Anarchism

Anarchism can refer to any of a range of political views, characterized by a rejection of authority in various forms.

Conflicts within anarchist thought

Private property vs. Collective ownership

The anarcho-communists and anarcho-syndicalists advocate the elimination of private property, while the individualist anarchists support it as being essential to liberty. Individualist anarchists support private ownership of the produce of labor, including any resulting means of production. Since unused land is not the produce of labor, most classical individualists anarchists, such as Benjamin Tucker, oppose its ownership, but also oppose collective ownership of land. Tucker believes the concept to be incoherent and incompatible with anarchism: "That there is an entity known as the community which is the rightful owner of all land, Anarchists deny. I . . . maintain that the community is a non-entity, that it has no existence, and is simply a combination of individuals having no prerogatives beyond those of the individuals themselves. As they reject the notion of the community owning all land collectively, they assert that no permission is needed from the community to put it to private use and no compensation is due to them. The results of cultivating land are considered to be private property as it is the result of labor.

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Tolerance vs. Expansionism

Since there are many different anarchist standpoints, there are vastly different and often opposing ideas about: what constitutes aggression, what is valid property, and what forms and conventions societies should adopt. As a result, there is difference of opinion within each school about how to react to, or interact with, those with opposing ideologies. E.g. How should an anarcho-socialist commune react to an anarcho-capitalist firm next door? (And vice-versa.)

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The tolerant attitude is to live with it - let reality be the judge. One should not use force to promote your program. Those who take this panarchist approach to 'foreign policy' generally predict that, since their system is better, it will attract more people in the long run. Benjamin Tucker is a good example of this tolerant approach.

Related Topics:
Panarchist - Benjamin Tucker

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The intolerant (evangelical or expansionist may be more descriptive) attitude considers the other system aggressive and/or authoritarian by its very nature. Thus it is permissible, perhaps even a moral imperative, to use force against the perceived criminals. This attitude occurs among anarcho-capitalists, particularly those who cannot conceive of an anti-statist form of socialism. Indeed, "socialism" in colloquial speech is generally understood as "statist socialism." This attitude also occurs among anarcho-socialists, particularly those who cannot conceive of an anti-statist form of propertarianism. Indeed, conventional socialist theory deems capitalism as necessarily authoritarian and exploitative.

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Violence vs. Non-violence

Anarchists have often been portrayed as dangerous and violent, due mainly to a number of high-profile violent acts including riots, assassinations, and insurrections involving anarchists. The use of terrorism and assassination, however, is condemned by most anarchist ideology, though there remains no consensus on the legitimacy or utility of violence.

Related Topics:
Riot - Assassination - Insurrection - Terrorism - Consensus

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Some anarchists share Leo Tolstoy's Christian anarchist belief in nonviolence. These anarcho-pacifists advocate nonviolent resistance as the only method of achieving a truly anarchist revolution. They often see violence as the basis of government and coercion and argue that, as such, violence is illegitimate, no matter who is the target. Some of Proudhon's French followers even saw strike action as coercive and refused to take part in such traditional socialist tactics.

Related Topics:
Christian anarchist - Nonviolence - Anarcho-pacifists - Nonviolent resistance - French - Strike action

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Mikhail Bakunin and Errico Malatesta saw violence as a necessary and sometimes desirable force. Malatesta took the view that it is "necessary to destroy with violence, since one cannot do otherwise, the violence which denies to the workers" (Umanità Nova, number 125, September 6, 1921http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/anarchists/malatesta/rev_haste.html).

Related Topics:
Mikhail Bakunin - Errico Malatesta - Umanità Nova

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Between 1894 and 1901, individual anarchists assassinated numerous heads of state. Such "propaganda of the deed" was not universally accepted among anarchists, and many in the movement condemned the tactic. For example, McKinley's assassin, Leon Czolgosz, claimed to be a disciple of Emma Goldman, but she disavowed any association with him. At the same time, Alexander Berkman, who was a close associate of Goldman's, went to prison for his attempted assassination of Carnegie Steel executive Henry Clay Frick as a reprisal for the company's heavy handed treatment of labor. Anarchists disagreed not only on whether such "attentats" -- as Berkman termed them -- were justified, but over the precise circumstances that legitimized them. Berkman and Goldman both condemned the McKinley assassination because it would cause repression and would neither be understood nor help the cause. Depictions in the press and popular fiction helped create a lasting public impression that anarchists are violent terrorists. This perception was enhanced by events such as the Haymarket Riot, where anarchists were blamed for throwing a bomb at police who came to break up a public meeting in Chicago, Illinois. Nihilism was a terroristic movement in early 19th century Tsarist Russia which, although largely bereft of political philiosophy did have connections with more "overground" oppositional movements including anarchism. In fact Sergey Nechayev was a compatriot of Bakunin whom later distanced himself from the Nihilists after the well-publicised murder of one of Nechayev's student followers.

Related Topics:
Propaganda of the deed - Leon Czolgosz - Emma Goldman - Haymarket Riot - Chicago, Illinois - Nihilism - 19th century - Russia - Sergey Nechayev

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Some anarchists distinguish between "violence" and "property destruction": they claim that violence is when a person inflicts harm to another person, while property destruction or property damage is not violence, although it can have indirect harm such as financial harm.

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The Summer of Love and Sixties radicalism brought issues of violence and non-violence to the fore again. At the end of that decade new, more militant armed struggle groups such as the Students for a Democratic Society, Weathermen, Movement 2 June and the Red Army Faction conducted campaign with varying levels of violence. While some anarchists supported such groups regardless of their authoritarian politics, other anarchists and commentators see modern urban guerillas as closer to Marxist-Leninism, Maoism and the New Left than to recent modern current of anarchism.

Related Topics:
Summer of Love - Sixties - Armed struggle - Students for a Democratic Society - Weathermen - Movement 2 June - Red Army Faction - Urban guerilla - Marxist-Leninism - Maoism - New Left

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Pacifism vs. War

Some anarchists consider Pacifism (opposition to war) to be inherent in their philosophy. Some anarchists take it further and follow Leo Tolstoy's belief in non-violence (note, however, that these anarcho-pacifists are not necessarily Christian anarchists as Tolstoy was), advocating non-violent resistance as the only method of achieving a truly anarchist revolution.

Related Topics:
Pacifism - War - Leo Tolstoy - Non-violence - Anarcho-pacifists - Christian anarchists - Non-violent resistance - Revolution

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Anarchist literature often portrays war as an activity in which the state seeks to gain and consolidate power, both domestically and in foreign lands. Many anarchists subscribe to Randolph Bourne's view that "war is the health of the state"http://struggle.ws/hist_texts/warhealthstate1918.html. Anarchists believe that if they were to support a war they would be strengthening the state — indeed, Peter Kropotkin was alienated from other anarchists when he expressed support for the British in World War I.

Related Topics:
Randolph Bourne - Peter Kropotkin - World War I

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Just as they are critical and distrustful of most government endeavours, anarchists often view the stated reasons for war with a cynical eye. Since the protests against the Vietnam War in North America and, most recently, the protests against the invasion of Iraq, much anarchist activity has been anti-war based.

Related Topics:
Cynical - Protests against the Vietnam War - North America - Protests against the invasion of Iraq - Anti-war

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Many anarchists in the current movement however, reject complete pacifism, (although groups like Earth First!, and Food Not Bombs are based on principles of non-violence), and instead are in favor of self-defense, and sometimes violence against oppressive and authoritarian forces which they in fact also consider as defensive violence. Most anarchists are skeptical however of winning a direct armed conflict with the state, and many instead concern themselves mostly with organizing. Most anarchists however, do not consider the destruction of property to be violent, as do some other activists who believe in non-violence.

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Parliamentarianism

While most anarchists firmly oppose voting, or otherwise participating in the State institution, there are a few that disagree. Even the most vocal anarchists (e.g. Proudhon) have at times succumbed to the temptation of electoral politics, and more often than not regretted it. Voluntaryism is a anarchist school of thought which emphasizes "tending your own garden" and "neither ballots nor bullets." The anarchist case against voting is explained in The Ethics of Voting by George H. Smith.

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