Anarcho-Communism
Anarcho-communism is a political theory that advocates for the abolition of the state and capitalism, and the establishment of a stateless, classless society based on common ownership and democratic control of the means of production. It combines anarchist principles of decentralization and individual freedom with communist principles of collective ownership and distribution of resources.
4 Key excerpts on "Anarcho-Communism"
eBook - ePubSocialism
Origins, Expansion, Decline, and the Attempted Revival in the United States
- Phillip Bryson(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- PageTurner Press and Media(Publisher)
...It advocates a stateless society, which is not chaos, but a system of free, self-governing, voluntary institutions specifically designed to be non-hierarchical associations. Anarchists oppose the authority of hierarchical organizations, not just the state. As a social movement, anarchism has taken the forms of anarcho- communism, anarcho-syndicalism, and individualist anarchism. Many anarchists reject all forms of aggression, promoting non- violence (anarcho-pacifism); others, as one will surely read, support some coercive measures, not shying away from violent revolution as the path to anarchist society. But fundamentally, anarchism is a doctrine which is opposed to any kind of coercive government. The State is opposed as the embodiment of force used against the community governed. Government could be tolerated only if it were free government assented to by all. Institutions such as the police and criminal law are seen as the means by which one part of the community’s will is enforced on another part. Nor is a democratic form of government ostensibly preferable to other forms, since that form can simply be the means by which minorities are compelled by force, implied or actually exerted, to submit to the majority. Liberty is the primary desideratum in the Anarchist creed, and it is pursued by the abolition of all forcible control by the community over the individual. Russel writes that this doctrine reflects basic psychological need; it was expounded by the Chinese philosopher, Chuang Tzu, who lived about 300 B.C. Anarchism as known a century ago at the time of Russell was part and parcel of belief in the communal ownership of property, i.e., it was a first cousin to socialism. Russell’s formal appellation for it was “Anarchist Communism.” 92 Since the Anarchism of Russell’s time was focused on the communistic form, he ignored individualist Anarchism. Both Socialism and Anarchist Communism held that private capital was a source of tyranny by capitalists over labor...
eBook - ePubAnarchism
A Collection of Revolutionary Writings
- Peter Kropotkin(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Dover Publications(Publisher)
...In common with all socialists, the anarchists hold that the private ownership of land, capital, and machinery has had its time; that it is condemned to disappear; and that all requisites for production must, and will, become the common property of society, and be managed in common by the producers of wealth. And in common with the most advanced representatives of political radicalism, they maintain that the ideal of the political organization of society is a condition of things where the functions of government are reduced to a minimum, and the individual recovers his full liberty of initiative and action for satisfying, by means of free groups and federations—freely constituted—all the infinitely varied needs of the human being. As regards socialism, most of the anarchists arrive at its ultimate conclusion, that is, at a complete negation of the wage-system and at communism. And with reference to political organization, by giving a further development to the above-mentioned part of the radical program, they arrive at the conclusion that the ultimate aim of society is the reduction of the functions of government to nil— that is, to a society without government, to an-archy. The anarchists maintain, moreover, that such being the ideal of social and political organization, they must not remit it to future centuries, but that only those changes in our social organization which are in accordance with the above double ideal, and constitute an approach to it, will have a chance of life and be beneficial for the commonwealth. As to the method followed by the anarchist thinker, it entirely differs from that followed by the utopists. The anarchist thinker does not resort to metaphysical conceptions (like “natural rights,” the “duties of the State,” and so on) to establish what are, in his opinion, the best conditions for realizing the greatest happiness of humanity. He follows, on the contrary, the course traced by the modern philosophy of evolution...
eBook - ePubAnarchism and Ecological Economics
A Transformative Approach to a Sustainable Future
- Ove Daniel Jakobsen(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...5 History of anarchist philosophy Introduction The anarchists present a political and economic framework that could be characterized as utopian because it represents a standpoint that is distanced from what we find today. This brief overview of the history of anarchist philosophy ranges from Goodwin to Chomsky. Anarchism distances itself from both liberalism and Marxism by arguing that liberalism is too focused on the individual and forgets the collective, while the Marxists are too focused on the collective and forget the individual. Anarchism gives priority to individual freedom in solidarity. In other words, the good life in solidarity with the collective. In 1909 Kropotkin formulated the question that anarchism asks in the following way: “What forms of social life assure to a given society, and then to mankind generally, the greatest amount of happiness, and hence also vitality?” (Kropotkin 1909, p. xx) One hundred years later, in 2008, Marshall stated that “If there is no joy, imagination, spontaneity, conviviality and fun, it isn’t my free society” (Marshall 2008, p. xx). Anarchy is far from being a new position in political philosophy. The word itself is of ancient origin. Anarchy is derived from Greek, “anarchos”. The pronoun “an” means, in this context, “without”, and the following word “archos” denotes ruler or authority. Hence, anarchy means “without ruler”, or more precisely, alternatives to and absence of such types of governance based on leaders and followers, i.e., the absence of hierarchy and authority. It is the condition of a people governing themselves without a constituted authority. Classical anarchism According to Marshall, it would be difficult to offer an exact definition of anarchism, since by its very nature it is a complex and subtle philosophy, embracing many different ideas and thoughts. At first sight it seems a hopeless task to incorporate anarchist theory into one general ideology...
- Gary Chartier, Chad Van Schoelandt, Gary Chartier, Chad Van Schoelandt(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Moreover, many political philosophers have been concerned with understanding problems that individuals within anarchic arrangements would face in order to understand the role, justification, and appropriate limits of the state. This book is designed to deepen understanding of anarchy—among both scholars and thoughtful non-academic readers—at a time when anarchist ideas have attracted considerable attention. Discussions of anarchy as an analytical model in economics, political science, and international relations theory and as a normative model in legal and political philosophy have been matched by growing interest in anarchist ideas in the political sphere. In the United States, for instance, the Ron Paul movement propelled many of those who originally embraced it beyond electoral politics and into support for anarchy. Opposition to corporate-led globalization during the Seattle protests against the World Trade Organization embraced anarchist symbols and values. The Occupy movement embraced a self-consciously anarchist flavor, drawing inspiration from anarchist anthropologist David Graeber and praise, indeed, from Ron Paul. And less dramatic anti-authoritarian attitudes find expression in increasingly vocal challenges to the drug war and to state policing. Globally, the policies embraced by many governments to the Sars-Cov-2 pandemic have prompted theoretical anarchist critiques and practical anarchist responses—involving the development of alternatives to state service provision and push-backs against restraints on civil and economic liberties. 4 In the United States, the renewed attention to police violence prompted by the murder of George Floyd has also led to on-the-ground activism and critiques of state provision of security services, both with anarchist undertones or explicit anarchist content. At the same time, libertarian ideas of various sorts are gaining increasing exposure in academe...
