Key Thinkers

Question 1

anarchist key thinkers

Answer 1

Max Stirner (1806 – 56)

Pierre Joseph Proudhon (1809 – 65)

Mikhail Bakunin (1814 – 76)

Peter Kropotkin (1842 – 1921)

Emma Goldman (1869 – 1940)

Question 2

MAX STIRNER: the ego and human nature

Answer 2

each person possesses unique individuality, which should not be limited

the individual ‘ego’ must be placed above all else, it must not be controlled or restricted in any way

“there is no judge but myself who can decide if I am right or wrong” – in other words, the individual should be free to do as they please without being restricted by law or other societal institutions

humans are autonomous, rational and self-interested

Question 3

MAX STIRNER: the state

Answer 3

in his book The Ego and His Own, he develops a comprehensive criticism of the state and existing society for being restrictive and limiting

in his view, the individual ‘ego’ must be placed above all else, it must not be controlled or restricted in any way

there must be an end to the control of our thoughts by existing societal institutions, such as the church and morality

criticised the state and hierarchy for preventing people from being truly free; our individuality is crushed by law, habit, custom and prejudice

Question 4

MAX STIRNER: the economy

Answer 4

rejected existing economic systems as they limit the ‘ego’ by preventing fulfilment and forbidding the individual to keep the full fruits of their labour

in the workplace, people are constantly carrying out tasks that are unnecessary and unrewarding

Question 5

MAX STIRNER: the union of egoists

Answer 5

his vision of the future (The Union of Egoists) is of a free society acting in the interests of all individuals, it will be based on voluntary agreements made on the basis of the individual’s personal interest rather than for the common good

the Union of Egoists is based on the conscious, self-interested will of each individual

such a society will not be achieved by revolution, as revolution is an authoritarian act, it will instead be achieved by insurrection

Question 6

MAX STIRNER: methods of achieving anarchy

Answer 6

an anarchist society will not be achieved by revolution as this is an authoritarian act

it will instead be achieved by insurrection which involves the individual becoming an egoist and withdrawing from capitalist labour and the state altogether, eventually leading to the state decaying and dying

Question 7

PIERRE JOSEPH PROUDHON: private property

Answer 7

private property, including the ability to extract rent, interests and profit, is exploitative and divisive

“property is theft” – this view is developed by collectivist anarchism and is central to the Occupy movement and the idea of ‘the 99 percent v the 1 percent’

he defined private property as the right to own without the need to occupy, which drives inequality and exploitation as the ownership of private property allows the wealthy to earn income through rent, interest and the exploitation of labour whilst doing no work themselves

the masses have no choice but to work under the threat of violence because if they don’t, they risk imprisonment due to debt, losing their homes or will be left to starve

Question 8

PIERRE JOSEPH PROUDHON: possession

Answer 8

endorses the right to possession, particularly the right of the individual to keep the full fruits of their labour, both of which provide protection for the individual against the collective

Question 9

PIERRE JOSEPH PROUDHON: mutualism

Answer 9

in his book What is Property? he provides the bridge between individualism and collectivism in anarchism - this is known as mutualism, which he viewed as the economic basis of liberty

politically, mutualism would be based on federalism and decentralisation, organised from the bottom up with most power lying in small, local bodies and the least power lying in the largest bodies

all federations would join together using voluntary agreements and have the liberty to leave at any time, no one would be forced to participate

Question 10

PIERRE JOSEPH PROUDHON: co-operatives

Answer 10

within a mutualist system, worker co-operatives would organise their own work and mutually exchange goods with other individuals and co-operatives

this would be based on labour notes which record the working time taken to create a product and would provide the basis for such exchanges

example of co-operatives working in the modern world would be the Mondragon Co-operative Federation in Spain, whose slogan is “humanity as work” and has a wage differential of around 1:6 between the lowest and highest wage earners within its individual co-operatives

Question 11

PIERRE JOSEPH PROUDHON: methods of achieving anarchy

Answer 11

change should be evolutionary rather than revolutionary

the state is not entirely without morality, therefore a new society can be constructed within the shell of the existing state

mutualist organisations, such as worker co-operatives and a People’s Bank, would be established within the current state and would form the basis of future society

the existing state will eventually die away and be replaced by this new society, it will not have to be overthrown in revolutionary action

Question 12

MIKHAIL BAKUNIN: human nature

Answer 12

humans possess rationality and individuality

humans, by their very nature, are social beings that cannot exist outside of society

we are shaped by the society that we live in, so need to achieve liberty to explore our full potentials

Question 13

MIKHAIL BAKUNIN: methods of achieving anarchy

Answer 13

endorsed propaganda by the deed – a radical and revolutionary strategy with a strong emphasis in the revolutionary will of the people

he rejected all traditional forms of parliamentary politics and Marxist calls for capturing the state in order to achieve anarchy

believed that the masses had to free themselves and this could only be achieved by the destruction of the state

Question 14

MIKHAIL BAKUNIN: propaganda by the deed

Answer 14

propaganda by the deed involves acts such as the non-payment of taxes, rents and debts, mass strikes and the refusal of conscription or the draft

these actions would be the catalyst for a spontaneous revolution from below and the people would be freed through the practice of direct action, empowering individuals and exposing the mechanisms of power

this emphasis on direct action and ‘DIY politics’ seems to have inspired the political rebellion seen today, including the Occupy Wall Street movement and the anti-globalisation movement as a whole

Question 15

MIKHAIL BAKUNIN: the state

Answer 15

highly critical of the state and religion

as human nature is socially determined and we are shaped by the society that we live in, humans must achieve liberty to explore our full potentials and the only way to achieve such liberty is by rejecting the state and the authority of the church

with the state and institutions like the church still in place, humans are not truly free

“if there is a state, there must be the domination of one class by another, and as a result, slavery”

Question 16

MIKHAIL BAKUNIN: the economy

Answer 16

critical of both capitalism and Marxism

endorsed collectivisation which involves the abolition of private property and replacing it with a system of common ownership, particularly collective ownership of the means of production because liberty without equality is just privilege and injustice

Question 17

PETER KROPOTKIN: mutual aid

Answer 17

in his book Mutual Aid, he argues that the survival of the fittest is a race between species and mutual aid is the key factor for success

in other words, when members of the same species show high levels of sociability and work together, they succeed in the evolutionary race

he applied this idea to human nature – as humans have successfully survived for centuries, they must have the natural ability to cooperate and behave altruistically

humans have always been cooperative and altruistic, which can be seen in the types of society that pre-date the emergence of the modern state

Question 18

PETER KROPOTKIN: examples of mutual aid

Answer 18

mutual aid, operating outside the existing state structure, can also be seen in modern society

for example, the Black Panther food and survival programme of the 1960s and 1970s, which included free ambulance provision, breakfast for children and dental services

Question 19

PETER KROPOTKIN: methods of achieving anarchy

Answer 19

education then revolution

Kropotkin endorsed a strategy for change based on education

he realised that any revolution to end the oppression and injustice of the state and capitalism would be violent

the masses would need to take over the land, the means of production as well as social goods to satisfy their needs and ensure that the new world works for them

after this revolution, a future society would exist where war and violence is no longer necessary

Question 20

PETER KROPOTKIN: utopian

Answer 20

his outline of future society is utopian, which he argued it needed to be in order to develop criticisms of existing society and practical strategies for change

Question 21

PETER KROPOTKIN: the ideal future society

Answer 21

economically, future society would be based on communism where the means of production would be owned collectively and private property would be abolished

each would work according to their ability and receive according to their need

society would be based on communes, which would be voluntary and connected in federations based on direct democracy, starting from the local unit upwards

it would nurture altruism, end poverty and create a peaceful, harmonious society

Question 22

PETER KROPOTKIN: the state

Answer 22

opposed the state and capitalism – anarchism is “not only against Capitalism, but also against the pillars of Capitalism; Law, Authority and the State”

argued that if the state was removed, humans would act in line with their true nature of altruism and cooperation

Question 23

EMMA GOLDMAN: the state

Answer 23

the machinery of government is made up of “the club, the gun, the handcuff, or the prison”

the state is entirely immoral as it restricts autonomy and individuality

Question 24

EMMA GOLDMAN: government and violence

Answer 24

argued that all forms of government rely on violence….

internally, the state uses the police, the law and the threat of violence to maintain control over its citizens

externally, the state is a body of competitive struggle, constantly looking to expand its power through the use of the military

patriotism is used by the state to force obedience to the flag and state, stir up divisions with others and fund a growing military in order to control the increasing discontent of the masses, both domestically and globally

this ‘patriotism’ undermines social harmony and universal brotherhood, an argument that has grown in relevance with the rise of patriotic nationalism in an increasingly unstable 21st-century world

Question 25

EMMA GOLDMAN: methods of achieving anarchism

Answer 25

Goldman was opposed to parliamentary politics, which she believed was reformist and corrupting

she used the example of the women’s suffrage movement – once women had won seats in the legislature, rather than reforming the system from the inside, they become corrupted by authority in the same way that working men have been

the ballot would not set women free, emancipation can only come from within by each woman asserting her individuality

Question 26

EMMA GOLDMAN: reform

Answer 26

even if reform could be achieved, working within the state will not tackle the real causes of oppression that lie in the state, hierarchical authority structures like the church, private property and existing social and sexual conventions

Question 27

EMMA GOLDMAN: society

Answer 27

drew on the ideas of Stirner in that she supported the autonomy of the individual

also drew on the ideas of Kropotkin through her theory of social harmony