Anarchist Realism – Intro

The notion of anarchy as chaos is common is contemporary society. The idea of anarchy as an ideal society is relegated to the fringes of political thought, and often anarchists are seen as extremists. The breadth of anarchist thought has not yet been integrated into the fabric of society. Some societies built on anarchist thought have sprouted up throughout history, but the majority of society is still deeply engrained in capitalist realism, the notion that there is no alternative to capitalism. What we need is a new realism, an anarchist realism, that sees the basis of society as the co-operation, not the struggle, between individuals. That sees anarchy as the only really viable strategy in achieving these goals.

This anarchist realism should be grounded in the best theoretical work and historical analysis. But where do we start? Let us look back on anarchist thought to uncover its history and locate a beginning for our anarchist realism.

Anarchy has its roots in the Greek anarkhia which is the abstract noun form of anarkhos, which is the combination of “an” meaning “without”, and “arkhos” meaning “leader” or “ruler”. It has been used throughout history by leaders to connote chaos that would result, obviously in their minds, from a lack of a leader.

Anarchist ideals, though not by that name, were held by many important philosophers throughout history. Laozi and Diogenes are widely considered by anarchists to have anticipated anarchism and the ideals about free association, nature, and government of the Cynics and Taoists are widely liberatory. Religious ascetics and peasant revolters fought for a better and more egalitarian society during the middle ages. The Taborites and Adamites exhibited a freedom of spirit unusual for the time and place. All of these practices led to the coalescence of anarchist ideas in the western mind preceding the enlightenment.

Amidst the Enlightenment as science and reason were coming back into style, anarchist ideas also saw a resurgence. During the French Revolution groups such as the Enragés and the sans-culottes expressed anti-state sentiment. In the 18th and 19th century these ideas gained more philosophical foundation due to the works of William Godwin, Max Stirner, and Pierre Joseph Proudhon, with Stirner and Proudhon founding the egoist and mutualist anarchist movements respectively. The anarchist communist movement traces its origins to Neo-Babouvists, Théodore Dézamy, and Joseph Déjacque who articulated ideas which maintain that communism is inline with anarchist ideals and practices. The abolition of money, class, and the state being the ultimate end goal for both anarchy and communism. This view was elaborated by Peter Kropotkin, Errico Malatesta, and others.

For out purposes of establishing an anarchist realism, we will begin in 1891 with Errico Malatesta publishing Anarchy. This will be the topic of the next post in this series.