ...
'' (1883–1907) edited by Moses Harman and Lois Waisbrooker
Lois Waisbrooker (21 February 1826 – 3 October 1909) was an American feminist author, editor, publisher, and campaigner of the later nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. She wrote extensively on issues of sex, marriage, birth contr ...
, but also there existed Ezra Heywood and Angela Heywood's '' ''The Word'''' (1872–1890, 1892–1893). '' Free Society'' (1895–1897 as ''The Firebrand''; 1897–1904 as ''Free Society'') was a major anarchist newspaper in the United States at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries."''Free Society'' was the principal English-language forum for anarchist ideas in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century." ''Emma Goldman: Making Speech Free, 1902–1909'', p. 551. The publication staunchly advocated free love and women's rights and critiqued "Comstockery
Anthony Comstock (March 7, 1844 – September 21, 1915) was an anti-vice activist, United States Postal Inspector, and secretary of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (NYSSV), who was dedicated to upholding Christian morality. He op ...
" – censorship of sexual information. Also M. E. Lazarus
Marx Edgeworth Lazarus (February 6, 18221896) was an American individualist anarchist, Fourierist, and free-thinker. Lazarus was a practicing doctor of homeopathy who also wrote a number of books and articles, some under the pseudonym "Edgeworth". ...
was an important American individualist anarchist who promoted free love.
Freethought
Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...
also motivated activism in this movement. "Freethought was a basically anti-christian, anti-clerical movement, whose purpose was to make the individual politically and spiritually free to decide for himself on religious matters. A number of contributors to '' Liberty'' (anarchist publication) were prominent figures in both freethought and anarchism. The individualist anarchist George MacDonald was a co-editor of ''Freethought'' and, for a time, ''The Truth Seeker''. E.C. Walker was co-editor of the excellent free-thought / free love journal ''Lucifer, the Light-Bearer''". "Many of the anarchists were ardent freethinkers; reprints from freethought papers such as ''Lucifer, the Light-Bearer'', ''Freethought'' and ''The Truth Seeker'' appeared in ''Liberty''...The church was viewed as a common ally of the state and as a repressive force in and of itself".
Individualist anarchism in Europe
European Individualist anarchism proceeded from the roots laid by William Godwin
William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism and the first modern proponent of anarchism. Godwin is most famous for ...
,Woodcock, George. 2004. ''Anarchism: A History Of Libertarian Ideas And Movements''. Broadview Press. p. 20. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Max Stirner. Proudhon was an early pioneer of anarchism
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...
as well as of the important individualist anarchist current of mutualism. Stirner became a central figure of individualist anarchism through the publication of his seminal work '' The Ego and Its Own'' which is considered to be "a founding text in the tradition of individualist anarchism". Another early figure was Anselme Bellegarrigue
Anselme Bellegarrigue (23 March 1813, Monfort – ca. 1869, Central America) was a French individualist anarchist. He participated in the French Revolution of 1848, was author and editor of ''Anarchie, Journal de l'Ordre'' and ''Au fait ! Au fait ! ...
. Individualist anarchism expanded and diversified through Europe, incorporating influences from North American individualist anarchism.
European individualist anarchists include Max Stirner, Albert Libertad, Anselme Bellegarrigue
Anselme Bellegarrigue (23 March 1813, Monfort – ca. 1869, Central America) was a French individualist anarchist. He participated in the French Revolution of 1848, was author and editor of ''Anarchie, Journal de l'Ordre'' and ''Au fait ! Au fait ! ...
, Émile Armand, Enrico Arrigoni, Lev Chernyi, John Henry Mackay, Han Ryner
Jacques Élie Henri Ambroise Ner (7 December 1861 – 6 February 1938), also known by the pseudonym Han Ryner, was a French individualist anarchist philosopher and activist and a novelist. He wrote for publications such as ''L'Art social ...
, Renzo Novatore
Abele Rizieri Ferrari (May 12, 1890 – November 29, 1922), better known by the pen name Renzo Novatore, was an Italian individualist anarchist, illegalist and anti-fascist poet, philosopher and militant, now mostly known for his posthumously pu ...
, Miguel Giménez Igualada and currently Michel Onfray
Michel Onfray (; born 1 January 1959) is a French writer and philosopher with a hedonistic, epicurean and atheist worldview. A highly-prolific author on philosophy, he has written over 100 books. His philosophy is mainly influenced by such thinke ...
. Two influential authors in European individualist anarchists are Friedrich Nietzsche (see Anarchism and Friedrich Nietzsche
The relation between anarchism and Friedrich Nietzsche has been ambiguous. Even though Nietzsche criticized anarchists,In ''Beyond Good and Evil'' (6.2:126) he refers to "anarchist dogs" his thought proved influential for many of them. As such " er ...
) and Georges Palante
Georges Toussaint Léon Palante (20 November 1862 – 5 August 1925) was a French philosopher and sociologist.
Palante advocated aristocratic individualist ideas similar to Friedrich Nietzsche and Arthur Schopenhauer. He was opposed to Émile Dur ...
.
From the legacy of Proudhon and Stirner there emerged a strong tradition of French individualist anarchism
Individualist anarchism in Europe proceeded from the roots laid by William Godwin Woodcock, George. 2004. '' Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements''. Broadview Press. p. 20. and soon expanded and diversified through Europe, in ...
. An early figure was Anselme Bellegarrigue
Anselme Bellegarrigue (23 March 1813, Monfort – ca. 1869, Central America) was a French individualist anarchist. He participated in the French Revolution of 1848, was author and editor of ''Anarchie, Journal de l'Ordre'' and ''Au fait ! Au fait ! ...
. He participated in the French Revolution of 1848
The French Revolution of 1848 (french: Révolution française de 1848), also known as the February Revolution (), was a brief period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation ...
, was author and editor of ''Anarchie, Journal de l'Ordre and Au fait ! Au fait ! Interprétation de l'idée démocratique'' and wrote the important early ''Anarchist Manifesto
''Anarchist Manifesto'' (or ''The World's First Anarchist Manifesto'') is a work by Anselme Bellegarrigue, notable for being the first manifesto of anarchism. It was written in 1850, two years after his participation in the French Revolution of 18 ...
'' in 1850. ''Autonomie Individuelle'' was an individualist anarchist publication that ran from 1887 to 1888. It was edited by Jean-Baptiste Louiche, Charles Schæffer and Georges Deherme. This tradition later continued with such intellectuals as Albert Libertad, André Lorulot
André Lorulot (born Georges André Roulot; 23 October 1885 – 11 March 1963) was a French individualist anarchist and freethinker
Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs shou ...
, Émile Armand, Victor Serge, Zo d'Axa
Alphonse Gallaud de la Pérouse (28 May 1864 – 30 August 1930), better known as Zo d'Axa (), was a French adventurer, anti-militarist, satirist, journalist, and founder of two of the most legendary French magazines, ''L'EnDehors'' and ''La Feuil ...
and Rirette Maîtrejean
Rirette Maîtrejean was the pseudonym of Anna Estorges (born 14 August 1887; died 11 June 1968). She was a French people, French individualist anarchism, individualist anarchist born in TulleRichard Parry. ''The Bonnot Gang: The Story of the Frenc ...
, who in 1905 developed theory in the main individualist anarchist journal in France, '' L'Anarchie''. Outside this journal, Han Ryner
Jacques Élie Henri Ambroise Ner (7 December 1861 – 6 February 1938), also known by the pseudonym Han Ryner, was a French individualist anarchist philosopher and activist and a novelist. He wrote for publications such as ''L'Art social ...
wrote ''Petit Manuel individualiste'' (1903) and later appeared the journal ''L'En-Dehors
''L'En-Dehors'' (, ''The Outside'') is a French individualist anarchist newspaper, created by Zo d'Axa in 1891.
History
Numerous activists contributed to the paper, including Jean Grave, Bernard Lazare, Albert Libertad, Octave Mirbeau, Saint-Pol- ...
'' created by Zo d'Axa in 1891.
French individualist circles had a strong sense of personal libertarianism and experimentation. Naturism
Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...
and free love contents started to have a strong influence in individualist anarchist circles and from there it expanded to the rest of anarchism also appearing in Spanish individualist anarchist groups.
Anarcho-naturism was promoted by Henri Zisly, Émile Gravelle and Georges Butaud
Georges Butaud (6 June 1868 – 26 February 1926) was a French individualist anarchist and veganism activist. He advocated naturist anarchism and founded an early vegan restaurant in Paris.
Biography
Butaud was born on 6 June 1868 in Marchien ...
. Butaud was an individualist "partisan of the '' milieux libres'', publisher of "Flambeau" ("an enemy of authority") in 1901 in Vienna. Most of his energies were devoted to creating anarchist colonies (''communautés expérimentales'') in which he participated in several.
"In this sense, the theoretical positions and the vital experiences of french individualism are deeply iconoclastic and scandalous, even within libertarian circles. The call of nudist naturism
Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...
, the strong defence of birth control methods, the idea of "unions of egoists" with the sole justification of sexual practices, that will try to put in practice, not without difficulties, will establish a way of thought and action, and will result in sympathy within some, and a strong rejection within others".
IllegalismThe "Illegalists", by Doug Imrie (published by '' Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed'') is an anarchist philosophy that developed primarily in France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland during the early 1900s as an outgrowth of Stirner's individualist anarchism."Parallel to the social, collectivist anarchist current there was an individualist one whose partisans emphasized their individual freedom and advised other individuals to do the same. Individualist anarchist activity spanned the full spectrum of alternatives to authoritarian society, subverting it by undermining its way of life facet by facet."Thus theft, counterfeiting, swindling and robbery became a way of life for hundreds of individualists, as it was already for countless thousands of proletarians. The wave of anarchist bombings and assassinations of the 1890s (Auguste Vaillant, Ravachol, Emile Henry, Sante Caserio) and the practice of illegalism from the mid-1880s to the start of the First World War (Clément Duval, Pini, Marius Jacob, the Bonnot gang) were twin aspects of the same proletarian offensive, but were expressed in an individualist practice, one that complemented the great collective struggles against capital." Illegalists usually did not seek moral basis for their actions, recognizing only the reality of "might" rather than "right" and for the most part illegal acts were done simply to satisfy personal desires, not for some greater ideal,Parry, Richard. The Bonnot Gang. Rebel Press, 1987. p. 15 although some committed crimes as a form of propaganda of the deed. The illegalists embraced
direct action
Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...
and propaganda by the deed.
Spain received the influence of American individualist anarchism but most importantly it was related to the French currents. At the start of the 20th century, individualism in Spain takes force through the efforts of people such as Dorado Montero, Ricardo Mella, Federico Urales and J. Elizalde, who will translate French and American individualists. Important in this respect were also magazines such as ''La Idea Libre'', ''La Revista Blanca
''La Revista Blanca'' was a Spanish individualist anarchist magazine of sociology and arts published in Madrid by Joan Montseny (Federico Urales) and Teresa Mañé (Soledad Gustavo) from 1898 to 1905 and in Barcelona from 1 June 1923 till 15 Aug ...
'', ''Etica'', ''Iniciales
Individualist anarchism in Europe proceeded from the roots laid by William GodwinGeorge Woodcock, Woodcock, George. 2004. ''Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements''. Broadview Press. p. 20. and soon expanded and diversified thr ...
'', ''Al margen'' and ''Nosotros''. In Germany, the Scottish-German John Henry Mackay became the most important propagandist for individualist anarchist ideas. Adolf Brand
Gustav Adolf Franz Brand (14 November 1874 – 2 February 1945) was a German writer, egoist anarchist, and pioneering campaigner for the acceptance of male bisexuality and homosexuality.
Early life
Adolf Brand was born on 14 November 1874 in Be ...
(1874–1945) was a German writer, stirnerist anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
and pioneering campaigner for the acceptance of male bisexuality
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...
and homosexuality. In 1896, Brand published a German homosexual periodical, '' Der Eigene''. The Irish anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
writer of the Decadent movement Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
influenced individualist anarchists such as Renzo Novatore
Abele Rizieri Ferrari (May 12, 1890 – November 29, 1922), better known by the pen name Renzo Novatore, was an Italian individualist anarchist, illegalist and anti-fascist poet, philosopher and militant, now mostly known for his posthumously pu ...
and gained the admiration of Benjamin Tucker.
Post-classical anarchism
Following the end of the Spanish Revolution and World War II, the anarchist movement was a "ghost" of its former self as proclaimed by anarchist historian George Woodcock. In his work '' Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements'', published 1962, Woodcock wrote that after 1936 it was "a ghost that inspires neither fear among governments nor hope among peoples nor even interest among newspapermen". Capitalism continued to grow throughout the post-war period despite predictions from Marxist scholars that it would soon collapse under its own contradictions, yet anarchism gained a surprising surge in popular interest during the 1960s. Reasons for this were believed to be the gradual demystification of the Soviet Union and tensions at the climax of theCold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. The New Left
The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights, g ...
which arose in the 1950s was a libertarian socialist movement that was closer to anarchism. Prominent thinkers such as Herbert Marcuse
Herbert Marcuse (; ; July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979) was a German-American philosopher, social critic, and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Born in Berlin, Marcuse studied at the Humboldt University ...
and C. Wright Mills were critical of the United States and Soviet Marxism
The ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was Bolshevist Marxism–Leninism, an ideology of a centralised command economy with a vanguardist one-party state to realise the dictatorship of the proletariat. The Soviet Union's ...
.
Green anarchism
Green anarchism
Green anarchism (or eco-anarchism"green anarchism (also called eco-anarchism)" in ''An Anarchist FAQ'' by various authors.) is an anarchist school of thought that puts a particular emphasis on ecology and environmental issues. A green anarchist ...
is a school of thought within anarchism which puts an emphasis on environmental issues. An important early influence was the thought of the American anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural su ...
and his book '' Walden''"Su obra más representativa es Walden, aparecida en 1854, aunque redactada entre 1845 y 1847, cuando Thoreau decide instalarse en el aislamiento de una cabaña en el bosque, y vivir en íntimo contacto con la naturaleza, en una vida de soledad y sobriedad. De esta experiencia, su filosofía trata de transmitirnos la idea que resulta necesario un retorno respetuoso a la naturaleza, y que la felicidad es sobre todo fruto de la riqueza interior y de la armonía de los individuos con el entorno natural. Muchos han visto en Thoreau a uno de los precursores del ecologismo y del anarquismo primitivista representado en la actualidad por John Zerzan
John Edward Zerzan ( ; born August 10, 1943) is an American anarchist and primitivist ecophilosopher and author. His works criticize agricultural civilization as inherently oppressive, and advocates drawing upon the ways of life of hunter-gathe ...
. Para George Woodcock, esta actitud puede estar también motivada por una cierta idea de resistencia al progreso y de rechazo al materialismo creciente que caracteriza la sociedad norteamericana de mediados de siglo XIX"LA INSUMISIÓN VOLUNTARIA. EL ANARQUISMO INDIVIDUALISTA ESPAÑOL DURANTE LA DICTADURA Y LA SEGUNDA REPÚBLICA (1923–1938)" by Xavier Diez
as well as Leo TolstoyEL NATURISMO LIBERTARIO EN LA PENÍNSULA IBÉRICA (1890–1939) by Jose Maria Rosello
and Élisée Reclus."The pioneers"
In the late 19th century there emerged anarcho-naturism as the fusion of anarchism and naturist philosophies within
individualist anarchist
Individualist anarchism is the branch of anarchism that emphasizes the individual and their Will (philosophy), will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions and ideological systems."What do I mean by individualism? I mean ...
circles in France, Spain and Portugal."LA INSUMISIÓN VOLUNTARIA. EL ANARQUISMO INDIVIDUALISTA ESPAÑOL DURANTE LA DICTADURA Y LA SEGUNDA REPÚBLICA (1923–1938)" by Xavier DiezImportant contemporary currents are anarcho-primitivism and
social ecology Social ecology may refer to:
* Social ecology (academic field), the study of relationships between people and their environment, often the interdependence of people, collectives and institutions
* Social ecology (Bookchin), a theory about the relat ...
. Notable contemporary writers espousing green anarchism include Murray Bookchin
Murray Bookchin (January 14, 1921 – July 30, 2006) was an American social theorist, author, orator, historian, and political philosopher. A pioneer in the environmental movement, Bookchin formulated and developed the theory of social ec ...
, Daniel Chodorkoff
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
, anthropologist Brian Morris and people around Institute for Social Ecology
The Institute for Social Ecology (ISE) is an educational institution in Plainfield, Vermont, Plainfield, Vermont dedicated to the study of Social ecology (Bookchin), social ecology, "an interdisciplinary field drawing on philosophy, political and ...
; and those critical of technology such as Layla AbdelRahim, Derrick Jensen
Derrick Jensen (born December 19, 1960) is an American ecophilosopher, writer, author, teacher and environmentalist in the anarcho-primitivist tradition, though he rejects the label "anarchist". ''Utne Reader'' named Jensen among "50 Visionari ...
, George Draffan and John Zerzan
John Edward Zerzan ( ; born August 10, 1943) is an American anarchist and primitivist ecophilosopher and author. His works criticize agricultural civilization as inherently oppressive, and advocates drawing upon the ways of life of hunter-gathe ...
; and others such as Alan Carter.
Anarcho-primitivism
Anarcho-primitivism is an anarchist critique of the origins and progress of civilization. According to anarcho-primitivism, the shift fromhunter-gatherer
A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...
to agricultural subsistence gave rise to social stratification
Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power (social and political). As ...
, coercion
Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...
and alienation.
Anarcho-naturism
Anarcho-naturism appeared in the late 19th century as the union of anarchist and naturist philosophies."Anarchism and the different Naturist views have always been related"Anarchism – Nudism, Naturism" by Carlos Ortega at Asociacion para el Desarrollo Naturista de la Comunidad de Madrid. Published on Revista ''ADN''. Winter 2003
Mainly it had importance within
individualist anarchist
Individualist anarchism is the branch of anarchism that emphasizes the individual and their Will (philosophy), will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions and ideological systems."What do I mean by individualism? I mean ...
circles"Les anarchistes individualistes du début du siècle l'avaient bien compris, et intégraient le naturisme dans leurs préoccupations. Il est vraiment dommage que ce discours se soit peu à peu effacé, d'antan plus que nous assistons, en ce moment, à un retour en force du puritanisme (conservateur par essence)"Anarchisme et naturisme, aujourd'hui." by Cathy Ytak
in Spain,"La insumisión voluntaria: El anarquismo individualista español durante la Dictadura y la Segunda República (1923–1938)" by Xavier Díez
France,
Portugal"Anarchisme et naturisme au Portugal, dans les années 1920" in ''Les anarchistes du Portugal'' by João Freire and Cuba. Anarcho-naturism advocated vegetarianism, free love,
nudism
Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms a ...
, hiking and an ecological world view within anarchist groups and outside them. Anarcho-naturism promoted an ecological worldview, small ecovillages and most prominently nudism as a way to avoid the artificiality of the industrial mass society of modernity."EL NATURISMO LIBERTARIO EN LA PENÍNSULA IBÉRICA (1890–1939)" by Josep Maria Rosell. "el individuo es visto en su dimensión biológica -física y psíquica- dejándose la social." Naturist individualist anarchists saw the individual in his biological, physical and psychological aspects and tried to eliminate social determinations.
Social ecology
Social ecology Social ecology may refer to:
* Social ecology (academic field), the study of relationships between people and their environment, often the interdependence of people, collectives and institutions
* Social ecology (Bookchin), a theory about the relat ...
is a social anarchist philosophy developed by Murray Bookchin
Murray Bookchin (January 14, 1921 – July 30, 2006) was an American social theorist, author, orator, historian, and political philosopher. A pioneer in the environmental movement, Bookchin formulated and developed the theory of social ec ...
in the 1960s which holds that present ecological problems
Human impact on the environment (or anthropogenic impact) refers to changes to biophysical environments and to ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources caused directly or indirectly by humans. Modifying the environment to fit the needs ...
are rooted in deep-seated social problems, particularly in coercive
Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...
, hierarchical
A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
political and social systems. These have resulted in an uncritical acceptance of an overly competitive grow-or-die philosophy. It suggests that this cannot be resisted by individual action such as ethical consumerism, but must be addressed by more nuanced ethical thinking and collective activity grounded in radical democratic ideals. The complexity of relationships between people and with nature is emphasized, along with the importance of establishing social structures that take account of this.
Veganarchism
Veganarchism is the political philosophy of veganism (more specifically animal liberation) and green anarchism.Dominick, Brian. ''Animal Liberation and Social Revolution: A vegan perspective on anarchism or an anarchist perspective on veganism'', third edition, Firestarter Press, 1997, pp. 1, 5 and 6. This encompasses viewing the state as unnecessary and harmful to both human and animals whilst practicing a vegan diet.Anarcha-feminism
Anarcha-feminism is a form of anarchism that synthesizes radical feminism
Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a Political radicalism, radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are al ...
and anarchism that views patriarchy (male domination over women) as a fundamental manifestation of involuntary hierarchy which anarchists often oppose. Anarcha-feminism was inspired in the late 19th century by the writings of early feminist anarchists such as Lucy Parsons, Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...
and Voltairine de Cleyre. Anarcha-feminists, like other radical feminists, criticize and advocate the abolition of traditional conceptions of family, education and gender roles. Anarcha-feminists are especially critical of marriage. For instance, the feminist anarchist Emma Goldman has argued that marriage is a purely economic arrangement and that " omanpays for it with her name, her privacy, her self-respect, her very life".
Anarcha-feminists also often criticize the views of some of the traditional anarchists such as Mikhail Bakunin who believed that patriarchy is only a minor problem and is dependent only on the existence of the state and capitalism and will disappear soon after such institutions are abolished. Anarcha-feminists by contrast view patriarchy as a fundamental problem in society and believe that the feminist struggle against sexism and patriarchy is an essential component of the anarchist struggle against the state and capitalism. As Susan Brown puts it, "as anarchism is a political philosophy that opposes all relationships of power, it is inherently feminist".
Anarcho-pacifism
Anarcho-pacifism is a form of anarchism which completely rejects the use of violence in any form for any purpose. The main precedent was Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural su ...
who through his work Civil Disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...
influenced both Leo Tolstoy and Mohandas Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
's advocacy of nonviolent resistance
Nonviolent resistance (NVR), or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, cons ...
. As a global movement, anarchist pacifism emerged shortly before World War II in the Netherlands, Great Britain and the United States and was a strong presence in the subsequent campaigns for nuclear disarmament.
Violence has always been controversial in anarchism. While many anarchists during the 19th century embraced propaganda of the deed, Leo Tolstoy and other anarcho-pacifists directly opposed violence as a means for change. Tolstoy argued that anarchism must by nature be nonviolent, since it is by definition opposition to coercion and force and that since the state is inherently violent, meaningful pacifism must likewise be anarchistic. His philosophy was cited as a major inspiration by Gandhi, an Indian independence leader and pacifist who self-identified as an anarchist. Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis was also instrumental in establishing the pacifist trend within the anarchist movement. In France in December 1902, Georges Yvetot was one of the founders of the , along with fellow anarchists Henri Beylie
Henri Félix Camille Beaulieu (known as Henri Beylie; 30 November 1870 – 1944) was a French accountant, naturist, anti-militarist, anarchist and then communist. He wrote many articles in radical journals. In his later years he was active in the ...
, Paraf-Javal, Albert Libertad and Émile Janvion
Émile Janvion (10 April 1866 – 21 July 1927) was a French teacher, an anarcho-syndicalist leader, a founder of the ''Confédération générale du travail'' (CGT) and a leader of the anti-militarist movement. He came to hold national syndicalis ...
. The was to become the French section of the (AIA) founded in Amsterdam in 1904.
Religious anarchism
Religious anarchism
Anarchists have traditionally been skeptical of or vehemently opposed to organized religion. Nevertheless, some anarchists have provided religious interpretations and approaches to anarchism, including the idea that the glorification of the state ...
is a set of related anarchist ideologies that are inspired by the teachings of (organized) religions, but many anarchists have traditionally been skeptical of and opposed to organized religion
Organized religion, also known as institutional religion, is religion in which belief systems and rituals are systematically arranged and formally established. Organized religion is typically characterized by an official doctrine (or dogma), a ...
. Many different religions have served as inspiration for religious forms of anarchism, most notably Christianity, as Christian anarchists believe that biblical teachings give credence to anarchist philosophy. Non-Christian forms of religious anarchism include Buddhist anarchism
Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate of ...
, Jewish anarchism and most recently Neopaganism
Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various Paganism, historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of No ...
. Neopaganism focuses on the sanctity of the environment
The natural environment or natural world encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses t ...
and equality and is often of a decentralized nature. This led to a number of Neopagan-inspired anarchists, one of the most prominent of which is Starhawk, who writes extensively about both spirituality
The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
and activism.
Christian anarchism
Christian anarchism
Christian anarchism is a Christian movement in political theology that claims anarchism is inherent in Christianity and the Gospels. It is grounded in the belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answ ...
is a form of religious anarchism that seeks to combine anarchism with Christianity, claiming that anarchism is justified by the teachings of Jesus Christ. Early Christian communities have been described by Christian anarchists and some historians as possessing anarcho-communist characteristics. Christian anarchists such as Leo Tolstoy and Ammon Hennacy believe that the teachings of Paul of Tarsus
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
caused a shift from the earlier more egalitarian and anarchistic teachings of Jesus. However, others believe that Paul with his strong emphasis on God's Providence is to be understood as a holding to anarchist principles.
Anarchism without adjectives
In the words of historian George Richard Esenwein, anarchism without adjectives "referred to an unhyphenated form of anarchism, that is, a doctrine without any qualifying labels such as communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
, collectivist, mutualist, or individualist. For others, .. was simply understood as an attitude that tolerated the coexistence of different anarchist schools". Anarchism without adjectives emphasizes harmony between various anarchist factions and attempts to unite them around their shared anti-authoritarian beliefs. The expression was coined by Cuban-born Fernando Tarrida del Mármol
Fernando Tarrida del Mármol (August 2, 1861 – 1915) was a mathematics professor born in Cuba and raised in Catalonia best known for proposing "anarchism without adjectives", the idea that anarchists should set aside their debates over th ...
, who used it in Barcelona in November 1889 as a call for tolerance
Tolerance or toleration is the state of tolerating, or putting up with, conditionally.
Economics, business, and politics
* Toleration Party, a historic political party active in Connecticut
* Tolerant Systems, the former name of Veritas Software ...
, after being troubled by the "bitter debates" between the different movements. Rudolf Rocker said that the different types of anarchism presented "only different methods of economy, the practical possibilities of which have yet to be tested, and that the first objective is to secure the personal and social freedom
Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...
of men no matter upon which economics basis this is to be accomplished".
Voltairine de Cleyre was an anarchist without adjectives who initially identified herself as an individualist anarchist but later espoused a collectivist form of anarchism, while refusing to identify herself with any of the contemporary schools ("The best thing ordinary workingmen or women could do was to organise their industry to get rid of money altogether . . . Let them produce together, co-operatively rather than as employer and employed; let them fraternise group by group, let each use what he needs of his own product, and deposit the rest in the storage-houses, and let those others who need goods have them as occasion arises").Voltairine De Cleyre, "Why I Am an Anarchist" She commented that "Socialism and Communism both demand a degree of joint effort and administration which would beget more regulation than is wholly consistent with ideal Anarchism; Individualism and Mutualism, resting upon property, involve a development of the private policeman not at all compatible with my notion of freedom" although she stopped short of denouncing these tendencies as un-anarchistic ("There is nothing un-Anarchistic about any of hese systemsuntil the element of compulsion enters and obliges unwilling persons to remain in a community whose economic arrangements they do not agree to").
Errico Malatesta
Errico Malatesta (4 December 1853 – 22 July 1932) was an Italian anarchist propagandist and revolutionary socialist. He edited several radical newspapers and spent much of his life exiled and imprisoned, having been jailed and expelled from ...
was another proponent of anarchism without adjectives, stating that " is not right for us, to say the least, to fall into strife over mere hypotheses".
Contemporary anarchism
Anarchism generates many eclectic and syncretic philosophies and movements. Since the revival of anarchism in the mid 20th century, a number of new movements and schools have appeared. Anarchist anthropologistDavid Graeber
David Rolfe Graeber (; February 12, 1961September 2, 2020) was an American anthropologist and anarchist activist. His influential work in economic anthropology, particularly his books '' Debt: The First 5,000 Years'' (2011) and ''Bullshit Jobs ...
has posited a rupture between generations of anarchism, with those "who often still have not shaken the sectarian habits of the last century" contrasted with the younger activists who are "much more informed, among other elements, by indigenous, feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
, ecological and cultural-critical ideas" and who by the start of the 21st century formed "by far the majority" of anarchists.
The anti-capitalist
Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economi ...
tradition of classical anarchism
The history of anarchism is as ambiguous as anarchism itself. Scholars find it hard to define or agree on what anarchism means, which makes outlining its history difficult. There is a range of views on anarchism and its history. Some feel anarc ...
has remained prominent within post-classical and contemporary currents. Anarchists are committed against coercive authority in all forms, namely "all centralized and hierarchical forms of government (e.g., monarchy, representative democracy, state socialism, etc.), economic class systems (e.g., capitalism, Bolshevism, feudalism, slavery, etc.), autocratic religions (e.g., fundamentalist Islam, Roman Catholicism, etc.), patriarchy, heterosexism, white supremacy, and imperialism". Anarchist schools of thought disagree on the methods by which these forms should be opposed.
For the English anarchist scholar Simon Critchley, "contemporary anarchism can be seen as a powerful critique of the pseudo-libertarianism of contemporary neo-liberalism. One might say that contemporary anarchism is about responsibility, whether sexual, ecological or socio-economic; it flows from an experience of conscience about the manifold ways in which the West ravages the rest; it is an ethical outrage at the yawning inequality, impoverishment and disenfranchisment that is so palpable locally and globally". This might also have been motivated by "the collapse of 'really existing socialism
Real socialism, better known as actually existing socialism or developed socialism (), was an ideological catchphrase popularized during the Brezhnev era in the Eastern Bloc countries and the Soviet Union.
' and the capitulation to neo-liberalism of Western social democracy".
Anarcho-transhumanism
Anarcho-transhumanism
Transhumanist politics constitutes a group of political ideologies that generally express the belief in improving human individuals through science and technology.
History
The term "transhumanism" with its present meaning was popularised by Ju ...
is the synthesis of anarchism with transhumanism that is concerned with both social and physical freedom, respectively. Anarcho-transhumanists define freedom as the expansion of one's own ability to experience the world around them.
The philosophy draws heavily from the individualist anarchism of William Godwin
William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism and the first modern proponent of anarchism. Godwin is most famous for ...
and Voltairine de Cleyre as well as the cyberfeminism presented by Donna Haraway in '' A Cyborg Manifesto''. It looks at issues surrounding bodily autonomy, disability, gender, neurodiversity
Neurodiversity refers to diversity in the human brain and cognition, for instance in sociability, learning, attention, mood and other mental functions.
It was coined in 1998 by sociologist Judy Singer, who helped popularize the concept alo ...
, queer theory science and sexuality
Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...
.
Anarcho-transhumanism presents a critique through an anarchist and transhumanist lens of ableism
Ableism (; also known as ablism, disablism (British English), anapirophobia, anapirism, and disability discrimination) is discrimination and social prejudice against people with Disability, disabilities or who are perceived to be disabled. Ableis ...
, cisheteropatriarchy
In feminist theory, heteropatriarchy (etymologically from ''heterosexual'' and '' patriarchy'') or cisheteropatriarchy, is a socio-political system where (primarily) cisgender (same gender as identified at birth) and heterosexual males have autho ...
and primitivism
Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that either emulates or aspires to recreate a "primitive" experience. It is also defined as a philosophical doctrine that considers "primitive" peoples as nobler than civilized peoples and was an o ...
. Anarcho-transhumanists also criticise non-anarchist forms of transhumanism such as democratic transhumanism
Transhumanist politics constitutes a group of political ideologies that generally express the belief in improving human individuals through science and technology.
History
The term "transhumanism" with its present meaning was popularised by Ju ...
and libertarian transhumanism
Transhumanist politics constitutes a group of political ideologies that generally express the belief in improving human individuals through science and technology.
History
The term "transhumanism" with its present meaning was popularised by Ju ...
as incoherent and unsurvivable due to their preservation of capitalism and the state. They view such instruments of power as inherently unethical and incompatible with the acceleration of social and material freedom for all individuals.
Post-anarchism
Post-anarchism
Contemporary anarchism within the history of anarchism is the period of the anarchist movement continuing from the end of World War II and into the present. Since the last third of the 20th century, anarchists have been involved in anti-globalisat ...
is articulated by Saul Newman
Saul Newman (born 22 March 1972) is a British political theorist who writes on post-anarchism. He is professor of political theory at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
Newman took up the term "post-anarchism" as a general term for poli ...
as a theoretical move towards a synthesis of classical anarchist theory and poststructuralist
Post-structuralism is a term for philosophical and literary forms of theory that both build upon and reject ideas established by structuralism, the intellectual project that preceded it. Though post-structuralists all present different critique ...
thought. Although it first received popular attention in his book ''From Bakunin to Lacan
''From Bakunin to Lacan: Anti-Authoritarianism and the Dislocation of Power'' is a book on political philosophy by Saul Newman, published in 2001. It investigates the essential characteristics of anarchist theory, which holds that government and ...
'', it has taken on a life of its own subsequent to Newman's use of the term and a wide range of ideas including post-modernism, autonomism, post-left anarchy
Contemporary anarchism within the history of anarchism is the period of the anarchist movement continuing from the end of World War II and into the present. Since the last third of the 20th century, anarchists have been involved in anti-globalisat ...
, situationism, post-colonialism and Zapatismo
Zapatismo is the armed movement identified with the ideas of Emiliano Zapata, leader of the Mexican Revolution, reflected mainly in the Plan of Ayala term 1911. The members of the Liberation Army of the South led by Zapata were known as "Zapat ...
. 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 Saul Newman
Saul Newman (born 22 March 1972) is a British political theorist who writes on post-anarchism. He is professor of political theory at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
Newman took up the term "post-anarchism" as a general term for poli ...
, Todd May, Lewis Call
Lewis Call is an American academic and central post-anarchist thinker. He is best known for his 2002 book ''Postmodern Anarchism'', which develops an account of postmodern anarchism through philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and cyberpunk ...
, Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Louis René Deleuze ( , ; 18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volu ...
, Félix Guattari and Michel Onfray
Michel Onfray (; born 1 January 1959) is a French writer and philosopher with a hedonistic, epicurean and atheist worldview. A highly-prolific author on philosophy, he has written over 100 books. His philosophy is mainly influenced by such thinke ...
.
Post-left anarchy
Post-left anarchy
Contemporary anarchism within the history of anarchism is the period of the anarchist movement continuing from the end of World War II and into the present. Since the last third of the 20th century, anarchists have been involved in anti-globalisat ...
is a recent current in anarchist thought that promotes a critique of anarchism's relationship to traditional leftism. Some post-leftists seek to escape the confines of ideology in general also presenting a critique of organizations and morality. Influenced by the work of Max Stirner and by the Situationist International
The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...
, post-left anarchy is marked by a focus on social insurrection and a rejection of leftist social organisation.
The magazines '' Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed'', ''Green Anarchy
Green anarchism (or eco-anarchism"green anarchism (also called eco-anarchism)" in ''An Anarchist FAQ'' by various authors.) is an anarchist school of thought that puts a particular emphasis on ecology and environmental issues. A green anarchist ...
'' and ''Fifth Estate
The Fifth Estate is a socio-cultural reference to groupings of outlier viewpoints in contemporary society, and is most associated with bloggers, journalists publishing in non-mainstream media outlets, and the social media or "social license". The ...
'' have been involved in developing post-left anarchy. Individual writers associated with the tendency are Hakim Bey
Peter Lamborn Wilson (October 20, 1945 – May 23, 2022) was an American anarchist author and poet, primarily known for his concept of Temporary Autonomous Zones, short-lived spaces which elude formal structures of control. During the 1970s, Wils ...
, Bob Black
Robert Charles Black Jr. (born January 4, 1951) is an American anarchist and author. He is the author of the books '' The Abolition of Work and Other Essays'', ''Beneath the Underground'', ''Friendly Fire'', ''Anarchy After Leftism'', and ''Def ...
, John Zerzan
John Edward Zerzan ( ; born August 10, 1943) is an American anarchist and primitivist ecophilosopher and author. His works criticize agricultural civilization as inherently oppressive, and advocates drawing upon the ways of life of hunter-gathe ...
, Jason McQuinn, Fredy Perlman, Lawrence Jarach
Lawrence may refer to:
Education Colleges and universities
* Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States
* Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Preparato ...
and Wolfi Landstreicher. The contemporary network of collectives CrimethInc. is an exponent of post-left anarchist views.
Queer anarchism
Queer anarchism
Queer anarchism, or anarcha-queer, is an anarchist school of thought that advocates anarchism and social revolution as a means of queer liberation and abolition of hierarchies such as homophobia, lesbophobia, transmisogyny, biphobia, transpho ...
suggests anarchism as a means of queer liberation
The gay liberation movement was a social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride.Hoffman, 2007, pp.xi-xiii. ...
and solution to the issues faced by the LGBT community
The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a comm ...
such as homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
, lesbophobia, transmisogyny, biphobia, transphobia, heteronormativity
Heteronormativity is the concept that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal mode of sexual orientation. It assumes the gender binary (i.e., that there are only two distinct, opposite genders) and that sexual and marital relations are most ...
, patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males a ...
and the gender binary.
People who campaigned for LGBT rights both outside and inside the anarchist and LGBT movements include John Henry Mackay, Adolf Brand
Gustav Adolf Franz Brand (14 November 1874 – 2 February 1945) was a German writer, egoist anarchist, and pioneering campaigner for the acceptance of male bisexuality and homosexuality.
Early life
Adolf Brand was born on 14 November 1874 in Be ...
and Daniel Guérin
Daniel Guérin (; 19 May 1904, in Paris – 14 April 1988, in Suresnes) was a French libertarian-communist author, best known for his work '' Anarchism: From Theory to Practice'', as well as his collection ''No Gods No Masters: An Anthology of ...
. Individualist anarchist
Individualist anarchism is the branch of anarchism that emphasizes the individual and their Will (philosophy), will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions and ideological systems."What do I mean by individualism? I mean ...
Adolf Brand published '' Der Eigene'' from 1896 to 1932 in Berlin, the first sustained journal dedicated to gay issues.
Types of organization
Anarchists creates different forms of organization to meet each other, share information, organize struggles and trace ways to spread the anarchist ideas through the world. Those organizations tend to be structured around the principles of anarchism, i.e. without hierarchy, coercion, and with voluntary association, since they understand that the only way to achieve a free and egualitarian society in the end is through equally free and egualitarian means.Synthesis anarchism
Synthesis anarchism is a form of anarchist organization which tries to join anarchists of different tendencies under the principles of anarchism without adjectives."J.3.2 What are 'synthesis' federations?"''An Anarchist FAQ''. It intends to bringing together anarchists of the anarchists main tendencies, namely individualist anarchism, anarchist communism and mutualism. In the 1920s, this form found as its main proponents Volin and
Sébastien Faure
Sébastien Faure (6 January 1858 – 14 July 1942) was a French anarchist, freethought and secularist activist and a principal proponent of synthesis anarchism.
Biography
Before becoming a free-thinker, Faure was a seminarist. He engaged ...
. It is the main principle behind the anarchist federations grouped around the contemporary global International of Anarchist Federations.
Platformism
Platformism is a tendency within the wider anarchist movement which shares an affinity with organising in the tradition of Dielo Truda's ''Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft)''. The document was based on the experiences of Russian anarchists in the 1917 October Revolution which led eventually to the victory of Bolsheviks over the anarchists and other like-minded groups. The ''Platform'' attempted to explain and address the anarchist movement's failures during theRussian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
. As a controversial pamphlet, the document drew both praise and criticism from anarchists worldwide. Today, platformism is an important current in international anarchism. Around thirty platformists and specifists are linked together in the ''Anarkismo'' project, including groups from Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America.
Anarcho-syndicalism
In the early 20th century, anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence in b ...
arose as a distinct school of thought within anarchism. More heavily focused on the labour movement than previous forms of anarchism, syndicalism posits radical trade unions as a potential force for revolutionary social change, replacing capitalism and the state with a new society, democratically self-managed by the workers. Anarcho-syndicalists seek to abolish the wage system and private ownership of the means of production, which they believe lead to class divisions. Important principles of syndicalism include workers' solidarity, direct action
Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...
(such as general strike
A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...
s and workplace recuperations) and workers' self-management.
Anarcho-syndicalism and other branches of anarchism are not mutually exclusive. Anarcho-syndicalists often subscribe to communist or collectivist anarchism. Its advocates propose labour organization as a means to create the foundations of a non-hierarchical anarchist society within the current system and bring about social revolution. According to the writers of '' An Anarchist FAQ'', anarcho-syndicalist economic systems often take the form of either an anarcho-communist or collectivist anarchist
Collectivist anarchism, also called anarchist collectivism and anarcho-collectivism, Buckley, A. M. (2011). ''Anarchism''. Essential Libraryp. 97 "Collectivist anarchism, also called anarcho-collectivism, arose after mutualism." . is an anarchis ...
economic system.
Rudolf Rocker is considered a leading anarcho-syndicalist theorist. 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''.'.' Retrieved 7 September 2006. Noam Chomsky sees anarcho-syndicalist and libertarian socialist ideas as the descendants of the classical liberal ideas of the Age of Enlightenment, He envisions an anarcho-syndicalist future with direct worker control of the means of production and government by workers' councils, who would select representatives to meet together at general assemblies. Although more frequently associated with labor struggles of the early 20th century (particularly in France and Spain), many syndicalist organizations are active today, including the Central Organisation of the Workers of Sweden">SAC SAC or Sac may refer to: Organizations Education * Santa Ana College, California, US * San Antonio College, Texas, US * St. Andrew's College, Aurora, Canada * Students' Administrative Council, University of Toronto, Canada * SISD Student Activiti ...
Insurrectionary anarchism
Insurrectionary anarchism is a revolutionary theory, practice and tendency within the anarchist movement which emphasizes the theme of insurrection within anarchist practice. It opposes formal organizations such as labor unions and federations that are based on a political programme and periodic congresses. Instead, insurrectionary anarchists support informal organization and small affinity group based organization. Insurrectionary anarchists put value in attack, permanentclass conflict
Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor.
The forms ...
and a refusal to negotiate or compromise with class enemies.
Contemporary insurrectionary anarchism inherits the views and tactics of anti-organizational anarcho-communism and illegalism.
See also
*Anarchism and anarcho-capitalism
Anarcho-capitalism (or, colloquially, ancap) is an anti-statist, libertarian, and anti-political philosophy and economic theory that seeks to abolish centralized states in favor of stateless societies with systems of private property enforce ...
* Anarchism and the arts
Anarchism has long had an association with the arts, particularly with visual art, music and literature. This can be dated back to the start of anarchism as a named political concept, and the writings of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon on the French rea ...
* Anarchism and capitalism
The nature of capitalism is criticized by left-wing anarchists, who reject hierarchy and advocate stateless societies based on non-hierarchical
* Anarchism and education
Anarchism has had a special interest on the issue of education from the works of William Godwin and Max StirnerAnarchism and nationalism
Anarchism and nationalism both emerged in Europe following the French Revolution of 1789 and have a long and durable relationship going back at least to Mikhail Bakunin and his involvement with the pan-Slavic movement prior to his conversion to a ...
* Anarchism and Friedrich Nietzsche
The relation between anarchism and Friedrich Nietzsche has been ambiguous. Even though Nietzsche criticized anarchists,In ''Beyond Good and Evil'' (6.2:126) he refers to "anarchist dogs" his thought proved influential for many of them. As such " er ...
* Anarchism and violence
* Definition of anarchism and libertarianism
* Epistemological anarchism
* Issues in anarchism
* Left-libertarianism
* Left-wing market anarchism
* Libertarianism
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...
* Panarchism Panarchy may refer to:
* Panarchy (Dartmouth), student society at Dartmouth College
* Panarchy (ecology)
A social-ecological system consists of 'a bio-geo-physical' unit and its associated social actors and institutions. Social-ecological system ...
External links
*References
{{anarchism Schools of thought Issues in anarchism