Introduction to Political Ideologies and Anarchism - Essay Example

Anarchism Anarchism is made from combining the words from Greek which means without, to rule from stem i.e. without archons or without rulers (Merriam-Websters Online dictionary). It is a political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which reject compulsory government i.e. the state (Errico) and support its elimination (The Shorter Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 14) mainly because of a vast rejection of involuntary or permanent authority (Bakunin, Tucker). Anarchism is defined as "a cluster of doctrines and attitudes centered on the belief that government is both harmful and unnecessary”, by the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (Carl Slevin) Anarchism can be of many types (Fowler,738 -752 ). But, all of them are not mutually exclusive (Sylvan, 231). According to the Oxford Companion to Philosophy, "there is no single defining position that all anarchists hold," beyond their rejection of compulsory government, "and those considered anarchists at best share a certain family resemblance." (Anarchism. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, 31). Anarchists hold different opinions like, as to the economic organization of society; some favor libertarian communism, collectivist anarchism or participatory economics while others believes that supporting free market systems like mutualism, agorism, or anarcho-capitalism is beneficial for the society (Brooks, xi). Anarchism and Politics Most of the anarchists firmly oppose voting or participating in the State institution. Still there there are a few that disagree. The prominent anarchist, Proudhon stood for election to the French Constituent Assembly twice in 1848. Paul Brousse developed a concept Libertarian municipalism in Switzerland in the 1890s which involved participating in local elections (George H. Smith). There are three reasons behind the opposition of election by anarchist. 1. they believe it to be ineffective, at the most the results can be minor reforms. 2. taking part in elections can finally end at becoming a part of the system they oppose rather than ending it (Ward, Vol. 48). 3. some claim voting amounts to an acknowledgment of the states legitimacy (Workers Solidarity No 69). the anarchist collective CrimethInc. launched "Dont Just Vote, Get Active," during the 2004 US Presidential election. This was a campaign to promote the importance of direct action instead of just an electoral change. Anarchists in other countries quite often engage in similar anti-voting campaigns. Some anarchists propose a more pragmatic approach which includes voting in referenda (chomsky.info), while some anarchists like Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky have pledged their support for progressive candidates such as Ralph Nader (Lysander Spooner). anarchist Lysander Spooner argued that voting was a legitimate means of self-defense against the state. He also noted that many supporters of the state consider both voting as well as abstention to be acknowledgments of the legitimacy of the state (Euromayday website). Ideology Anarchism has always being opposing imperialism, both in the core nations who are the colonizers as well as the periphery nations i.e. the colonized ones. anarchists have always preferred to focus on building revolutions at their place and doing solidarity work for comrades in other countries. A very good example to support this statement can be of Guy Aldred. He was jailed for printing Shyamji Krishnavarmas, The Indian Sociologist. Rudolf Rocker was a prominent German anarchist and anti-fascist. He was very active amongst Jewish workers in particular. he argued for a "federation of European peoples" which would include Jews, in his Nationalism and Culture. He argued that since it was European States that had conquered and colonized the rest of the world, successful libertarian organization amongst Europeans was "the first condition for the creation of a world federation, which will also secure the so-called colonial peoples the same rights for the pursuit of happiness" (p554), rejecting all biological theories of race and the concept of nation. This approach is shared by a number of modern anarchists and other anti-imperialists (Wendy McElroy). Many anarchists especially those involved in the anti-globalization movement consider themselves as a leftist movement, while some thinkers and activists believe that it is necessary to re-evaluate anarchisms relationship with the traditional Left. Most anarchist schools of thought are sectarian like many other radical ideologies. There is usually a difference of opinion within each school about the reaction or interaction with other schools. A number of anarchists draw from a vast range of political perspectives like the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, the autonomen, the Situationists, Autonomist Marxism, "Ultra leftists" and various indigenous cultures. Post-left anarchy is a movement trying to distance itself from the traditional left i.e. Communists, social democrats, socialists, etc. and to escape the confines of ideology in general. Post-leftists usually argue that anarchism has been weakened by its long attachment to contrary leftist movements and single issue causes like anti-nuclear, anti-war etc. A synthesis of anarchist thought and a specifically anti-authoritarian revolutionary movement outside of the leftist milieu is inevitably required. Conclusion Anarchism or anarcho-libertarianism is an anti-political system formula that is consistent with the distrust of government and attempts to keep the government limited through checks and balances and civil rights. The outcomes of individualist anarchism include the ideas like individuals shouldn’t conform to society because society doesn’t exist. Only individuals do. All theories must withstand the test of reality while exploring how individuals could peacefully work in combination. “The anarchists . . . work not for a perfect social state, but for a perfect political system. A perfect social state is . . . totally free from sin or crime or folly; a perfect political system is merely a system in which justice is observed, in which nothing is punished but crime and nobody coerced but the invader” said, Victor Yarros. The key to achieve the perfect political system lies in the establishment of institutions promoting justice. The analysis of how institutions like the State, the family, the free market function, their purpose, their rules, their actual impact. Another contribution of individualist anarchism is a highly sophisticated and extensive institutional analysis that attempted to explore which institutions impede justice and which institutions promote justice and how. Their answer to the first question is The State. The institution that blocks justice is The State by the threat and use of force or by persuading the people of its legitimacy that it has a right to interfere in their lives. An anarchist society of a high degree can be established in two ways (W. McCracken): 1. It can be possible for a well-organized anarchist movement to overthrow a government and then establish an anarchist social contract that would manage the territory voluntarily, a velvet revolution. who did not wish to affiliate would be free to be independent but the contractual management would be armed and ready to defend itself against aggression. The danger of this method is that, as happened with the Soviet revolution, the revolutionaries could instead establish a new tyranny. 2. there could be a movement to devolve the central government. Authority would first shift to local government. Public finance would shift from the central government to provinces, counties, and cities. Communities as well as individuals would then be free to secede from the governmental authority. If most folks remained within the greater association, it would provide a rather uniform rule of law and provide protection within the association as well as defense against external aggression. References 1. Anarchy. Merriam-Websters Online dictionary. 2. Malatesta, Errico, Towards Anarchism. 3. Anarchism. The Shorter Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2005. P. 14 "Anarchism is the view that a society without the state, or government, is both possible and desirable." 4. Bakunin, Mikhail, God and the State, pt. 2.; Tucker, Benjamin, State Socialism and Anarchism.; Kropotkin, Piotr, Anarchism: its Philosophy and Ideal; Malatesta, Errico, Towards Anarchism; Bookchin, Murray, Anarchism: Past and Present, pt. 4; An Introduction to Anarchism by Liz A. Highleyman. 5. Carl Slevin "anarchism" The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics. Ed. Iain McLean and Alistair McMillan. Oxford University Press, 2003. 6. Kropotkine, Petr Alekseevich. Anarchism: A Collection of Revolutionary Writings, Courier Dover Publications, 2002, p.5. 7. R.B. Fowler (1972). "The Anarchist Tradition of Political Thought". Western Political Quarterly 25 (4): 738-752. 8. Sylvan, Richard. Anarchism. A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy, editors Goodwin, Robert E. and Pettit, Philip. Blackwell Publishing, 1995, p.231. 9. Anarchism. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 31. 10. Brooks, Frank H. 1994. The Individualist Anarchists: An Anthology of Liberty (1881-1908). Transaction Publishers. p. xi. 11. George H. Smith. The Ethics of Voting. 12. Ward, Colin "The Case Against Voting”. originally published in New Society 15 May 1987; reprinted in Freedom Vol 48 No 6 June 1987. 13. Thinking about anarchism – Referendums. Workers Solidarity No 69, published in March 2002 retrieved 7 September 2006. 14. http://www.chomsky.info/onchomsky/20040526.htm. 15. Lysander Spooner. No Treason, no. 2, part 1. 16. Daily Kos. Euromayday website. 3 May 2007. 17. Wendy McElroy. American Anarchism. The Independent Institute. January 1, 2000. 18. W. McCracken. Some thoughts on anarchism and law and order. ANARCHY DEBATE. 25.06.2007. Apendix 1 Picture of the Anarchist Economical-Political Map Source: http://www.anarchy.no/andebate.html Read More