Anarchism

• Origins of anarchism

  • Anarchism draws upon both liberalism and socialism for many of its ideas: liberalism for its emphasis on individualism and freedom; and socialism for its traditional critique of capitalism. 
  • The roots of anarchism can be found in the late eighteenth century, drawing on the growing sense of individualism and the desire for social progress. 
  • Key catalysts for anarchism were the emergence of the modern state, nationalism, capitalism and the industrial revolution. 
  • Nineteenth century saw the emergence of the most influential anarchist thinkers. 
• Autonomy of the individual

  • The individual should rule themselves and refuse to be ruled by others.
  • People are capable of governing themselves.
  • Freedom is the central theme of Anarchism and the point of society is to give individuals the widest possible range of individual choices 
  • A critical debate is what freedom means, with tensions between different thinkers. 
• The argument for autonomy is made in four steps:

  1. In moral philosophy, all individuals are responsible for their own actions
  2. This assumes that all individuals are ‘free’ to make their own choices about how they act. 
  3. As the individual is rational, they should use that reason to reflect on what they act. 
  4. In this way, individuals are free to act in line with the moral laws that they have decided for themselves. 
• The State - Anarchists see the traditional nation-state as an artificial construct, separate from society, which acts as a tool of oppression and the cause of social conflict and unrest. 
• Authority - The state claims authority: that is, the right to command and the right to be obeyed
• Command - This command by the state to obey the law restricts the autonomy of the individual. It strips them of responsibility for their actions, removing both their freedom and their rationality
• Power - The Power of the state is visible in its laws and in the institutions that enforce those laws: the police, the courts and the military. It is also visible in the more hidden forces of control: ideology, in particular nationalism, as well as education, formal religion, traditional family and marriage. 
• Coercion - The power of the state means its relationship to the individual is one of coercion: it forces the individual to comply, removing their ability to think for themselves and express their individual judgement.
• Corrupting - Power, in any form, is corrupting: 

  • Bakunin argued that power corrupts the human nature of those in power, who will develop contempt for the masses and an overestimation of their own ability. 
  • Power brutalises the people, turning them into unthinking masses who meekly accept their position, becoming anti-social, aggressive and competitive in fighting for the scraps that fall from the table of the rich and powerful. 
• Rejection of the state - All anarchists reject the formal state in all its forms, whether it is a liberal democracy, a marxist state, a nation-state or a capitalist state. 

  • It is conceivable to envisage an anarchist state, where citizenship is entirely voluntary, and any rules or guidelines are only followed by mutual consent and after full collective agreement. 
  • Any individual could of course withdraw from this state at any time without any consequences. Individual autonomy is paramount. 
• Coercive relationships - Anarchists not only oppose the formal state and all forms of government operated by it, they also oppose all forms of coercive relationships within society, as they limit the choices of the individual. This has also led anarchists to reject conventional marriage, which they view as inherently patriarchal in nature. 
• Authority - Coercive relationships in society are based on the idea that certain individuals and ideas have authority, so the people should do as they are told. A clear example would be the authority of church of business leaders, or teachers.
• Revolt - Anarchism is a revolt against existing society and those who guard it to allow the individual to be free: 

  • Proudhon rejected all ‘official persons’, such as the philosopher, the priest, the academic, the politician and the journalist, who see people as ‘a monster to be fought, muzzled and chained down.’ 
  • Stirner offered the most radical critique, arguing that the individual has to throw out religion and existing morality. Only then is the individual free and autonomous. 
• Society without the State:

  Anarchists believe that, without the interference of the state and other coercive relationships based on models of authority, a harmony of interests will emerge among humans. This harmony is a spontaneous order, as humans are capable of creating social order far more effectively than one imposed by authority. 

  • For individualist anarchists, order emerges through the meeting of individual interests. 
  • For collectivist anarchists, order emerges when the state and authority are overthrown and humanity’s natural tendencies are allowed to grow. 
• The idea that society without the state is both possible and desirable has led to anarchism being closely linked with utopianism:

  • Utopianism can be seen as a particular way of political thinking, where the construction of an ideal future society allows us to see the failings of current arrangements and the path to achieving that deal
  • In a negative sense, utopianism is unrealistic thinking that provided a vision of the future not grounded in reality
• Individualist anarchism 

  • People are self seeking/egotistical
  • Autonomy should not be restricted in any way, state and society must be replaced 
  • Real fear that the individual will be made subject to the desires of the collective 
  • A meeting of mutual interests through voluntary contracts wil provide a natural and spontaneous. 
  • Individualist anarchism is a broad stream of ideas with two separate currents: Egoism and anarcho capitalism. Although both strands put the individual, freedom and autonomy first, there is a clear disagreement over the role of private property and capitalism. 
• Collectivist anarchism

  • Human nature is essentially social, with altruistic tendencies that lead humans to want to work together.
  • Collectivists recognise that human nature is shaped by the world around us.
  • The absence of the state and relationships based on dominance (capitalism) will allow true human nature to flourish 
  • The collectivist anarchist tradition is to reject the private ownership of the means of production and distribution, believing that the individual can only be truly free through equal relationships with others. 
• Mutualism: proposed as an alternative to both capitalist and socialist forms of economic organisation. 

  • Private property is replaced by possessions which involve the right of ownership based on use. 
  • There would be individual ownership of farmland and small-scale production, with the individual keeping the fruits of their labour according to his ability and deeds. 
  • Co-operatives would form together  into voluntary federations to support each other. 
  • This strategy is reformist, being built within the shell of the existing state.
• Collectivism: a substrand of collectivist anarchism, closely associated with Mikhail Bakunin. 

  • Differs from mutualism in arguing that all private property should be collectivised into common ownership that is self managed by the workers. Workers would keep the products of their labour. 
  • Society would be ordered from the bottom up through voluntary collectives into a great federation to administer the production of goods and services. 
  • Collectivism is revolutionary, arguing that the masses need to rise up to destroy the existing political, social and economic structures. 
• Anarcho-syndicalism: merges syndicalism and anarchism, inspiration from Mikhail Bakunin. 

  • Mass meetings, factory committees and workers councils should be established, as they will form the basis of the new society. 
  • The unions should fight for improved conditions, using direct action such as strikes, occupations and sabotage of the factory by workers, and so become the ‘electary school of socialism’ 
  • The new world order can only be created by revolution, not reform, and this would involve ‘taking over the management of all plants by the producers themselves’ 
• Anarcho-communism: 

  • Private property and capital must be abolished and replaced by common ownership. 
  • Anarcho-communists extend common ownership to the fruits of an individual’s labour. All products are at the disposal of all, leaving to each the liberty to consume them as he pleases in his own home. 
  • Society will be based on small, localised communes that are self managing, with all the wealth under common ownership.