Anarchism and its core idea are widely debated amongst historians, with earlier renditions of what is now often referred to as ‘anarchism’ being dated back to ancient Greece and China through discussions between philosophers.
Anarchism in tradition, discussed the idea of removal or lack thereof authority. This idea displays authority as an adverse movement in the attainment of true power and accomplishment. Traditional anarchism was based on the idea of more focused action to abolish power from the state, based upon the traditional values of freedom and liberty. The first modern figure to discuss the idea of modern anarchism was William Godwin who argued so through his novel ‘Enquiry Concerning Political Justice’ in which he debated the idea that the government is the corrupting force within society and how it should be abolished. Whilst Godwin merely spoke about this idea, French philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon is widely considered a pioneer in the notion of modern anarchism. Proudhon worked alongside Karl Marx, Mikhail Bakunin, and Alexandr Herzen before the French Revolution during the 1840s.
William Godwin
Initially, Proudhon and Marx shared ideas on the running and order of the socialist party, however, Proudhon eventually opposed Marx’s more authoritarian views, leaving the socialist party in France to preach more libertarian viewpoints. Proudhon’s subscription to anarchism arose during his work in factories in France which stated points of the benefits of a lack of governmental control over the country. He eventually wrote many memoirs and doctrines, such as ‘The System of Economic Contradictions’ in 1846 which directly opposed the government and capitalist-led France. This outlines the belief of Proudhon’s anarchism being one of power towards more socialist and libertarian belief systems.
Whilst the theories and doctrines of both Proudhon and Godwin have validity in political theory, this idea has changed over time forming a newer belief of anarchism being post-anarchism and post-structuralism. Post-anarchism is the premise of questioning the traditional anarchist views, enveloping both these ideas along with feminism, scepticism and subjectivism, forming a new idea of anarchism. Along with this, post-structuralism formulation also challenged the ideas of traditional anarchism and its roots in morality. Both ideas were devised in May 1968 during anti-authoritarian strikes by a breadth of people around France through the occupation of universities, factories and more. Through these strikes the ideas of anarchism developed to a rejection of the rigid anarchist doctrines, instead exploring the idea of social movements and public discourse, forming current post-anarchism.
The true testament to anarchism and its general importance and implications is with the world itself and anarchist uprisings and societies. One such example is the aforementioned events in France in May 1968, with the causation of these events as a result of student discontent with the university system. Consequently, anarchist and radicalistic actions took place within the country, including many violent protests against the police force along with the idea of the formation and growth of revolutionary committees, including ‘La Fédération Anarchiste’ (The Anarchist Federation) which helped organise many of the protests at the time. Along with this, anarchism played a prevalent role during the Spanish Civil War and its inspiration in the creation of the Libertarian Social Revolution. This mainly anarchist-led revolutionary group fought directly against fascist leader Francisco Franco, specifically taking key victories in Catalonia and Valencia. However, despite large-scale victories, as a specific movement, it was relatively unsuccessful in stopping Franco and his backing from Hitler and Mussolini. Yet it outlines the importance of the movement, along with the potential for success due to its small size in the face of a dictator such as Franco. This depicts the overall importance of anarchism as a movement throughout history. Due to the increase in environmental anarchism, ‘Green Anarchism’, along with the events of the Rojava revolution in Syria, with fighting for the rights of greater decentralisation and gender equality, displays anarchism being ever present in the current world political space.
To conclude, due to the ever-changing nature of anarchism, there is evident difficulty in finding a precise definition due to its subjectivity. As a result of the multitude of anarchist factions within different nations, the opinion of anarchism and its understanding differs, with some following traditional anarchism and others the idea of post-anarchism through morality and beyond. So, what truly is anarchism? In my opinion, the central notion of anarchism is the wish for the removal of oppression through differing means, with the idea of freedom being pivotal to the identity of anarchism.
Written by Archie J H Bradbury, Year 11