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Anarchism

Specialty Definition: Anarchism

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Anarchism is a generic name given to theories and movements which call for the abolition of government and other forms of authority - the simplest possible civics. In the view of anarchists, the complexity of civics is inversely related to its potential for fairness - thus simpler is better.

Anarchists also argue that ethical relationships can be based only upon voluntary association. A central political principle for some anarchists is 'the sovereignty of the individual'.

Anarchism first achieved mass media attention during the Second Industrial Revolution, when anarchists assassinated rulers of Russia (1881); in the French Republic (1894); in Italy (1900); and in the United States (1901). Although anarchists are divided on whether, or not, to accept violence as a political tool, most anarchists reject such "propaganda by deed" as ineffectual at best and counterproductive at worst. Although some are pacifists, most would accept the need for a robust self defence of a revolution by the working class.

Anarchism: the basics

In contrast to common misconceptions, the anarchy sought by most anarchists is not chaos or anomie -- that is, anarchists do not desire an absence of order, rules, and organized structure. Anarchists oppose hierarchy, power and authority, which they argue to be immoral, oppressive, and detrimental to society. They philosophise on the distinctions between order and hierarchy, rules and authority, organised structure and power.

Some critics of anarchism suggest that it is a rhetorical form, whereby individuals can cloak the pursuit of their own interests behind an interlocking web of abstract concepts. Some anarchists speculate that freedom is unconstrained desire. Marx suggested that this desire was the material basis of the Anarchy of the market. Both Marxism and some forms of anarchism use the fluid manipulation of concepts through historical materialism, which links ideas with their social basis. Hence these historical materialists dismiss the idea of freedom as unconstrained desire, arguing that it is a politics for those who do not know what they want. The prominance of the idea that freedom is unconstrained desire in the English-speaking world may explain the development of anarchism in the West into an identity politics, albeit with a dissident White identity.

For a dictionary definition, see wiktionary:anarchism

Diversity of Anarchism

Anyone who wishes to abolish the state without replacing it with another form of government is usually considered an anarchist, so there are some vastly different views under the umbrella term "anarchism". On first approximation, we can distinguish two main trends in anarchist traditions:

• individualist anarchism insists on individual autonomy against authority and coercion.
• libertarian socialism proposes self-management in an egalitarian society.

These trends are not always mutually exclusive and do not cover all the nuances of anarchist movements that may or may not be loosely attached to them.

Thematic articles

Anarchism is a vast subject that touches a lot of topics. Below are links to articles that discuss and argue various aspects of anarchism with reference to different anarchist strands of thought.

• historical origins of anarchism (up to the nineteenth century)
• anarchism and democracy (what place for democracy in an anarchy?)
• anarchism and violence (some are revolutionaries, other are non-violent, etc.)
• anarchism and nature (ecology vs technology, etc.)
• anarchism and sex (marriage, sexism, etc.)
• anarchism and counter-culture
• spanish anarchism (the anarchist movement and spanish civil war)
• unclassified anarchists (anarchists who do not clearly fit categories)

See also

• individualist anarchism, voluntaryism
• libertarian socialism, anarcho-syndicalism, anarcho-communism, Class War, syndicalism, anti-globalization movement
• nihilism, primitivism, green anarchism, eco-anarchism, social ecology, anarchafeminism, anarchism in the arts, anarcho punk, pacifism, tolstoyans, situationists, TAZ
• anarcho-capitalism, libertarianism, classical liberalism
• anarchy, anomie, State, statism
• ideology, politics, political models
• crypto-anarchism
• anarchism and private property

Terms of Anarchist Theory

• intellectual worker
• monopoly on violence
• Direct action
• Direct democracy

Anarchist Organizations

• Anarchist Black Cross
• Anarchist Federation
• Anarchist Football Network
• CrimethInc
• NEFAC
• Anarchist Communitarian Network
• Red and Anarchist Action Network
• Anarchist Party of Canada

External links

• An Anarchist FAQ from a libertarian socialist perspective.
• An Anarchist FAQ from an anarcho-capitalist perspective.

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Anarchism."

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Anarchism in the arts

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

As a political theory that encompasses the full spectrum of social, philosophical, political and economic, Anarchism has a deep reach in culture.

Like socialism, communism and even fascism, Anarchism has a plethora of imagery and symbolism which have become associated with a variety of groups and movements, and co-opted (or "recuperated) by capitalist industry. The influence of anarchism is not always directly a matter of specific imagery or public figures, but may be seen in a certain stance towards the liberation of the total human being and the imagination.

Visual Art

(ie, the use of art or illustration to promote specifically anarchist ideas)

• Flavio Constantini
• Clifford Harper
• Jay Kinney (Anarchy Comics)
• Arthur Moyse
• Laura Norder
• Donald Rooum (Wildcat Comics, see Freedom anarchist fortnightly)
• Winston Smith
• Gee Vaucher
• John Yates

Anarchism had a large influence on French Symbolism of the late 19th century, such as that of Mallarme, who said "le livre c'est le bombe" (the book is the bomb) and infiltrated the cafes and cabarets of turn of the century Paris (see the Druken Boat #2).

More significantly, anarchists claim that 'strains' may be found in the works of the Dada group, whose anti-bourgeois art antics saw them wreaking havoc in war neutral Switzerland during World War I. However on closer analysis the Dadaists were much closer to the Council Communists, having much of their material published in Die Aktion.

Surrealism

As anarchism has traditionally emphasized the liberation of the imagination and subjectivity from the constraints of the present social order, many anarchists erroneously consider that it finds one of its closest allies in the work of the surrealists.

Surrealism is both an artistic and political movement aimed at nothing less than the total liberation of the human being from the constraints of capitalism, the state, and the cultural forces that limit the reign of the imagination. The movement developed in France in the wake of WWI with Andre Breton as its main theorist and poet. Originally it was tied closely to the Communist Party. Later Breton, a close friend of Leon Trotsky broke with the Communist Party. Surrealism has a strong continued following today in places like Portland, Oregon, the Czech Republic, Minneapolis, Chicago, Australia, and Portugal.

Music

A number of performers and artists have either been inspired by anarchist concepts, or have used the medium of music and sound in order to promote anarchist ideas and politics.

Punk rock is one movement that has taken much inspiration from the often potent imagery and symbolism associated with anarchism and situationist rhetoric, if not always the political theory. In the past few decades, anarchism has been closely associated with the punk rock movement, and has grown because of that association (whatever other effects that has had on the movement and the prejudiced pictures of it). Indeed, many anarchists were introduced to the ideas of Anarchism through that symbolism and the anti-authoritarian sentiment which many punk songs expressed.

Anarcho-punk, on the other hand, is a current that has been more explicitly engaged with anarchist politics, particularly in the case of bands such as Crass, Poison Girls, (early) Chumbawamba, The Ex, Flux Of Pink Indians, Riot/Clone, etc. Many other bands, especially at the local level of unsigned groups, have taken on what is known as a "punk" or "DIY" ethic: that is, Doing It Yourself, indeed a popular Anarcho-punk slogan reads "DIY not EMI", a reference to a conscious rejection of the major record company. Some groups who began as 'anarcho-punk' have attempted to move their ideas into a more mainstream musical arena, for instance, Chumbawamba, who continue to support and promote anarchist politics despite now playing more dance music and pop influenced styles.

Other musical artists who promote anarchist ideas include:

• John Cage
• Manu Chao
• No Use for a Name
• One Minute Silence
• Rage Against the Machine (It should be noted that while the singer, Zack de la Rocha subscribed to more anarchist politics, the guitarist Tom Morello was a fervent supporter of Maoism.)

Written fiction

Anarchist writers, or those that have incorporated anarchist ideas into their fiction, include:

• Ursula K. Le Guin (esp. The Dispossessed)
• Michael Moorcock
• M. John Harrison
• Robert Anton Wilson (The Illuminatus trilogy)
• BS Traven
• Alan Moore
• Iain M. Banks' novels of The Culture are science fiction books centred on a "libertarian-anarchist utopia," as Banks calls it in The State of the Art.

Film/Video

• Jean Vigo
• Godfrey Reggio
• Otto Nomous - produced numerous short and long form documentary movies on anarchist politics including Anarchy in L.A. and The Fellowship of the Ring of Free Trade.
• Luis Bunuel
• Jon Jost
• Hal Hartley - wrote and directed many films with anarchist themes, including Simple Men, a fictional tale about the children of an anarchist on the run from the law.

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Anarchism in the arts."

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Diversity of anarchism

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

As Benjamin Tucker put it, anarchism is the philosophy that "''all the affairs of men should be managed by individuals or voluntary associations, and that the state should be abolished.''"

But there is no central authority to define what is anarchism, so there exist a lot of distinct theories and movements that either claim to be anarchists or are considered to the anarchist. These theories and movements cover the whole political spectrum, from right to left, top to bottom, and whatever axis, so that there can be "anarchists" who have very opposed opinions on about everything but the malevolent character of the State.

However, it is possible to distinguish three main trends in anarchism:

• individualist anarchism insists on individual autonomy against authority and coercion.
• libertarian socialism proposes collective management in an egalitarian society.
• anarcho-capitalism rests on the classical liberal philosophy of individual property rights.

These trends do not classify exactly the whole diversity of anarchist theories, authors and movements. Many popular anarchist authors never formally claimed affiliation to any of the above traditions or to anarchism at all. Some authors are classified by scholars as attached to one of these traditions, others are considered sui generis. Finally, an author like Proudhon, with all his contradictions, can be rightly and historically considered as a founder by both libertarian socialists and individualist anarchists, by appropriate reading of his works.

Individualist Anarchism

Individualist anarchism insists on individual liberty, from the State and from any non-consented authority. See also voluntaryism.

Though individualist anarchists may have personal ideas about how things would work in an anarchist society, and at least about what kind of voluntary organization they would personally parcitipate, what characterizes them is that they deny anyone any legitimacy to compel others into following such practices. Their anarchist stance is thus above the debate of economic regime.

It is sometimes also above the debate of political regime, with many individualist anarchists focusing on ways to live in liberty despite government, rather than on ways to overthrow government. See Henry David Thoreau, Karl Hess or Hakim Bey.

Collectivist Anarchism

Libertarian Socialism and other forms of collectivist anarchism advocate some model organization of society in communities.

What distinguishes them from most individualist anarchists is that generally they support violent action by revolutionary organizations to achieve liberation from the authority of the State. Some also believe in using violence to "free" unwilling individuals, although this stance is not accepted by the majority.

Libertarian socialists follow the socialist ideology, but think that governments cannot possibly establish or manage socialism. They advocate a socialist revolution to get rid of government. Specific branches of libertarian socialism include anarcho-syndicalism (historically very strong in Spain - see spanish anarchism), and anarcho-communism.

Many other anarchist movements share an overwhelming anti-capitalist feeling, and a definite collectivist agenda, though without forcibly adhering to a formal socialist ideology. They include eco-anarchism and green anarchism, that insist on the respect of nature, anarcha-feminism that sees male domination as the root of evil, and a vast number of ephemeral anarchist groups, as well as some anarchists within the anti-globalization movement.

Anarcho-capitalism

Anarcho-capitalism is a flavor of anarchism, based on the classical liberal philosophy of Law. Anarcho-capitalists are libertarians who promote individual property rights and free markets for all services, including all those that governments claim as their natural monopoly. They see the definition of property rights as a universal mechanism to solve conflicts.

Anarcho-capitalists share the essential individualist anarchists, and violently reject all forms of compulsory collective model, including libertarian socialism and all forms of collectivist anarchism, that they consider foreign to their understanding of anarchism. On the other hand, while they think that capitalist organizations are legitimate and efficient ways of organizing society, they also welcome communities, cooperatives and collectives as long as they are voluntary.

anarcho-capitalists, though may be or seem less numerous and less organized than left-anarchists, are less subject to "splitting" and spawning a variety of opposite movements. Quite on the contrary, they share the values of non-anarchist classical liberals and readily participate in libertarian organizations, to promote free markets and the reduction of government intervention through peaceful means.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Diversity of anarchism."

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Historical origins of anarchism

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Even before the word anarchism came into use, individuals and movements spoke and acted in accordance with principles which would today be called anarchist. If we take the definition of an anarchist philosophy to be one which opposes the state on principle (and therefore advocates the disolution of state power and its replacement with other forms of organisation), then the list of "anarchist" groups becomes quite large and stretches back throughout history.

The Development of Anarchism before the nineteenth century

Rejection of coercive authority can be traced as far back as Ancient China, where Taoism is declared by some to have been the oldest example of anarchist doctrine [1]. In the West, a similar tendency can be traced to the philosophers of Ancient Greece, such as Zeno, the founder of the Stoic philosophy, and Aristippus, who said that the wise should not give up their liberty to the state [1]. Later movements -- such as the Free Spirit in the Middle Ages, the Anabaptists, The Diggers and The Levellers -- have also expounded ideas that have been interpreted as anarchist.

It can also be conjectured that in past times, many people were anarchists but did not have the opportunity to get such ideas openly published, and that many people did have anarchist fancies but did not dare take them seriously. See for instance how La Boétie, in his essay against tyranny, doesn't dare deny legitimacy to the reigning monarchy of his time.

The first known usage of the word anarchism seems to be traced to the French Revolution (c.1789), when it was used as a derogatory term against the left.

The first author to have published a treaty explicitly advocating the absence of government (without using the name anarchism) seems to be William Godwin, in 1793.

Proudhon and later

The French philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, in the 1840s, is considered to have been the first to refer to oneself as an "anarchist", which he did in a non-derogatory fashion, becoming the first to articulate a social philosophy that called itself anarchism. He referring to anarchy as absence of government.

Proudhon was a socialist, though he incorporated some classical liberal ideas in his discourse. He became fiercely anti-communist with pronounced anti-semitic and nationalist views.

Bakunin and many others, particularly in Europe, have developed after Proudhon an anarchist movement that openly endorses the main socialist ideas and left-wing politics.

Benjamin Tucker, who translated Proudhon into English, insisted on the individualist aspect of anarchism. He and others clearly advocated free markets as solutions to problems government claimed to solve, though they soundly rejected usury, wage-labor, and capital. Though Tucker and other similar authors also claimed the unqualified term "anarchist", they are often called individualist anarchists to disambiguate when needed.

Later development

Alongside the popular development of socialism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, anarchism developed through many stages.

See also:

• Historical origins of libertarian socialism

• BlackCrayon.com: Essays: A Brief Introduction to Anarchist History

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Historical origins of anarchism."

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Synonyms within Context: Anarchism

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Commercial Usage: Anarchism

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Usage Frequency: Anarchism

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Expressions: Anarchism

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Modern Translation: Anarchism

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Derivations & Misspellings: Anarchism

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Rhyming with "Anarchism"

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Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.