Anarchy
Anarchy is a sociopolitical concept that signifies the absence of governmental leadership, emphasizing individual freedom over state authority. Emerging as a political theory in the 19th century, it advocates for a society organized around voluntary participation rather than coercive governance. Linguistically, the term "anarchy" originates from Ancient Greece, meaning "leaderless," but it often carries connotations of chaos and disorder in contemporary discussions. The idea gained traction through the works of thinkers like Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who critiqued property ownership as a form of theft, inspiring labor unions and revolutionary movements.
Historically, significant attempts to establish anarchist societies occurred, notably during the Spanish Civil War, where workers sought to create a functional anarchist system, although these efforts ultimately faced challenges. Anarchy is generally viewed as a temporary state that arises during societal upheaval, rather than a sustainable political system. Within anarchist thought, two primary schools exist: left-anarchism, which advocates for the reduction or elimination of private property and social inequalities, and anarcho-capitalism, which supports the expansion of property rights within an anarchist framework. These differing ideologies reflect the diverse interpretations and goals of anarchist philosophy.
Anarchy
Anarchy is a sociopolitical term that refers to the absence of governmental leadership. As a political theory, anarchy arises from the belief that personal freedoms are more important than the values of the state. Thus, anarchists hold that coercive and centralized government states should be replaced with a society of voluntary participation. Since it first appeared in the nineteenth century, anarchy has become a prominent alternative political theory despite never having been adopted by any society.
The Meaning of Anarchy
Linguistically, the word anarchy can be traced back to Ancient Greece, where it simply referred to the absence of a leader. Translated literally, it means leaderless. In modern parlance, it has two distinct meanings that, while related, are quite different from one another.
In the simplest sense, anarchy is described as a direct synonym for chaos, disorder, or bedlam. From this perspective, anarchy is generally seen as the direct result of a lapse in or lack of authority. This concept of anarchy typically has a negative connotation because it is often perceived as being accompanied by danger or violence.
The stricter definition refers to anarchy as seen through the lens of political theory. In this sense, anarchy is the belief that coercive government states should be replaced with voluntary associations in which individual freedom is valued above all else. As this definition implies, the political doctrine of anarchy does not advocate lawlessness but instead calls for rejection of the state led by a coercive organization in favor of a different form of sociopolitical organization.
Historical Background
The idea of anarchy arose out of the work of French social theorist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. In his 1840 book What is Property?, he declared that property was a form of theft, wherein the state-supported owners of land or capital essentially robbed the working class of their fair share of wealth. This suggestion was naturally of great interest to the labor unions that represented working class laborers around the world. In relatively short order, these unions began using Proudhon's theory to rationalize and defend the orchestration of general strikes intended to wipe out the state. Thus, anarchy was born.
By the early twentieth century, anarchy had become a popular idea among the working class. In various countries, the outspoken members of the working class gained prominence and encouraged people to embrace revolution against their respective states. On numerous occasions during this era, revolutionary anarchists attempted to ignite such rebellions through the assassination of high-profile political figures, including US president William McKinley and Italy's King Umberto I. In most cases, however, these acts of terrorism failed to spark any sort of anarchic revolution.
One of the few instances in which an anarchic revolution achieved some measure of success came with the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. The onset of the war in Spain provided an ideal for the type of revolution needed for a real anarchy to take hold. In the midst of the struggle, workers in Barcelona seized factories and took control of the means of production. Representatives from these factories then met to begin the work of establishing an anarchist society. The workers, with the support of famed anarchist activist Emma Goldman, made a concerted effort to create a working anarchist system, but were unable to survive the eventual rise of Francisco Franco's military dictatorship. Since that time, anarchy has largely remained a fringe political ideology with little to no functional presence in the real world.
According to the Institute of World Politics, an ordered, socially functioning form of anarchy is impossible to achieve. Anarchy tends to be a temporary condition that exists after a breakdown of order, such as that which occurs following warfare or civil unrest. In the wake of such anarchy, societies seek to restore a structured form of order.
Schools of Anarchist Thought
Like many other sociopolitical theories, anarchy does not have a singular, universally agreed-upon ideological formula. The two main schools of anarchic thought are left-anarchism and anarcho-capitalism. From a distance, the two are somewhat similar in that they both support the creation of a non-chaotic anarchist society with some form of social organization. Beyond that, left-anarchism and anarcho-capitalism are grounded in very different ideologies.
Left-Anarchism
Left-anarchism is an approach to anarchy that encompasses a broad range of anarchist sub-ideologies. In short, left-anarchists believe that people living in an ideal anarchist society should either reduce their reliance on or completely abandon the idea of private property rights. In such a system, economic structure would be provided by worker-owned firms, cooperatives, or communes. This conviction is reflective of left-anarchists' broader belief that economic and social inequalities of any kind are inherently wrong and ethically detestable.
Anarcho-Capitalism
In comparison to left-anarchism, anarcho-capitalism is much less conservative and far more accepting of capitalism as an economic system. Where left-anarchists call for the near or total abandonment of private property rights, anarcho-capitalists believe that in an ideal anarchist society, such rights should actually be expanded. The reason for this stark ideological difference is that anarcho-capitalists believe that properties like corporations are an absolute necessity for the fundamental economic organization of any anarchist society. Also unlike their left-anarchist counterparts, anarcho-capitalists view socioeconomic inequalities as a natural side effect of freedom. Simply put, anarcho-capitalists are willing to accept a certain amount of inequity as a necessary trade-off that comes with the task of building any type of functional free society.
Bibliography
Bottici, Chiara. "Anarchy." The Encyclopedia of Political Science, edited by George Thomas Kurian, CQ Press, 2011, pp. 52–54.
Caplan, Bryan. "Anarchist Theory FAQ."George Mason University, econfaculty.gmu.edu/bcaplan/anarfaq.htm. Accessed 22 Oct. 2024.
Eckstein, Arthur M. "Anarchy." Encyclopedia of Political Theory, edited by Mark Bevir, SAGE Reference, 2010, pp. 37–40.
Souza, Marcelo J. L., et al. Theories of Resistance: Anarchism, Geography, and the Spirit of Revolt. Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
Tierney Jr., John J. “Anarchy vs. Government.” Institute of World Politics, 3 Mar. 2023, www.iwp.edu/articles/2023/03/03/anarchy-vs-government/. Accessed 22 Oct. 2024.