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"An Anarchist FAQ" is an online FAQ written by an international work group of anarchists connected through the internet. It documents anarchist theory and ideas whilst presenting arguments in favor of anarchism. It also explores debates internal to the anarchist movement, and counters common arguments against anarchism. It has been in constant evolution since 1995. While it was started as a critique of anarcho-capitalism, by the time it was officially released it had become a general introduction to anarchism. Online means being connected to the Internet or another similar electronic network, like a bulletin board system. ...
FAQ is an abbreviation for Frequently Asked Question(s). The term refers to listed questions and answers, all supposed to be frequently asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. ...
Anarchist redirects here. ...
Anarcho-capitalism refers to an anti-statist philosophy that embraces capitalism as one of its foundational principles. ...
Anarchist redirects here. ...
The FAQ is published under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (copyleft) and it is dedicated "to the millions of anarchists, living and dead, who tried and are trying to create a better world." It was officially released on July 19, 1996 "to celebrate the Spanish Revolution of 1936 and the heroism of the Spanish anarchist movement.". “GFDL†redirects here. ...
The reversed c in a full circle is the copyleft symbol. ...
is the 200th day of the year (201st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ...
In Spanish history, there have been several revolutions. ...
Theory Issues Culture By region Lists Anarchism Portal Politics Portal · Anarchism has historically gained the most support and influence in Spain, especially in the seventy or so years before Francisco Francos victory in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. ...
Content
The editors of the FAQ identify themselves as belonging to the social anarchist branch of anarchism (defined as anarchist-communism, anarcho-syndicalism, collectivist-anarchism and Proudhon's mutualism [1]), which to date has been the most widely represented aspect of anarchism worldwide. Despite this, the FAQ presents and describes most schools of anarchism, individualist anarchism, anarcha-feminism, and some lesser known theories like Platformism and anarcho-primitivism. It cites references from a variety of authors from all of these schools, and its bibliography contains over five hundred sources. Social anarchism is a term self-applied by many anarchists of the libertarian socialist thread of anarchism. ...
Anarchist communism is a form of anarchism that advocates the abolition of the State and capitalism in favor of a horizontal network of voluntary associations through which everyone will be free to satisfy his or her needs. ...
Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. ...
Collectivist anarchism is a doctrine spearheaded by Michael Bakunin that advocated the abolition of the state and private ownership of the means of production, with the means of production instead being owned collectively and controlled and managed by the producers themselves. ...
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (pronounced Pruood-on, not prowd-hon) (January 15, 1809 - January 19, 1865) was a French anarchist of the 19th century. ...
Mutualism is an economic theory or system, largely associated with Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, based on a labor theory of value which holds that in extreme laissez-faire, market competition will cause the market values (prices) of commodities and services to align with the amount of labor embodied in those things. ...
Theory and practice Issues History Culture By region Lists Related Anarchism Portal Politics Portal · Individualist anarchism (also anarchist individualism, anarcho-individualism, individualistic anarchism) refers to any of several traditions that hold that individual conscience and the pursuit of self-interest should not be constrained by any collective body or public...
Anarcha-feminism combines anarchism with feminism. ...
Platformism is a tendency within the wider anarchist movement which shares an affinity with organising in the tradition of Nestor Makhnos Organizational Platform of the Libertarian Communists. ...
Theory Issues Culture By region Lists Anarchism Portal Politics Portal · Anarcho-primitivism is an anarchist critique of the origins and progress of civilization. ...
Given the wide range of anarchist ideas, the authors acknowledge that many anarchists will not agree with everything that the FAQ says. However, they express their belief that "most anarchists will agree with most of what we present and respect those parts with which they do disagree with as genuine expressions of anarchist ideas and ideals."
The FAQ also explains disputes within anarchist thought, such as where and why social anarchists and individualist anarchists disagree.[2] As social anarchists, the writers also explain their own views on individualist anarchism, arguing that it has contradictions and "many flaws", and stating that it would lead to capitalist society.[1] However, they acknowledge its importance within the anarchist movement.
The FAQ does not accept the theory of anarcho-capitalism as part of anarchism. The FAQ writers explain and criticise anarcho-capitalism in sections F and, to some extent, G of the FAQ. They claim that "outside the net they are irrelevant and on the net they are just annoying" and call the arguments of anarcho-capitalists "inane" [3]. Critique of Bryan Caplan's "Anarchism Theory FAQ" is also presented in the first appendix, along with arguments that Caplan's FAQ distorts anarchism's relationship with anarcho-capitalism. Anarcho-capitalism refers to an anti-statist philosophy that embraces capitalism as one of its foundational principles. ...
Bryan Caplan (b. ...
Criticisms "Anarcho"-capitalist David D. Friedman says that the FAQ misrepresents some of his positions on medieval Iceland (what was formally Section F9). He accuses the authors of "not car[ing] whether what they publish is true". [4] Those involved in the FAQ admit that mistakes were made, particularly in the initial version of this section produced in 1996, but note that all mistakes were subsequently fixed when they became aware of them. [5] They reject Friedman's claim that they are uninterested in the truth. [6] David D. Friedman (b. ...
History The FAQ was started in 1995 when a group of anarchists got together in order to write an FAQ arguing against libertarian capitalist claims of being anarchists. Those who were involved in the project had spent many hours in on-line debate with libertarian capitalists concerning whether or not capitalism and anarchism are compatible. Eventually, a group of net-activists decided to produce a FAQ explaining their thoughts on why anarchism and capitalism are incompatible. However, it was eventually decided that an Anarchist FAQ which focused on anarchism itself would be a better idea than an anti-"anarcho"-capitalist one, and so the Anarchist FAQ was born. This article deals with the libertarianism as defined in America and several other nations. ...
The authors acknowledge that "it still bears some of the signs of its past-history. For example it gives the likes of Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, and so on, far too much space outside of Section F - they really are not that important."
Contributors According to its introduction, the FAQ was written by many collaborators, but the main contributors are listed as: Iain McKay (main contributor and editor), Gary Elkin, Dave Neal and Ed Boraas, who refer to themselves as "The Anarchist FAQ Editorial Collective."
The FAQ thanks the following people for their contributions: Andrew Flood, Mike Ballard, Francois Coquet, Jamal Hannah, Mike Huben, Greg Alt, Chuck Munson, Pauline McCormack, Nestor McNab, Kevin Carson, Shawn Wilbur, "and our comrades on the anarchy, oneunion and organise! mailing lists." Critiques of Libertarianism is a political website, composed of essays and articles critical towards libertarianism. ...
Chuck Munson (born 1965) is an American anarchist[1] in Kansas City, Missouri who currently runs the Alternative Media Project, Infoshop. ...
Kevin Carson is a contemporary American individualist anarchist and author. ...
Influence The FAQ is linked to or mirrored on hundreds of websites. It has been included in every stable Debian release since 1999. [7] It has been complimented by many sources, including individualist anarchist Kevin A. Carson, who calls the FAQ a "[m]onumental compendium on anarchist history, theory and practice". Some, such as Flint Jones, a member of NEFAC, think the FAQ is "the most comprehensive [anarchist] resource available" [8] The Workers Solidarity Movement, an Irish anarchist group, called it "the primary source of information about anarchism on the world wide web." (Workers Solidarity, no. 62) The FAQ has been studied by Joseph M. Reagle Jr. in his essay Why the Internet is Good - Community governance that works well "[as] an exemplar of the principles [of community governance]." Debian is a free operating system. ...
Kevin Carson is an author and contemporary self-described mutualist and individualist anarchist. ...
NEFAC (the North Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists or the Fédération des Communistes Libertaires du Nord-Est) is an anarchist communist organization, associated with International Libertarian Solidarity and consisting of active member collectives in Canada and the United States. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
Various versions of the FAQ have been translated into 8 languages. The FAQ is scheduled to be published in the UK by AK Press in 2007. [9] AK Press is a collectively owned and operated independent publisher and book distributor that specialises in radical and anarchist literature. ...
Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...
The FAQ has been cited in various published works, such as Viable Utopian Ideas: Shaping a Better World (ISBN 978-0-7656-1104-8) by Arthur B Shostak, and Utopia and Organization (ISBN 978-1-4051-0072-4) by Parker. It has been described as "very comprehensive", by Paul Graham and John Hoffman in their Introduction to Political Ideologies (Longman, 2006)
See also Though the libertarian socialist critique of capitalism is rooted in socialist theory, there are certain key distinctions in their critiques, which this article attempts to elucidate. ...
This article discusses anarchism and anarcho-capitalism. ...
References - ^ Section G
Bryan Caplan (b. ...
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