Everything about Anarchist Schools Of Thought totally explained
Anarchism is a
political philosophy with many heterogeneous and diverse
schools of thought, united by a common opposition to compulsory
rule. Anarchist schools of thought are characterised by "the belief that government is both harmful and unnecessary", but may differ fundamentally, supporting anything from extreme
individualism to complete
collectivism.
Anarchist
anthropologist David Graeber has noted that while schools of
Marxism always have founders (for example
Leninism,
Maoism,
Lacanianism), schools of anarchism "almost invariably emerge from some kind of organizational principle or form of practice", citing
anarcho-syndicalism,
insurrectionary anarchism and
platformism as examples.
Philosophical anarchism
William Godwin, in founding philosophical anarchism, developed what many consider the first expression of
modern anarchist thought. Godwin was, according to
Peter Kropotkin, "the first to formulate the political and economical conceptions of anarchism, even though he didn't give that name to the ideas developed in his work." Philosophical anarchism contends that the
State lacks
moral legitimacy; that there's no individual obligation or duty to obey the State, and conversely, that the State has no right to command individuals, but it doesn't advocate revolution to eliminate the state. According to
The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought, philosophical anarchism "is a component especially of
individualist anarchism."
Philosophical anarchists may accept the existence of a
minimal state as an unfortunate, and usually temporary, "necessary evil" but argue that citizens don't have a
moral obligation to obey the state when its laws conflict with individual autonomy. As conceived by Godwin, it requires individuals to act in accordance with their own judgements and to allow every other individual the same liberty; conceived egoistically as by
Max Stirner, it implies that "the unique one" who truly "owns himself" recognizes no duties to others; within the limit of his might, he does what is right for him. that would become increasingly irrelevant and powerless by the gradual spread of knowledge. Godwin felt discrimination on any grounds besides ability was intolerable.
Rather than throwing bombs or taking up arms to bring down the state, philosophical anarchists "have worked for a gradual change to free the individual from what they thought were the oppressive laws and social constraints of the modern state and allow all individuals to become self-determining and value-creating." They may oppose the immediate elimination of the state by violent means out of concern that it would be left unsecured against the establishment of a more harmful and oppressive state. This is especially true among those anarchists who consider violence and the state as synonymous, or who consider it counterproductive where public reaction to violence results in increased "
law enforcement" efforts.
Mutualism
Mutualism began in 18th century English and French labor movements, then took an anarchist form associated with
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in France and others in the US. This influenced individualist anarchists in the United States such as
Benjamin Tucker and
William B. Greene.
Josiah Warren proposed similar ideas in 1833 after participating in a failed
Owenite experiment. In the 1840s and 1850s,
Charles A. Dana, and
William B. Greene introduced Proudhon's works to the US. Greene adapted Proudhon's mutualism to American conditions and introduced it to
Benjamin R. Tucker.
Mutualist anarchism is concerned with
reciprocity,
free association, voluntary contract, federation, and credit and currency reform. Many mutualists believe a market without
government intervention drives prices down to labor-costs, eliminating profit, rent, and interest according to the
labor theory of value. Firms would be forced to compete over workers just as workers compete over firms, raising wages. Some see mutualism as between individualist and collectivist anarchism. This is suggested by the mutualists' own writings; in
What Is Property?, Proudhon develops a concept of "liberty", equivalent to "anarchy", which is the dialectical "synthesis of communism and property." Greene, influenced by
Pierre Leroux, sought mutualism in the synthesis of three philosophies — communism, capitalism and socialism. Later individualist anarchists used the term mutualism but retained little emphasis on synthesis, while
social anarchists such as the authors of
An Anarchist FAQ claim mutualism as a subset of their philosophical tradition. which hold that "individual conscience and the pursuit of self-interest shouldn't be constrained by any collective body or public authority." It has had several major influences:
Thomas Jefferson,
Pierre Proudhon's mutualism, and the
natural rights theory of
classical liberalism, among others. Individualist anarchism has been particularly strong in the USA from the time of Warren through to
Murray Rothbard (who called his philosophy "anarcho-capitalism"),
Kevin Carson, and others.
In the mid 19th century in the US,
Henry David Thoreau foresaw "the inevitability of self-government accompanied by atrophy of the State", arguing the state's only power was what individuals cede to it, but offered no practical program for social change.
Stirner's egoism
Max Stirner, one of the earliest and best-known proponents of individualist anarchism wrote
The Ego and Its Own (1844), a "founding text" of the philosophy. Society has no responsibility for its members. To Stirner, rights are
spooks in the mind, and society doesn't exist but "the individuals are its reality." Stirner preached self-assertion and foresaw "associations of egoists" where respect for ruthlessness drew people together. Stirner suggests property is a matter of might, rather than moral right: "What my might reaches is my property; and let me claim as property everything I feel myself strong enough to attain, and let me extend my actual property as fast as 'I' entitle, that is, empower myself to take..." He influenced American individualist anarchists and
Emma Goldman, who lectured on his thought.
The Boston anarchists
A "less radical" form of individualist anarchism was advocated by the "Boston anarchists," who were individualists supporting private property and a free market. For them, liberty and property should be protected by private contractors funded in a
free market, not by the state. Like Marxists and
social anarchists, they believed that
state monopoly capitalism (identified as a state-sponsored monopoly) didn't fully reward labor. But unlike social anarchists, individualists endorsed exchange of labor for wages. The nineteenth century individualists argued state imposed economic regulation put the means of production in few hands, and that by having a free-market private ownership would be dispersed. Individualists like Tucker wanted more self-employment, but didn't want to prevent people from "carrying on business for themselves or from assuming relations between themselves as employer and employee if they prefer."
Individualists disagreed on various issues.
Lysander Spooner supported
intellectual property rights and permitted absentee land ownership.
Steven T. Byington also opposed
Benjamin Tucker's occupancy and use requirements. While all supported private property and free markets (causing some to consider them pro-capitalist), some, like Tucker, called themselves socialist. (At the time, "the term socialism was a broad concept," with Tucker understanding "socialism" to refer to many ideas aimed to solve "
the labor problem" by radically changing the economy.) They also called themselves anti-capitalist, defining "capitalism" as state-maintained monopolization of capital. A major cleft occurred later in the 19th century when Tucker, and some others, abandoned natural rights and converted to an "egoism" modeled upon Stirnerism, claiming the only right naturally existing is the "right of might" and that other rights only come into existence if people decide to limit their might over each other. They didn't have a problem that "one man employ another" or that "he direct him," in his labor but demanded that "all natural opportunities requisite to the production of wealth be accessible to all on equal terms and that monopolies arising from special privileges created by law be abolished."
By the beginning of the twentieth century, individualist anarchism in America was declining — "the heyday of individualist anarchism had passed", in the words of
Paul Avrich.
It was later revived with modifications by Murray Rothbard and the anarcho-capitalists in the mid-twentieth century, forming part of the broader movement known as
libertarianism. Rothbard said "individualist anarchists could easily incorporate"
Austrian economics, discard their monetary theories, which he argued were flawed, and "reconsider the nature and justification of the economic categories of interest, rent and profit." Today, most who call themselves individualist anarchists follow Rothbard's economics.
Social anarchism
Social anarchism is an umbrella term used to identify a broad category of anarchism independent of
individualist anarchism. Where individualist forms of anarchism emphasize
personal autonomy and the rational nature of human beings, social anarchism sees "individual freedom as conceptually connected with social equality and emphasize community and mutual aid." Social anarchism is used to specifically describe anarchist tendencies within anarchism that have an emphasis on the communitarian and cooperative aspects of anarchist theory and practice. Social anarchism includes (but isn't limited to)
collectivist anarchism,
anarcho-communism,
libertarian socialism,
anarcho-syndicalism and
social ecology. form of anarchism most commonly associated with
Mikhail Bakunin,
Johann Most and the anti-authoritarian section of the
First International (1864–1876). Unlike mutualists, collectivist anarchists oppose all private ownership of the means of production, instead advocating that ownership be collectivized. This was to be initiated by small cohesive elite group through acts of violence, or "
propaganda by the deed," which would inspire the workers to revolt and forcibly collectivize the means of production. Workers would be compensated for their work on the basis of the amount of time they contributed to production, rather than goods being distributed "according to need" as in anarcho-communism. Although the collectivist anarchists advocated compensation for labor, some held out the possibility of a post-revolutionary transition to a communist system of distribution according to need. Collective anarchism arose contemporaneously with
Marxism but opposed the Marxist
dictatorship of the proletariat, despite Marxism striving for a collectivist stateless society.
Some collectivist anarchists don't oppose the use of currency. Some support workers being paid based on the amount of time they contributed to production. These salaries would be used to purchase commodities in a communal market. This contrasts with
anarcho-communism where wages would be abolished, and where individuals would take freely from a storehouse of goods "to each according to his need." Many modern-day collectivist anarchists hold their form of anarchism as a permanent society rather than a carryover to anarcho-communism or a gift economy. Some collectivist anarchists such as proponents of
participatory economics believe in
remuneration and a form of credit but don't believe in money or markets.
Although
Collectivist anarchism shares many similarities with
Anarchist communism there are also many key differences between them. For example collectivist anarchists believe that the economy and most or all property should be collectively owned by society while anarchist communists by contrast believe that the concept of ownership should be rejected by society and replaced with the concept of usage. Also
Collectivist anarchists often favor using a form of currency to compensate workers according to the amount of time spent contributing to society and production while Anarcho-communists believe that currency and wages should be abolished all together and goods should be distributed "
to each according to his or her need".
Anarchist communism
Anarchist communists propose that a society composed of a number of
self-governing communes with
collective use of the
means of production, with
direct democracy as the political organizational form, and related to other communes through
federation would be the freest form of social organisation.
Joseph Déjacque was an early anarchist communist and the first person to describe himself as "
libertarian". Other important anarchist communists include
Peter Kropotkin,
Emma Goldman,
Alexander Berkman and
Errico Malatesta.
In anarchist communism, individuals wouldn't receive direct
compensation for labour (through sharing of
profits or payment), but would instead have free access to the resources and surplus of the
commune. Kropotkin, on the basis of his
biological research and experimentation, believed that humans and human society are more inclined towards efforts for mutual benefit than toward competition and strife. Kropotkin believed that
private property was one of the causes of oppression and exploitation and called for its abolition, but he only opposed
ownership, not
possession.
Some
anarcho-syndicalists saw anarchist communism as their objective; for example, the Spanish CNT adopted
Isaac Puente's 1932
El comunismo libertario as its manifesto for a post-revolutionary society.
Platformism is an anarchist communist tendency in the tradition of
Nestor Makhno who argued for the "vital need of an organization which, having attracted most of the participants in the anarchist movement, would establish a common tactical and political line for anarchism and thereby serve as a guide for the whole movement." Some anarcho-communists are strongly influenced by radical individualist and egoist philosophy and believe that anarcho-communism doesn't require a communitarian nature at all. Forms of
libertarian communism such as
Situationism are strongly Egoist in nature. Anarcho-communist
Emma Goldman was influenced by both Stirner and Kropotkin and blended their philosophies together in her own, as shown in books of hers such as
Anarchism And Other Essays.
Anarcho-syndicalism
In the early twentieth century anarcho-syndicalism arose as a distinct school of thought within anarchism. More heavily focused on the labour movement than previous forms of anarchism, syndicalism posits radical
trade unions as a potential force for revolutionary social change, replacing capitalism and the state with a new society, democratically self-managed by the workers. Anarcho-syndicalists seek to abolish the wage system and private ownership of the means of production, which they believe lead to class divisions. Important principles of syndicalism include workers' solidarity,
direct action (such as
general strikes and
workplace recuperations), and
workers' self-management.
Anarcho-syndicalism and other branches of anarchism are not mutually exclusive: anarcho-syndicalists often subscribe to communist or collectivist anarchism. Its advocates propose labour organization as a means to create the foundations of a non-hierarchical anarchist society within the current system and bring about social revolution.
According to
An Anarchist FAQ, anarcho-syndicalist economic systems often take the form of either a
collectivist anarchist economic system or a
anarcho-communist economic system.
Rudolf Rocker is considered a leading anarcho-syndicalist theorist. Although more frequently associated with labor struggles of the early twentieth century (particularly in
France and
Spain), many syndicalist organizations are active today, including the
SAC in Sweden, the
USI in Italy, and the
CNT in Spain. A number of these organizations are united across national borders by membership in the
International Workers Association.
Contemporary developments
Anarchism generates many eclectic and
syncretic philosophies and movements. Since the revival of anarchism in the mid 20th century, a number of new movements and schools have appeared. Anarchist anthropologist
David Graeber has posited a rupture between generations of anarchism, with those "who often still have not shaken the sectarian habits of the last century" contrasted with the younger activists who are "much more informed, among other elements, by
indigenous,
feminist,
ecological and
cultural-critical ideas", and who by the turn of the 21st century formed "by far the majority" of anarchists. Although commonly associated with religious forms of anarchism, such as
Christian anarchism or
Buddhist anarchism, irreligious or anti-religious strains of anarcho-pacifism were present in the
anarcho-punk scene of the 1970s, spearheaded by
Crass. Historical advocates of pacifist anarchism include the
Christian anarchist Leo Tolstoy,
Jean-Paul Sartre and
Mohandas Gandhi who considered violence to be the root of societies problems and the state as the manifestation of violence. ]]
Anarcho-capitalism (also referred to as
private property anarchism or a type of
free-market anarchism) is a political philosophy (whose status within anarchism is disputed) which has its most significant following in the United States. It is "based on a belief in the freedom to own
private property, a rejection of any form of governmental authority or intervention, and the upholding of the competitive free market as the main mechanism for social interaction." Anarcho-capitalists, like earlier American anarchists such as
Benjamin Tucker, would like for all services, including law enforcement and security, to be performed by multiple private providers all competing for business, rather than by a monopolist state agency funded by
taxation. Anarcho-capitalism's leading proponents include
Murray Rothbard,
David D. Friedman,
Hans-Hermann Hoppe, and
Walter Block. It has been influenced by pro-market
libertarians such as
Gustave de Molinari,
Frederic Bastiat, and
Robert Nozick.
Although anarcho-capitalism was also influenced by Tucker and
Spooner, it rejects their
labor theory of value in favor of the
neo-classical marginalist view. Thus, many anarcho-capitalists, like
neoclassical economists don't believe that prices in a free market are, or would be, proportional to labor (nor that "usury" or "exploitation" necessarily occurs where they're disproportionate). Anarcho-capitalists such as Rothbard, believe that different prices of goods and services in a market, whether completely free or not, are ultimately the result of goods and services having different
marginal utilities rather than the fact they contain differing amounts of labor - and that there's nothing unjust about this. Anarcho-capitalists also disagree with Tucker that interest would disappear with unregulated banking and money issuance. Rothbard believed that people in general don't wish to lend their money to others without compensation, so there's no reason why this would change where banking is unregulated (nor does he agree that unregulated banking would increase the supply of money). Rothbard defined free-market capitalism as "peaceful voluntary exchange", in contrast to "
state capitalism" which he defined as a collusive partnership between business and government that uses coercion to subvert the free market.
Anarcho-capitalism has a theory of
legitimacy that supports private property as long as it was obtained by labor, trade, or gift. Anarcho-capitalists support the
liberty of individuals to be self-employed or to contract to be employees of others, whichever they prefer. David Friedman has expressed preference for a society where "almost everyone is
self-employed." There is more than one version of anarcho-capitalism. For instance, unlike Rothbard's version where law (the non-aggression principle) is enforced by the market but not created by it, there's what has been called the
Chicago School version, as theorized by
David D. Friedman, where the law itself is produced by the market. Most anarcho-capitalists believe that in the absence of the institutionalized aggression carried on by the state, non-coercive capitalism would naturally and inevitably develop through market processes, and thus other forms of aggression would be diminished. Rothbard articulated this sentiment concisely as follows: "capitalism is the fullest expression of anarchism, and anarchism is the fullest expression of capitalism."
Market left-libertarianism
Some market-oriented anarchist philosophies are considered left-libertarian.
Mutualism, initially developed in the 19th century, has reemerged in the 21st century, incorporating modern economic ideas such as
marginal utility theory.
Kevin A. Carson's book
Studies in Mutualist Political Economy
was influential in this regard, updating the
labor theory of value in response to
Austrian economics.
Agorism, an anarchist tendency founded by
Samuel Edward Konkin III, advocates
counter-economics – working in untaxed
black or
grey markets and boycotting as much as possible the unfree taxed market – with the intended result that private voluntary institutions emerge and out-compete statist ones.
Geoanarchism, an anarchist form of
Henry George's philosophy, is considered left-libertarian because it assumes land to be initially owned in common, so that when land is privately appropriated the proprietor pays rent to the community. These philosophies share similar concerns and are collectively known as left-libertarianism.
Autarchism
Autarchism is a philosophy subscribed to by
Robert LeFevre, who stated “Autarchy is self-rule. It means that each person rules himself, and no other.” Autarchism rejects compulsory government and supports "private
capitalism."
Crypto-anarchism
Crypto-anarchism is a cyberspatial realization of
anarcho-capitalism that expounds the use of strong
public-key cryptography to enforce
privacy and individual
freedom. Crypto-anarchists aim to create cryptographic
software that can be used to evade prosecution and harassment by the
state while sending and receiving information in computer networks. The use of such software renders the connection between the
identity of a certain user or organisation and their
pseudonym is almost entirely unprovable unless the user reveals the connection. It is even difficult to say which country's laws would be ignored, as even the location (country) of a given user is unknown. In this sense, the encrypted anonymous networks (known as "
cipherspace") are an independent, lawless territory; this doesn't restrict participants from voluntarily create new laws using
smart contracts or
online reputation-dependent systems. Cryptoanarchism is a variant of
technocapitalism, and is distinct from
infoanarchism, an umbrella term for those opposed to
intellectual property.
Anarcha-feminism
Anarcha-feminism (occasionally called anarcho-feminism) is a form of anarchism that synthesizes
radical feminism and anarchism that views patriarchy (male domination over women) as a fundamental manifestation of involuntary hierarchy which anarchists often oppose. Anarcha-feminism was inspired in the late 19th century by the writings of early feminist anarchists such as
Lucy Parsons,
Emma Goldman and
Voltairine de Cleyre. Anarcha feminists like other radical feminists criticize and advocate the abolition of traditional conceptions of family, education and gender roles. Anarcha-feminists are especially critical of marriage for instance the feminist anarchist Emma Goldman has argued that marriage is a purely economic arrangement... [woman] pays for it with her name, her privacy, her self-respect, her very life.". Anarcha-feminists also often criticize the views of some of the traditional anarchists such as Mikhail Bakunin who have believed that patriarchy is only a minor problem and is dependent only on the existence of the state and capitalism and will disappear soon after such institutions are abolished. Anarcha feminists by contrast view patriarchy as a fundamental problem in society and believe that the feminist struggle against sexism and patriarchy is an essential component of the anarchist struggle against the
state and
capitalism. As Susan Brown puts it, "as anarchism is a political philosophy that opposes all relationships of power, it's inherently feminist".
Anarcho-primitivism has been cited as a form of anarchism that addresses feminist concerns. and
Eleanor Leacock - who describe a typically
egalitarian relationship between men and women in
foraging societies - believe that agriculture not only gave rise to forms of domination such as
class distinctions but to
patriarchy and
sexism as well.
Green anarchism
Green anarchism is a school of anarchism that emphasizes the protection of the environment. Green anarchists can be broadly divided into two categories. Techno-negative green anarchists, such as
John Zerzan and
Theodore Kaczynski, see modern civilization and technology (and even agriculture in the case of
Anarcho-Primitivists) as inherently harmful. Techno-positive green anarchists, such as
Murray Bookchin and
Alan Carter, see technology as morally neutral or even as beneficial to the development of a green anarchist society.
It develops a critique of industrial civilization. In this critique
technology and
development have
alienated people from the natural world. This philosophy develops themes present in the political action of the
Luddites and the writings of
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, although when primitivism emerged it was influenced more directly by the works of theorists such as the
Frankfurt School Marxists Theodor Adorno and
Herbert Marcuse;
anthropologists Marshall Sahlins and
Richard Lee; and others such as
Lewis Mumford,
Jean Baudrillard and
Gary Snyder. Many advocates of green anarchism and primitivism consider
Fredy Perlman as the modern progenitor of their views.
Some techno negative green anarchists, identifying themselves as
anarcho-primitivists, advocate a complete process of '
rewilding' and a return to
nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles while many green anarchists only wish to see an end to industrial society and don't necessarily oppose
domestication or
agriculture. Still, many green anarchists decide to skirt these issues entirely, focusing not on a post-revolutionary future, but on defense of the earth and social revolution in the present. Today there's disagreement between Primitivists and followers of more traditional forms of anarchism, such as the
social ecology of Murray Bookchin and socialist forms of anarchism which advocate
class struggle, although many green anarchists do advocate class struggle.
Anarcho-primitivism
Anarcho-primitivism is a form of green anarchism that believes civilization and technology inevitably lead to inequality and are incompatible with anarchism and in effect must be abolished. Anarcho-primitivists often criticize traditional anarchism for supporting civilization and technology which Anarcho-primitivists believe are inherently based on domination and exploitation and instead advocate the process of
rewilding or reconnecting with the natural environment. Anarcho-primitivists (despite their
opposition to science) often use the writings of anthropologists, such as
Jared Diamond who wrote
The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race, that have portrayed indigenous societies as egalitarian, to support their critique of civilization.
Eco-anarchism
Eco-anarchism is a subset of green anarchism that argues that society is best organized into small
Eco-villages (somewhat similar to the
Kibbutz) consisting of no more than 150 people. Like anarcho-primitivists, eco-anarchists hold bands and tribes in high regard for their functionality and their non-hierarchical structure, but unlike anarcho-primitivists, don't support the total elimination of industrial and agricultural technology. Instead, they believe that small scale eco-villages are preferable to large scale urbanized forms of social organization. Eco anarchists, like neo-tribalists often argue that life in small scale Eco-villages is preferable to life in large scale urbanized societies because of an Evolutionary Principle; the idea invented by the anthropologist
Claude Levi-Strauss that humans evolved to live in such
societies and are thus are better suited to such an environment. Eco-anarchism often combines elements of many earlier preexisting philosophies such as
Deep ecology,
social ecology,
primitivism,
neo-tribalism,
bioregional democracy,
Eco-feminism,
pacifism and
secession.
Especifismo
Especifismo emerged out of nearly 50 years of anarchist experiences in South America starting with the Federación Anarquista Uruguaya (FAU), founded in 1956 by anarchists who saw the need for an organization which was specifically anarchist. It has been summarised as:
"The need for specifically anarchist organization built around a unity of ideas and praxis. The use of the specifically anarchist organization to theorize and develop strategic political and organizing work. Active involvement in and building of autonomous and popular social movements, which is described as the process of "social insertion."
Other organisations that hold to Especifismo include Federação Anarquista Gaúcha (FAG), the Federação Anarquista Cabocla (FACA), and the Federação Anarquista do Rio de Janeiro (FARJ) (all in Brazil). Especifismo is considered to have come to broadly similar conclusions to the Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft) leading to the argument that it's properly considered a new form of
Platformism
Post-left anarchy
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: the magazine and its editor
Jason McQuinn,
Bob Black,
Hakim Bey and others.
Post-anarchism
The term
post-anarchism was originated by
Saul Newman, and first received popular attention in his book
From Bakunin to Lacan to refer to a theoretical move towards a synthesis of classical anarchist theory and
poststructuralist thought. Subsequent to Newman's use of the term, however, it has taken on a life of its own and a wide range of ideas including
autonomism,
post-left anarchy,
situationism,
post-colonialism and Zapatismo. By its very nature post-anarchism rejects the idea that it should be a coherent set of doctrines and beliefs. As such it's difficult, if not impossible, to state with any degree of certainty who should or shouldn't be grouped under the rubric. Nonetheless key thinkers associated with post-anarchism include
Saul Newman,
Todd May,
Lewis Call,
Gilles Deleuze and
Félix Guattari.
Insurrectionary anarchism
Insurrectionary anarchism is a form of revolutionary anarchism critical of formal anarchist labor unions and federations. Insurrectionary anarchists advocate informal organization, including small affinity groups, carrying out acts of resistance in various struggles, and mass organizations called base structures, which can include exploited individuals who are not anarchists. Proponents include
Wolfi Landstreicher and
Alfredo M. Bonanno, author of works including "Armed Joy" and "The Anarchist Tension". This tendency is represented in the US in magazines such as
Willful Disobedience and
Killing King Abacus.
Analytical anarchism
Analytical anarchism, which partly began as a response to
analytical Marxism, is a recent development in
academia that uses the methods of
analytical philosophy to clarify or defend anarchist theory. Analytical anarchists include
Robert Paul Wolff,
Alan Carter, and Michael Taylor. Wolff argues that we've no obligation to obey the state, while Carter argues that the state can't be trusted to liberate the people, and Taylor uses
game theory to argue that cooperation is possible without the state.
Religious anarchism
Religious anarchism refers to a set of related anarchist ideologies that are inspired by the teachings of (organized) religions, however many anarchist have traditionally been skeptical of and opposed to
organized religion. Many different religions have served as inspiration for religious forms of anarchism, most notably Christianity; Christian anarchists believe that biblical teachings give credence to anarchist philosophy. Non-Christian forms of religious anarchism include
Buddhist anarchism,
Jewish anarchism and most recently
Neopaganism. Neopaganism focuses on the sanctity of
the environment and equality, and is often of a decentralized nature. This led to a number of Neopagan-inspired anarchists, one of the most prominent of which is
Starhawk, who writes extensively about both
spirituality and activism.
Christian anarchism
Christian anarchism is a form of religious anarchism that seeks to combine anarchism with Christianity, claiming that anarchism is justified by the teachings of
Jesus Christ. Early Christian communities have been described by Christian anarchists and some historians as possessing
anarcho-communist characteristics. Christian anarchists such as
Ammon Hennacy and
Keith Akers believe that the teachings of
Paul of Tarsus caused a shift from the earlier more
egalitarian and anarchistic teachings of Jesus Christ and suggest that Christians should look at returning to pre-
Pauline Christianity.
Anarchism without adjectives
Anarchism without adjectives, in the words of historian George Richard Esenwein, "referred to an
unhyphenated form of anarchism, that is, a doctrine without any qualifying labels such as
communist,
collectivist,
mutualist, or
individualist. For others, ... [it] was simply understood as an attitude that tolerated the coexistence of different anarchist schools".
Anarchism without adjectives emphasizes harmony between various anarchist factions and attempts to unite them around their shared anti-authoritarian beliefs.
The expression was coined by
Cuban-born
Fernando Tarrida del Mármol, who used it in
Barcelona in November 1889 as a call for
tolerance, after being troubled by the "bitter debates" between the different movements.
Rudolf Rocker said that the different types of anarchism presented "only different methods of economy, the practical possibilities of which have yet to be tested, and that the first objective is to secure the personal and social
freedom of men no matter upon which economics basis this is to be accomplished."
Voltairine de Cleyre was an anarchist without adjectives who initially identified herself as an individualist anarchist but later espoused a collectivist form of anarchism, while refusing to identify herself with any of the contemporary schools. She commented that "Socialism and Communism both demand a degree of joint effort and administration which would beget more regulation than is wholly consistent with ideal Anarchism; Individualism and Mutualism, resting upon property, involve a development of the private policeman not at all compatible with my notion of freedom" although she stopped short of denouncing these tendencies as un-anarchistic.
Errico Malatesta was another proponent of anarchism without adjectives, stating that "[i]t isn't right for us, to say the least, to fall into strife over mere hypotheses."
Fred Woodworth is a contemporary anarchist without adjectives.
Related theories
Epistemological anarchism, an anarchistic approach to the philosophy of science and the theory of knowledge
National-Anarchism, a movement which attempts to reconcile anarchism with nationalism
Panarchism, a theory relating to jurisdictional arbitrage and the free movement of peopleFurther Information
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