What Is Anarchism? Meaning, Types and History

Anarchism in plain terms

The word comes from the Greek anarkhos, meaning "without a ruler." In everyday speech, anarchy often means disorder. Anarchists use it differently: to mean a society without rulers, not a society without rules.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes anarchism as a political theory that is skeptical of the justification of authority and power, especially political power. At its core is the claim that the state is not legitimate, or at least not necessary, and that people can live together through voluntary arrangements.

Peter Kropotkin, in an article he wrote for the 1910 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, described anarchism as a theory of life and conduct in which society is conceived without government, with harmony obtained not by submission to law but by free agreements between groups formed for production, consumption and the many needs of a civilized life.

Most anarchists extend their critique beyond the state to other hierarchies they see as unjustified, including capitalist ownership, patriarchy and, for some, organized religion.

What anarchists believe

While the schools differ, most anarchists share several ideas:

• The state is coercive. Laws are ultimately backed by force, and most people never actually consented to the government that rules them.
• Hierarchy corrupts. Power over others tends to be abused, and dependence on authority weakens people's ability to govern themselves.
• Means shape ends. You cannot build a free society through authoritarian methods. Organizations should model the society they want.
• Voluntary association. Cooperation should come from agreement, through federations of communities, workplaces and groups.
• Direct action. People should act for themselves, through strikes, cooperatives or mutual aid, rather than waiting for representatives.

The main schools of anarchism

Many of these overlap with libertarian socialism, a broader term for anti-authoritarian socialism. For side-by-side detail, see anarchism vs anarcho-communism, anarchism vs mutualism and anarchism vs anarcho-syndicalism.

Anarcho-capitalism is controversial within anarchism. Its supporters see it as the logical end of individual liberty. Most anarchists in the socialist tradition argue that capitalism is itself a coercive hierarchy, so an anarchism that keeps it is a contradiction. See anarcho-capitalism vs minarchism for how it relates to the minimal-state libertarianism of thinkers like Robert Nozick.

A short history of anarchism

Early roots

Thinkers who opposed the state appeared long before the word anarchism. The English philosopher William Godwin argued in his Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793) that government corrupts and that reason could guide a society without it.

Proudhon and "property is theft"

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was the first person to call himself an anarchist, in What Is Property? (1840). His answer to the title question, "property is theft," became famous. He did not oppose all possession. He targeted property that lets owners collect rent, interest or profit from the work of others, and he proposed mutual credit and cooperation instead.

Bakunin and the split with Marx

In the 1860s, Mikhail Bakunin became the leading figure of the anarchist wing of the International Workingmen's Association, the First International. He clashed with Karl Marx over the role of the state. Bakunin warned that a revolutionary government claiming to rule for workers would become a new tyranny. The dispute led to the expulsion of Bakunin and his allies in 1872 and a lasting split between anarchists and Marxists. See what is Marxism.

Kropotkin and mutual aid

Peter Kropotkin, a Russian prince turned revolutionary, developed anarcho-communism. In The Conquest of Bread (1892) he described a society where goods are shared freely. In Mutual Aid (1902) he argued, against some readings of Darwin, that cooperation is as important as competition in the evolution of animals and humans.

Violence and repression

In the 1880s and 1890s, a minority of anarchists embraced "propaganda of the deed," including assassinations of heads of state. Among the victims were French President Sadi Carnot in 1894 and US President William McKinley in 1901, whose killer described himself as an anarchist. These acts shaped the popular image of anarchism, even though many anarchists rejected violence. Governments responded with harsh laws, and anarchists faced deportation and prosecution in several countries.

Spain

The largest anarchist movement in history developed in Spain. During the Spanish Civil War, from 1936, the anarcho-syndicalist union CNT and its allies collectivized factories and farms in Catalonia and Aragon. The experiment ended with the defeat of the Republic in 1939. George Orwell described revolutionary Barcelona in Homage to Catalonia.

Today

Anarchist ideas have influenced the anti-globalization movement, parts of the Occupy movement, punk subcultures, housing and mutual aid networks, and debates about decentralized technology. Many activists favor horizontal, leaderless organizing drawn from anarchist practice even without using the label.

The case for and against

The case for anarchism

Anarchists argue that the state's authority rests on force, not genuine consent, and that history shows concentrated power is regularly abused through war, repression and corruption. They point to the many ways people already cooperate without coercion, from families and friendships to cooperatives, open-source software and volunteer groups. A society built on voluntary association, they argue, would be both freer and more equal.

The case against

Critics in the tradition of Thomas Hobbes, whose Leviathan (1651) described life without government as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short," argue that without a state, conflict and predation would take over. Others argue that complex modern economies and public goods, such as defense, courts and infrastructure, require a central authority. Robert Nozick, in Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974), argued that a minimal state could arise from a state of nature without violating anyone's rights, which makes the state justified in a limited form.

Marxists argue that anarchists underestimate the need to defend a revolution against its enemies. Liberals and conservatives argue that anarchist experiments have been short-lived and were often defeated precisely because they lacked organized state power.

The anarchist response

Anarchists reply that the state itself is a major source of the violence it claims to prevent, that many stateless or decentralized societies have existed, and that the short life of anarchist experiments reflects their suppression by stronger states, not their unworkability.

Find where you fit

You may lean anarchist if you are deeply skeptical of all forms of imposed authority and believe people can organize themselves voluntarily. Left anarchists also oppose capitalism; anarcho-capitalists embrace markets.

On the Political Compass Test, anarchists of all kinds land in the bottom, libertarian half. The 12 Axes Political Test matches you with specific schools, including anarchism, anarcho-communism and anarcho-capitalism. Try the Libertarian Quiz for a quick check, and read authoritarian vs libertarian to understand the axis.