Relationship anarchy (sometimes abbreviated RA) is the application of anarchist principles to

intimate relationship An intimate relationship is an interpersonal relationship that involves physical or emotional intimacy. Although an intimate relationship is commonly a sexual relationship, it may also be a non-sexual relationship involving family, friends, or ...

s. Its values include

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

, anti-

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 ...

practices, anti-

normativity Normative generally means relating to an evaluative standard. Normativity is the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or outcomes as good, desirable, or permissible, and others as bad, undesirable, or impermissible. A norm in ...

, and community

interdependence Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its struc ...

. RA is explicitly anti- amatonormative and anti- mononormative and is commonly, but not always,

non-monogamous Non-monogamy (or nonmonogamy) is an umbrella term for every practice or philosophy of non- dyadic intimate relationship that does not strictly hew to the standards of monogamy, particularly that of having only one person with whom to exchange se ...

. This is distinct from

polyamory Polyamory () is the practice of, or desire for, romantic relationships with more than one partner at the same time, with the informed consent of all partners involved. People who identify as polyamorous may believe in open relationships wit ...

, solo poly, swinging, and other forms of “

dating Dating is a stage of romantic relationships in which two individuals engage in an activity together, most often with the intention of evaluating each other's suitability as a partner in a future intimate relationship. It falls into the categor ...

”, which may include structures such as amatonormativity,

hierarchy 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 ...

of intimate relationships, and

-limiting rules. It has also been interpreted as a new paradigm in which closeness and autonomy are no longer considered to create dilemmas within a relationship.

History

Andie Nordgren popularized the term "relationship anarchy" in her 2012

Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...

essay "The short instructional manifesto for relationship anarchy", which she translated from her own

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

-language "''Relationsanarki i 8 punkter''" (lit. ''Relationship anarchy in 8 points''). Other relevant writings exploring this topic within a similar time frame include "A Green Anarchist Project on Freedom" and "Love and Against the Couple Form". Workshops at OpenCon 2010 discussed relationship anarchy, and the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

professor Dr. Meg Barker discussed it in a 2013 presentation. In the International Non-Monogamies and Contemporary Intimacies Conferences, since 2016, different aspects of relationship anarchy have been studied. In March 2020, the first book dedicated monographically to RA was published in Spanish: "Anarquía Relacional. La revolución desde los vínculos", translated into English in 2022 as "Relationship Anarchy. Occupy Intimacy"

References

{{Close plural relationships Anarchist culture Anarchist theory Interpersonal relationships Intimate relationships Free love Polyamory Sexual fidelity Sexuality and society

History

See also

References