Chomsky on Anarchism

242 Pages·2005·4.54 MB·English

by  Noam Chomsky

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CHOMSKY ON ANRRCHISM
SELECTED AND EDITED BY
BRRRY PRTEMRN
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m (Author). C USA: AK Pres ry.com/lib/do
Chomsky, Noa Oakland, CA, http://site.ebra
COPYRIGHT@196199,7 0,1 976,1 986,1 990,
1995,1 996,2 004,2005 NCOHAMO MSKY
CHOMSKOYN A NARCHISM
ISBN: 1-904859-20-8
9781904859260
LIBRAROYF C ONGRESS CONNTURMOBLE R2:0 05923315
AK PRESS AK PRESS
674A 23RDS TREET POB ox 12766
OAKLANCDA EDINBURGSHC,O TlAND
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Interior layout and design: Fran Sendbuehler
Cover design: John Yates
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CHOMSKY ON ANARCHISM
PREFACE 5
INTRODUCTION7
ONE. OBJECTIVAINTDLY I BERSACLH OLARSHIP
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TWO· LANGUAAGNED F REEDOM 101
THRE.E NOTEOSN A NARCHISM1 18
FOU·R THER ELEVAONFCAE N ARCHO-$VNDICAL13I3S M
(INTERVIEW)
FIV.E PREFATCOE
ANTOLOGIJA ANARHIZMA 149
SI·X CONTAINITHNEGT HREAOTFD EMOCRACY1 53
SEVENA·N ARCHISM, MARXISM
ANDH OPFEO RT HEf UTURE 178
(INTERVIEW)
EIGH.T GORLASN DV ISIONS
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pg NIN·E ANARCHISIMN,T ElLECTAUNADT LHSE STAT2E1 2
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Chomsky, Noa Oakland, CA, http://site.ebra
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PREFACE
I was a teenager when I first learned that Chomsky was an anarchist. The dis­
covery had a powerful effect. This was around 1980 and, while "anarchy" was
proclaimed loudly from the stages of some punk rock shows I attended. I felt
isolated in my belieft hat there was something profound, and profoundly seri­
ous, about the doctrine I had adopted-something beyond easy exhortations
to "smash the state," without any suggestion of how, or what to replace it with.
I'd read the dassics-Proudhon. Bakunin, Kropotkin-but they were hard to
find, 110( to mention dead. Chomsky was not only alive, he was a widely-read,
well-respected intellectual, who weme his first pro-anarchist essay at (he age of
ten, hung our at anarchist newsstands and bookshops on 4th Avenue in
Manhanan as a teenager (not far from my punk stomping grounds), and still
maintained his anti-authoritarian beliefs as an adult. Despite the connadiction
my peers might have seen in appealing to the aurhority of such a public figure,
I felt validated, and much less alone.
Part of the reason we at AK Press are publishing this book is to inspire that
same sense of excitement and discovery. It's much harder to pull off today, of
course, at least within the anarchist movement itself Anarchism is more wide­
spread and visible-validation and community within it much easier to find.
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Chomsky's version ofliberrarian socialism is somewhat better known. Bm per­
haps that very familiarity is dangerous. We think we know what anarchism is.
We think we know who Chomsky is. And, in that knowing, we miss a lot of
nuance and complexity. The essays and interviews collected in this book, writ­
ten between 1969 and 2004, will hopefully hold surprises and raise productive
questions for even the mOSt self-assured anarchist.
We're also publishing this book for the many people our there who don't
know what anarchism is, or whose knowledge of it is mostly limited to sensa­
tionalist newspaper headlines. For them, we see Chomsky as a bridge to a new
set of ideas about the means and ends of social change, to a I 50-year tradition
of revolutionary thought and practice that has sought social and economic jus­
tice without the mediation of bosses, politicians or bureaucrats. Outside the
anarchist movement, many are completely unaware of the libertarian socialist
roots of Chomsky's work, how they relate not only to his social criticism, bm
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4 people the nightly news tells us are the very antithesis of Reason?
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rchis ?id=1 known critiques-of the media, of US foreign policy, of exploitation and
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homsky on A s, 2005. p 5. minicanuc/D hwies' rfeu ncdapamabelne toalf bbeelcieofsm ainbgo,u ht owwh awt ei tm migeahnt s otrog abnei zheu mouarn l:i vwehs,o awned ahroe,w w ohuart
m (Author). C USA: AK Pres ry.com/lib/do
Chomsky, Noa Oakland, CA, http://site.ebra
PREFACE
pmential is stunted and deformed by hierarchical social relationships. Critique
without an underlying vision is mere complaint, which is precisely how politi­
cians and Fox News anchors portray all social protest. To understand
Chomsky, one must understand his vision-which is to say one must under­
stand anarchism.
If this book serves its purpose, you'll be well on your way. As Barry
Pateman suggests in his introduction, there is no single definition of anar­
chism. Certainly, some anarchists will take issue with different aspects of
Chomsky's version-especially, for instance, his refusal to deny the importance
of reformist political victories (however dear he is about their limitations).
But, whether they know nothing about anarchism or think they know every­
thing, everyone who reads this book will learn something valuable. And then,
hopefully, go on to learn more, enough to eventually build the sort of world
Chomsky envisions, a world where every person participates directly in the
decisions that affect their daily lives and illegitimate authority is consigned to
its proper place: a sad historical footnote about the days before we got our act
together and set things righc.
Charles Weigl
for the AK Press Collective
March 2005
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Chomsky, Noa Oakland, CA, http://site.ebra
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this volume is to present some of Noam Chomsky's ideas and
thoughts on anarchism. Chomsky is regularly identified by the media as a
prominent anarchisrllibertarian communist/anarcho-syndicalisr {pick as many
as you like}. More importantly he places himselfwithin this political spectrum.
Regardless of whether any of these labels fits him perfecrly, there can be no
doubt that his ideas on social change and the re-srmcnlfing of society are wor­
thy of consideration and discussion. We have selected a variety for the reader
[Q consider and, through which, to hopefully gauge boch Chomsky's contri­
bmion (Q anarchism and anarchism's contemporary relevance as a means of
interprering and changing rhe world.
Some of these talks and interviews are published here for the first time and,
combined with more familiar material, they reinforce and elaborate Chomsky's
sense of what anarchism is and what it could be. Inevitably, there is some rep­
etition among the pieces, specific themes and theorists to which Chomsky
often returns. Trying to get the same message across tends to make one repet­
itive! That said, though, as each idea is revisited, both clarity and nuance are
added to some challenging ideas.
Chomsky's introduction to Daniel Guerin's Anarchism (1970), which he 7
later revised for publication in for Reasons of State (1973) as "Nmes on
Anarchism," is importanr in crystallizing his sense of anarchism as bmh an his-
torical force and a way of bringing about conremporary social change. It was
an essay that was criticized by some anarchists. George Woodcock, an anarchist
historian, argued that it was one-dimensional. Chomsky, said Woodcock, was
a left-wing Marxist (as was Guerin) who wished to use anarchism to soften and
clarify his own Marxism. His work was mired in the nineteenth century lan-
guage of anarchism. At best it was anarcho-syndicalism; at worst simple eco-
nomic determinism. There was no reference to Kropotkin, Malatesta, Herbert
Read. For Woodcock, Chomsky equates anarchist struggle with a single class
and fails to see that anarchism appeals to "those people of all classes who seek
a society where the potentialities of existence are varied and liberated, a socie-
ty to be approached by lifestyle rebellion as well as economic struggle."
8 Woodcock's criticisms are interesting and nOt without their ironies. To be
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rchis ?id=1 remains as equally impressed by Pannekoek as by Rudolph Rocker or Diego
na oc Abad de Santillan. In his interview with Barry Pateman in 2004, he argues that
homsky on A s, 2005. p 7. minicanuc/D bthuetr et haarte "dthifefye raernec eths eb ketiwnde eonf dthiffise rleefnt csetsr atnhdat oofu cgohmt tmo uenxiissmt w ahnedn apneaorpclhe isatrse,
m (Author). C USA: AK Pres ry.com/lib/do
Chomsky, Noa Oakland, CA, http://site.ebra
INTRODUCTION
working together in comradely relationships." Equally important is Chomsky's
perceprion of class as the central tenet of anarchism. It's a theme he will keep
returning to and a theme that is out of synch with both Woodcock and some
elements of contemporary anarchism. For Chomsky, it is quite straightfor­
ward: within modern capitalism we see matters of class arising all the time. To
deny or minimize them is nonsensical. Such a position can lead him to harsh
criticisms of anarchists like Srirner, primitivists, and all those who cannot see
the importance of solidarity and community in a class-based way.
Woodcock and Chomsky are nO( roo far apart however on the central q ues­
rion oEhow an anarchy can be brought about. Both seem to shy away from the
idea of a single revolutionary moment that will ovenhrow capitalism. Rather,
they imagine it could well be a long, drawn-out process. It's an idea shared by
other anarchists such as Colin Ward who, in his Anarchy in Action (I 973),
argues that:
an anarchist society, a society that organizes itself without
authority, is always in existence ... buried under the weight of the
state and its bureaucracy, capitalism and its waste, privilege, reli­
gious differences, nationalism and its suicidal loyalries, religious
differences and their superstitious separatism.
is an idea that has always had resonance with some anarchists-Rocker is a
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notable example-and perhaps allows us to understand some of Chomsky's
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ideas more clearly. Surely, like Ward, he sees a fundamental human decency in
people. A decency that has somehow survived, and will continue to survive, all
the weapons that capitalism can throw at it. From this decency comes ways of
being that can operate within capitalism and point the way to a future of anar­
chy. Hence, Chomsky can argue that progressive taxation and Social Security
are created by attitudes which, if pushed a little more, would be anarchist. It's
a little bit reminiscent of Kropotkin arguing that lifeboatmen were an example
of anarchist communism in action, or the syndicalist idea the certain kinds of
unions could become the source of a new society-the new in the shell of the
old. Such an attitude certainly answers the problem of how we create anarchy
in our day-to-day lives. It also explains the myriad of examples Chomsky gives
of how to move towards anarchy, many of which implicitly suggest the rich­
ness of character and ability to provide mutual aid prevalent in many people.
A cynical reader may well want ro ask how long one must wait for the state to
9 be eroded by these examples of anarchy in action, or might point our the sup­
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m (Author). C USA: AK Pres ry.com/lib/do
Chomsky, Noa Oakland, CA, http://site.ebra
CHOMSKY ON ANARCHISM
the anarchist experience in the Spanish revolution, to realize how important
his essay "Objectivity and Liberal Scholarship" was in 1969. To be sure, there
was Vernon Richard's excellent Lessons of the Spanish Revolution, but Chomsky
went further. He clinically dissected Gabriel Jackson's The Spanish RepubLic
and the Civil War:1931-1939 and linked it to the liberal ideology prevalent in
America in the 1960s, an ideology that reflects "an antagonism to mass move­
ments and to social change that escapes the control of privileged elites," which
in Jackson's work reveals itself through a regular use of negative language to
describe the actions of the anarchists. Chomsky, using a rich array ofhisrorical
texts, brought his points to a wide audience and influenced a new generation
of researchers and militants, inspiring them to probe deeper and further. In his
portrayal of Jackson's work as representing contemporary American liberal
thinking on Vietnam, Chomsky impressively linked past and present, making
a shrewd and disturbing commem on liberalism in general. In the words of
Peter Werbe: "As Chomsky amply and admirably demons nates, when the
major issues of an era are settled in blood, liberalism's pretense to humane ends
or means crumbles under the demands of an implacable state."
So here are some key components of Chomsky's anarchism: an awareness
of anarchist history and how it still retains a freshness and urgency in the light
of today's challenges; a broad and generous definition of anarchism that links
left and council communists in its critique of capitalism and sees them as nat­
ural allies; the central importance of class in any critique of capitalism and in
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creating anarchy; and a belief in people's innate goodness, which is reflected in
actions and structures that contribute to what Rocker, in Anarcho-Syndicalism,
calls "a definite trend in (he historic development of mankind, which ...s trives
for the free, unhindered unfolding of all the individual and social forces in
life." All of this is allied to a flexible methodology through which to accom­
plish this unfolding, a willingness to change tactics, to consider a variety of
strategies, and a reluctance to speak with too much certainty or rigidness.
Chomsky expresses these ideas in clear and straightforward language, arguing
strongly against the mystifying nature of much inrellecrual writing and the
feelings of powerlessness caused by unnecessarily complex and elliptical lan­
guage.
There are some questions that we can still raise. One has the sense that
Chomsky's ideas about class could be a little tighter. Yes, class is manifestly an
economic state. It is, however, also a cultural state. To be working class is not
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m (Author). C USA: AK Pres ry.com/lib/do
Chomsky, Noa Oakland, CA, http://site.ebra