Core Ideas Flashcards

Question

REJECTION OF THE STATE: the state is commanding

Answer 1

hierarchal authorities should be rejected because they are commanding The state can force an individual to act in a way that they would not have done voluntarily therefore forcing the individual to suspend their reason and lose their autonomy which includes the freedom and responsibility to decide for themselves autonomy is a form of self government involving freedom and responsibility in which the individual is not subject to the will of the state or any other person such autonomy is not possible under the state, so the state must be rejected to allow human nature to flourish

Answer 2

hierarchy authorities should be rejected because they are controlling Authority exerts control over people, stifling creativity and initiative people lose the ability to understand their own individuality and think for themselves, this stops them from being able to fully express themselves and explore their nature Max Stirner took this belief to the extremes by rejecting the authority of the state, church, moral truths, family values and existing sexual morality

Answer 3

political authority, in any form, corrupts human nature those with authority (from politicians to church ministers and the police) are raised above others by power, privilege and wealth — they lose all sense of their true cooperative and altruistic nature those who are subject to authority are brutalised by a state that creates social conflict through inequality and resolve disputes through violence and coercion rather than through reason

Answer 4

The state, in any form, is unjustifiable in particular, Mikhail Bakunin objected to the socialist state — he stated that the “red bureaucracy” would become corrupted by authority and he predicted that “socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality” this has been seen to be true in Stalinist Russia this is how anarchism differs from Marxism and classical liberalism

Answer 5

The most powerful anarchist criticism of the state is that it is unjust it is a relatively new creation in human history that emerged with the creation of private property and since then, it has been exploitative and unjust

Answer 6

for some individualists, the state is like a parasite that robs its citizens through taxation, backed up by the threat of force — it is nothing more than organised and legalised theft for collectivists, the state is unjust because it protects private property and allows for the huge inequalities between the wealthy and the masses to be maintained collectivists believe that the state is controlled by the wealthy who are willing to use the mechanisms of the state to protect their privilege and on the global stage, the state protects the interests of the elites in advanced industrial countries through organisations such as the World Bank, the IMF and the G20

Answer 7

The belief in rejecting the state has implications for anarchist tactics and strategies

Answer 8

anarchists have been critical of party politics because parties are based on hierarchal authority and seek conformism and obedience from their membership there can be no attempt to capture government, either by ballot box (democratically) or through revolution this is because the state is immoral and unjust and the exercise of authority will be corrupting, which means that less orthodox strategies are required to achieve anarchy

Answer 9

all anarchists believe that some form of resistance, rebellion or revolution is needed ``` this may include… • direct action • acts of violence • emerging revolution • creating new institutions • insurrection ```

Answer 10

anarchy can be achieved through direct action (aka ‘propaganda by the deed’) Direct action involves a range of political actions, both violent and non-violent, that are taken outside the legal and constitutional framework this Bakuninist approach of using direct action involves the non-payment of taxes, rents and debts as well as mass strikes and the refusal of conscription to acts of violence all in order to stir up a revolution modern examples of direct action might include the Zapatista uprising in Mexico in 1994 or the non-payment of the poll-tax in the UK under Margaret Thatcher

Answer 11

Direct action has become associated with acts of violence and in particular, acts of terror such as Alexander Berkman’s attempt to murder the US businessman Henry Frick in 1892 Berkman sought to raise the revolutionary consciousness of workers

Answer 12

anarchist thinkers such as Kropotkin and Goldman discredit terrorism as ineffective and immoral instead, the revolution will emerge out of the process of direct action and ‘DIY politics’ that exposes and undermines the nature of the state this involves acting as if you are already free rather than trying to influence government decisions — thus completely dismissing the state and its attempts to control you doing this allows the individual to become autonomous and learn about the benefits of solidarity, mutual aid and collective action, thus creating a spirit of revolt such ideas will spread and reach a boiling point which will be added to by the misery and depression felt under the current system, eventually this will explode into revolutionary action

Answer 13

mutual aid is the anarchist idea that the most successful species are those that employ solidarity and cooperation rather than competition

Answer 14

solidarity is a relationship of sympathy, cooperation and harmony between people anarchists believe that such solidarity means people have no need to be regulated by the state and any regulation makes solidarity impossible

Answer 15

Proudhon rejected any form of violence, he argued that change would be won and an anarchist society would be created by an evolutionary process of creating new institutions to replace existing ones this could be done through education, instruction and peaceful action as well as mutualist experiments such as workers associations and a People’s Bank

Answer 16

Stirner opposed revolution as a political and social act, he believed it was an authoritarian act because revolution involves the overthrow of existing conditions and replacing them with new ones which may be just as damaging and constraining Stirner favoured insurrection which is a rising up of individuals who elevate themselves above the established institutions through self liberation, leaving the establishment to decay and die rather than be overthrown this is an egoistic, rather than a political or social act

Answer 17

CASE STUDY: Reclaim the Streets the Reclaim the Streets movement began in London in an effort to take back the streets from cars and businesses and turn them into public spaces to be enjoyed by all tactics included political protest, partying on the streets with music, costumes and art in 1996, a 9 hour party on the M41 included two stilt walkers dressed in costumes that had RTS members hidden under the enormous shirts — they used this cover to drill holes in the streets to plant trees, the party music covered the noise this carnival approach became a key part of the anti-globalisation movement worldwide — anarchists oppose globalisation because the state in any form is unjustifiable to them in 1998, carnivals were held in more than 70 cities to coincide with the G8 meetings and in 1999 a mass street action was organised in Seattle to shutdown the WTO conference this is an example of direct action tactics used by anarchists, especially collective and cooperative action

Answer 18

Liberty can be defined as... * individuals pursuing their own good in their own way, this involves freedom from want, freedom of expression, thought, assembly and movement for all — liberalism * freedom from the economic controls of the state and from economic hardship — socialism The anarchist view on liberty combines these two types of freedom Their view on liberty informs their rejection of the state and their ideas about the best way to realise freedom

Answer 19

individualist anarchists see human nature as rational, individualist and autonomous but because authority is commanding, the individual cannot autonomously make decisions based on reason and conscience authority is also controlling so the individual cannot fully explore their individuality, thus the state restricts liberty

Answer 20

Liberty, to individualists, means the freedom to be autonomous and explore one’s individuality to the full it involves freedom from state control and freedom from being restrained by other social institutions such as the church or social relationships such as the patriarchy which are based on hierarchal authority Liberty cannot be achieved until the state and social institutions based on hierarchal authority are removed

Answer 21

collectivist anarchists believe humans are rational, altruistic and cooperative humans have a concern for the interests and welfare of others — humans possess this quality as they are social beings with a capacity for social solidarity The reason that humans are not currently fully altruistic and cooperative is because the unjust nature of the state prevents individuals from being free

Answer 22

there is no freedom under capitalism as the only freedom is the ability for the wage slave to choose their own boss individuals can only be free when the State is abolished and we are all free to realise our potential Liberty is only possible if there is equality (where people treat each other equally, have equal economic positions and an equal say in their workplace and community)

Answer 23

anarchists agree that individuality does not exist outside society as we all need each other to develop and grow but anarchists disagree over the nature of liberty

Answer 24

collectivists such as Bakunin emphasise the collective Liberty of the individual should be absolute and unlimited but liberty can only be achieved through collective work

Answer 25

even the most radical individualists like Max Stirner argue that the individual needs voluntary association with others, but never for the common good and always for their own personal interest

Answer 26

Proudhon was critical of absolute individuality and felt that collectivism absorbed and devalued the individual, so he sought a balance between the two he argued that the first element of human nature is the individual but individuals coming together in a group creates a force that is more powerful than the sum of the individuals

Answer 27

in an anarchist society, there would be no centralised body to impose its will on the people, no recognised hierarchal authority and no coercive machinery to impose laws there is no clear anarchist blueprint for what such a society should be like as individuals should be free to decide how they want to live but society would be some form of decentralised Federation of autonomous districts based on the voluntary cooperation of free and equal individuals where decisions are made directly by the people in a form of self government

Answer 28

in an anarchist society, order will occur naturally and be both stable and peaceful

Answer 29

those who oppose anarchism argue that such a society cannot be ordered and peaceful due to the selfish, antisocial and competitive parts of human nature that make the idea of ‘anarchy is order’ unrealistic and unreachable but anarchists argue that humans are social, cooperative and intellectually enlightened — it is the state that leads them to have the capacity for corruption and selfishness as human nature is socially determined and moulded by institutions and relationships in everyday life these institutions are based on hierarchal authority so have created selfish and antisocial traits in human beings

Answer 30

The selfish and antisocial traits in human beings seen today result from societal institutions that are based on hierarchal authority replacing such institutions with anarchist alternatives will foster the development of the nurturing and cooperative aspects of human nature therefore, anarchy is order as such traits allow for an ordered society based on altruism and cooperation

Answer 31

anarchists have a positive view of human nature, believing in the unlimited potential for human development The removal of the state and existing social institutions will allow this part of humanity to flourish and provide the basis for natural harmony and order in society as conflict will be resolved by reason rather than violence

Answer 32

different basis of anarchist societies... * collectivist anarchists * egoistic anarchists * anarcho-capitalists

Answer 33

collectivist anarchists believe that the competitive, exploitative and divisive nature of the capitalist system undermines altruism so society should be based on common ownership and mutualist institutions that will develop altruistic and cooperative behaviour, which will sustain natural order

Answer 34

egoistic anarchists believe that the individual should act as they see fit and must not be constrained by any laws, political obligations, social norms or moral principles so the state must be removed and this will nurture rationalism, autonomy and self interest which will help secure social order

Answer 35

anarcho-capitalists Believe that the free market should form the basis of society this is because the free market allows rational, autonomous, competitive and self interested individuals to make judgements in their own best interests, thus creating natural order

Answer 36

CASE STUDY: The Zapatistas in the Chiapas region of Mexico, indigenous communities live with high levels of poverty as well as a lack of education and health care in the 1990s, the Mexican government ended its commitment to land reform based on community owned land and signed up to NAFTA (a free market deal with the US and Canada) which forced millions of peasant farmers to become cheap labour in the industrial workforce the Zapatistas rose up on the day NAFTA came into force and took over major population centres and around 500 ranches The project is built around the idea of autonomy and they aimed to build a society where all communities have a place and are rooted in local culture power is devolved to community level where ‘juntas of good government’ make key decisions — members are selected by community assemblies for one year terms and work under the idea of ‘leading by obeying’ there is also collective education and health care and the economy is based on a cooperative model — for example, Mut Vitz is its largest coffee cooperative and members make decisions together and distribute its income equitably

Answer 37

anarchism aligns itself with the exploited masses and aims to overthrow the state and capitalism anarchism rejects the state and all forms of hierarchical authority as well as the oppression they create, which has led anarchists to advocate economic freedom some anarchists therefore oppose capitalism and its form of private property Proudhon, in his book ‘What is Property?’, said “property is theft”

Answer 38

The state is not founded on a social contract between rational individuals, the state is actually founded on a social conflict which protects private property and inequality while exploiting the masses economic inequality is built into the state and began to emerge when society began to produce a surplus that was taken by the few The state essentially protects private property which is often acquired unjustly we will not be economically free until the existing state is abolished

Answer 39

The Land Enclosures Act in the UK during the 18th century turned common land into private ownership, creating a landless working class which E P Thompson saw as class robbery

Answer 40

there are clear tensions within anarchism over the analysis of existing economic systems and how best to achieve economic freedom

Answer 41

Proudhon calls private property ”the right to own without the need to occupy” this means the ability to earn income without doing any productive work, but instead exploiting the labour of others through rent, interest and wage labour The masses are forced to work and be exploited or suffer starvation and misery

Answer 42

collectivist anarchists follow Proudhon’s line of argument they believe that capitalism prevents people living freely as private property, defended by the state, is the root cause of exploitation and encourages selfishness, conflict and social disharmony while capitalism creates inequality which promotes greed, envy and resentment

Answer 43

collectivists would abolish private property and replace it with collective ownership or mutualism this would encourage the altruistic elements of human nature and create liberty, leading to natural order mutualism is a system of equitable exchange between self-governing producers, organised individually or in association, and small-scale private property based on use or possession

Answer 44

Anarcho capitalists support an entirely free, competitive market including the principle of private property but the state must be removed from the market as the market is always more effective than the state and will allow rational, autonomous and competitive individuals to make judgements in their own best interests, thus creating natural order and economic freedom

Answer 45

however, despite their differences, all anarchists are opposed to existing forms of capitalism which have been at the centre of liberal democracies since 1945 they either seek to abolish it (collectivists) or reform it (anarcho-capitalists) this opposition to capitalism is reflected in the leading role played by anarchists in the anti-globalisation movement, dating back to the Battle of Seattle in 1999 anarchists oppose globalisation as they seek to prevent the spread of capitalism

Answer 46

anarchists are also opposed to forms of state socialism tried in China and the USSR but there are still differences in why each strand opposes each economic system

Answer 47

collectivists believe state intervention in the economy has led to policies of full employment, inclusive welfare and progressive taxation, but capitalism is a system based on inequality and exploitation so liberty cannot exist within it neoliberal capitalism widens inequality and increases exploitation under the current capitalist system, the state intervenes in the economy which anarcho-capitalists believe distorts the market and creates both public and private monopolies that restrict competition and choice, therefore limiting freedom such economic intervention is still a problem, even under the neoliberal approaches used in the UK and USA since the 1980s

Answer 48

collectivists oppose state socialism because the state has merely replaced the ruling elite as the exploiting power, so there is no true economic liberty anarcho-capitalists oppose state socialism based on state planning and common ownership of production for being an attack on property rights and liberty

Answer 49

all anarchists agree on the need for a new economic system where free individuals can manage their own affairs this would involve no state intervention or regulation in economic life as rejection of the state is the core principle of anarchism but anarchists endorse different systems to create economic freedom

Answer 50

utopianism is a form of political thinking that constructs a model of an idealised future society in order to develop a critical analysis of existing society this ‘ideal society’ is based on a positive view of human nature and the ability of human beings to develop and grow it will be a society of peace, harmony, unrestricted liberty and order

Answer 51

for collectivist anarchists, the ideal society is based on altruism which will be nurtured by common ownership or mutualism

Answer 52

for individualist anarchists, the ideal society is based on autonomy and rationalism which will flourish with the absence of the state, allowing natural order to develop spontaneously

Answer 53

some anarchists like Kropotkin have defended such utopianism because it forces people to question their assumptions about the existing order such as the right to private property it also forces them to consider what they wish to achieve and what practical strategies can be used to do this

Answer 54

many criticise anarchism for being utopian anarchism is a historical failure as no anarchist society has been created, so in this sense anarchism is not only utopian but seemingly unachievable anarchists may respond by pointing out that no ideal socialist or liberal society has been achieved either and anarchist experiments have actually been seen during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s and the Rojava revolution in Syria in 2012 to the present day the Zapatista rebellion is also still in place more than 20 years after the initial uprising

Answer 55

anarchist utopianism is unrealistic as it views human nature inaccurately which means that natural order cannot happen humans are naturally selfish and competitive which is why such institutions were established in the first place so if such institutions are taken away, society will be a free for all where the cunning and powerful dominate

Answer 56

anarchists may respond by arguing that they have a realistic understanding of human potential despite the state, humans have shown their altruism by forming organisations without authority people seem to organise in times of revolution as in Rojava or in times of emergency such as strikes and disasters people have organised themselves into direct action communities and cooperatives such as Reclaim the Streets or Occupy Wall Street therefore, anarchist organisation is already evident in modern society, it is simply buried under the state but ready to grow

Answer 57

CASE STUDY: anarchism and punk anarchism and punk are closely linked — The anarchist opposition to the state’s repression can be seen in the punk ethic The sarcasm of ’Leaders of Men’ by Joy Division, anti-monarchy themes in ‘God Save the Queen’ by the Six Pistols and attacks on police and politicians in ‘Police and Thieves’ by The Clash due to this antistate sentiment, the establishment and the mainstream press identified punk as a threat to the state/society another element of punk that links to anarchism is its ‘do it yourself’ nature — many punk bands refused to work with major labels, instead setting up their own labels to produce, market and distribute their records in this way, they could keep control over the production of their own music without having to bow down to the capitalist instincts of major labels — this is reminiscent of a form of anarchist direct action

Answer 58

according to collectivist anarchists, liberty will be achieved by the overthrow of the class based, hierarchical society based on inequalities of power, wealth and privilege

Core Ideas Flashcards

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