Defining Anarchism
Anarchism has been defined many ways by many different sources. The word
anarchism is taken
from the word anarchy which is drawn from dual sources in
the Greek language. It is made up of
the Greek words av (meaning: absence of
[and pronounced "an"] and apxn (meaning:
authority or government [and
pronounced "arkhe"]). Today, dictionary definitions
still define anarchism
as the absence of government. These modern dictionary definitions of
present.
Anarchists understand, as do historians of anarchism and good
dictionaries and encyclopedias,
that the word anarchism represents a
positive theory. Exterior sources, however, such as the
media, will
frequently misuse the word anarchism and, thus, breed misunderstanding.
defines anarchism
briefly but accurately as, "a political theory opposed to
all forms of government and
governmental restraint and advocating voluntary
cooperation and free association of
individuals and groups in order to
satisfy their needs." Other dictionaries describe
anarchism with similar
definitions. The Britannica-Webster dictionary defines the word
anarchism
as, "a political theory that holds all government authority to be
unnecessary and undesirable and advocates a society based on voluntary
cooperation of
individuals and groups." Shorter dictionaries, such as the
New Webster Handy College
Dictionary, define anarchism as, "the political
doctrine that all governments should be
abolished."
These similar dictionary definitions of anarchism reflect the
evolution of
the theory of anarchism made possible by anarchist intellectuals and
movements. As a result, dictionary definitions, although fair, only reflect
watered down
definitions of the word anarchism. Professor Noam Chomsky, in
fact, has refuted the
definition, as written in the New American Webster
Handy College Dictionary, describing
anarchism as a "political doctrine."
According to Chomsky, "…anarchism isn’t
a doctrine. It’s at most a
historical tendency, a tendency of thought and action, which has
many
different ways of developing and progressing and which, I would think, will
continue as a permanent strand of human history." Other modern definitions
of anarchism
are thoroughly explained, not as a word, but as a history of
movements, people and ideas. The
Encyclopedia of the American Left, in fact,
gives a three page history of anarchism, yet does
not once define the word.
Prior to the existence of the word anarchism people used the
term
"Libertarian Socialism," which meant the same thing as anarchism.
Libertarian socialism was used largely by Mexican radicals in the early
eighteenth century.
William Godwin was the first proclaimed anarchist in
history and the first to write about
anarchism. He was born in 1756 in
Weisbech, the capital of North Cambridgeshire. He later
married feminist
Mary Wollstonecraft and had a daughter, Mary Shelley - author of
Frankenstein. Godwin published a book called Political Justice in 1793 which
first introduced
his ideas about anarchism, Godwin was forgotten about,
however, and after his death Pierre
Joseph Proudhon became a leading
anarchist figure in the world. His book What is Property?
incorporated
greater meaning to the word anarchism; anarchism became not only a rejection
property as well.
Anarchism fully blossomed as a defined theory when Russian anarchists
Mikhail
Bakunin (1814-1876) and Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921 started to write
and speak. Bakunin had a
major influence in the world and introduced
anarchism to many people. Kropotkin was one of the
many people inspired by
Bakunin. Kropotkin wrote many books on anarchism, including Muitual
Aid,
Fields Factories and Workshops, and The Conquest of Bread, and greatly aided
in the
evolution of the theory of anarchism. Kropotkin wrote the first adept
encyclopedia definition
of anarchism in the eleventh edition of the
Encyclopedia Britannica in 1910. His definition
was fifteen pages long. He
started the definition by introducing the word anarchism as:
the name given to a principle of theory of life and conduct under
which society is
conceived without government - harmony in such a
society being obtained, not by submission to
law, or by obedience
to any authority, but by free agreements concluded between various
groups, territorial and professional, freely constituted for the
sake of production and
consumption, as also for the satisfaction
of the infinite variety of the needs and aspirations
of a
civilized being, In a society developed on these lines, the
voluntary associations
which already now begin to cover all fields
of human activity would take a still greater
extension so as to
substitute themselves for the state of its functions.
Following Kropotkin, Leo Tolstory furthered the ideas which make up the
meaning of the word
anarchism. Tolstoy introduced Christian anarchism
(rejecting church authority but believing in
God) and broadened anarchism’s
meaning. Tolstoy, in favor of the growth of anarchism, wrote
"The anarchists
are right in the assertion that, without Authority, there could not be
worse
violence than that of Authority under existing conditions."
As the
20th century emerged anarchism began to peak and the definition of
anarchism became concrete
with the growth of new anarchist writers and
movements. The execution and imprisonment of
eight anarchists in Chicago in
1886 sparked anarchism’s growth in the United States. The
"Haymarket Eight"
flourished anarchists such as Voltairine de Cleyre and Lucy
Parsons. Parsons
was born into slavery and later became an anarchist and an ardent speaker
dangerous than a
thousand rioters." Emma Goldman also became a part of the
anarchist movement due to the
Chicago Martyrs. Described as a "damn bitch of
an anarchist," Goldman also broadened
the meaning of anarchism and
introduced the greatest and most important ideas of anarchist
feminism in
history which prevail, as a result of Goldman, to this day.
Emma
Goldman’s life long comrade, Alexander Berkman, played a major part in
helping to define the
word anarchism. He wrote a book called ABC of
Anarchism which defined and describes anarchism
and is still read today.
Berkman wrote, "Anarchism means you should be free; that no one
should
enslave you, boss you, rob you, or impose upon you. It means you should be
free
to do the things you want to do; and that you should not be compelled
to do what you do not
want to do."
Anarchism was put into action by giant movements throughout history
which
proved its definition was more than theoretical. The communal efforts of
anarchism
were seen in the Paris Commune in the early 19th century, the
revolutionary organizing of
Mexican working class rebels was proven possible
by anarchists such as Ricardo Flores Magon
and revolutionaries like Emiliano
Zapata, and the Spanish Revolution of 1936-39 proved
anarchists’ capability
of creating anarchism within small sectors of the world. Certainly
today we
can see anarchism in action in places like Mondragon, Spain, where
anarchists
are working in collectives and trying to live free of authority.
Although the word
anarchism is understood by many in its classic sense (that
defined by dictionaries and by
anarchists of history), the word is often
misused and misunderstood. Anarchism, because of the
threat it imposes upon
established authority, has been historically, and is still, misused by
power
holders as violence and chaos. As anarchist historian George Woodcock put
it,
"Of the more frivolous is the idea that the anarchist is a man who
throws bombs and
wishes to wreak society by violence and terror. That this
charge should be brought against
anarchists now, at a time when they are the
few people who are not throwing bombs or assisting
bomb throwers, shows a
curious purblindness among its champions." The claim that
anarchism is chaos
was refuted long ago by Alexander Berkman when he wrote:
I
must tell you, first of all, what anarchism is not. It is not
bombs, disorder, or chaos. It is
not robbery or murder. It is not
a war of each against all. It is not a return to barbarianism
or
to the wild state of man. Anarchism is the very opposite of all
that.
These refutations of stereotypes associated with anarchism are sometimes
trampled by the
popular misuse of the word anarchism. It is not uncommon for
a Middle Eastern nation in the
midst of U.S.-imposed turmoil to be labeled
by the media as "complete anarchy," a
phrase which undermines the true
definition of the word anarchism and all those who toiled,
and who do toil,
to make the word anarchism mean what it does today.
Modern
anarchists still work hard to help anarchism maintain its validity
and history. Anarchism
today is being used to find solutions to the problems
of power; not just state power, but
corporate power and all immediate forms
of domination among individuals and organizations.
Anarchists such as L.
Susan Brown have introduced ideas such as existential individualism,
while
other anarchists remain loyal to anarcho-syndicalism and class struggle.
Anarchism
has also been spread around the world through music and bands such
as Crass, introducing
anarchism and anti-speciesism and urging
self-sufficiency among workers and community members.
Other anarchists such
as Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin, an ex-Black Panther, are introducing new means
of
organizing and directly challenging racism. Furthermore, anarchism has
become
integrated into ecological issues thanks in part to eco-anarchist
ideas and freethinking
organizations such as Earth First! Also, we see
anarchists working to keep anarchism, in
theory and practice, alive and well
around the world with anarchist newspapers such as Love
and Rage in Mexico
and the United States, anarchist book publishers such as AK Press in the
Anarchist Black
Cross.
As documented, the word anarchism has a long history. Although the word is
simply derived from Greek tongue, the philosophy and actions of anarchists
in history and
present give the word anarchism proper definition. Dictionary
definitions, as quoted, are
sometimes fair to anarchism, but far from
complete. The misuse of the word anarchism is
unfortunate and has been a
problem anarchists have had to deal with for the last century.
Because of
the misuse of anarchism, the simple dictionary definitions of anarchism, and
the different interpretations of anarchism the word can take on many
meanings, but the truly
accurate meaning of the word anarchism can be found
in anarchist history, anarchist writings
and anarchist practice.
THE NEXT MOVE IS YOURS
Written by Jason Justice
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