Part of the Politics series on Anarchism

Traditions Anarcha-feminism Anarchist communism Anarcho-primitivism Anarcho-syndicalism Christian anarchism Collectivist anarchism Eco-anarchism Green anarchism Individualist anarchism Politics is a process by which decisions are made within groups. ... Anarchism is the name for both a political philosophy and political movement, derived from the Greek αναρχία (without archons or without rulers). Thus anarchism, in its most general meaning, is the belief that all forms of domination, coersion, and rulership are undesirable and should be abolished. ... Image File history File links Anarchy-symbol. ... Anarcha-feminism combines anarchism with feminism. ... 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-primitivism is an anarchist critique of the origins and progress of civilization. ... Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labor movement, Syndicalisme is a French word meaning trade unionism hence the syndicalism qualification. ... Christian anarchism (also known as Christian libertarianism) is the belief that the only source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answerable is God, embodied in the teachings of Jesus. ... Left Anarchism is a term used almost exclusively by opponents of traditional anarchism to denominate philosophies that oppose private ownership of the means of production (or capitalism). ... Eco-anarchism argues that small eco-villages (of no more than a few hundred people) are a scale of human living preferable to civilization, and that infrastructure and political systems should be re-organized to ensure that these are created. ... Green anarchism is a set of related political theories that is derived from philosophical and social movements such as social ecologists, feminism, egoism, situationism, surrealism, the Luddittes, primitivism, post- and anti-leftists, indigenous, anti-industrialism, and pre-civilized people. ... Individualist Anarchism is an anarchist philosophical tradition that has a strong emphasis on sovereignty of the individual[1] and is generally opposed to collectivism[2]. The tradition appears most often in the United States, most notably in regard to its advocacy of private property. ... Anarcho-capitalism (disputed) Anarcho-capitalism refers to an anti-statist philosophy that embraces capitalism as one of its foundational principles. ... Anarchism in culture Anarchism and religion Anarchism and society Anarchism and the arts Criticisms of anarchism History of anarchism Anarchists traditionally have been skeptical and opposed to organized religion. ... This article discusses the anarchist critiques of society and proposed solutions from the anarchist perspective. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Anarcho-primitivists assert that, for the longest period before recorded history, human society was organized on anarchist principles. ... Anarchist theory Origins of anarchism Anarchist economics Anarchism and capitalism Anarchism and Marxism Anarchism w/o adjectives Anarchist symbolism Propaganda of the deed Post-left anarchy Long before anarchism emerged as a distinct perspective, human beings lived for thousand of years in societies without government. ... Anarchist economics entails theory and practice relating to economic activity within the philosophical outlines of anarchism. ... 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. ... Even though anarchist communism and Marxism are two very different political philosophies, there is some similarity between the methodology and ideology of some anarchists and some Marxists, and the history of the two have often been intertwined. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... This article discusses various anarchist symbols, including the circle-A and the black flag. ... Propaganda of the deed (or propaganda by the deed, from the French propagande par le fait) is a concept of anarchist origin, which appeared towards the end of the 19th century, that promotes the decisive action of individuals to inspire further action by others. ... Post-left anarchy is a recent current in anarchist thought that seeks to distance itself from the traditional left and to escape the confines of ideology in general. ... Relevant lists Anarchists Books Communities Concepts Organizations The following is a list of notable individuals who have been regarded as anarchists, either by themselves or others. ... Anarchist Daniel Guérin, Anarchism Robert Graham Anarchism. ... This is a list of past and present anarchist communities. ... These are concepts which, although not exclusive to anarchism, are significant in historical and/or modern anarchist circles. ... This list uses the word organization in its loosest sense. ...

Anarchism Portal Politics Portal ·  v·d·e

The theory and practice of anarchism has been controversial since it came to prominence in the 19th century. Some of the criticisms made of anarchism come from the interests it opposes, such as governments. Other criticisms have been made internally of other anarchists or by political movements that share similar goals, such as Marxism. Anarchism is the name for both a political philosophy and political movement, derived from the Greek αναρχία (without archons or without rulers). Thus anarchism, in its most general meaning, is the belief that all forms of domination, coersion, and rulership are undesirable and should be abolished. ... Marxism is the philosophy, social theory and political practice based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German socialist philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary. ...

Violence

Since anarchism has often been associated with violence and destruction, it has been portrayed as being inherently violent. This is a matter of much debate between anarcho-pacifists and those who argue for the right to use violence in self-defence, whether of individuals or of class interests. Anarcho-pacifism is a form of anarchism emphasizing the complete rejection of violence in any form for any purpose (esp. ... Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. ...

Friedrich Engels criticised anarchists for not being violent enough: Friedrich Engels (November 28, 1820, Wuppertal – August 5, 1895, London), a 19th-century German political philosopher, developed communist theory alongside his better-known collaborator, Karl Marx, co-authoring The Communist Manifesto (1848). ...

"A revolution is certainly the most authoritarian thing there is; it is the act whereby one part of the population imposes its will upon the other part by means of rifles, bayonets and cannon — authoritarian means, if such there be at all; and if the victorious party does not want to have fought in vain, it must maintain this rule by means of the terror which its arms inspire in the reactionists. Would the Paris Commune have lasted a single day if it had not made use of this authority of the armed people against the bourgeois?"^[1]

This is considered dishonest by many anarchists as Bakunin and most anarchists have historically advocated for the use of revolutionary violence. The true difference lies in the way anarchists have organized to defend the revolution, that is, voluntary popular militias with elected officers and without the use of coercion to impose obedience to orders from a centralized command (see Nestor Makhno and Buenaventura Durruti for two anarchist military leaders), contrast this with forced conscription with unelected officers (and political officers to control them, as they were reactionaries most of the time) in a centralized and herarchical chain of command, and death penalty for insubordination and desertion (see Trotsky and Stalin for two marxist military leaders). Also, anarchists advocate revolutionary pluralism instead of one part dictatorship (as Lenin imposed, altough alledgedlly as a temporary measure, and Stalin and Mao defended as the form of the dictatorship of the proletariat), not taking revenge towards reactionaries for being reactionaries (only taking measures in the case of active opposition, like sabotage, spying, or murder, and when the person had acted ruthlessly against workers previously to the revolution) and convincing others to join collectivities by example instead of under threat (this can be seen in the spanish revolution, most collectivities were partial, individualists were allowed to work land plots without hired labour, compare it with Mao's Great Leap Forward or Stalin's forced collectivization).

Even though anarchist communism and Marxism are two very different political philosophies, there is some similarity between the methodology and ideology of some anarchists and some Marxists, and the history of the two have often been intertwined. ...

Utopianism

Anarchism is often criticised as unfeasible, or plain utopian, even by many who agree that it is a nice idea in principle. For example, Carl Landauer in his book European Socialism criticizes anarchism as being unrealistically utopian, and holds that government is a "lesser evil" than a society without "repressive force." He holds that the belief that "ill intentions will cease if repressive force disappears" is an "absurdity."^[2] However, it must be noted that not all anarchists have such a utopian view of anarchism. For example, some, such as Benjamin Tucker, advocate privately-funded institutions that defend individual liberty and property. Other anarchists view anarchy as a utopia that in fact cannot be reached but should be continuously worked toward. Rudolf Rocker once said, "I am an anarchist not because I believe anarchism is the final goal, but because there is no such thing as a final goal" ^[3]. However, other anarchists, such as Sir Herbert Read, proudly accept the characterization "utopian." See Utopia (disambiguation) for other meanings of this word Utopia, in its most common and general meaning, refers to a hypothetical perfect society. ... Rudolf Rocker (March 25, 1873 - September 19, 1958), writer, historian and prominent figure in the international Anarchist movement. ... Sir Herbert Edward Read, MC, DSO (1893–1968) was an English poet and critic of literature and art. ...

Also, anarchist communists have historically fought for social change that is neither utopian nor unfeasible. The key difference being in who has the power, Marxists and statist in general agree that a centralized and hierarchical (although with elected leaders in democratic governments) apparatus is needed to keep peace and organize social life, anarchist on the other hand believe that the people are perfectly capable of doing both things by their local organizations in a direct democratic and federalist way and that a centralized government is inefficient, bureaucratic and authoritarian.

Hypocrisy

Some critics point to the sexist^[4] and racist views of some prominent anarchists, notably Proudhon and Bakunin, as examples of an alleged hypocrisy inherent within anarchism. While many anarchists, however, dismiss that the personal prejudices of 19th century theorists influence the beliefs of present-day anarchists, others criticise modern anarchism for continuing to be Eurocentric and reference the impact of anarchist thinkers like Proudhon on fascism through groups like Cercle Proudhon.^[5]. However, the tremendous number of anarchist opponents of fascism in its earliest history, plus the large number of Jewish anarchist followers of Bakunin from the past 120 years appears to attest to the power of his positive ideas about basic human freedom and the rejection by anarchists of his and Proudhon's negative statements (both in their times, like Dejacques and today). Anarchists point out that the people who focus on this area of these two people's writings tend to be Marxists trying to discredit anarchism, or nationalists pursuing a racist agenda, and not anarchists. The jewish anarchist position has been to argue that while the stupidity of anti-semitism whom many otherwise progressive intellectuals possessed should not be forgotten or overlooked, it should not make us forget the positive work some who fell into this trap in past history have contributed to humanity. The argument that anarchism is Eurocentric have largely been disproved by the histories of large Cuban anarchist (see Frank Fernández), Chinese anarchist (see Ba Jin) and Latin American anarchist (see Augusto César Sandino & Ricardo Flores Magón) movements in the 1920's as well as the American individualist anarchists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sexism is discrimination between people based on their Sex rather than their individual merits. ... 1. ... Pierre Joseph Proudhon. ... Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (Trolo) (Russian — Михаил Александрович Бакунин, Michel Bakunin — on the grave in Bern), (May 18 (30 N.S.), 1814–June 19 (July 1 N.S.), 1876) was a well known Russian revolutionary. ... Look up Hypocrisy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Eurocentrism is the practice, conscious or otherwise, of placing emphasis on European (and, generally, Western) concerns, culture and values at the expense of those of other cultures. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Cercle Proudhon was founded in 1911 and included such people as Pierre Drieu La Rochelle, George Valois, and Georges Sorel. ... Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideology, organization, or government, on all levels. ... Freie Arbeiter Stimme, vol 1 no 4, Friday, July 25, 1890. ... Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (Trolo) (Russian — Михаил Александрович Бакунин, Michel Bakunin — on the grave in Bern), (May 18 (30 N.S.), 1814–June 19 (July 1 N.S.), 1876) was a well known Russian revolutionary. ... Pierre Joseph Proudhon. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix Nationalism is a form of identity that holds that (ethnically or culturally defined) nations are the fundamental units for human social life, and makes certain cultural and political claims based upon that belief; in particular, the claim that the nation is the... Freie Arbeiter Stimme, vol 1 no 4, Friday, July 25, 1890. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... Eurocentrism is the practice, conscious or otherwise, of placing emphasis on European (and, generally, Western) concerns, culture and values at the expense of those of other cultures. ... Frank Fernández is a Cuban anarchist author. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Ba Jin in 1938 Li Yaotang (Chinese: 李尧棠, Zi: 芾甘, Feigan) (November 25, 1904 – October 17, 2005) is considered to be one of the most important and widely read Chinese writers of the twentieth century. ... Sandino (centre) en route to Mexico. ... Ricardo Flores Magón (September 16, 1874 – November 21, 1922) was born on Mexican Independence Day, in San Antonio Eloxochitlán, Oaxaca, Mexico. ... Josiah Warren is the first American anarchist Individualist anarchism, while being advocated among some European philosophers in various forms, has a distinctive flavor in The United States of America. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

Former professor Bryan Caplan argues that the treatment of fascists and suspected fascist sympathizers by Spanish anarchists in the Spanish Civil War was a form of illegitimate coercion, making the anarchists "ultimately just a third faction of totalitarians," alongside the communists and fascists. He also criticizes the willingness of the CNT to join the (statist) Republican government during the civil war, and references Stanley G. Payne's book on the Franco regime which claims that the CNT entered negotiations with the fascist government six years after the war.^[6] Bryan D. Caplan Bryan Caplan (b. ...

Bryan Caplan's political writing and scholarship, and the essay containing these points of view has been criticised as "mostly false reporting, based upon selective presentation of evidence in order to paint a radically false picture of the Spanish Anarchist movement", by anarchists such as Iain McKay.^[7] Bryan D. Caplan Bryan Caplan (b. ...

Class character

Marxists have characterised anarchism as an expression of the class interests of the petite bourgeoisie or perhaps the lumpenproletariat. See e.g. Plekhanov^[8] for a Marxist critique of 1895. Anarchists have also been characterised as spoilt middle-class dilettantes, most recently in relation to anti-capitalist protesters.^{[citation needed]} Anarchists point out how Marxists revolutions create a new bourgeoisie based on being a bureacrat, and that most of those anarchists they claim to be "petite bourgeoisie" are merely ordinary working class people who happen to be intellectuals and excessively "street smart". Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... Petit-bourgeois or Anglicised petty bourgeois is a French term that originally referred to the members of the lower middle social-classes in the 18th and early 19th centuries. ... The lumpenproletariat (German Lumpenproletariat, rabble-proletariat; raggedy proletariat) is a term originally defined by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in The German Ideology (1845), their famous second joint work, and later expounded upon in future works by Marx. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... An anti-capitalist poster printed by the Industrial Workers of the World in 1911. ... bourgeoisie is basically a trem that meens middle class. ... Bureaucracy is a concept in sociology and political science. ... An intellectual is a person who uses his or her intellect to study, reflect, and speculate on a variety of different ideas. ...

Even though anarchist communism and Marxism are two very different political philosophies, there is some similarity between the methodology and ideology of some anarchists and some Marxists, and the history of the two have often been intertwined. ...

Tacit authoritarianism

In recent decades anarchism (chiefly the Bakuninist concept of the revolutionary secret society) has been criticised by Situationists and others of preserving tacitly statist, authoritarian or bureaucratic tendencies.^[9]. Many anarchists consider it a strawman as the organization proposed by Bakuinin has only been used in times of repression where clandestine activity is needed for survival (for example, during the last argentinean dictatorship by Resistencia Libertaria Anticapitalista). Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (Russian — Михаил Александрович Бакунин), (May 30, 1814–June 13, 1876) was a well-known Russian anarchist contemporaneous to Karl Marx. ... The Situationist International (SI), an international political and artistic movement, originated in the Italian village of Cosio dArroscia on 28 July 1957 with the fusion of several extremely small artistic tendencies: the Lettrist International, the International movement for an imaginist Bauhaus, and the London Psychogeographical Association. ...

Post-anarchists share similar concerns regarding the methods, rather than intentions, of some anarchists. For instance, they reject revolution, seeing means of forceful anarchism as effectively authoritarian and only transforming power rather than eliminating it. Most anarchists do believe in the need of revolution (taking over the means of work, abolishing the State) and the violent nature of the struggle to overthrow capitalism. However, the consider that violence has to be very focused and limited or else it would engender a new dictatorship. Post-anarchism or postanarchism is the term used to represent anarchist philosophies developed since the 1980s using post-structuralist and postmodernist approaches. ... It has been suggested that Revolutionary be merged into this article or section. ...

Anarcho-capitalism, agorism and other forms of neo-liberalism have also come under serious criticism for essentially being representations of traditional "republican liberalism" (propertarianism) — capitalism that is the same as it was before, yet far worse: with the taxes, compulsory social services, health regulations and socialized medical care programs removed and resulting in a society similar to the way it is depicted in movies like Blade Runner and most Cyberpunk liturature. Such modern industrial societies were illustrated in books like Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and much of the writing of Charles Dickens. It is argued that in such societies without a state in which all material resources (including land and capital goods) are owned privately by individuals and businesses the poor would be left to their own devices and the gap between the rich and the poor would naturally exacerbate. This was not what happened during the spanish revolution, solidarity was widespread (for example, the Barbers union donated 100000 pesetas to the Asco collectivity for irrigation works), also, in most places there was a family salary (and all salaries were more or less equal) wich varied in accordance to the number of persons dependant of the worker (in other places money was abolished and replaced with quotas of consumption). Anarcho-capitalism refers to an anti-statist philosophy that embraces capitalism as one of its foundational principles. ... Agorism is a radical left-libertarian political philosophy popularized by Samuel Edward Konkin III, who defined an agorist as a conscious practitioner of counter-economics (peaceful black markets and grey markets). ... The term neoliberalism is used to describe a political-economic philosophy that had major implications for government policies beginning in the 1970s – and increasingly prominent since 1980 – that de-emphasizes or rejects positive government intervention in the economy, focusing instead on achieving progress and even social justice by encouraging free... For other uses, see Capitalism (disambiguation). ... Blade Runner is an influential 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott which depicts a dystopian Los Angeles in November 2019. ... Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2006-01-11, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... Upton Beall Sinclair (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was a prolific American author who wrote over 90 books in many genres, often advocating socialist views, and achieved considerable popularity in the first half of the twentieth century. ... The Jungle (1906) is the most famous novel written by the American author Upton Sinclair. ... Dickens redirects here. ... In economics, capital goods refer to real products that are used in the production of other products but are not incorporated into the new product that is derived from the production of the older product. ...

Nationalism

In recent years, an obscure movement known as national anarchism emerged, which mixes anarchist, fascist and racialist beliefs. They advocate racial separation, as well as political, social, and economic decentralization. The vast majority of anarchists consider national anarchism to be inherently racist and consider it inconsistent with anarchism. National Anarchism is a movement that combines anarchism and nationalism, with intellectual roots in third positionism and the writings of the neo-Spenglerian Francis Parker Yockey. ... Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Hitlers Nazi Germany: the epitome of 20th-century racialism Racialism is a term used to describe racial policy, in what is generally perceived to be a negative sense, as promoting stratification and inequality between racial categories (in themselves, often disputed). ... 1. ...

Some critics argue that the reason why anarchism has failed to be a major political movement is that it always invariably leads to a type of feudalism, as different "free" groups begin to bunch together.

References

1. ^ On Authority
2. ^ Landauer, Carl. European Socialism: A History of Ideas and Movements (1959)
3. ^ Rocker, Rudolf (1956). The London Years.
4. ^ Jenny P. d'Hericourt, "Contemporary feminist critic of Proudhon"
5. ^ Anarchist Integralism
6. ^ Caplan, Bryan. "The Anarcho-Statists of Spain"
7. ^ Iain McKay, A Reply to Bryan Caplan's Essay "The Anarcho-Statists of Spain: An Historical, Economic, and Philosophical Analysis", or Objectivity and Right-Libertarian Scholarship, accessed 2006-05-30
8. ^ G. V. Plekhanov "Anarchism and Socialism"
9. ^ Debord, Guy. “paragraph 91”, Society of the Spectacle, translated by Ken Knabb, London: Rebel Press. ISBN 0946061122.