Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas, Volume Three: The New Anarchism (1974-2012)

Volume Three of Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas has just been published by Black Rose Books. Volume Three goes all the way to 2012, with short pieces on the 2008-2009 revolt in Greece and the 2011-2012 Egyptian revolution added to the chapter on direct action. Below I reproduce the Preface and the Table of Contents. Volume Three concludes with my Afterward in which I analyze the history, development and evolution of anarchist ideas from the ancient Chinese Daoists to the present day.

Preface to Volume Three

This is the third and final volume of my anthology of anarchist writings from ancient China to the present day. Volume One, subtitled From Anarchy to Anarchism (300CE-1939), begins with an ancient Daoist text, “Neither Lord Nor Subject” (300CE), and ends with the positive accomplishments and defeat of the Spanish anarchists in the Spanish Revolution and Civil War (1936-1939). Volume Two, subtitled The Emergence of the New Anarchism (1939-1977), deals with the remarkable resurgence of anarchist ideas and movements following the Second World War, particularly during the 1960s. This final volume canvasses the many different currents in anarchist thought from the 1970s to the present day and another remarkable resurgence in anarchist ideas and action within the context of global justice movements against neoliberalism.

These movements against neoliberalism are commonly grouped under the rubric of anti-globalization, an inaccurate description for the reasons set forth by David Graeber in Selection 1. While anarchists and assorted left libertarians oppose the global dominance of corporate capitalism, they remain committed internationalists, seeking justice, freedom and equality for all. Anarchists have always been critics of capitalist exploitation and continue to emphasize the interconnections between capitalism, the state, imperialism and domination (Selections 2, 17, 19, 69 and Chapter 9).

Anarchists have been at the forefront of transnational and transclass liberation movements (Chapter 11), seeking to develop new and imaginative ways of achieving social liberation, from creating “temporary autonomous zones” (Selection 11) to antiauthoritarian forms of direct democracy (Selections 5, 10 and Chapter 2). Anarchists have continued to champion various forms of direct action as means of self-empowerment (Chapter 3), adapting anarchist tactics to a variety of situations and circumstances around the globe (Chapter 11).

Anarchists have sought to uncover the origins of domination, in patriarchal societies and incipient state forms with self-reinforcing and interlocking hierarchies of power (Selections 17 & 32), exploring the interrelationships between the state and the subjection of women (Chapter 7), technology, power and capitalism (Chapter 5), and the human subjugation of nature (Selection 26). At the same time, anarchists have continued to present positive alternatives to the status quo, such as human scale technology (Selection 24), community and worker’s self-management (Selection 5 and Chapter 10) and bioregionalism (Selection 28), culminating in a vision of an ecological society where people live in harmony with nature and each other (Selections 26, 29 & 30).

Rejecting the authoritarian hierarchical relationships of exploitation and domination inherent to capitalist economic forms, anarchists have presented a number of libertarian economic proposals, such as directly democratic control through community assemblies (Selection 46), consumer and producer cooperatives (Selection 47), and the elimination of the wage system (Selection 48). As Luciano Lanza argues in Selection 49, in the context of his critique of proposals that emphasize the need for a planned economy, anarchist economic proposals have always sought to maximize individual freedom within the context of a radical egalitarianism.

The idea of anarchy as a counter-cultural current and alternative aesthetic sensibility is explored by Richard Sonn and Max Blechman in Chapter 8. Ba Jin, the renowned Chinese anarchist (Volume One, Selection 101) reflects on the negative relationship between authority and creativity (Selection 37). Edward Herman, Noam Chomsky’s long time collaborator, defends their analysis of the corporate media as one of the primary means of manufacturing consent to state policies and capitalist economic relations (Selection 40). Anarchy as a form of social transgression and personal liberation is discussed by Jeff Farrell in his piece on anarchist criminology (Selection 20). Similar ideas have been developed within the context of the anti-psychiatry movement (Selection 31).

Notions of personal and social identity as both constraints on autonomy and as a basis for oppressed groups to further their own liberation, whether psychiatric patients, women, nonheterosexuals or people of colour, are discussed by Alan Mandell (Selection 31), Jamie Heckert (Selection 36), and Ashanti Alston (Selection 63). Richard Day explores recent attempts to go beyond “identity politics,” utilizing post-modernist concepts of groundless solidarity and infinite responsibility (Selection 71).

In the concluding chapter, Todd May and Saul Newman set forth the case for a post-structuralist anarchism (Selections 65 & 66). Jesse Cohn challenges the accuracy and fairness of the post-structuralist critique of anarchism (Selection 67), while Daniel Colson extends that critique by showing the connections between post-modernist approaches to anarchism and the “classical” anarchism of Proudhon and Bakunin (Selection 70). Mark Leier discusses the relevance of Bakunin’s anarchism today in the context of his critique of the “post-structuralists” of his own day (Selection 68), while Michael Schmidt and Lucien Van Der Walt argue for the continuing relevance of the Platformist current in anarchist thought (Selection 69).

In the Afterword, I discuss the continuity and change in anarchist thought documented in the three volumes of this anthology. Throughout these volumes, I have tried to present the anarchists in their own words, but within their historical context. I believe that they are more than capable of speaking for themselves and that readers can form their own judgments without the editor trying to impose a predetermined conceptual framework. While I have included material on a wide variety of topics, I have focused on anarchist writings that emphasize anarchism as an alternative kind of politics, whether on the personal, social or international level, eschewing more simplistic approaches which conceive of anarchism as simply an “anti-politics” with little or no positive content of any lasting value. I agree with Kropotkin that various anarchist currents can by perceived running throughout human history, representing anti-authoritarian approaches to social change and alternative forms of organization in opposition to the hierarchies of power, control, domination and exploitation characteristic of so-called “civilization.” I hope that the readers of these volumes will come to appreciate the variety and richness of anarchist ideas, and will continue to be inspired by them. Additional material can be found at my blog, robertgraham.wordpress.com, for those interested in continuing their exploration of anarchist ideas.

The New Anarchism (1974-2012)

Table of Contents

ANARCHISM: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF LIBERTARIAN IDEAS

VOLUME THREE: THE NEW ANARCHISM (1974-2012)

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1: TOWARD AN ANARCHIST POLITICS

1. David Graeber: The New Anarchists (2002)

2.  Madrid Declaration: For a New Libertarianism (2001)

3.  The Gaucho Anarchist Federation: Especifismo (2000)

4.  Alfredo Errandonea: Anarchism in the 21^st Century (2001)

5.  Dimitri Roussopoulos: The Politics of Neo-Anarchism (2012)

CHAPTER 2: LIBERTARIAN DEMOCRACY

6.  David Graeber: Democracy and Consensus (2004)

7.  Eduardo Colombo: On Voting

8.  Amedeo Bertolo: Libertarian Democracy (1999)

9.  Andrew Flood: Assemblies Are the Revolution (2011)

CHAPTER 3: DIRECT ACTION

10.  Murray Bookchin: From Direct Action to Direct Democracy (1979-82)

11.  Hakim Bey: Temporary Autonomous Zones (1985)

12. Luc Bonet: Beyond the Revolutionary Model (2005)

13.  Andrea Papi: Violence and Anti-Violence (2004)

14.  Benjamin Franks: The Direct Action Ethic (2003)

15.  A.G. Schwarz: The Revolt in Greece (2010)

16.  CrimethInc: The Egyptian Revolution (2012)

CHAPTER 4: THE STATE

17.  Harold Barclay: Anarchy and State Formation (2003)

18.  Alan Ritter: Anarchy, Law and Freedom (1980)

19.  Alan Carter: The Logic of State Power (2000)

20.  Jeff Ferrell: Against the Law: Anarchist Criminology (1998)

21.  Uri Gordon: Israel, Palestine and Anarchist Dilemmas (2007)

CHAPTER 5:  TECHNOLOGY AND POWER

22.  Campaign Against the Model West Germany: The Nuclear State (1979)

23.  David Watson: Nuclear Power (1979)

24.  C. George Benello: Putting the Reins on Technology (1982)

25.  Brian Tokar: Biotechnology (2003)

CHAPTER 6: ANARCHY AND ECOLOGY

26.  Murray Bookchin: Toward an Ecological Society (1974)

27.  Noam Chomsky: Human Nature and Human Freedom (1975)

28.  Graham Purchase: Anarchism and Bioregionalism (1997)

29.  Chaia Heller: Ecology and Desire (1999)

30.  Peter Marshall: Liberation Ecology (2007)

CHAPTER 7: PERSONAL LIBERATION

31.  Alan Mandell: Anti-Psychiatry and the Search for Autonomy (1979)

32.  Rossella Di Leo: On the Origins of Male Domination (1983)

33.  Nicole Laurin-Frenette: The State Family/The Family State (1982)

34.  Ariane Gransac: Women’s Liberation (1984)

35.  Carole Pateman: The Sexual Contract (1988)

36.  Jamie Heckert: Erotic Anarchy (2006)

CHAPTER 8: ANARCHY AND CULTURE

37.  Ba Jin: Against the Powers that Be (1984)

38.  Richard Sonn: Culture and Anarchy (1994)

39.  Max Blechman: Toward an Anarchist Aesthetic (1994)

40.  Edward S. Herman: The Propaganda Model—A Retrospective (2003)

CHAPTER 9: ANTI-CAPITALISM

41.  Brian Martin: Capitalism and Violence (2001)

42.  Normand Baillargeon: Free Market Libertarianism (2001)

43.  Peter Marshall: Anarchism and Capitalism (1993)

44.  Interprofessional Workers’ Union: Russian Capitalism (1999)

CHAPTER 10:  LIBERTARIAN ALTERNATIVES

45.  Graham Purchase: Green Anarcho-Syndicalism (1995)

46.  Murray Bookchin: Municipal Control (1986)

47.  Kevin Carson: Mutualism Reconsidered (2007)

48.  Adam Buick and John Crump: The Alternative to Capitalism (1986)

49.  Luciano Lanza: Settling Accounts with Economics (2003)

CHAPTER 11: BEYOND THE BORDERS

50.  Sharif Gemie: Beyond the Borders (2003)

51.  An African Anarchist Manifesto (1981)

52.  Sam Mbah and I.E. Igariwey: African Anarchism (1997)

53.  Mok Chiu Yu: An Anarchist in Hong Kong (2001)

54.  Mihara Yoko: Anarchism in Japan (1993)

55.  The Cuban Libertarian Syndicalist Association: Anarchism and the Cuban Revolution (1960/2003)

56.  Ruben G. Prieto: Anarchism in Uruguay (2001)

57.  Marina Sitrin: Horizontalidad in Argentina (2003)

58.  Andrew Flood: What is Different About the Zapatistas (2001)

59.  CIPO-RFM: Enemies of Injustice

60.  Colectivo Alas de Xue: Strengthening the Anarcho-Indian Alliance (1997)

61.  Kurdistan: Anarchism and Confederalism (1999-2011)

62.  Bas Umali: Archipelagic Confederation – An Anarchist Alternative for the Phillipines (2006)

63.  Ashanti Alston: Black Anarchism (2003)

64.  Harsha Walia: No One is Illegal (2006)

CHAPTER 12: NEW DIRECTIONS IN ANARCHIST THEORY

65.  Todd May: Post-Structuralism and Anarchism (1989)

66.  Saul Newman: The Politics of Post-Anarchism (2003)

67.  Jesse Cohn: Anarchism and Essentialism (2003)

68.  Mark Leier: Bakunin, Class and Post-Anarchism (2009)

69.  Schmidt and Van Der Walt: Black Flame (2009)

70.  Daniel Colson: Belief and Modernity (2005)

71.  Richard Day: Groundless Solidarity and Infinite Responsibility (2005)

AFTERWORD

Robert Graham: The Anarchist Current: Continuity and Change in Anarchist Thought

Index