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  * 1 Introduction
  * 2 Schools of Anarchist Thought
        o 2.1 Mixing Systems
        o 2.2 Mutualism
        o 2.3 Anarchist collectivism
        o 2.4 Anarchism and the individual
              + 2.4.1 Max Stirner's egoism (or 3.3)
              + 2.4.2 Individualist Anarchism
        o 2.5 Anarchist communism
              + 2.5.1 Kropotkin
        o 2.6 Anarchist Syndicalism
        o 2.7 Anarcho-capitalism (or 6.1)
        o 2.8 Post-left and poststructuralism (or 6.2)
        o 2.9 Post Anarchism? (or 6.3)
  * 3 Origins of Anarchism
        o 3.1 William Godwin
        o 3.2 Josiah Warren
        o 3.3 Max Stirner (or 2.4.1)
        o 3.4 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
  * 4 Anarchism as a Social Movement
        o 4.1 First International
        o 4.2 Anarchism and trade unions 
        o 4.3 The Russian Revolution
        o 4.4 The fight against fascism
  * 5 Issues in anarchism 
        o 5.1 Ends and means
        o 5.2 Possession and Property
        o 5.3 Capitalism
              + 5.3.1 Neocolonialism and globalization
        o 5.4 Feminism and anti-racism
        o 5.5 The environment
        o 5.6 Religion
  * 6 Anarchism Since 1945
        o 6.1 Anarcho-capitalism (or 2.7)
        o 6.2 Post-left and poststructuralism (or 2.8)
        o 6.3 Post Anarchism? (or 2.9)
  * 7 Criticisms of anarchism
  * 8 Cultural phenomena
  * 9 See also
        o 9.1 Historical events
        o 9.2 Anarchism by region/culture
        o 9.3 Books
  * 10 Notes and references
  * 11 External links

Part of the Politics series on Anarchism
Schools of thought
Black • Buddhist Capitalist • Christian Collectivist • Communist Eco • Feminist Green • Individualist Jewish • Mutualist Nationalist • Primitivist Philosophical • Social Syndicalist • Without adjectives
Anarchism in culture
Religion • Society • Arts History • Popular Education Criticisms
Anarchist theory
Origins • Economics Anarchism and capitalism Anarchism and Marxism Co-operatives Symbolism • Post-left Especifismo • Platformism Propaganda of the deed Spontaneous order Workers' self-management
Anarchism by region
Africa • Austria • China English Tradition • France Greece • Ireland • Mexico Russia • Spain • Sweden Ukraine • United States
Anarchism lists
Books • Communities Concepts • Organizations
Anarchism Portal Politics Portal ·  v • d • e

Anarchism is the name for both a political philosophy and a loosely organized society, derived from the Greek αναρχία ("without archons" or "without rulers"). Thus "anarchism," in its most general semantic meaning, is the belief that all forms of rulership are undesirable and should be abolished. For many anarchists, this includes not only the state, but other institutions which they may consider authoritarian, such as capitalism. The rise of anarchism as a cohesive philosophy in the 19th century, with its notion of freedom as being based upon political, economic, and social equality, was a reaction to the rise of bureaucratic nation state and large-scale industrial capitalism.^[1]

Although anarchists are unified in the rejection of the state, they differ about economic arrangements that would prevail in a stateless society. On this issue anarchists differ widely, ranging from advocates of complete common ownership and distribution according to need, to supporters of private property and free market competition.^[2]

The word "anarchy", as most anarchists use it, does not imply chaos, nihilism, or anomie, but rather an anti-authoritarian society that is based on voluntary association of free individuals in autonomous communities operating on principles of voluntary exchange, mutual aid and self-governance.

Contents 1 Schools of anarchist thought 1.1 Mixing systems 1.2 Mutualism 1.3 Anarchism and the individual 1.4 Collectivism 1.5 Anarchist communism 1.5.1 Kropotkin 1.6 Anarchist Syndicalism 2 Origins of Anarchism 2.1 William Godwin 2.2 Josiah Warren 2.3 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon 2.4 Max Stirner's egoism 3 Anarchism as a social movement 3.1 First International 3.2 Anarchism and trade unions 3.3 The Russian Revolution 3.4 The fight against fascism 4 Issues in anarchism 4.1 Ends and means 4.2 Possession and property 4.3 Capitalism 4.3.1 Neocolonialism and globalization 4.4 Feminism and anti-racism 4.5 The environment 4.6 Religion 5 Anarchism Since 1945 5.1 Anarcho-Capitalism 5.2 Post-left and poststructuralism 5.3 Post Anarchism 6 Criticisms of anarchism 7 Cultural phenomena 8 See also 8.1 Historical events 8.2 Anarchism by region/culture 8.3 Books 9 Notes and references 10 External links

[edit] Schools of anarchist thought

[edit] Mixing systems

[edit] Mutualism

Main article: mutualism (economic theory)

Mutualism is the most individualist form of classical anarchism, and the first school of thought to adopt the name anarchism. Pierre Joseph Proudhon, William B. Greene, Benjamin Tucker, and John Gray used the term to describe their economic theories. Unlike other anarchists, mutualists are not necessarily opposed to private property, so long as it is based upon personal occupancy and use as described by the labor theory of property [9]. Mutualists also stand against profit and believe that nothing should be sold for more than its "true cost".

To accomplish this, they believe in a system where money is replaced with labor notes that denote a given amount of labor. Wherever a great number of workers is needed, an association of workers is expected. However, the labor of a lone worker requires no association. They also advocate mutual banks, owned by the workers, that do not charge interest. Most mutualists believe that anarchy should be achieved gradually through superiority in the marketplace rather than through revolution [10].

Worker cooperatives such as the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation follow an economic model similar to that of mutualism. The model followed by the corporation WL Gore and Associates, inventor of Gore-Tex fabrics, is also similar to mutualism as there is no chain of command and salaries are determined collectively by the workers. It is important to note that Gore and Associates has never identified itself as anarchist.

Mutualism's stress on worker association is similar to the more developed modern theory of Participatory Economics, although Participatory Economists do not believe in markets.

[edit] Anarchism and the individual

Main articles: Individualist anarchism and Individualist anarchism in the United States

In 1825 Josiah Warren had participated in a utopian socialism experiment at New Harmony, which failed in a few years amidst much internal conflict. Warren blamed the community's failure on a lack of individual sovereignty and dedicated himself to promoting economic cooperation on the basis of individual liberty and self-ownership. Perhaps the most successful of his experiments in liberty were the Cincinnati Time Store and the Modern Times intentional community. Other prominent nineteenth century individualists included Lysander Spooner, Benjamin Tucker, Stephen Pearl Andrews, and Victor Yarros and Emile Armand.

These thinkers held that the state was the foremost source of inequality and oppression. They argued that a network of a free market exchange between voluntary cooperatives could supplant all functions of the state, including defense.^[3]. Since individualist anarchists were adherents of the labor theory of value, they believed that the working man ought to enjoy the full fruit of his labor. Armand elucidates: "The individual or association ought to be able, without having to take into consideration anybody else whatsoever, to consume its own output, or exchange it either gratis or for something else, and furthermore, it should be open to it to choose those with whom it will exchange its products and what it will receive in their stead."

Tucker's economic theory blamed the poor condition of American workers on four monopolies based in authoirty^[4]: the money monopoly of control over currency and credit by state-sanctioned banks; the land monopoly of land-titles for absentee owners; patents, prohibiting competition; tariffs, restricting competition in favor of established firms. Without these interlocking "invasions", Tucker maintained, individuals would be free to determine their own economic lives through mutual banking, labor notes, cooperative manufacture, and other voluntary pursuits. His commitment to individual sovereignty led him to strongly support the individual's rights to own private property and to trade it in a free market economy, both of which he saw as inseparable from anarchism.^[5]

[edit] Collectivism

[edit] Anarchist communism

Main article: Anarchist communism

Although the collectivist anarchists advocated remuneration for labor, they held out the possibility of a post-revolutionary transition to a communist system of distribution according to need. Bakunin's associate, James Guillaume, put it this way in his essay, Ideas on Social Organization(1876):

When… production comes to outstrip consumption… [e]veryone will draw what he needs from the abundant social reserve of commodities, without fear of depletion; and the moral sentiment which will be more highly developed among free and equal workers will prevent, or greatly reduce, abuse and waste.

An early anarchist communist was Joseph Déjacque, the first person to describe himself as "libertarian".^[6] Unlike Proudhon, he argued that "it is not the product of his or her labor that the worker has a right to, but to the satisfaction of his or her needs, whatever may be their nature."^[7]

Other important anarchist communists include Peter Kropotkin, Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman and Errico Malatesta. Many in the anarcho-syndicalist movements (see below) saw anarchist communism as their objective. Isaac Puente's 1932 El comunismo libertario ^[8] was adopted by the Spanish CNT as its manifesto for a post-revolutionary society.

[edit] Kropotkin

Peter Kropotkin, often seen as the most important theorist of anarchist communism, outlined his economic ideas in The Conquest of Bread and Fields, Factories and Workshops. Kropotkin felt co-operation to be more beneficial than competition, arguing in Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution that this was illustrated in nature. He advocated the abolition of private property through the "expropriation of the whole of social wealth" by the people themselves^[9], and for the economy to be co-ordinated through a horizontal network of voluntary associations^[10]. He maintained that in anarcho-communism:

...houses, fields, and factories will no longer be private property, and that they will belong to the commune or the nation and money, wages, and trade would be abolished.^[11]

Individuals and groups would use and control whatever resources they needed as the aim of anarchist-communism was to place "the product reaped or manufactured at the disposal of all, leaving to each the liberty to consume them as he pleases in his own home."^[12] Moreover, he repeatedly stressed (like other communist-anarchists) that individuals would not be forced into communism, arguing that the peasant "who is in possession of just the amount of land he can cultivate," the family "inhabiting a house which affords them just enough space… considered necessary for that number of people" and the artisan "working with their own tools or handloom" would be free to live as they saw fit. ^[13]

[edit] Anarchist Syndicalism

Main article: Anarcho-syndicalism

Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labor movement. Anarcho-syndicalists view labor unions as a potential force for revolutionary social change, replacing capitalism and the State with a new society democratically self-managed by workers.

The basic principles of anarcho-syndicalism are:

1. workers' solidarity
2. direct action
3. workers' self-management

Workers' solidarity means that anarcho-syndicalists believe all workers—no matter their race, gender, or ethnic group—are in a similar situation in regard to their boss (class consciousness). Furthermore, it means that, within capitalism, any gains or losses made by some workers from or to bosses will eventually affect all workers. Therefore, to liberate themselves, all workers must support one another in their class conflict.

Anarcho-syndicalists believe that only direct action—that is, action concentrated on directly attaining a goal, as opposed to indirect action, such as electing a representative to a government position—will allow workers to liberate themselves.

Moreover, anarcho-syndicalists believe that workers' organizations (the organizations that struggle against the wage system, which, in anarcho-syndicalist theory, will eventually form the basis of a new society) should be self-managing. They should not have bosses or “business agents”; rather, the workers should be able to make all the decisions that affect them themselves.

Rudolf Rocker was one of the most popular voices in the anarcho-syndicalist movement. He outlined a view of the origins of the movement, what it sought, and why it was important to the future of labor in his 1938 pamphlet Anarcho-Syndicalism.

The International Workers Association is an international anarcho-syndicalist federation of various labor unions from different countries. The Spanish Confederación Nacional del Trabajo played and still plays a major role in the Spanish labor movement. It was also an important force in the Spanish Civil War.

[edit] Origins of Anarchism

Main article: Origins of anarchism

[edit] William Godwin

The word "anarchist" was originally used as a term of abuse. It was adopted as a positive label by self-defined anarchists in the 19th century. William Godwin, in his Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (2 vols., 1793), was "the first to formulate the political and economical conceptions of anarchism, even though he did not give that name to the ideas developed in his remarkable work." ^[14] But at this point no anarchist movement yet existed, and the term "anarchiste" was known mainly as an insult hurled by the bourgeois Girondins at more radical elements in the French Revolution.

[edit] Josiah Warren

[edit] Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

Main article: Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon is regarded as the first self-proclaimed anarchist, a label which he adopted in his 1840 work What is Property?. It is for this reason that some claim Proudhon as the founder of modern anarchist theory.^[15] He developed the theory of spontaneous order in society, where organization emerges without any central authority, a "positive anarchy" in which order arises from every individual "doing what he wishes and only what he wishes."^[16] He saw anarchy as:

"a form of government or constitution in which public and private consciousness, formed through the development of science and law, is alone sufficient to maintain order and guarantee all liberties. In it, as a consequence, the institutions of the police, preventive and repressive methods, officialdom, taxation, etc., are reduced to a minimum. In it, more especially, the forms of monarchy and intensive centralization disappear, to be replaced by federal institutions and a pattern of life based on the commune."^[17]

His opposition to capitalism, the state, and organised religion inspired subsequent anarchists, and made him one of the leading socialist thinkers of his time^[18]

[edit] Max Stirner's egoism

Main articles: Max Stirner and Ethical egoism

Around the same time as Proudhon's most famous work was published, Max Stirner argued in The Ego and Its Own, that most commonly accepted social institutions - including the notion of State, property as a right, natural rights in general, and the very notion of society - were mere illusions or ghosts in the mind, saying of society that "the individuals are its reality." He advocated egoism and a form of amoralism, in which individuals would unite in 'associations of egoists' only when it was in their self interest to do so. For him, property simply comes about through might: "Whoever knows how to take, to defend, the thing, to him belongs property." And, "What I have in my power, that is my own. So long as I assert myself as holder, I am the proprietor of the thing."

Stirner never called himself an anarchist - he accepted only the label 'egoist'. Nevertheless, he is considered by most to be an anarchist because of his rejection of the state, law and government, and his ideas influenced many anarchists, although interpretations of his thought are diverse. Anarchists including Benjamin Tucker, Federica Montseny and the Bonnot Gang claimed him as an influence, and Emma Goldman gave lectures on his thought.^[19]

[edit] Anarchism as a social movement

[edit] First International

Main articles: International Workingmen's Association and Anarchism and Marxism

In Europe, harsh reaction followed the revolutions of 1848. Twenty years later in 1864 the International Workingmen's Association, sometimes called the 'First International', united some diverse European revolutionary currents, including French followers of Proudhon, Blanquists, English trade unionists, socialists and social democrats. Due to its genuine links to active workers movements the International became a significant organization.

Karl Marx was a leading figure in the International and a member of its General Council. Proudhon's followers, the Mutualists, opposed Marx's state socialism, advocating political abstentionism and small property holdings. Mikhail Bakunin joined in 1868, allying with the anti-authoritarian socialist sections of the International, who advocated the revolutionary overthrow of the state and the collectivization of property. At first, the collectivists worked with the Marxists to push the First International into a more revolutionary socialist direction. Subsequently, the International became polarised into two camps, with Marx and Bakunin as their respective figureheads.

Bakunin characterised Marx's ideas as authoritarian, and predicted that if a Marxist party came to power its leaders would simply take the place of the ruling class they had fought against.^[20] In 1872 the conflict climaxed with a final split between the two groups, when at the Hague Congress Marx engineered the expulsion of Bakunin and James Guillaume from the International and had its headquarters transferred to New York. In response, the anti-authoritarian sections formed their own International at the St. Imier Congress, adopting a revolutionary anarchist program.^[7]

[edit] Anarchism and trade unions

Main articles: Anarcho-syndicalism and Anarchism in Spain

Anarcho-syndicalism is a form of anarchism which looks to the labor movement as the catalyst for revolutionary change ("syndicalism" being derived from the French syndicalisme, meaning "trade unionism"). Anarcho-syndicalists advocate the creation of revolutionary trade unions to fight for better working conditions, to seize control of the means of production, and to overthrow the State by means of direct action and the general strike. Anarcho-syndicalists seek to abolish the wage system and private ownership of the means of production, which they believe result in class division, exploitation and domination.

The anti-authoritarian sections of the First International were the precursors of the anarcho-syndicalists, seeking to "replace the privilege and authority of the State" with the "free and spontaneous organization of labor."^[21]

The Confédération Générale du Travail (General Confederation of Labour, CGT), formed in France in 1895, was the first major anarcho-syndicalist movement, but it had been preceded by the Spanish Workers Federation in 1881. Anarchist trade union federations were of special importance in Spain. The most successful was the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (National Confederation of Labour: CNT), founded in 1910. Before the 1940s the CNT was the major force in Spanish working class politics, and played a major role in the Spanish Civil War. The CNT was affiliated with the International Workers Association, a federation of anarcho-syndicalist trade unions founded in 1922, with delegates representing two million workers from 15 countries in Europe and Latin America.

The largest organised anarchist movement today is in Spain, in the form of the Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT) and the CNT. CGT membership was estimated to be around 100,000 for the year 2003.^[22] Other active syndicalist movements include the US Workers Solidarity Alliance, and the UK Solidarity Federation. The revolutionary industrial unionist Industrial Workers of the World, claiming 2,000 paid members, and the International Workers Association, an anarcho-syndicalist successor to the First International, also remain active.

[edit] The Russian Revolution

Main article: Russian Revolution of 1917

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a seismic event in the development of anarchism as a movement and as a philosophy.^{[citation needed]}

Anarchists participated alongside the Bolsheviks in both February and October revolutions, many anarchists initially supporting the Bolshevik coup. However the Bolsheviks soon turned against the anarchists and other left-wing opposition, a conflict which culminated in the 1921 Kronstadt rebellion. Anarchists in central Russia were imprisoned or driven underground, or joined the victorious Bolsheviks. In Ukraine anarchists fought in the civil war against both Whites and Bolsheviks within the Makhnovshchina peasant army led by Nestor Makhno.

Expelled American anarchists Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman before leaving Russia were amongst those agitating in response to Bolshevik policy and the suppression of the Kronstadt uprising. Both wrote classic accounts of their experiences in Russia, aiming to expose the reality of Bolshevik control. For them, Bakunin's predictions about the consequences of Marxist rule had proved all too true.

The victory of the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution and the resulting Russian Civil War did serious damage to anarchist movements internationally. Many workers and activists saw Bolshevik success as setting an example; Communist parties grew at the expense of anarchism and other socialist movements. In France and the US for example, the major syndicalist movements of the CGT and IWW began to realign themselves away from anarchism and towards the Communist International.

In Paris, the Dielo Truda group of Russian anarchist exiles which included Nestor Makhno concluded that anarchists needed to develop new forms of organisation in response to the structures of Bolshevism. Their 1926 manifesto, known as the Organisational Platform of the Libertarian Communists ^[23], was supported by some communist anarchists, though opposed by many others. Platformist groups today include the Workers Solidarity Movement in Ireland and the North Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists of North America.

[edit] The fight against fascism

Main articles: Anti-fascism and Anarchism in Spain

In the 1920s and 1930s the familiar dynamics of anarchism's conflict with the state were transformed by the rise of fascism in Europe. Italy saw the first struggles between anarchists and fascists. Anarchists played a key role in the anti-fascist organisation Arditi del Popolo. This group was strongest in areas with anarchist traditions and marked up numerous successful victories, including driving back Blackshirts in the anarchist stronghold of Parma in August 1922^[24]. In France, where the fascists came close to insurrection in the February 1934 riots, anarchists divided over a 'united front' policy.^[25] In Spain, the CNT initially refused to join a popular front electoral alliance, and abstention by CNT supporters led to a right wing election victory. But in 1936, the CNT changed its policy and anarchist votes helped bring the popular front back to power. Months later, the ruling class responded with an attempted coup, and the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) was underway.

In response to the army rebellion, an anarchist-inspired movement of peasants and workers, supported by armed militias, took control of Barcelona and of large areas of rural Spain where they collectivized the land. But even before the eventual fascist victory in 1939, the anarchists were losing ground in a bitter struggle with the Stalinists. The CNT leadership often appeared confused and divided, with some members controversially entering the government. According to George Orwell and other foreign observers, Stalinist-led troops suppressed the collectives, and persecuted both dissident Marxists and anarchists.

[edit] Issues in anarchism

[edit] Ends and means

Main articles: Propaganda of the deed and direct action

In general, anarchists advocate direct action and oppose voting in elections. Most anarchists feel that real change is not possible through voting. Further, voting amounts to condoning the state.^[26]

Direct action may be violent or non-violent. While some anarchists believe violence is justified in overthrowing existing authority, most anarchists reject terrorism as authoritarian. Mikhail Bakunin and Errico Malatesta, for example, wrote of violence as necessary in revolutionary settings but denounced terrorism as counter-revolutionary.^[27]

Anarchists have often been portrayed as dangerous and violent, due mainly to a number of high-profile violent acts, including riots, assassinations, insurrections, and terrorism by some anarchists. Many anarchists do not see the destruction of property to be violent. Anarchists see war, however, as an activity in which the state seeks to gain and consolidate power, both domestically and in foreign lands, and subscribe to Randolph Bourne's view that "war is the health of the state"^[28].

Anarchists also engage in building parallel structures and organizations, such as Food Not Bombs, radical labor unions, infoshop and radical social centers. This is in line with the general anarchist concept of creating Dual Power, creating the structures for a new anti-authoritarian society in the shell of the old, hierarchical one.

[edit] Possession and property

[edit] Capitalism

Main article: Anarchism and capitalism

From its origins to present day, anarchism has been marked by a rejection of capitalism, which they believe can be maintained only by state violence.^[29] The newest element in this discourse has been a school of thought called anarcho-capitalism which argues for a stateless, laissez-faire capitalist society. Its reception among scholars and advocates of traditional anarchism has been mixed.

[edit] Neocolonialism and globalization

Most anarchists oppose neocolonialism as an attempt to use economic coercion on a global scale, carried out through state institutions such as the World Bank, World Trade Organization, Group of Eight, and the World Economic Forum. Many participate actively in the anti-globalization movement.

Prominent anarcho-capitalists, such as Murray Rothbard and Wendy McElroy, are outspoken critics of the WTO, World Bank and "free trade" zones (such as NAFTA); however they support worldwide expansion of the division of labor and trade, which they see as beneficial so long as governments do not intervene.^[30]

[edit] Feminism and anti-racism

Main articles: Anarcha-feminism and Antifa

Anarcha-feminism is a kind of radical feminism that espouses the belief that patriarchy is a fundamental problem in society. However, it was not explicitly formulated as anarcha-feminism until early 1970s,^[31] during the second-wave feminist movement. Anarcha-feminism views patriarchy as the first manifestation of hierarchy in human history; thus, the first form of oppression occurred in the dominance of male over female.

Black anarchism opposes the existence of a state, capitalism, and subjugation and domination of people of color, and favors a non-hierarchical organization of society. Theorists include Ashanti Alston, Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, and Sam Mbah.

Since the late 1970s anarchists have been involved in fighting the rise of neo-fascist groups. In Germany and the United Kingdom some anarchists worked within anti-fascist groups alongside members of the Marxist left. They advocated directly combating fascists with physical force rather than relying on the state. Since the late 1990s, a similar tendency has developed within US anarchism.

[edit] The environment

See also: Green anarchism, Eco-anarchism, Social ecology, Anarcho-primitivism, Ecofeminism, and Green syndicalism

Since the late 1970s anarchists in Anglosphere and European countries have been agitating for the natural environment. Eco-anarchists or green anarchists believe in deep ecology. This is a worldview that embraces biodiversity and sustainability. Eco-anarchists often use direct action against what they see as earth-destroying institutions. Of particular importance is the Earth First! movement, that takes action such as tree sitting. Another important component is ecofeminism, which sees the domination of nature as a metaphor for the domination of women.

[edit] Religion

Main articles: Anarchism and religion, Buddhist anarchism, Christian anarchism, and Islam and anarchism

From Proudhon and Bakunin to the Spanish anarcho-syndicalists, Anarchists have traditionally been skeptical about and opposed to organized religion, believing that most organized religions are hierarchical in nature and, more often than not, aligned with contemporary power structures like state and capital.

On the other hand, Christian anarchists believe that there is no higher authority than God, and oppose earthly authority such as government and established churches. They believe that Jesus' teachings and the practice of the early church were clearly anarchistic, but were corrupted when "Christianity" was declared the official religion of Rome. Chinese anarchism was most influential in the 1920s. Strands of Chinese anarchism included Taixu's Buddhist anarchism which was influenced by Tolstoy and the well-field system.

[edit] Anarchism Since 1945

[edit] Anarcho-Capitalism

Main articles: Anarcho-capitalism and Anarchism and anarcho-capitalism

Anarcho-capitalism is a predominantly United States-based theoretical individualist tradition that promotes an economic system of stateless free market capitalism. In such a society no authority would prohibit anyone from providing, through the free market, any service - even those services traditionally provided by state monopoly such as police, courts, and defense against invasion. Anarcho-capitalism does not oppose profit, rent, interest, or wage-labor. It has been influenced by non-anarchist libertarians such as Frederic Bastiat, Ayn Rand and Robert Nozick and its leading proponents are Murray Rothbard and David Friedman.

Murray Rothbard, an Austrian-school economist, developed anarcho-capitalist theory on the basis of classical liberal natural law argument (specifically, the non-aggression principle). Rothbardian anarcho-capitalists believe that private property can legitimately result only from being the product of labor and that it may only be transferred by trade, by gift, or -- after the passage of a given period of time -- by abandonment.^[32] The community is not recognized as having any authority over the property of the individual. Another prominent anarcho-capitalist, David D. Friedman, prefers to justify stateless capitalism on a utilitarian basis. For Friedman, pre-modern society of medieval Iceland provides some evidence of how anarcho-capitalism could function.

Most anarcho-capitalists believe that, in the absence of state coercion, free capitalism would naturally and inevitably develop. Hence, Rothbard's statement that "capitalism is the fullest expression of anarchism, and anarchism is the fullest expression of capitalism."^[33] This has met resistance from those anarchists who hold that capitalism is inherently oppressive and hierarchical. ^[34]

Some followers of Rothbard, calling themselves left-libertarians or agorists, have adopted leftist critiques of presently-existing corporate capitalism, and favor strategies of resistance such as counter-economics.

[edit] Post-left and poststructuralism

Main article: Post-left anarchy

A movement called post-left anarchy seeks to distance itself from the traditional "left" - communists, socialists, social democrats, etc. - and to escape the confines of ideology in general. Post-leftists argue that anarchism has been weakened by its long attachment to contrary "leftist" movements and single issue causes (anti-war, anti-nuclear, etc.). It calls for a synthesis of anarchist thought and a specifically anti-authoritarian revolutionary movement outside of the leftist milieu. Important groups and individuals associated with Post-left anarchy include: CrimethInc, the magazine Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed and its editor Jason McQuinn, Bob Black, Hakim Bey and others.

The term postanarchism was originated by Saul Newman, first receiving popular attention in his book From Bakunin to Lacan, a synthesis of classical anarchist theory and poststructuralist thought. Post-anarchists critique what they see are contradictions in anarchism, particularly those ideas they consider to be essentialist.

[edit] Post Anarchism

[edit] Criticisms of anarchism

Main article: Criticisms of anarchism

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 appear to share similar goals, such as Marxism.

[edit] Cultural phenomena

The kind of anarchism that is most easily encountered in popular culture is represented by well-known figures who publicly identify themselves as anarchists. The following figures are examples of prominent publicly self-avowed anarchists:

• the MIT professor of linguistics Noam Chomsky
• the social historian Howard Zinn
• author Edward Abbey
• author Robert Anton Wilson
• graphic novelist Alan Moore
• UFC fighter and champion Jeff Monson
• feminist, author and critic Germaine Greer
• Hans Alfredson, actor, film director, writer and comedian.

In Denmark, the Freetown Christiania was created in downtown Copenhagen. The housing and employment crisis in most of Western Europe led to the formation of communes and squatter movements like the one still thriving in Barcelona, in Catalonia. Although not always explicitly anarchist, militant resistance to neo-Nazi groups in places like Germany, and the uprisings of autonomous Marxism, situationist, and Autonomist groups in France and Italy also helped to give popularity to anti-authoritarian, non-capitalist ideas.

In various musical styles, anarchism rose in popularity. Most famous for the linking of anarchist ideas and music has been punk rock, although in the modern age, hip hop, and folk music are also becoming important mediums for the spreading of the anarchist message. In the UK this was associated with the punk movement; the band Crass is celebrated for its anarchist and pacifist ideas. For further details, see anarcho-punk and list of anarchist musicians.

Recent technological developments have made the anarchist cause both easier to advance and more conceivable to people. Many people use the Internet to form on-line communities. Intellectual property has been undermined to some extent and a gift-culture supported by sharing music files, collaborative software development, and free software (also called open-source software) has arisen. These cyber-communities include those that support GNU, Linux, Indymedia, and Wikis. Others use technology to remain anonymous, communicate securely using public key cryptography, and maintain financial privacy through digital currency. See also: Crypto-anarchism and Cypherpunk.

[edit] See also

There are many concepts relevant to the topic of anarchism, this is a brief summary. There is also a more extensive list of anarchist concepts.

• individualist anarchism, anarcho-communism, anarcho-syndicalism, anarcho-capitalism, mutualism, Christian anarchism, anarcha-feminism, green anarchism, nihilist anarchism, black anarchism, post-anarchism, post-left anarchism
• Libertarian socialism
• Anarchist symbolism
• List of anarchists
• List of anarchist organizations
• Major conflicts within anarchist thought
• Criticisms of anarchism
• Past and present anarchist communities

[edit] Historical events

• Paris Commune (1871)
• Haymarket Riot (1886)
• Ukrainian Revolution (1918-1922) (see also The Free Territory)
• Kronstadt rebellion (1921)
• Amakasu Incident (1923)
• Spanish Revolution (1936) (see also Anarchism in Spain)
• May 1968, France (1968)
• WTO Meeting in Seattle (1999)
• Argentine riots (2001)

[edit] Anarchism by region/culture

• African anarchism
• Anarchism in France
• Anarchism in Mexico
• Anarchism in Spain
• Anarchism in the United States
• Anarchism in the English tradition
• Chinese anarchism
• Islam and anarchism
• Jewish anarchism
• Russian anarchism

[edit] Books

Main article: List of anarchist books

• Mikhail Bakunin, God and the State [11]
• Emma Goldman, Anarchism & Other Essays [12]
• Peter Kropotkin, Mutual Aid [13]
• Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, What is Property? [14]
• Rudolf Rocker, Anarcho-Syndicalism [15]
• Murray Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State [16]
• Max Stirner, The Ego And Its Own [17]
• Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God is Within You [18]
• John Zerzan, Future Primitive

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

The overwhelming diversity and number of links relating to anarchism exist, below are but a few.

• "An Anarchist FAQ" version 11.4 at Infoshop.org - "An Anarchist FAQ" written by a group of social(ist) anarchists.
• "Anarchist Theory FAQ" - a FAQ written by anarcho-capitalist economics professor Bryan Caplan.
• Anarchoblogs Blogs by Anarchists.
• Anarchy Archives extensively archives information relating to famous anarchists. This includes many of their books and other publications.
• 1,500+ anarchists listed, with short bios, links & dedicated pages at the Daily Bleed's Anarchist Encyclopedia