Anarchism 101

(Class of 17 november) Everything you've always wanted to know about anti-authoritarian socialism (but were too afraid to ask) Anarchism comes in as many varieties as there are and have been anarchists. Yet, we do have some concepts in common, even if not all of us do use the same words. - P.S. Have you been hearing about anarchism in the news, but you don't know where to start? Curious about the "circle-A" or the cool red-and-black aesthetic? Maybe you've seen some famous names, but don't feel like worshipping some old dead white guy? Well, lucky for you, Radical Sunday School is here to help. In this week's session, we'll talk with an experienced comrade about some of the basic ideas of anarchism and try to tease out what some of this "libertarian socialism" is all about. We'll learn about things like: Authority and hierarchy Capitalism and the state Freedom and autonomy Mutual aid and free association Federation and decentralization Whether you're a seasoned revolutionary, a complete newbie, or just a little anarcho-curious, we're happy to have you as we learn together about our favorite political practice!

anarchism = liberation movement

  • criticism of authority
  • alternative – free association, autonomy, mutual aid, solidarity, horizontality
  • set of tools for moving from the current state to the alternative – by embodiment, prefiguration, direct action

“organize as if we are already free”

authority = power over other people whether they want to or not

hierarchy = order of power = organized authority

  • order of importance is more like priority
  • “it’s ok that there are taller and shorter people, but if everything is on the top shelf, it is a problem”
  • rigidity

capitalism

  • accumulation of stuff
  • private ownership of the means of production
  • extraction

state

  • monopoly on violence
  • nation = social construct
  • organisations for managing population in an authoritarian manner
  • group that defines the socioeconomic of system of a nation
  • separate from society, it rules society

capitalism and the state

  • states can exist whenever exploitation exists – capitalism is just one instance

freedom and autonomy

  • having a voice to influence and change our conditions
  • independence
  • self-determination for individuals
  • “ability to express yourself fully”
  • can be separated?
  • could self-expression be violent? – ✨no✨
  • degrees of freedom – not all or nothing
  • freedom of enterprise and markets

mutual aid

  • taking, initiating freedom
  • helping oneself by helping one another
  • example: masks in a pandemic!
  • keeping each other safe – not as market transactions
  • = cooperation? – cooperation can be organised in markets, too
  • cooperation based on equality

free association

  • everything you do, organise together with others on your own will, voluntarily
  • collectives
  • blaming Bakunin for something
  • is expertise inherently authoritative? – anarchists are divided on this
  • freedom in another language: “under your own self” – under your own authority
  • is management always needed in an organisation?
  • hierarchy is always present
  • dialogues: if you speak, I don’t speak – but it switches from time to time
  • authority = imposed version of power
  • lack of threat of violence
  • management: oversight can happen, if the group can change their position
  • division of roles is fine in itself

anarchism

  • do it yourself, do it together, no one above or below you
  • opposing authority for 3 reasons:
  • authority hurts
  • authority is a tool for exploitation – police, army
  • authority is needless

federation = free association of free associations

  • networking is more horizontal
  • no central committees
  • example: RSS is in the Vrije Bond – we do what we want but use VB funds and networks
  • marxists: socialism is between capitalism and communism – is there an inbetween for capitalism and anarchy?
  • difference from marxism and other leftists
  • marxism is also very broad
  • marxists claim to use authority for the good of society – anarchists don’t
  • marxism, anarchism, communism, … – can become buzzwords
  • anarchism is more bottom-up, communism is more top-down
  • some people identify as marxists but can also be seen as anarchists
  • some marxists use hierarchy, authority, the army to achieve communism – these things are supposed to gradually dissolve
  • anarchists’ critique: authority tends to reproduce itself
  • example: NATO – should have dissolved with the end of the Cold War because it came to life because of the USSR → yet its existence is justified with different reasons now
  • the party is authoritarian
  • difference between anarchism and anarcho-communism?
  • communism with little c is good, but with a big C it’s bad
  • state capitalist states
  • maoism – Mao saw the party as acting as capitalists
  • Mao criticised the party then just stepped into its place – stalinist
  • working on abolishing the state on both small and big scales – examples? how to get rid of the state?
  • doing the state’s job is anarchism → it takes power away from the state, separating social functions from the state
  • loud street sweeping in Philadelphia at 7 in the morning → barricade → police? → success✨
  • replacing relationships and spaces that the state would provide → making the state obsolete
  • big scale? – Vrije Bond
  • CNT in Spain
  • connecting people is the big scale
  • winning requires large numbers of people
  • preventing a nazi march = making the police obsolete
  • cooperatives – workers controlling their own work and means of production
  • anarchic things = doing what anarchists would want without labelling yourself as anarchist
  • enacting what we believe in
  • force and violence might not be avoided – the state will be violent if you bother it too much
  • anarchism is inherently violent towards the state – on small scale, it can be ignored, on large scale, it will lead to violence from the state
  • there can be oppression without the state – that oppression is also bad
  • “after the revolution…” – no happy ever after, it will just be less bad
  • freedom is a process, not a thing
  • reproducing oppression even if we try to be anarchist…
  • patriarchy, white supremacy, colonialism, exploitation of nature…
  • new oppressions are possible – eternal fight
  • anarchists are not immune to these things, but anarchy offers possible answers
  • oppose it where you see it, find allies for it
  • there’s no complete solution

What to read?

pls add if I left out something!

  • old anarchists: Malatesta
  • Bakunin is harder to read, Kropotkin, Emma Goldman
  • Goldman: Anrchism and other essays
  • Zoe Baker: Means and ends
  • theanarchistlibrary.org
    (decentralization)