Anarchy 101

172 Pages·2012·0.58 MB·English

by  Leona Benten

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Anarchy 101
edited by Dot Matrix
with help from participants at anarchy101.org
Anarchy 101
Website and book edited by Leona Benten

licensed under creative commons

2012
Ardent Press
Published by Aragorn Moser
Layout by Leona Benten
Printed at “The Compound”
1818 Carleton St. Berkeley, CA 94703-1908
introduction i
brief history v
Q
uestions
Why are there so many definitions of anarchy? 1
What are the main threads of anarchist thinking? 2
Is there an anarchist definition of class? 8
All else being equal, isn’t violence
inherently antithetical to anarchy? 11
How do anarchists define violence? 12
Where do anarchists place scientists in society? 13
What about technology? 15
What is wrong with the concept of rights? 16
Anarchy vs. Anarchism? 19
How do you respond to people who
think that Somalian society is “anarchy”? 21
What are the advantages of anarchy for a
society over any form of government? 22
Why does capitalism rely on the State? 23
How can private property be abolished
without any authority to abolish it with? 23
What does Nietzsche have to do with anarchism? 26
Are there any critiques of capital that
emphasize the individual? 31
When (if ever) is coercion an
appropriate choice for an anarchist? 35
Does anarchy mean I can’t try to coerce people or
only that they’re free to walk away if I do? 36
Why are anarchists against hierarchy? 38
What makes someone an anarchist? 43
What’s the general attitude anarchists have of neigh-
borhood/community watch organizations? 45
Are anarchists egalitarians? 49
What do anarchists mean by “equality”? 51
What’s the deal with feminism and anarchy? 53
What are some anarchist critiques of humanism? 57
Stance on egoism (rational/ethical) vs. altruism? 62
Is there a “social” and “anti-social”
anarchism? What are the distinctions? 69
What happens when anarchists
fundamentally disagree? 82
What is wrong with independent
journalists in the eyes of anarchists? 83
How can I be an effective leader (in a
non-hierarchical, anti-authoritarian sense)? 86
How do anarchists feel about
worker-owned businesses? 94
Are anarchists by definition anti-authoritarian? 95
What is the difference between
“revolution” and “insurrection”? 96
What is insurrectionary anarchism? 98
Is class struggle anarchy different
from insurrectionary anarchy? 101
What is social war? 102
Liberal or Conservative? 105
What is post-left anarchism? 109
Who do post-Leftists organize or take action with? 111
According to post-leftists, what defines the left? 113
Are actual anarchists socialists? 118
How do anarchists define “identity politics”? 119
What is consensus and how is its
use opposed to hierarchy? 122
Why don’t anarchists vote? 124
Is the academy a good place for anarchists? 127
How have the Situationists influenced
contemporary anarchism? 129
I’m concerned about how we’ll help those of us who
need long term care, like disabled people or the
mentally ill 132
Would an anarchist bookstore clerk call the cops if the
bookstore was being robbed at gunpoint? 133
How could people in an anarchist society be protected
from violence, aggression, and abuse? 134
What would we do about violent people who
are already in prison? 136
How would an anarchist society deal with
crimes like rape or serial murder? 141

reading list 143
people and groups mentioned p145
Thanks to my partners, and to
anok, autumn leaf cascade, enkidu, in-
grate, rice boy, and taigarun, all long-
term and thoughtful contributors to
anarchy101.org. Thanks also to the
others on that site (including many
anonymous questionners). I truly ap-
preciate getting to have provocative
conversations about things I care about
with people who I don’t even know.
And thanks to Jessica, the excellent
beginner.
I hope I have done justice to us all.
In the following pages you will meet
AnarchicSaint: ast
Anok: ank
Apio: api
Asker: asr
Aragorn: a!
Aragorn23: a23
Autumn Leaf Cascade: alc
Blacque: blq
Dot: dot
Enkidu: enk
Frenzy: frz
Funkyanarchy: fnk Ingrate: ing
Iconoclast: ict Inpraiseofchaos: ipc
KatherineD: kd
Lawrence: law
Madlib: mdb
MrThisBody: mtb
MattThePrick: mtp
MollytheAnarchist: mta
Nothing Resonates: nnn
Rice Boy: rby
Sabotage: sab
Squee: squ
Taigarun: tgn
Vindico Vaco: vvo

Anarchy is many things to different i
n
people: a vision, a plan, a conversation, a t
r
process. It is my view (consistent with a o
d
whole raft of contemporary anarchists,
u
from Alfredo M. Bonanno to Voltairine de c
t
Cleyre* and beyond) that anarchy is best i
o
understood, and is most helpful, as a ten- n
sion, a question, a rejection. This text op-
erates from that premise.
This book is composed of ques-
tions, answers, and comments (sometimes
lightly edited) taken from a website called
anarchy101.org, in which various anarchists
answer questions posed by themselves and
others. This variety of voices (the answers
and comments disagree with each other as
often as agree) is integral to any anarchist
project that I want to be a part of. There
are many more questions there than could
reasonably fit into a book, so go, read, ask,
and argue.
We welcome your engagement with
these ideas, and look forward to hearing
your voice in the future.
*
for notes on most people mentioned in
the text, see page 152
i