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To what extent do anarchists agree about the nature of the future stateless society?
For Anarchists the state is oppressive and represents the few who seek to oppress the many. The state is also charged with taking away our freedom through subjecting us to its laws and controls that are artificial, offending the basic principle of individual sovereignty. Furthermore the state is seen as corrupting to those in power, those who come into government may do so with good motives, but inevitably lose their idealism and become exploiters themselves. It is for these reasons that all traditions within Anarchism wish to advance human kind through the removal of the state in society.
The anarchist tradition can broadly be split into collectivists and individualists, within both of these forms of anarchism there are a number of different visions on how a future stateless society would operate. Collectivist anarchists generally envisage a future society that will be based upon co-operation, common property, communal organisation and decentralisation. Whilst Individualist anarchists, on the other hand, generally envisage future societies that will be based upon private ownership, the pursuit of self-interest and usage of some form of market mechanism.
Anarcho-communists envisage wholesale collective ownership and fully communal social organisation. They propose to dissolve the state – either by violent or peaceful means – and replacing it with either small-scale communes as favoured by Kropotkin and Malatesta or federations of workers (Bakunin's view). Despite these differences the various anarcho-communist groups agree that these communities would be voluntary. Communities might vary in their organisation and their values, but individuals would not be forced to conform as their decision to join would be entirely voluntary. In order to allow humans to fully develop themselves each community would be self-governing running under some form of direct democracy, goods and services would be distributed according to need and each commune would be self-striving to avoid competition between other communes which might restore the features of capitalist exchange systems.
Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. Most syndicalists proposed the overthrow of capitalism by workers and peasants and the replacement of the state by a worker's organisation which would impose worker and peasant ownership of industry and land. In practise this meant each industry was self-governing on the basis of direct democracy, a similar system of organisation to anarcho-communism.
Although anarcho-communism can be seen as the classical form of anarchism, the individualist movement was also radical and extensive. Individualist anarchists follow Stirner's view that humankind is driven principally by egoism, i.e. The drive to pursue its own self-interest. Followers of individualism generally envisage future societies that will be based upon private ownership, the pursuit of self-interest and the market mechanism. Two followers of individualism in the USA were Josiah Warren and Benjamin Tucker proposed replacing the existing system with cooperative capitalism which was to be based on two principles. First, the state would cease to exist and all individuals would be freed from obedience to any laws. Second, individuals should exchange goods and services with each other on the basis of labour value, rather than exchange value. All products would be valued according to the amount and quality of labour which had gone into their production. This contrasts with numerous collectivist anarchist movements as it accepts private property, which collectivists believe will always be used to exploit others. However individualist believe that property is acceptable as long as it has been legally and justly obtained.
However the effects of economic development, increased industrialisation and specialisation of labour in the modern age have rendered many of the ideas of the 19th century individualists obsolete. Anarcho-capitalists developed due to the changed nature of society from the days of Thoreau and Warren. Whilst opposing the state like all traditions of anarchism, Anarcho-capitalists have accepted that the capitalist system of production and exchange is so entrenched that it must be adapted to no-state circumstances. Rothbard shared Stirner's view that we are all self interested individuals, but had a more optimistic view of what a world would be like in which everyone is able to pursue that self-interest freely without the restriction of state regulation. If a system of free capitalism were to be introduced argue anarcho-capitalists individuals would become enlightened, understanding that if state functions were carried out by profit-maximising bodies this would benefit everyone in society.
The anarchist doctrine of mutualism expounded by Proudhon attempted to bridge the gap between individualist anarchism and collectivist anarchism. Despite his famous slogan “All property is theft” , Proudhon was one of the few anarchists to accept private property may be tolerated, provided the exploitative aspects of capitalism could be eliminated. He believed that people should live in small,self-governing communities. As long as the exploitation of workers, peasants and consumers was removed, he argued, people could live in harmony without the need for a coercive state. In this way he attempted to reconcile individual ownership of property with social harmony.
Anarchists disagree on numerous grounds about the nature of the future stateless society but the most common way of highlighting differences between the traditions is to look at contrasting anarcho-communist and anarcho-capitalist models of a future society, with their contrasting views on property ownership and social organisation.
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This essay is aimed at people studying for A Level Politics, but will be suitable for other people too.
Originally submitted by lesususu on TSR Forums.
