4
<title>A.1 What is anarchism?</title>
9
<h1>A.1 What is anarchism?</h1>
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Anarchism is a political theory which aims to create anarchy, <i>"the
13
absence of a master, of a sovereign."</i> [P-J Proudhon, <b>What is Property
14
</b>, p. 264] In other words, anarchism is a political theory which aims
15
to create a society within which individuals freely co-operate together
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as equals. As such anarchism opposes all forms of hierarchical control
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- be that control by the state or a capitalist - as harmful to the
18
individual and their individuality as well as unnecessary.
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In the words of anarchist L. Susan Brown:
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<i>"While the popular understanding of anarchism is of a violent, anti-State
23
movement, anarchism is a much more subtle and nuanced tradition then a
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simple opposition to government power. Anarchists oppose the idea that
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power and domination are necessary for society, and instead advocate
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more co-operative, anti-hierarchical forms of social, political and
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economic organisation."</i> [<b>The Politics of Individualism</b>, p. 106]
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However, "anarchism" and "anarchy" are undoubtedly the most misrepresented
30
ideas in political theory. Generally, the words are used to mean "chaos" or
31
"without order," and so, by implication, anarchists desire social chaos
32
and a return to the "laws of the jungle."
34
This process of misrepresentation is not without historical parallel. For
35
example, in countries which have considered government by one person
36
(monarchy) necessary, the words "republic" or "democracy" have been used
37
precisely like "anarchy," to imply disorder and confusion. Those with a
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vested interest in preserving the status quo will obviously wish to imply
39
that opposition to the current system cannot work in practice, and that a
40
new form of society will only lead to chaos. Or, as Errico Malatesta
43
<i>"since it was thought that government was necessary and that without
44
government there could only be disorder and confusion, it was
45
natural and logical that anarchy, which means absence of government,
46
should sound like absence of order."</i> [<b>Anarchy</b>, p. 16]
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Anarchists want to change this "common-sense" idea of "anarchy," so people
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will see that government and other hierarchical social relationships are
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both harmful <b>and</b> unnecessary:
52
<i>"Change opinion, convince the public that government is not only
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unnecessary, but extremely harmful, and then the word anarchy, just because
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it means absence of government, will come to mean for everybody: natural
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order, unity of human needs and the interests of all, complete freedom
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within complete solidarity."</i> [<b>Op. Cit.</b>, pp. 16]
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This FAQ is part of the process of changing the commonly-held ideas regarding
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anarchism and the meaning of anarchy. But that is not all.
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As well as combating the distortions produced by the "common-sense"
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idea of "anarchy", we also have to combat the distortions that anarchism
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and anarchists have been subjected to over the years by our political
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and social enemies. For, as Bartolomeo Vanzetti put it, anarchists are
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<i>"the radical of the radical -- the black cats, the terrors of many, of
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all the bigots, exploiters, charlatans, fakers and oppressors.
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Consequently we are also the more slandered, misrepresented,
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misunderstood and persecuted of all."</i> [Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo
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Vanzetti, <b>The Letters of Sacco and Vanzetti</b>, p. 274]
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Vanzetti knew what he was talking about. He and his comrade Nicola
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Sacco were framed by the US state for a crime they did not commit
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and were, effectively, electrocuted for being foreign anarchists in
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1927. So this FAQ will have to spend some time correcting the slanders
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and distortions that anarchists have been subjected to by the capitalist
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media, politicians, ideologues and bosses (not to mention the distortions
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by our erstwhile fellow radicals like liberals and Marxists). Hopefully
77
once we are finished you will understand why those in power have spent
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so much time attacking anarchism -- it is the one idea which can effectively
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ensure liberty for all and end all systems based on a few having power
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<a name="seca11"><h2>A.1.1 What does "anarchy" mean?</h2></a>
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The word <b><i>"anarchy"</i></b> is from the Greek, prefix <b>an</b>
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(or <b>a</b>), meaning
87
<i>"not," "the want of," "the absence of,"</i> or <i>"the lack of"</i>, plus <b>archos</b>,
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meaning <i>"a ruler," "director", "chief," "person in charge,"</i> or <i>"authority."</i>
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Or, as Peter Kropotkin put it, Anarchy comes from the Greek words meaning
90
<i>"contrary to authority."</i> [<b>Anarchism</b>, p. 284]
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While the Greek words <b><i>anarchos</i></b> and <b><i>anarchia</i></b>
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mean <i>"having no government"</i> or <i>"being without a government,"</i> as can be
95
seen, the strict, original meaning of anarchism was not simply <i>"no
96
government."</i> <b><i>"An-archy"</i></b> means <i>"without a ruler,"</i>
98
<i>"without authority,"</i> and it is in this sense that anarchists have
99
continually used the word. For example, we find Kropotkin arguing
100
that anarchism <i>"attacks not only capital, but also the main sources
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of the power of capitalism: law, authority, and the State."</i>
103
p. 150] For anarchists, anarchy means <i>"not necessarily absence of
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order, as is generally supposed, but an absence of rule."</i> [Benjamin
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Tucker, <b>Instead of a Book</b>, p. 13] Hence David Weick's excellent
108
<i>"Anarchism can be understood as the <b>generic</b> social and political
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idea that expresses negation of <b>all</b> power, sovereignty, domination,
110
and hierarchical division, and a will to their dissolution. . .
111
Anarchism is therefore more than anti-statism . . . [even if]
112
government (the state) . . . is, appropriately, the central focus
113
of anarchist critique."</i> [<b>Reinventing Anarchy</b>, p. 139]
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For this reason, rather than being purely anti-government or anti-state,
116
anarchism is primarily a movement against <b><i>hierarchy.</i></b> Why? Because
117
hierarchy is the organisational structure that embodies authority. Since
118
the state is the "highest" form of hierarchy, anarchists are, by definition,
119
anti-state; but this is <b>not</b> a sufficient definition of anarchism. This
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means that real anarchists are opposed to all forms of hierarchical
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organisation, not only the state. In the words of Brian Morris:
123
<i>"The term anarchy comes from the Greek, and essentially means 'no
124
ruler.' Anarchists are people who reject all forms of government
125
or coercive authority, all forms of hierarchy and domination.
126
They are therefore opposed to what the Mexican anarchist Flores
127
Magon called the 'sombre trinity' -- state, capital and the
128
church. Anarchists are thus opposed to both capitalism and to
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the state, as well as to all forms of religious authority. But
130
anarchists also seek to establish or bring about by varying means,
131
a condition of anarchy, that is, a decentralised society without
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coercive institutions, a society organised through a federation
133
of voluntary associations."</i> [<i>"Anthropology and Anarchism,"</i>
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pp. 35-41, <b>Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed</b>, no. 45, p. 38]
136
Reference to "hierarchy" in this context is a fairly recent development --
137
the "classical" anarchists such as Proudhon, Bakunin and Kropotkin did use
138
the word, but rarely (they usually preferred "authority," which was used as
139
short-hand for "authoritarian"). However, it's clear from their writings
140
that theirs was a philosophy against hierarchy, against any inequality of
141
power or privileges between individuals. Bakunin spoke of this when he attacked
142
<i>"official"</i> authority but defended <i>"natural influence,"</i> and also when he said:
144
<i>"Do you want to make it impossible for anyone to oppress his fellow-man?
145
Then make sure that no one shall possess power."</i> [<b>The Political Philosophy of Bakunin</b>, p. 271]
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As Jeff Draughn notes, <i>"while it has always been a latent part of the
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'revolutionary project,' only recently has this broader concept of
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anti-hierarchy arisen for more specific scrutiny. Nonetheless, the root
150
of this is plainly visible in the Greek roots of the word 'anarchy.'"</i>
151
[<b>Between Anarchism and Libertarianism: Defining a New Movement</b>]
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We stress that this opposition to hierarchy is, for anarchists, not
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limited to just the state or government. It includes all authoritarian
155
economic and social relationships as well as political ones, particularly
156
those associated with capitalist property and wage labour. This can be
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seen from Proudhon's argument that <i>"<b>Capital</b> . . . in the political field
158
is analogous to <b>government</b> . . . The economic idea of capitalism,
160
of government or of authority, and the theological idea of the
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Church are three identical ideas, linked in various ways. To attack
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one of them is equivalent to attacking all of them . . . What
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capital does to labour, and the State to liberty, the Church does
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to the spirit. This trinity of absolutism is as baneful in practice
165
as it is in philosophy. The most effective means for oppressing
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the people would be simultaneously to enslave its body, its will
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and its reason."</i> [quoted by Max Nettlau, <b>A Short History
168
of Anarchism</b>, pp. 43-44] Thus we find Emma Goldman opposing capitalism
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as it meant <i>"that man [or woman] must sell his [or her] labour"</i> and, therefore, <i>"that his [or her] inclination and judgement are subordinated to the will of a
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master."</i> [<b>Red Emma Speaks</b>, p. 50] Forty years earlier Bakunin made
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the same point when he argued that under the current system <i>"the worker
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sells his person and his liberty for a given time"</i> to the capitalist
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in exchange for a wage. [<b>Op. Cit.</b>, p. 187]
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Thus "anarchy" means more than just "no government," it means opposition
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to all forms of authoritarian organisation and hierarchy. In Kropotkin's
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words, <i>"the origin of the anarchist inception of society . . . [lies in]
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the criticism . . . of the hierarchical organisations and the authoritarian
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conceptions of society; and . . . the analysis of the tendencies that are
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seen in the progressive movements of mankind."</i> [<b>Op. Cit.</b>, p. 158]
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For Malatesta, anarchism <i>"was born in a moral revolt against
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social injustice"</i> and that the <i>"specific causes of social ills"</i>
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could be found in <i>"capitalistic property and the State."</i> When
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the oppressed <i>"sought to overthrow both State and property --
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then it was that anarchism was born."</i> [<b>Errico Malatesta:
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His Life and Ideas</b>, p. 19]
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Thus any attempt to assert that anarchy is purely
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anti-state is a misrepresentation of the word and the way it has been
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used by the anarchist movement. As Brian Morris argues, <i>"when one
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examines the writings of classical anarchists. . . as well as the
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character of anarchist movements. . . it is clearly evident that it
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has never had this limited vision [of just being against the state]. It
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has always challenged all forms of authority and exploitation, and has
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been equally critical of capitalism and religion as it has been of the
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state."</i> [<b>Op. Cit.</b>, p. 40]
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And, just to state the obvious, anarchy does not mean chaos nor do anarchists
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seek to create chaos or disorder. Instead, we wish to create a society
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based upon individual freedom and voluntary co-operation. In other words,
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order from the bottom up, not disorder imposed from the top down by
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authorities. Such a society would be a true anarchy, a society without rulers.
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While we discuss what an anarchy could look like in <a href="secIcon.html">section I</a>,
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Noam Chomsky sums up the key aspect when he stated that in a
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truly free society <i>"any interaction among human beings that is
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more than personal -- meaning that takes institutional forms of
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one kind or another -- in community, or workplace, family, larger
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society, whatever it may be, should be under direct control of its
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participants. So that would mean workers' councils in industry,
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popular democracy in communities, interaction between them, free
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associations in larger groups, up to organisation of international
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society."</i> [<b>Anarchism Interview</b>] Society would no longer be divided
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into a hierarchy of bosses and workers, governors and governed. Rather,
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an anarchist society would be based on free association in participatory
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organisations and run from the bottom up. Anarchists, it should be noted,
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try to create as much of this society today, in their organisations,
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struggles and activities, as they can.</p>
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<a name="seca12"><h2>A.1.2 What does "anarchism" mean?</h2></a>
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To quote Peter Kropotkin, Anarchism is <i>"the no-government system of socialism."</i> [<b>Anarchism</b>, p. 46] In other words, <i>"the abolition of exploitation and oppression of man by
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man, that is the abolition of private property [i.e. capitalism] and
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government."</i> [Errico Malatesta, <b>Towards Anarchism,"</b>, p. 75]
227
Anarchism, therefore, is a political theory that aims to create a society
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which is without political, economic or social hierarchies. Anarchists
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maintain that anarchy, the absence of rulers, is a viable form of social
230
system and so work for the maximisation of individual liberty and social
231
equality. They see the goals of liberty and equality as mutually
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self-supporting. Or, in Bakunin's famous dictum:
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"<i>We are convinced that freedom without Socialism is privilege and
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injustice, and that Socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality."</i>
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[<b>The Political Philosophy of Bakunin</b>, p. 269]
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The history of human society proves this point. Liberty without equality
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is only liberty for the powerful, and equality without liberty is
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impossible and a justification for slavery.
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While there are many different types of anarchism (from individualist
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anarchism to communist-anarchism -- see <a href="secA3.html">section A.3</a>
245
there has always been two common positions at the core of all of them --
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opposition to government and opposition to capitalism. In the words of
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the individualist-anarchist Benjamin Tucker, anarchism insists <i>"on the
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abolition of the State and the abolition of usury; on no more government
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of man by man, and no more exploitation of man by man."</i> [cited by Eunice Schuster, <b>Native American Anarchism</b>, p. 140] All anarchists view profit, interest and rent
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as <b>usury</b> (i.e. as exploitation) and so oppose them and the conditions
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that create them just as much as they oppose government and the State.
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More generally, in the words of L. Susan Brown, the <i>"unifying link"</i> within
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anarchism <i>"is a universal condemnation of hierarchy and domination
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and a willingness to fight for the freedom of the human individual."</i> [<b>The
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Politics of Individualism</b>, p. 108] For anarchists, a person cannot be
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free if they are subject to state or capitalist authority. As Voltairine
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de Cleyre summarised:
260
<i>"Anarchism . . . teaches the possibility of a society in which the
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needs of life may be fully supplied for all, and in which the
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opportunities for complete development of mind and body shall be
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the heritage of all . . . [It] teaches that the present unjust
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organisation of the production and distribution of wealth must
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finally be completely destroyed, and replaced by a system which
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will insure to each the liberty to work, without first seeking a
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master to whom he [or she] must surrender a tithe of his [or her]
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product, which will guarantee his liberty of access to the sources
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and means of production. . . Out of the blindly submissive, it
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makes the discontented; out of the unconsciously dissatisfied, it
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makes the consciously dissatisfied . . . Anarchism seeks to arouse
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the consciousness of oppression, the desire for a better society,
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and a sense of the necessity for unceasing warfare against capitalism
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and the State."</i> [<b>Anarchy! An Anthology of Emma Goldman's Mother
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So Anarchism is a political theory which advocates the creation of
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anarchy, a society based on the maxim of <i>"no rulers."</i> To achieve this,
279
<i>"[i]n common with all socialists, the anarchists hold that the private ownership of land, capital, and machinery has had its time; that it is
280
condemned to disappear: and that all requisites for production must, and
281
will, become the common property of society, and be managed in common by
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the producers of wealth. And. . . they maintain that the ideal of the
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political organisation of society is a condition of things where the
284
functions of government are reduced to minimum. . . [and] that the
285
ultimate aim of society is the reduction of the functions of government to
286
nil -- that is, to a society without government, to an-archy"</i> [Peter
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Kropotkin, <b>Op. Cit.</b>, p. 46]
289
Thus anarchism is both positive and negative. It analyses and critiques
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current society while at the same time offering a vision of a potential
291
new society -- a society that fulfils certain human needs which the
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current one denies. These needs, at their most basic, are liberty,
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equality and solidarity, which will be discussed in
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<a href = secA2.html>section A.2</a>.
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Anarchism unites critical analysis with hope, for, as Bakunin (in his
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pre-anarchist days) pointed out, <i>"the urge to destroy is a creative urge."</i> One cannot build a better society without understanding what is wrong with the present one.
299
However, it must be stressed that anarchism is more than just a means
300
of analysis or a vision of a better society. It is also rooted in
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struggle, the struggle of the oppressed for their freedom. In other
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words, it provides a means of achieving a new system based on the needs
303
of people, not power, and which places the planet before profit. To
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quote Scottish anarchist Stuart Christie:
305
<blockquote></p><p><i>
306
"Anarchism is a movement for human freedom. It is concrete, democratic
307
and egalitarian . . . Anarchism began -- and remains -- a direct challenge
308
by the underprivileged to their oppression and exploitation. It opposes
309
both the insidious growth of state power and the pernicious ethos of
310
possessive individualism, which, together or separately, ultimately
311
serve only the interests of the few at the expense of the rest.
313
"Anarchism is both a theory and practice of life. Philosophically, it
314
aims for the maximum accord between the individual, society and nature.
315
Practically, it aims for us to organise and live our lives in such a
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way as to make politicians, governments, states and their officials
317
superfluous. In an anarchist society, mutually respectful sovereign
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individuals would be organised in non-coercive relationships within
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naturally defined communities in which the means of production and
320
distribution are held in common.
322
"Anarchists are not dreamers obsessed with abstract principles and
323
theoretical constructs . . . Anarchists are well aware that a perfect
324
society cannot be won tomorrow. Indeed, the struggle lasts forever!
325
However, it is the vision that provides the spur to struggle against
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things as they are, and for things that might be . . .
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"Ultimately, only struggle determines outcome, and progress towards
329
a more meaningful community must begin with the will to resist every
330
form of injustice. In general terms, this means challenging all
331
exploitation and defying the legitimacy of all coercive authority.
332
If anarchists have one article of unshakeable faith, it is that,
333
once the habit of deferring to politicians or ideologues is lost,
334
and that of resistance to domination and exploitation acquired, then
335
ordinary people have a capacity to organise every aspect of their
336
lives in their own interests, anywhere and at any time, both freely
339
"Anarchists do not stand aside from popular struggle, nor do they
340
attempt to dominate it. They seek to contribute practically whatever
341
they can, and also to assist within it the highest possible levels
342
of both individual self-development and of group solidarity. It is
343
possible to recognise anarchist ideas concerning voluntary relationships,
344
egalitarian participation in decision-making processes, mutual aid
345
and a related critique of all forms of domination in philosophical,
346
social and revolutionary movements in all times and places."</i>
347
[<b>My Granny made me an Anarchist</b>, pp. 162-3]
349
Anarchism, anarchists argue, is simply the theoretical expression of
350
our capacity to organise ourselves and run society without bosses or
351
politicians. It allows working class and other oppressed people to
352
become conscious of our power as a class, defend our immediate
353
interests, and fight to revolutionise society as a whole. Only by
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doing this can we create a society fit for human beings to live in.
356
It is no abstract philosophy. Anarchist ideas are put into practice
357
everyday. Wherever oppressed people stand up for their rights, take
358
action to defend their freedom, practice solidarity and co-operation,
359
fight against oppression, organise themselves without leaders and bosses,
360
the spirit of anarchism lives. Anarchists simply seek to strengthen
361
these libertarian tendencies and bring them to their full fruition.
362
As we discuss in <a href="secJcon.html">section J</a>, anarchists apply their ideas in many ways
363
within capitalism in order to change it for the better until such time
364
as we get rid of it completely. <a href="secIcon.html">Section I</a> discusses what we aim to
365
replace it with, i.e. what anarchism aims for.</p>
367
<a name="seca13"><h2>A.1.3 Why is anarchism also called libertarian socialism?</h2></a>
370
Many anarchists, seeing the negative nature of the definition of
371
<i>"anarchism,"</i> have used other terms to emphasise the inherently positive
372
and constructive aspect of their ideas. The most common terms used are
373
<i>"free socialism," "free communism," "libertarian socialism,"</i> and
374
<i>"libertarian communism."</i> For anarchists, libertarian socialism,
375
libertarian communism, and anarchism are virtually interchangeable.
377
</p><p><blockquote><i>
378
"After all we are socialists as the social-democrats, the socialists,
379
the communists, and the I.W.W. are all Socialists. The difference --
380
the fundamental one -- between us and all the other is that they are
381
authoritarian while we are libertarian; they believe in a State or
382
Government of their own; we believe in no State or Government."</i> [Nicola
383
Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, <b>The Letters of Sacco and Vanzetti</b>,
386
But is this correct? Considering definitions from the <b>American Heritage Dictionary</b>, we find:
388
<b>LIBERTARIAN:</b> <i>one who believes in freedom of action and thought; one who
389
believes in free will.</i>
391
<b>SOCIALISM:</b> <i>a social system in which the producers possess both political
392
power and the means of producing and distributing goods.</i>
394
Just taking those two first definitions and fusing them yields:
396
<b>LIBERTARIAN SOCIALISM:</b> <i>a social system which believes in freedom of action and thought and free will, in which the producers possess both political
397
power and the means of producing and distributing goods.</i>
399
(Although we must add that our usual comments on the lack of political
400
sophistication of dictionaries still holds. We only use these definitions
401
to show that "libertarian" does not imply "free market" capitalism nor
402
"socialism" state ownership. Other dictionaries, obviously, will have
403
different definitions -- particularly for socialism. Those wanting to
404
debate dictionary definitions are free to pursue this unending and
405
politically useless hobby but we will not).
407
However, due to the creation of the Libertarian Party in the USA, many
408
people now consider the idea of <i>"libertarian socialism"</i> to be a
409
contradiction in terms. Indeed, many "Libertarians" think anarchists are
410
just attempting to associate the "anti-libertarian" ideas of "socialism"
411
(as Libertarians conceive it) with Libertarian ideology in order to make
412
those "socialist" ideas more "acceptable" -- in other words, trying to
413
steal the "libertarian" label from its rightful possessors.
415
Nothing could be further from the truth. Anarchists have been using the term
416
"libertarian" to describe themselves and their ideas since the 1850's.
417
According to anarchist historian Max Nettlau, the revolutionary anarchist
418
Joseph Dejacque published <b>Le Libertaire, Journal du Mouvement Social</b> in
419
New York between 1858 and 1861 while the use of the term <i>"libertarian
420
communism"</i> dates from November, 1880 when a French anarchist congress
421
adopted it. [Max Nettlau, <b>A Short History of Anarchism</b>, p. 75 and p. 145]
423
of the term "Libertarian" by anarchists became more popular from the 1890s
424
onward after it was used in France in an attempt to get round anti-anarchist
425
laws and to avoid the negative associations of the word "anarchy" in the
426
popular mind (Sebastien Faure and Louise Michel published the paper
427
<b>Le Libertaire</b> -- <b>The Libertarian</b> -- in France in 1895, for example).
428
Since then, particularly outside America, it has <b>always</b> been associated
429
with anarchist ideas and movements. Taking a more recent example, in the USA, anarchists organised <b><i>"The Libertarian League"</i></b> in July 1954, which
430
had staunch anarcho-syndicalist principles and lasted until 1965. The US-based
431
"Libertarian" Party, on the other hand has only existed since the early
432
1970's, well over 100 years after anarchists first used the term to describe
433
their political ideas (and 90 years after the expression "libertarian
434
communism" was first adopted). It is that party, not the anarchists, who have
435
"stolen" the word. Later, in <a href= "secBcon.html">Section B</a>, we will discuss why the idea of a "libertarian" capitalism (as desired by the Libertarian Party) is a contradiction in terms.
437
As we will also explain in <a href= "secIcon.html">Section I</a>, only a libertarian-socialist system of ownership can maximise individual freedom. Needless to say, state ownership -- what is commonly <b>called</b>
438
"socialism" -- is, for anarchists, not socialism at all. In fact, as we
439
will elaborate in <a href= "secHcon.html"> Section H</a>, state "socialism"
440
is just a form of capitalism, with no socialist content whatever. As Rudolf Rocker noted, for anarchists, socialism is <i>"not a
441
simple question of a full belly, but a question of culture that would
442
have to enlist the sense of personality and the free initiative of the
443
individual; without freedom it would lead only to a dismal state
444
capitalism which would sacrifice all individual thought and feeling
445
to a fictitious collective interest."</i> [quoted by Colin Ward, <i>"Introduction"</i>,
446
Rudolf Rocker, <b>The London Years</b>, p. 1]
448
Given the anarchist pedigree of the word "libertarian," few anarchists
449
are happy to see it stolen by an ideology which shares little with our
450
ideas. In the United States, as Murray Bookchin noted, the <i>"term 'libertarian'
451
itself, to be sure, raises a problem, notably, the specious identification
452
of an anti-authoritarian ideology with a straggling movement for 'pure
453
capitalism' and 'free trade.' This movement never created the word: it
454
appropriated it from the anarchist movement of the [nineteenth] century.
455
And it should be recovered by those anti-authoritarians . . . who try to
456
speak for dominated people as a whole, not for personal egotists who
457
identify freedom with entrepreneurship and profit."</i> Thus anarchists in
458
America should <i>"restore in practice a tradition that has been denatured
459
by"</i> the free-market right. [<b>The Modern Crisis</b>, pp. 154-5] And as we
460
do that, we will continue to call our ideas libertarian socialism.</p>
462
<a name="seca14"><h2>A.1.4 Are anarchists socialists?</h2></a>
465
Yes. All branches of anarchism are opposed to capitalism. This is because
466
capitalism is based upon oppression and exploitation (see sections
467
<a href="secBcon.html">B</a> and <a href="secCcon.html">C</a>).
468
Anarchists reject the <i>"notion that men cannot work together unless they
469
have a driving-master to take a percentage of their product"</i> and think
470
that in an anarchist society <i>"the real workmen will make their own
471
regulations, decide when and where and how things shall be done."</i> By
472
so doing workers would free themselves <i>"from the terrible bondage of
473
capitalism."</i> [Voltairine de Cleyre, <i>"Anarchism"</i>, <b>Exquisite
474
Rebel</b>, p. 75 and p. 79]
476
(We must stress here that anarchists are opposed to <b>all</b> economic forms
477
which are based on domination and exploitation, including feudalism,
478
Soviet-style "socialism" -- better called "state capitalism" --, slavery
479
and so on. We concentrate on capitalism because that is what is dominating
482
Individualists like Benjamin Tucker along with social anarchists like
483
Proudhon and Bakunin proclaimed themselves <b><i>"socialists."</i></b>
485
because, as Kropotkin put it in his classic essay <i>"Modern Science and
486
Anarchism,"</i> <i>"[s]o long as Socialism was understood in its wide, generic,
487
and true sense -- as an effort to <b>abolish</b> the exploitation of Labour by
488
Capital -- the Anarchists were marching hand-in-hands with the Socialists
489
of that time."</i> [<b>Evolution and Environment</b>, p. 81] Or, in Tucker's words,
490
<i>"the bottom claim of Socialism [is] that labour should be put in possession
491
of its own,"</i> a claim that both <i>"the two schools of Socialistic
492
thought . . . State Socialism and Anarchism"</i> agreed upon. [<b>The
493
Anarchist Reader</b>,
494
p. 144] Hence the word <i>"socialist"</i> was originally defined to include
495
<i>"all those who believed in the individual's right to possess what he
496
or she produced."</i> [Lance Klafta, <i>"Ayn Rand and the Perversion of
497
Libertarianism,"</i> in <b>Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed</b>, no. 34]
498
This opposition to exploitation (or usury) is shared by all true
499
anarchists and places them under the socialist banner.
501
For most socialists, <i>"the only guarantee not to be robbed of the fruits
502
of your labour is to possess the instruments of labour."</i> [Peter Kropotkin,
503
<b>The Conquest of Bread</b>, p. 145] For this reason Proudhon, for example,
504
supported workers' co-operatives, where <i>"every individual employed in the
505
association . . . has an undivided share in the property of the company"</i>
506
because by <i>"participation in losses and gains . . . the collective force
507
[i.e. surplus] ceases to be a source of profits for a small number of
508
managers: it becomes the property of all workers."</i> [<b>The General Idea
509
of the Revolution</b>, p. 222 and p. 223] Thus, in addition to desiring the
510
end of exploitation of labour by capital, true socialists also desire a
511
society within which the producers own and control the means of production
512
(including, it should be stressed, those workplaces which supply services).
513
The means by which the producers will do this is a moot point in anarchist
514
and other socialist circles, but the desire remains a common one. Anarchists
515
favour direct workers' control and either ownership by workers' associations
516
or by the commune (see <a href="secA3.html">section A.3</a> on the different types of anarchists).
518
Moreover, anarchists also reject capitalism for being authoritarian <b>as
519
well as</b> exploitative. Under capitalism, workers do not govern themselves
520
during the production process nor have control over the product of their
521
labour. Such a situation is hardly based on equal freedom for all, nor
522
can it be non-exploitative, and is so opposed by anarchists. This
523
perspective can best be found in the work of Proudhon's (who inspired
524
both Tucker and Bakunin) where he argues that anarchism would see
525
<i>"[c]apitalistic and proprietary exploitation stopped everywhere
526
[and] the wage system abolished"</i> for <i>"either the workman. . . will
527
be simply the employee of the proprietor-capitalist-promoter; or he
528
will participate . . . In the first case the workman is subordinated,
529
exploited: his permanent condition is one of obedience. . . In the
530
second case he resumes his dignity as a man and citizen. . . he forms
531
part of the producing organisation, of which he was before but the
532
slave . . . we need not hesitate, for we have no choice. . . it is
533
necessary to form an ASSOCIATION among workers . . . because without
534
that, they would remain related as subordinates and superiors, and
535
there would ensue two. . . castes of masters and wage-workers, which
536
is repugnant to a free and democratic society."</i> [<b>Op. Cit.</b>,
537
p. 233 and pp. 215-216]
539
Therefore <b>all</b> anarchists are anti-capitalist (<i>"If labour owned the wealth
540
it produced, there would be no capitalism"</i> [Alexander Berkman, <b>What is
541
Anarchism?</b>, p. 44]). Benjamin Tucker, for example -- the
542
anarchist most influenced by liberalism (as we will discuss later) --
543
called his ideas <i>"Anarchistic-Socialism"</i> and denounced capitalism as
544
a system based upon <i>"the usurer, the receiver of interest,
545
rent and profit."</i> Tucker held that in an anarchist, non-capitalist,
546
free-market society, capitalists will become redundant and exploitation
547
of labour by capital would cease, since <i>"labour. . . will. . . secure its natural wage, its entire product."</i>
548
[<b>The Individualist Anarchists</b>, p. 82 and p. 85]
549
Such an economy will be based on mutual banking
550
and the free exchange of products between co-operatives, artisans and
551
peasants. For Tucker, and other Individualist anarchists, capitalism is not
552
a true free market, being marked by various laws and monopolies which
553
ensure that capitalists have the advantage over working people, so ensuring
554
the latter's exploitation via profit, interest and rent
555
(see <a href="secGcon.html">section G</a> for a fuller
556
discussion). Even Max Stirner, the arch-egoist, had nothing but scorn for
557
capitalist society and its various "spooks," which for him meant ideas
558
that are treated as sacred or religious, such as private property, competition,
559
division of labour, and so forth.
561
So anarchists consider themselves as socialists, but socialists of a specific
562
kind -- <b><i>libertarian socialists</i></b>. As the individualist anarchist Joseph A.
563
Labadie puts it (echoing both Tucker and Bakunin):
564
</p><p><blockquote><i>
565
"It is said that Anarchism is not socialism. This is a mistake.
566
Anarchism is voluntary Socialism. There are two kinds of Socialism,
567
archistic and anarchistic, authoritarian and libertarian, state and free.
568
Indeed, every proposition for social betterment is either to increase or
569
decrease the powers of external wills and forces over the individual. As
570
they increase they are archistic; as they decrease they are anarchistic."</i>
571
[<b>Anarchism: What It Is and What It Is Not</b>]
573
Labadie stated on many occasions that <i>"all anarchists are socialists,
574
but not all socialists are anarchists."</i> Therefore, Daniel Guerin's
575
comment that <i>"Anarchism is really a synonym for socialism. The
576
anarchist is primarily a socialist whose aim is to abolish the
577
exploitation of man by man"</i> is echoed throughout the history
578
of the anarchist movement, be it the social or individualist wings.
579
[<b>Anarchism</b>, p. 12] Indeed, the Haymarket Martyr Adolph Fischer
580
used almost exactly the same words as Labadie to express the same
581
fact -- <i>"every anarchist is a socialist, but every socialist is not
582
necessarily an anarchist"</i> -- while acknowledging that the movement
583
was <i>"divided into two factions; the communistic anarchists and the
584
Proudhon or middle-class anarchists."</i> [<b>The Autobiographies of the
585
Haymarket Martyrs</b>, p. 81]
587
So while social and individualist anarchists do disagree on many issues --
588
for example, whether a true, that is non-capitalist, free market would be
589
the best means of maximising liberty -- they agree that capitalism is to
590
be opposed as exploitative and oppressive and that an anarchist society
591
must, by definition, be based on associated, not wage, labour. Only
592
associated labour will <i>"decrease the powers of external wills and
593
forces over the individual"</i> during working hours and such
594
self-management of work by those who do it is the core ideal of
595
real socialism. This perspective can be seen when Joseph Labadie
596
argued that the trade union was <i>"the exemplification of gaining freedom
597
by association"</i> and that <i>"[w]ithout his union, the workman is much more
598
the slave of his employer than he is with it."</i> [<b>Different Phases
599
of the Labour Question</b>]
601
However, the meanings of words change over time. Today "socialism"
602
almost always refers to <b>state</b> socialism, a system that all anarchists
603
have opposed as a denial of freedom and genuine socialist ideals.
604
All anarchists would agree with Noam Chomsky's statement on
606
</p><p><blockquote><i>
607
"If the left is understood to include 'Bolshevism,' then I would flatly
608
dissociate myself from the left. Lenin was one of the greatest
609
enemies of socialism."</i> [<b>Marxism, Anarchism, and Alternative
612
Anarchism developed in constant opposition to the ideas of Marxism, social
613
democracy and Leninism. Long before Lenin rose to power, Mikhail Bakunin
614
warned the followers of Marx against the <i>"Red bureaucracy"</i> that would
615
institute <i>"the worst of all despotic governments"</i> if Marx's state-socialist
616
ideas were ever implemented. Indeed, the works of Stirner, Proudhon and
617
especially Bakunin all predict the horror of state Socialism with great
618
accuracy. In addition, the anarchists were among the first and most vocal
619
critics and opposition to the Bolshevik regime in Russia.
621
Nevertheless, being socialists, anarchists do share <b>some</b> ideas with
622
<b>some</b> Marxists (though none with Leninists). Both Bakunin and Tucker
623
accepted Marx's analysis and critique of capitalism as well as his
624
labour theory of value (see <a href="secCcon.html">section C</a>). Marx
626
influenced by Max Stirner's book <b>The Ego and Its Own</b>, which contains
627
a brilliant critique of what Marx called "vulgar" communism as well as
628
state socialism. There have also been elements of the Marxist movement
629
holding views very similar to social anarchism (particularly the
630
anarcho-syndicalist branch of social anarchism) -- for example,
631
Anton Pannekoek, Rosa Luxembourg, Paul Mattick and others, who are
632
very far from Lenin. Karl Korsch and others wrote sympathetically of
633
the anarchist revolution in Spain. There are many continuities from
634
Marx to Lenin, but there are also continuities from Marx to more
635
libertarian Marxists, who were harshly critical of Lenin and
636
Bolshevism and whose ideas approximate anarchism's desire for the
637
free association of equals.
639
Therefore anarchism is basically a form of socialism, one that stands
640
in direct opposition to what is usually defined as "socialism" (i.e.
641
state ownership and control). Instead of "central planning," which
642
many people associate with the word "socialism," anarchists advocate
643
free association and co-operation between individuals, workplaces and
644
communities and so oppose "state" socialism as a form of state capitalism
645
in which <i>"[e]very man [and woman] will be a wage-receiver, and the
646
State the only wage payer."</i> [Benjamin Tucker, <b>The Individualist
647
Anarchists</b>, p. 81] Thus anarchists reject Marxism (what most
648
people think of as "socialism") as just <i>"[t]he idea of the State
649
as Capitalist, to which the Social-Democratic fraction of the
650
great Socialist Party is now trying to reduce Socialism."</i> [Peter
651
Kropotkin, <b>The Great French Revolution</b>, vol. 1, p. 31] The anarchist
652
objection to the identification of Marxism, "central planning"
653
and State Socialism/Capitalism with socialism will be discussed
654
in <a href="secHcon.html">section H</a>.
656
It is because of these differences with state socialists, and to reduce
657
confusion, most anarchists just call themselves "anarchists," as it is
658
taken for granted that anarchists are socialists. However, with the rise
659
of the so-called "libertarian" right in the USA, some pro-capitalists
660
have taken to calling themselves
661
"anarchists" and that is why we have laboured the point somewhat here.
662
Historically, and logically, anarchism implies anti-capitalism, i.e. socialism,
663
which is something, we stress, that all anarchists have agreed upon (for a fuller
664
discuss of why "anarcho"-capitalism is not anarchist see <a href="secFcon.html">
667
<a name="seca15"><h2>A.1.5 Where does anarchism come from?</h2></a>
670
Where does anarchism come from? We can do no better than quote
671
<b>The Organisational Platform of the Libertarian Communists</b> produced
672
by participants of the Makhnovist movement in the Russian Revolution (see
673
<a href = "secA5.html#seca54">Section A.5.4</a>). They point out that:
675
<i>"The class struggle created by the enslavement of workers and their aspirations to liberty gave birth, in the oppression, to the idea of anarchism:
676
the idea of the total negation of a social system based on the principles of classes and the State, and its replacement by a free non-statist society of
677
workers under self-management.
679
"So anarchism does not derive from the abstract reflections of an intellectual or a philosopher, but from the direct struggle of workers against capitalism, from the needs and necessities of the workers, from their aspirations to liberty and equality, aspirations which become particularly alive in the best heroic period of the life and struggle of the working masses.
681
"The outstanding anarchist thinkers, Bakunin, Kropotkin and others, did not invent the idea of anarchism, but, having discovered it in the masses, simply helped by the strength of their thought and knowledge to specify and spread
684
Like the anarchist movement in general, the Makhnovists were a mass movement
685
of working class people resisting the forces of authority, both Red (Communist)
686
and White (Tsarist/Capitalist) in the Ukraine from 1917 to 1921. As Peter
687
Marshall notes <i>"anarchism . . . has traditionally found its chief supporters
688
amongst workers and peasants."</i> [<b>Demanding the Impossible</b>, p. 652]
690
Anarchism was created in, and by, the struggle of the oppressed for
691
freedom. For Kropotkin, for example, <i>"Anarchism . . . originated in
692
everyday struggles"</i> and <i>"the Anarchist movement was renewed each
693
time it received an impression from some great practical lesson:
694
it derived its origin from the teachings of life itself."</i>
695
[<b>Evolution and Environment</b>, p. 58 and p. 57] For
696
Proudhon, <i>"the proof"</i> of his mutualist ideas lay in the <i>"current
697
practice, revolutionary practice"</i> of <i>"those labour associations . . .
698
which have spontaneously . . . been formed in Paris and Lyon . . .
699
[show that the] organisation of credit and organisation of labour
700
amount to one and the same."</i> [<b>No Gods, No Masters</b>, vol. 1,
701
pp. 59-60] Indeed, as one historian argues, there was <i>"close
702
similarity between the associational ideal of Proudhon . . . and
703
the program of the Lyon Mutualists"</i> and that there was <i>"a remarkable
704
convergence [between the ideas], and it is likely that Proudhon was
705
able to articulate his positive program more coherently because of
706
the example of the silk workers of Lyon. The socialist ideal that
707
he championed was already being realised, to a certain extent, by
708
such workers."</i> [K. Steven Vincent, <b>Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
709
and the Rise of French Republican Socialism</b>, p. 164]
711
Thus anarchism comes from the fight for liberty and our desires
712
to lead a fully human life, one in which we have time to live,
713
to love and to play. It was not created by a few people divorced
714
from life, in ivory towers looking down upon society and making
715
judgements upon it based on their notions of what is right and
716
wrong. Rather, it was a product of working class struggle and
717
resistance to authority, oppression and exploitation. As Albert
720
<i>"There were never theoreticians of Anarchism
721
as such, though it produced a number of theoreticians who discussed
722
aspects of its philosophy. Anarchism has remained a creed that has
723
been worked out in action rather than as the putting into practice
724
of an intellectual idea. Very often, a bourgeois writer comes along
725
and writes down what has already been worked out in practice by
726
workers and peasants; he [or she] is attributed by bourgeois
727
historians as being a leader, and by successive bourgeois writers
728
(citing the bourgeois historians) as being one more case that
729
proves the working class relies on bourgeois leadership."</i>
730
[<b>Anarchism: Arguments for and against</b>, p. 18]
732
In Kropotkin's eyes, <i>"Anarchism had its origins in the same
733
creative, constructive activity of the masses which has
734
worked out in times past all the social institutions of
735
mankind -- and in the revolts . . . against the representatives
736
of force, external to these social institutions, who had laid
737
their hands on these institutions and used them for their own
738
advantage."</i> More recently, <i>"Anarchy was brought forth by the
739
same critical and revolutionary protest which gave birth to
740
Socialism in general."</i> Anarchism, unlike other forms of
741
socialism, <i>"lifted its sacrilegious arm, not only against
742
Capitalism, but also against these pillars of Capitalism: Law,
743
Authority, and the State."</i> All anarchist writers did was to
744
<i>"work out a general expression of [anarchism's] principles,
745
and the theoretical and scientific basis of its teachings"</i>
746
derived from the experiences of working class people in struggle
747
as well as analysing the evolutionary tendencies of society
748
in general. [<b>Op. Cit.</b>, p. 19 and p. 57]
750
However, anarchistic tendencies and organisations in society have existed
751
long before Proudhon put pen to paper in 1840 and declared himself an
752
anarchist. While anarchism, as a specific political theory, was born with
753
the rise of capitalism (Anarchism <i>"emerged at the end of the eighteenth
754
century . . .[and] took up the dual challenge of overthrowing both
755
Capital and the State."</i> [Peter Marshall, <b>Op. Cit.</b>, p. 4]) anarchist
756
writers have analysed history for libertarian tendencies. Kropotkin
757
argued, for example, that <i>"from all times there have been Anarchists
758
and Statists."</i> [<b>Op. Cit.</b>, p. 16] In <b>Mutual Aid</b> (and elsewhere)
759
Kropotkin analysed the libertarian aspects of previous societies
760
and noted those that successfully implemented (to some degree)
761
anarchist organisation or aspects of anarchism. He
762
recognised this tendency of actual examples of anarchistic
763
ideas to predate the creation of the "official" anarchist movement
766
<i>"From the remotest, stone-age antiquity, men [and women] have realised
767
the evils that resulted from letting some of them acquire personal
768
authority. . . Consequently they developed in the primitive clan,
769
the village community, the medieval guild . . . and finally in the
770
free medieval city, such institutions as enabled them to resist
771
the encroachments upon their life and fortunes both of those strangers
772
who conquered them, and those clansmen of their own who endeavoured
773
to establish their personal authority."</i> [<b>Anarchism</b>, pp. 158-9]
775
Kropotkin placed the struggle of working class people (from which modern
776
anarchism sprung) on par with these older forms of popular organisation.
777
He argued that <i>"the labour combinations. . . were an outcome of the same
778
popular resistance to the growing power of the few -- the capitalists
779
in this case"</i> as were the clan, the village community and so on, as
780
were <i>"the strikingly independent, freely federated activity of the
781
'Sections' of Paris and all great cities and many small 'Communes'
782
during the French Revolution"</i> in 1793. [<b>Op. Cit.</b>, p. 159]
784
Thus, while anarchism as a political theory is an expression of working
785
class struggle and self-activity against capitalism and the modern state,
786
the ideas of anarchism have continually expressed themselves in action
787
throughout human existence. Many indigenous peoples in North America and
788
elsewhere, for example, practised anarchism for thousands of years before
789
anarchism as a specific political theory existed. Similarly, anarchistic
790
tendencies and organisations have existed in every major revolution --
791
the New England Town Meetings during the American Revolution, the Parisian
792
'Sections' during the French Revolution, the workers' councils and factory
793
committees during the Russian Revolution to name just a few examples (see
794
Murray Bookchin's <b>The Third Revolution</b> for details). This is to be expected
795
if anarchism is, as we argue, a product of resistance to authority then
796
any society with authorities will provoke resistance to them and generate
797
anarchistic tendencies (and, of course, any societies without authorities
798
cannot help but being anarchistic).
800
In other words, anarchism is an expression of the struggle against oppression
801
and exploitation, a generalisation of working people's experiences and
802
analyses of what is wrong with the current system and an expression of our
803
hopes and dreams for a better future. This struggle existed before it was
804
called anarchism, but the historic anarchist movement (i.e. groups of people
805
calling their ideas anarchism and aiming for an anarchist society) is
806
essentially a product of working class struggle against capitalism and
807
the state, against oppression and exploitation, and <b>for</b> a free society
808
of free and equal individuals.</p>
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