Social anarchism

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For the journal, see Social Anarchism (journal).

Social anarchism (sometimes referred to as socialist anarchism[1]) is a non-state form of socialism[2] and is considered to be the branch of anarchism which sees individual freedom as being dependent upon mutual aid.[3] Social anarchist thought emphasizes community and social equality as complimentary to autonomy and personal freedom.[3]

Social anarchists advocate the conversion of present-day private property into social property or the commons, while retaining respect for personal property.[4] The term is used to describe those who – contra anarchist individualism – place an emphasis on the communitarian and cooperative aspects of anarchist theory; while also opposing authoritarian forms of communitarianism associated with groupthink and collective conformity, instead favouring a reconciliation between individuality and sociality.

It is considered an umbrella term which includes (but is not limited to) the post-capitalist economic models of anarchist communism, collectivist anarchism, and (sometimes) mutualism; as well as the trade union strategy of anarcho-syndicalism, the social struggle strategies of platformism and specifism, and the environmental philosophy of social ecology.

The term "social anarchism" is often used interchangeably with libertarian socialism,[1] left-libertarianism,[5] or left anarchism.[6] It emerged in the late 19th century as a distinction from individualist anarchism.[7]

Historical currents[edit]


Proudhon and his children, by Gustave Courbet, 1865

Mutualism emerged from early nineteenth-century socialism, and is generally considered a market-oriented strand within the libertarian socialist tradition. Mutualists typically accept property rights, but with brief abandonment time periods. In a community in which mutuality property rules were upheld, a landowner would need to make (more or less) continuous use of his/her land; if he/she failed to do so, his/her ownership rights would be extinguished and the land could be homesteaded by someone else. A mutualist property regime is often described as one rooted in "possession," "occupancy-and-use," or "usufruct."[8] Nevertheless, Mutualism is also associated with the economic views of 19th century US individualist anarchists such as Benjamin Tucker and William Batchelder Greene[9] and today Kevin Carson is a contemporary mutualist and author of Studies in Mutualist Political Economy who describes this work as "an attempt to revive individualist anarchist political economy, to incorporate the useful developments of the last hundred years, and to make it relevant to the problems of the twenty-first century."[10]

Collectivist anarchism[edit]

Collectivist anarchism (also known as anarcho-collectivism)[11][12] is a revolutionary form of anarchism, commonly associated with Mikhail Bakunin and Johann Most.[13][14] It is a specific tendency, not to be confused with the broad category sometimes called collectivist or communitarian anarchism.[15] Unlike mutualists, collectivist anarchists oppose all private ownership of the means of production, instead advocating that ownership be collectivized.


Anarchist communist and collectivist ideas were not mutually exclusive; although the collectivist anarchists advocated compensation for labor, some held out the possibility of a post-revolutionary transition to a communist system of distribution according to need.[17] Collectivist anarchism arose contemporaneously with Marxism but opposed the Marxist dictatorship of the proletariat, despite the stated Marxist goal of a collectivist stateless society.[18]

Anarchist communism[edit]

Main article: Anarchist communism
Anarcho-communist Peter Kropotkin believed that in anarchy, workers would spontaneously self-organize to produce goods for all of society.

Anarchist communism (also known as anarcho-communism and occasionally as free communism) is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, markets, money, capitalism and private property (anarchist communists believe in converting private property into the commons or public goods, while retaining respect for personal property), in favor of common ownership of the means of production,[19][20] direct democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations and workers' councils with production and consumption based on the guiding principle: "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need".[21][22]

Some forms of anarchist communism such as insurrectionary anarchism are strongly influenced by egoism and radical individualism, believing anarcho-communism is the best social system for the realization of individual freedom.[23][24][25][26] Most anarcho-communists view anarcho-communism as a way of reconciling the opposition between the individual and society.[27][28][29]

Anarcho-communism developed out of radical socialist currents after the French revolution,[30][31] but was first formulated as such in the Italian section of the First International.[32] The theoretical work of Peter Kropotkin took importance later as it expanded and developed pro-organizationalist and insurrectionary anti-organizationalist sections.[33]



Main articles: Syndicalism and Anarcho-syndicalism
A common Anarcho-Syndicalist flag.

In the early 20th century, anarcho-syndicalism arose as a distinct strategic school of thought within anarchism.[36] With greater focus on the labour movement than previous forms of anarchism, syndicalism posits radical trade unions as a potential force for revolutionary social change, replacing capitalism and the state with a new society, democratically self-managed by the workers.

Anarcho-syndicalists seek to abolish the wage system and private ownership of the means of production, which they believe lead to class divisions. Important principles include workers' solidarity, direct action (such as general strikes and workplace recuperations), and workers' self-management. This is compatible with other branches of anarchism, and anarcho-syndicalists often subscribe to anarchist communist or collectivist anarchist economic systems.[37] It is therefore less a type of social anarchism than a set of strategies for achieving either collectivist anarchism or communist anarchism; or first the former, then the latter, once a certain degree of technical-productive capacity has enabled production to outstrip consumption, making a moneyless economy more viable.

Its advocates propose labour organization as a means to create the foundations of a trade union centered anarchist society within the current system and bring about social revolution. An early leading anarcho-syndicalist thinker was Rudolf Rocker, whose 1938 pamphlet Anarchosyndicalism outlined a view of the movement's origin, aims and importance to the future of labour.[37][38]

Although more often associated with labor struggles of the early 20th century (particularly in France and Spain), many syndicalist organizations are active today, united across national borders by membership in the International Workers Association, including the Central Organisation of the Workers of Sweden (SAC) in Sweden, the Unione Sindacale Italiana (USI) in Italy, the CNT and the CGT in Spain, the Workers' Solidarity Movement (WSM) of Ireland, and the Industrial Workers of the World in the United States.

Contemporary currents[edit]

More recent developments include the anarchist factions from social ecology, inclusive democracy, and participatory economics.


Main article: Platformism

Platformism is a tendency (or organized school of thought) within the anarchist movement. It stresses the need for tightly organized anarchist organizations, that are able to influence working class and peasant movements. It is in many ways identical to especifismo, and has an antecedent in the work of Mikhail Bakunin.

"Platformist" groups reject the model of Leninist vanguardism. They aim, instead, to "make anarchist ideas the leading ideas within the class struggle".[39] The four main principles by which an anarchist organisation should operate, according to Platformists, are ideological unity, tactical unity, collective responsibility, and federalism. In general, platformist groups aim to win the widest possible influence for anarchist ideas and methods in the working class and peasantry—like especifismo groups, platformists orient towards "ordinary" people, rather than to the extreme left milieu. This usually entailing a willingness to work in single-issue campaigns, trade unionism and community groups, and to fight for immediate reforms while linking this to a project of building popular consciousness and organisation. They therefore reject approaches that they believe will prevent this, such as insurrectionist anarchism, as well as "views that dismiss activity in the unions" or that dismiss anti-imperialist movements.[40]

The name "Platformist" derives from the 1926 Organisational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft).[41] This was published by the Group of Russian Anarchists Abroad, in their journal Dielo Truda ("Workers' Cause" in Russian). The group, which consisted of exiled Russian anarchist veterans of the 1917 October Revolution (notably Nestor Makhno who played a leading role in the anarchist revolution in the Ukraine of 1918–1921), based the Platform on their experiences of the revolution, and the eventual victory of the Bolsheviks over the anarchists and other groups. The Platform attempted to address and explain the anarchist movement's failures during the Russian Revolution outside of the Ukraine.

The document drew both praise and criticism from anarchists worldwide and sparked a major debate within the anarchist movement.[42] Today "Platformism" is an important current in international anarchism. Around thirty platformist and especifista organisations are linked together in the project, including groups from Africa, Latin America, North America and Europe.[40]

Inclusive Democracy[edit]

Main article: Inclusive Democracy

Inclusive Democracy is a political theory and political project that aim for direct democracy, economic democracy in a stateless, moneyless and marketless economy, self-management (democracy in the social realm) and ecological democracy. The theoretical project of Inclusive Democracy (ID; as distinguished from the political project which is part of the democratic and autonomy traditions) emerged from the work of political philosopher, former academic and activist Takis Fotopoulos in Towards An Inclusive Democracy and was further developed by him and other writers in the journal Democracy & Nature and its successor The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy, an electronic journal freely available and published by the International Network for Inclusive Democracy.

According to Arran Gare, Towards an Inclusive Democracy "offers a powerful new interpretation of the history and destructive dynamics of the market and provides an inspiring new vision of the future in place of both neo-liberalism and existing forms of socialism".[43] Also, as David Freeman points out, although Fotopoulos' approach "is not openly anarchism, yet anarchism seems the formal category within which he works, given his commitment to direct democracy, municipalism and abolition of state, money and market economy".[44]


Main article: Participism

Participism is a twenty-first century form of libertarian socialism. It comprises two related economic and political systems called Participatory economics or "Parecon" and Participatory politics or "Parpolity".

Parecon is an economic system proposed primarily by activist and political theorist Michael Albert and radical economist Robin Hahnel, among others. It uses participatory decision making as an economic mechanism to guide the production, consumption and allocation of resources in a given society. Proposed as an alternative to contemporary capitalist market economies and also an alternative to centrally planned socialism or coordinatorism, it is described as "an anarchistic economic vision", and it could be considered a form of socialism as under Parecon, the means of production are owned by the workers. The underlying values that Parecon seeks to implement are equity, solidarity, diversity, workers' self-management and efficiency. (Efficiency here means accomplishing goals without wasting valued assets.) It proposes to attain these ends mainly through the following principles and institutions: Workers' and consumers' councils utilizing self-managerial methods for decision making, balanced job complexes, remuneration according to effort and sacrifice, and Participatory Planning.

Under Parecon, the current monetary system would be replaced with a system of non-transferable "credit" which would cease to exist upon purchase of a commodity.

Parpolity is a theoretical political system proposed by Stephen R. Shalom. It was developed as a political vision to accompany Parecon. The values on which Parpolity is based are: Freedom, self-management, justice, solidarity and tolerance. The goal, according to Shalom, is to create a political system that will allow people to participate, as much as possible in a face to face manner. Participism as a whole is critical of aspects of modern representative democracies and capitalism arguing that the level of political control by the people isn’t sufficient. To address this problem Parpolity suggests a system of "Nested Councils", which would include every adult member of a given society. With five levels of nested councils it is thought, could represent the population of the United States.

Under Participism, the state as such would dissolve into a mere coordinating body made up of delegates which would be recallable at any time by the nested council below them.

Social ecology and Communalism[edit]

Main article: Social ecology



Politically, Communalists advocate a network of directly democratic citizens' assemblies in individual communities/cities organized in a confederal fashion. This method used to achieve this is called Libertarian Municipalism which involves the establishment of face-to-face democratic institutions which are to grow and expand confederally with the goal of eventually replacing the nation-state. Unlike anarchists, Communalists are not opposed to taking part in parliamentary politics—especially municipal elections—as long as candidates are libertarian socialist and anti-statist in outlook.

Economically, Communalism favours the abolition of markets and money and the transition to an economy similar to libertarian communism and according to the principle "from each according to ability, to each according to need."


  1. ^ a b Ostergaard, Geoffrey. "Anarchism". The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought. Blackwell Publishing. p. 14.
  2. ^ Busky, Donald F. (2000-01-01). Democratic Socialism: A Global Survey. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 2. ISBN 9780275968861. The same may be said of anarchism: social anarchism—a nonstate form of socialism—may be distinguished from the nonsocialist, and, in some cases, procapitalist school of individualist anarchism. 
  3. ^ a b Suissa, Judith(2001) "Anarchism, Utopias and Philosophy of Education" Journal of Philosophy of Education 35 (4), 627–646. doi:10.1111/1467-9752.00249
  5. ^ Bookchin, Murray (1995). Social Anarchism Or Lifestyle Anarchism: An Unbridgeable Chasm. AK Press. 
  6. ^ Thagard, Paul. 2002. Coherence in Thought and Action. MIT Press. p. 153
  7. ^ "No, far from it. Most anarchists in the late nineteenth century recognised communist-anarchism as a genuine form of anarchism and it quickly replaced collectivist anarchism as the dominant tendency. So few anarchists found the individualist solution to the social question or the attempts of some of them to excommunicate social anarchism from the movement convincing."An anarchist FAQ by Various Authors
  8. ^ On mutualism, see, e.g., Pierre-Joseph. Proudhon, What Is Property?, trans. Benjamin R. Tucker (New York: Humboldt 1890).
  10. ^ Kevin Carson. Studies in Mutualist Political Economy.
  11. ^ Morris, Brian. Bakunin: The Philosophy of Freedom. Black Rose Books Ltd., 1993. p. 76.
  12. ^ Rae, John. Contemporary Socialism. C. Scribner's sons, 1901, Original from Harvard University. p. 261.
  13. ^ a b Patsouras, Louis. 2005. Marx in Context. iUniverse. p. 54.
  15. ^ Morris, Christopher W. 1998. An Essay on the Modern State. Cambridge University Press. p 50. The collectivist category is also sometimes known as social, socialist, or communitarian anarchism category.
  16. ^ Kropotkin, Peter (2007). "13". The Conquest of Bread. Edinburgh: AK Press. ISBN 978-1-904859-10-9. 
  17. ^ Guillaume, James (1876). "Ideas on Social Organization". 
  18. ^ Bakunin, Mikhail (1990). Statism and Anarchy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-36182-6. They [the Marxists] maintain that only a dictatorship – their dictatorship, of course – can create the will of the people, while our answer to this is: No dictatorship can have any other aim but that of self-perpetuation, and it can beget only slavery in the people tolerating it; freedom can be created only by freedom, that is, by a universal rebellion on the part of the people and free organization of the toiling masses from the bottom up. 
  23. ^ Christopher Gray, Leaving the Twentieth Century, p. 88.
  24. ^ "Towards the creative Nothing" by Renzo Novatore
  30. ^ Graham, Robert (2005). Anarchism: From anarchy to anarchism (300 CE to 1939). Black Rose Books. ISBN 1551642506. 
  33. ^ "Anarchist-Communism" by Alain Pengam
  35. ^ Murray Bookchin. To Remember Spain: The Anarchist and Syndicalist Revolution of 1936
  36. ^ Berry, David, A History of the French Anarchist Movement, 1917–1945 p. 134.
  37. ^ a b Iain Mckay, ed. (2008). "Are there different types of social anarchism?". An Anarchist FAQ. Stirling: AK Press. ISBN 1-902593-90-1. OCLC 182529204. 
  38. ^ Anarchosyndicalism by Rudolf Rocker. Retrieved 7 September 2006.
  39. ^ Workers Solidarity Movement, 2012, "Why You Should Join the Workers Solidarity Movement" |url= |accessdate=5 January 2012|
  40. ^ a b Anarkismo, 2012, "About Us" |url= |accessdate=5 January 2012|
  41. ^ Dielo Truda group (2006) [1926]. Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft). Ireland: Nestor Makhno Archive. Retrieved 5 January 2012. 
  42. ^ Schmidt, M. and van der Walt, L. 2009. Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism (Counter-Power vol. 1). Edinburgh: AK Press. pp. 252-255
  43. ^ Arran Gare, "Beyond Social Democracy? Takis Fotopoulos' Vision of an Inclusive Democracy as a New Liberatory Project" Democracy & Nature, Vol. 9, No. 3 (November 2003), pp. 345-358(14)
  44. ^ David Freeman, "Inclusive democracy and its prospects" review of book Towards An Inclusive Democracy: The Crisis of the Growth Economy and the Need For a New Liberatory Project, published in Thesis Eleven, Sage Publications, no. 69 (May 2002), pp. 103-106.