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 ...
and
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 ...
, as broad
political ideologies
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 prim ...
with manifold historical and contemporary meanings, have contested definitions. Their adherents have a pluralistic and overlapping tradition that makes precise definition of the political ideology difficult or impossible, compounded by a lack of common features, differing priorities of subgroups, lack of academic acceptance, and contentious, historical usage.
Overview
"Anarchism" generally refers to the anti-authoritarian (libertarian) wing of the socialist movement. "Libertarian socialism" has been a synonym for "anarchism" since 1890, as has the term "libertarian" through the mid-20th century.
The terms "anarchism" and "libertarianism" represent broad political ideologies with multiple historical and contemporary meanings. Incompatibilities within their pluralistic tradition prove difficult or impossible to reconcile into a singular set of core beliefs. The range of ideological disparities within anarchism is often paradoxical and never fully coherent. In general, anarchists are opposed to hierarchy and capitalism but differ in how they believe that change should be made.
Other complicating factors in defining "anarchism" include disagreement over its status as a political ideology and contention over the term's historical usage. Anarchism's rejection of the state and state policy largely sits outside the purview of political scientists and in some formulations, its misconstruction as the antithesis of politics contributes to its marginalization as a political ideology.
History of usage
Since the 19th century, "libertarian" has referred to advocates for freedom of the will, or anyone who generally advocated for liberty. The first person to call themselves a "libertarian" in the political sense was
Joseph Déjacque
Joseph Déjacque (; 27 December 1821, in Paris – 1864, in Paris) was a French early anarcho-communist poet, philosopher and writer. He coined the term "libertarian" (French: ''libertaire'') for himselfJoseph DéjacqueDe l'être-humain mâle ...
in 1857. Shortly after, in 1858, he created the New York anarchist journal ''
Le Libertaire
''Le Libertaire'' is a Francophone anarchist newspaper established in New York City in June 1858 by the exiled anarchist Joseph Déjacque. It appeared at slightly irregular intervals until February 1861. The title reappeared in Algiers in 1892 a ...
''. Anarchist
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 ...
used the term later in the century to differentiate between anarchists and authoritarian socialists. While the term "libertarian" has been largely synonymous with anarchism, its meaning has more recently diluted with wider adoption from ideologically disparate groups. For example, "libertarians" include both 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 ...
Marxists (who do not associate with authoritarian socialists or a vanguard party) and extreme liberals (primarily concerned with civil liberties). Additionally, some anarchists use "libertarian socialist" to avoid anarchism's negative connotations and emphasize its connections with socialism.
Anarchism retains a historical association with chaos and violence. In the late 1800s, prominent anarchist
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 ...
noted the popular connotations of "anarchy" as a synonym for chaos and disorder, and thus a disadvantageous name for a movement. He accepted the term despite this, just as the Dutch
Sea Beggars
Geuzen (; ; french: Les Gueux) was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called Watergeuzen (; ; frenc ...
and
sans-culottes
The (, 'without breeches') were the common people of the lower classes in late 18th-century France, a great many of whom became radical and militant partisans of the French Revolution in response to their poor quality of life under the . The ...
had their own names conferred. Anarchists throughout the 20th century have regretted the philosophy's association with chaos, explosives, wanton violence, and marauding. These connotations endure contemporaneously through the popular media's association of
black bloc property destruction with the movement. As a result of anarchy's dual definitions, the idea of a society without central authority is endemically conflated with chaos, hampering one's ability to conceive of the former positively.
The term "anarchist" is also used as an
empty signifier A floating signifier (also sometimes referred to as an empty signifier, but Ernesto Laclau separates both concepts) is a signifier without a referent in semiotics and discourse analysis, such as a word that points to no actual object and has no agr ...
to show abrasive disdain. The term's association with societal malady has been, in part, an intentional strategy by its detractors to discredit it. "Libertarian" saw a similar diffusion of purpose within the American libertarian movement as a wider group less studied and less interested in minimal government adopted the term, diluting the potency of its association with the strict rights-based libertarianism of Ayn Rand and Murray Rothbard. Anarcho-capitalists and those who believe in abolition of the state have occupied the fringe of the libertarian movement.
The revival of free-market ideologies during the mid-to-late 20th century came with disagreement over what to call the movement. While many of its adherents, especially in the United States, prefer "libertarian", many Conservative libertarians reject the term's association with the 1960s
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 ...
and its connotations of
libertine
A libertine is a person devoid of most moral principles, a sense of responsibility, or sexual restraints, which they see as unnecessary or undesirable, and is especially someone who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behaviour ob ...
hedonism. The movement is divided over the use of "Conservative" as an alternative. Those who seek both economic and social liberty would be known as classical "liberals", but that term developed associations opposite of the
limited government
In political philosophy, limited government is the concept of a government limited in power. It is a key concept in the history of liberalism.Amy Gutmann, "How Limited Is Liberal Government" in Liberalism Without Illusions: Essays on Liberal Theo ...
, low-taxation, minimal state advocated by the movement. Name variants of the free-market revival movement include
classical liberalism
Classical liberalism is a political tradition
Political culture describes how culture impacts politics. Every political system is embedded in a particular political culture.
Definition
Gabriel Almond defines it as "the particular patt ...
,
economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...
,
free-market liberalism
The term market liberalism is used in two distinct ways.
In the United States, the term is used as a synonym to classical liberalism. In this sense, market liberalism depicts a political ideology, combining a market economy with personal liber ...
and
neoliberalism
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
. "Libertarian" has the most colloquial acceptance to describe a member of the movement, or "economic libertarian", based on both the ideology's primacy of economics and its distinction from libertarians of the New Left.
Though many contemporary
antiglobalization
The anti-globalization movement or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...
activists actively identify as "anarchists", many others use anarchist principles and strategies without formally adopting the label, preferring instead terms including "antiauthoritarian", "autonomist", "libertarian socialist", or no label. These activists display anarchistic sensibilities and follow in anarchism's tradition of antiauthoritarianism, anticapitalism, antioppression, and anti-imperialism without explicitly defining themselves as ideologically anarchist.
Relation with socialism
In the 19th century, "anarchism" and "socialism" were used interchangeably, both treated as similar threats to sociopolitical order despite their differences in views towards the state. Similarly, classical anarchism is synonymous with "libertarian socialism" in their shared commitments to autonomy and freedom, decentralization, opposing hierarchy, and opposing the
vanguardism
Vanguardism in the context of Leninist revolutionary struggle, relates to a strategy whereby the most class-conscious and politically "advanced" sections of the proletariat or working class, described as the revolutionary vanguard, form organi ...
of authoritarian socialism. Generally, libertarian socialism expands to include classical anarchism,
council communism
Council communism is a current of communist thought that emerged in the 1920s. Inspired by the November Revolution, council communism was opposed to state socialism and advocated workers' councils and council democracy. Strong in Germany a ...
,
Italian autonomists
Autonomism, also known as autonomist Marxism is an anti-capitalist left-wing political and social movement and theory. As a theoretical system, it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism (). Later, post-Marxist and anarchist tendenci ...
, and the Marxism of
Luxemburg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...
,
Mattick, and
Gramsci
Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , , ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, linguist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, political theory, sociology, history, and linguistics. He was a fou ...
. While there are differences between each, including whether their adherents personally identify as fully "anarchist" or "Marxist", each still classifies as anti-authoritarian socialism. Classical anarchism is distinguished from general Marxism by its opposition to centralized or authoritarian organizational structures and "the dominion of man over man". Socialist-aligned forms of anarchism are also known as "social anarchism".
The terms "anarchist" and "Marxist" originally signified factions within the
First International
The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation
An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as ...
and had no theoretical basis. The Russian anti-authoritarian
Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary ...
argued that the International was an authoritarian organization controlled by
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
, a German. The term "Marxist" first appeared in French in 1872 to associate the anti-Bakuninist group within the International. The Marxists, in return, used the pejorative "anarchist" to label the Bakuninists. These distinctions were further conflated across state lines, such that the French anarchists conflated "Marxist" with "German". A schism between "anarchist" and "socialist" affiliation was formalized with the
Second International
The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of socialist and labour parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at two simultaneous Paris meetings in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second International continued th ...
's 1896
London Congress.
The biggest divide in the definition of anarchism is between the main individualist and socialist anarchist traditions. While anarchism sits between liberalism and socialism, the definitive extent of its affiliation with either is contested. Historians (
Rocker and
Woodcock
The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of wading birds in the genus ''Scolopax''. The genus name is Latin for a snipe or woodcock, and until around 1800 was used to refer to a variety of waders. The English name ...
) have described anarchism as the confluence of liberal individualism and socialist egalitarianism. Other activists and theorists have variously argued that one tradition is "genuine anarchism" and the other tradition is oppression (
Bookchin vs.
anarcho-capitalists
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 enfor ...
) or a combination thereof (
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
). These contemporary distinctions trace to the time of early modern anarchism when
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
Alexander Berkman
Alexander Berkman (November 21, 1870June 28, 1936) was a Russian-American anarchist and author. He was a leading member of the anarchist movement in the early 20th century, famous for both his political activism and his writing.
B ...
either broke with groups or otherwise separated the traditions of communist anarchism from individualist, mutualist, and egoist anarchism. Even the very idea of the individualist–socialist divide is contested, as some types of individualist anarchism are largely socialistic. Despite these imprecise boundaries and some similarities, socialism and individualism within anarchism have a bifurcated tradition, the former associated with the history of socialism and the latter with
classical liberalism
Classical liberalism is a political tradition
Political culture describes how culture impacts politics. Every political system is embedded in a particular political culture.
Definition
Gabriel Almond defines it as "the particular patt ...
and
conservatism
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
(also known as "
right-libertarianism
Right-libertarianism,Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism" ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the ...
"). Even their shared belief in anti-statism does not provide a common identity, as both traditions differ in their interpretation of state-rejection in spite of the common terms.
Relation with property and capitalism
Modern American libertarians are distinguished from the dominant libertarian tradition by their relation to property and capital. While both historical libertarianism and contemporary economic libertarianism share general antipathy towards power by government authority, the latter exempts power wielded through
free market capital. Historically, libertarians including
Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher, psychologist, biologist, anthropologist, and sociologist famous for his hypothesis of social Darwinism. Spencer originated the expression "survival of the fittest" ...
and
Max Stirner
Johann Kaspar Schmidt (25 October 1806 – 26 June 1856), known professionally as Max Stirner, was a German post-Hegelian philosopher, dealing mainly with the Hegelian notion of social alienation and self-consciousness. Stirner is often seen a ...
supported the protection of an individual's freedom from powers of government and private ownership. In contrast, modern American libertarians support freedoms on the basis of their agreement with private property rights. The abolishment of public amenities is a common theme in modern American libertarian writings.
Forms of libertarianism that put laissez-faire economics before economic equality are commonly viewed as incompatible with anarchism's tradition of egalitarianism and anti-capitalism. Anarcho-capitalism, which would abolish the state and create a fully laissez-faire economy, lies outside the social tradition of anarchism. It shares anarchism's antipathy towards the state but not anarchism's antipathy towards hierarchy, as theorists expect from anarcho-capitalist economic power relations. The ideology follows a different paradigm from anarchism and has a fundamentally different approach and goals. Despite the "anarcho" in its title, anarcho-capitalism is more closely affiliated with capitalism and right-wing libertarianism than with anarchism. Further, within laissez-faire libertarianism, some reject the designation "anarcho-capitalism", believing that "capitalism" may either refer to the laissez-faire market they support or the government-regulated system that they oppose.
Types of definition of anarchism
Anarchism scholar
Paul McLaughlin studies the various definitions of anarchism in his book ''Anarchism and Authority''. According to him, there are three common types of anarchism definition:
* etymological definitions
* anti-statist definitions
* anti-authoritarian definitions
But all fall short from providing a precise definition of anarchism.
Etymological definition
"Anarchy" derives from the Greek ''anarkhos'', meaning "without authority" (as opposed to "without government/state"). Hence the etymological definition of anarchism as the negation of an authority. But anarchism is generally not simply a negative stance on authority but also a positive stance about how society should be structured.
Anti-statist definition
Anti-statist definitions place the focus of interest on the negation, and confrontation in the real world, of the state by anarchism. But as with the etymological definition, anarchism is much more than anti-statism, as it rejects all various forms of established authority.
The association between anti-statism and anarchism is both commonly understood and contested.
Anarchism, according to historian
Peter Marshall Peter Marshall may refer to:
Entertainment
* Peter Marshall (entertainer) (born 1926), American game show host of ''The Hollywood Squares'', 1966–1981
* Peter Marshall (author, born 1939) (1939–1972), British novelist whose works include ''Th ...
, exists outside standards of
political theory
Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...
because its aims are not based on the struggle for power within the state. It is more concerned with moral and economic theory than participation in political systems and indeed often advocates against participation in such systems.
Anarchist libertarians and modern economic libertarians share opposition to the state as their only significant commonality.
Anti-authoritarian definitions
Anti-authoritarian definitions depicts the rejection of all kind of authorities. Even though these kind of definitions are much broader than the anti-statist ones, there are still handicaps. McLaughlin, who examines under a philosophical scope, claims that anti-authoritarianism is a conclusion of anarchist thought, not an ''a priori'' statement, therefore it can not be used as a definition.
See also
*
Definition of fascism
*
Definition of terrorism
There is no universal agreement on the legal definition of terrorism, although there exists a consensus academic definition created by scholars.
Various legal systems and government agencies use different definitions of terrorism, and governm ...
*
Floating signifier A floating signifier (also sometimes referred to as an empty signifier, but Ernesto Laclau separates both concepts) is a signifier without a referent in semiotics and discourse analysis, such as a word that points to no actual object and has no agre ...
* ''
Libertaire'' and ''
Libertario''
Notes
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