Anarchism is a political philosophy that advocates complete freedom from the state and social hierarchy. Anarchists desire a society organized around voluntary and non-hierarchical lines, drawing ideas of legality and economics from anti-authoritarian interpretations of communism, collectivism, syndicalism, mutualism, and participatory economics.
History
Main Article: History of Anarchism
Key Concepts
Anarchy
Anarchy refers to a society, entity, group of people, or a single person that rejects hierarchy.
Direct Action
Direct Action refers to actions and forms of organising that are unmediated by authority.
Mutual Aid
Mutual Aid refers to the voluntary cooperation and giving of resources to others without an expectation of a reward.
Tendencies
- Anarcha-Feminism
- Anarchism Without Adjectives
- Anarcho-Pacifism
- Anarcho-Transhumanism
- Anationalism
- Crypto-Anarchism
- Epistemological Anarchism
- Green/Eco-Anarchism
- Individualist Anarchism*
- Insurrectionary Anarchism
- Mystical Anarchism
- Onthological Anarchism
- Panarchism
- Platformism
- Post-Anarchism
- Post-Colonial Anarchism
- Post-Left Anarchism
- Queer Anarchism
- Religious Anarchism
- Social Anarchism
*An additional subdivision within individualist anarchism may be the difference between its early American and European branches. Most American individualist anarchists advocated for mutualism, while European individualist anarchists were pluralists who advocated for anarchism without adjectives and synthesis anarchism, ranging from anarcho-communist to mutualist economic types.
Internal Debates and Issues
Anarchism is NOT a unified movement, and perspectives within anarchism can be so conflicting that is often leads to heated arguments and occasionally violence.