Anarchism

Question 1

State

Answer 1

a sovereign body that
exerts total authority over
all individuals and groups
living within its defined
geographical limits.

Question 2

Power

Answer 2

the means or instruments
– such as the law, the police
and the use of ideology
– by which the state and
other social institutions
secure their authority

Question 3

Authority

Answer 3

the right of one person or
institution to influence the
behaviour of others. Seen
as commanding, controlling
and corrupting.

Question 4

Autonomy

Answer 4

a form of self-government
involving a combination of
freedom and responsibility,
in which the individual
is not subject to the will
of the state or any other
person.

Question 5

Government

Answer 5

a particular system of
rule, from monarchism
to dictatorship to liberal
democracy, which
anarchists believe is based
on deceit and violence.

Question 6

Solidarity

Answer 6

a relationship of sympathy,
co-operation and harmony
between people that
anarchists believe means
that they have no need to
be regulated by the state
(any regulation makes
solidarity impossible).

Question 7

Mutual aid

Answer 7

the anarchist idea that the
most successful species
are those that employ
solidarity and co-operation
rather than individualistic
competition.

Question 8

Direct action

Answer 8

a range of political actions,
both non-violent and
violent, that are taken
outside the legal and
constitutional framework.

Question 9

Insurrection

Answer 9

an egoistic, not a political
or social act, that anarchists
believe allows individuals to
elevate themselves above
the established institutions,
leaving the establishment
to decay and die.

Question 10

Altruism

Answer 10

concern for the interest
and welfare of others based
on a belief that humans
are social beings with a
capacity for social solidarity.

Question 11

Mutualism

Answer 11

a system of equitable
exchange between selfgoverning producers
– organised individually
or in association – and
small-scale private property
based on use or possession.

Question 12

Direct democracy

Answer 12

a form of popular selfgovernment in which
citizens make law and
policy decisions in person,
rather than through elected
representatives.

Question 13

Syndicalism

Answer 13

revolutionary tradeunionism that uses direct
action and the mass
strike as an expression of
working-class power to
inspire popular revolt.

Question 14

Collectivisation

Answer 14

the abolition of private
property and its
replacement by a system of
common ownership.