Anarchism flashcards
Key word:
What does the state mean
the authority that is set up via a series of institutions such as the executive, legislative and judiciary to make laws and enforce order
How do anarchists view the state (brief)
Anarchist argue that the state uses its powers to to deny individuals their liberty
How do anarchists view power (brief)
Anarchists argue that the exercise of power by one person is unacceptable
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What does power mean
The state uses its position to exploit people and this should be resisted
Anarchists believe people should be free to exercise power over themselves
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What does authority mean
the term is related to government and the state. Authority is the tight to exercise the power granted to the state and government and carry outs its duties.
How do anarchists view authority (brief)
Anarchists view the authority exercised as manipulative as individuals should be free to exercise authority over themselves
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What does government mean
The name of the body that controls the state . Government can be a traditional monarchy, a dictatorship or a democracy
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What does dictatorship mean
a form of government who hold governmental powers with few to no limitations.
How do anarchists view government (brief)
Anarchists view all forms of government as corrupt, and believe that governing corrupts those who govern
Government denies individual autonomy
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What does individual autonomy mean
the capacity to be one’s own person (think for themselves, do things for themselves, have no restrictions)
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What does autonomy mean
represents the absence of artificial external constraints (government) though not the absence of internal restraints (moral code)
How do anarchists view autonomy (brief)
All anarchists believe that humankind should be able to exercise autonomy
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What does nihilistic mean
Rejecting all religious and moral rules in the belief that life is meaningless
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What does insurrection mean
used to describe direct action. It can be violent or a form of passive resistance
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What does direct action mean (use anarchist)
People taking proactive steps to undrmine and ultimatelydstroy the state e.g. violence, civil disobedince and propaganda
Only Proudon thought it could be achieved through peaceful means
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What does propaganda by deed mean
A tactic advocated by most radical and revolutionary anarchists
When they challenge the state via general strikes or violent acts of protest, the state will show its true nature by forceful oppression
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What does altruistic mean
focused on part of human nature that leads people to care for others and act in their interests
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What does anomie mean
if isolated from society, humans will feel intense loneliness and experience feelings of emotional disassociation (detaching from one’s thoughts, emotions or surroundings)
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What does collectivisation mean
The organisation of peasants into large production units where there is no private property.
Individuals produce goods collectively and equally share the rewards of their labour
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What does mutual aid mean
the idea that communities should cooperate with each other largely in terms of trade, on mutually beneficial terms rather than through a free-market mechanism (so it benefits both parties) - leads to equal amounts of power
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What does free-market mechanism mean
An economic systems where prices for goods and services are determined by supply and demand (how much they are needed by how much they have) without significant government intervention
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What does direct democracy mean
A system of government where the people make decisions for themselves e.g. referendums
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What does mutualism mean (use anarchist)
Associated with Proudhon - the concept of an independent association of workers cooperating and trading with each other on mutually beneficial terms (so it benefits both parties)
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What does syndicalism mean
a revolutionary version of trade unionism that proposes a stateless society where workers are grouped into syndicates (organisations) based on industrial occupation which cooperate freely with each other for mutual benefit (so it benefits both parties)
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What is trade unionism mean
Trade unionism refers to the association of workers in a particular trade, industry, or company
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What does utopianism mean
An idealised and perfect society that people will inhabit in the future.
Utopianism can also be used in a critical sense to refer to something as being impractical and not rational
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What is natural law
Natural law - system of right or justice held to be common to all humans and comes from nature rather than from the rules of society e.g. circle of life.
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What is federalism
Federalism - system of national government in which power is divided between a central authority and a number of regions with self-governing authority
Key Thinker:
How does Bakunin view human nature
Humans are intensely social creatures and prefers collective activities (working together)
Strong belief in human sociability - the need to abolish private property and replace it with collectivism
Key Thinker:
How does Bakunin view the state
He argues that the state support capitalism and must be destroyed by revolution and this can be done through propaganda by deed - specific violent political action which would spark revolution and overthrow the state to transition to a stateless society
The state must be abolished as power is oppressive (power imbalance) - those who are poor will always have less power
Key Thinker:
How does Bakunin view society
He argued that society should be federal (combined) (work together) and national boundaries should be abolished as well as how society should be based on cooperation not competition
He believed in the concept of natural law to which all people are subject. In a stateless society, natural law would take over.
He advocated a system of federalism in which workers would divide themselves into communities where there would be no private property and total economic equality (everyone earns the same)
Key Thinker:
How does Bakunin view the economy
The free market would be replaced by an exchange-based system that recognised the true value of labour and goods
Federations (companies) would trade with each other on mutually negotiated terms based on the labour value of goods instead of the market value (makes things fair)
Key Thinker:
What were Kropotkin’s ideas on the economy
Capitalism would be replaced by a communist system
He saw a difference between property which is used to exploit others and possessions which are not and therefore can be justified
Key Thinker:
What were Kropotkin’s ideas on human nature
Human nature is social preferring collective activities (working together)
Mutual aid- allows human nature to flourish (helping the community allows people to help themselves, it is beneficial to everyone)
Capitalism created a Darwinian world (competitive) which Kropotkin saw as unnatural
Key Thinker:
What were Kropotkin’s ideas on society
Kropotkin wanted a stateless society based on small independent and internally democratic communes
Communities would trade with each other on mutually beneficial terms.
He advocated for the creation of natural small-scale communities, no private property and self-sufficient communities
Key Thinker:
What were Kropotkin’s ideas on the state
The state supports capitalism and must be destroyed by revolution
the rejection and overthrow of the state via peaceful means
He was not revolutionary but wanted a peaceful parliamentary transition to anarchism
Key Thinker:
What were Proudhon’s ideas on human nature
Humans are naturally communal
He had an optimistic view on human nature, seeing free relationships will result in the absence of exploitation.
Key Thinker:
What were Proudhon’s ideas on the state
The state supports capitalism and must be destroyed, preferably by peaceful means but by revolution if necessary
Key Thinker:
What are Proudhon’s key ideas on society
Society would operate by mutualism whereby people are bound by social ad economic relations that are mutually beneficial.
He wanted workers to work on free contracts with each other to exchange - this means that the workers couldn’t be exploited
