Living without domination : the possibility of an anarchist utopia

183 Pages·2007·0.96 MB·English

by  Clark

LIVING WITHOUT DOMINATION
Living Without Domination defends the bold claim that humans can organise
themselves to live peacefully and prosperously together in an anarchist utopia.
Clark refutes errors about what anarchism is, about utopianism, and about human
sociability and its history. He then develops an analysis of natural human social
activity which places anarchy in the real landscape of sociability, along with more
familiar possibilities including states and slavery.
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Living Without Domination
The Possibility of an Anarchist Utopia
SAMUEL CLARK
© Samuel Clark 2007
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
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or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Samuel Clark has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be
identified as the author of this work.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Clark, Samuel
Living without domination : the possibility of an anarchist
utopia. - (Ashgate new critical thinking in philosophy)
1. Anarchism 2. Utopias
I. Title
321'.07
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Clark, Samuel, 1974-
Living without domination : the possibility of an anarchist utopia / Samuel Clark.
p. cm. -- (Ashgate new critical thinking in philosophy)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7546-5461-3
1. Anarchism. 2. Utopias. I. Title. II. Series
HX833.C563 2007
335'.83--dc22
2006008833
ISBN-13: 978-0-7546-5461-2
ISBN-10: 0-7546-5461-3
Printed and bound by Antony Rowe Limited, Chippenham, Wiltshire.
Contents
Preface vii
Introduction 1
1 Primitivism 25
2 The Human Landscape 47
3 Living With Domination 75
4 Living Without Domination 109
5 Conclusion 139
Bibliography 151
Index 167
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Preface
This book has its roots in a doctoral thesis written from 2000 to 2003, in the Politics
Department at the University of York. During my time at York and since, I’ve had
help from friends, fellow-students, teachers, colleagues and family. Thankfully,
these aren’t mutually exclusive categories.
Friends outside the academy, including especially Eric Howard, Vix Lowthion,
David Martin and Nick Spicer, friends and fellow-students inside it, including Alex
Bavister-Gould, Derek Edyvane, Sarah Marshall, Matt Sleat and Rob Wavre, and
my sisters Alex and Verity Clark, gave of their company, conversation and various
expertises.
Teachers including Matt Matravers, Sue Mendus and Jon Parkin disagreed with
me, pushed for clarity, and helped create a rigorous but friendly working culture.
Peter Nicholson, who was my supervisor until his retirement, made doing a PhD
psychologically possible for me. Alex Callinicos, who then took over, was thoughtful,
supportive, and a pleasure to work with.
My parents Gillian and Stephen Clark gave generous personal, professional and
financial support, despite their occasional misgivings about my joining the family
firm.
Finally, my wife Emily supported us both, put up with my lows and absences, and
gave of her good sense, determination and love. This would have been impossible
without her; so would everything else.
Sam Clark, York and Glasgow, 2006
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Introduction
This book is an exercise in practical utopianism. I shall show, by an analysis and
some examples of human sociability, that an anarchist utopia is within the bounds of
social possibility. We really could live together peacefully and prosperously without
domination.
Twentieth-century anarchist texts frequently open by noting that anarchism has
long been thought dead, but that now is the time when it is (again) vital and relevant.1
Few other movements have been buried so often or so impermanently, and these
corrections and recoveries are therefore needed. However, they are incomplete. The
importance of anarchism does not lie wholly in its relation to current circumstances,
however propitious or demanding. It lies also at the level of theory, in anarchism’s
comprehensive challenge to domination and assertion of radical social possibility.
Several kinds of work are needed to take advantage of these virtues. We must
reread central texts and, in connection with this, we must clear away accumulated
misrepresentations. Most importantly here, we must extend, correct and supplement
the discovered anarchist theory: that is, we must continue to do anarchist philosophy
in the tradition of William Godwin, Peter Kropotkin and many others.
Denials of the utopian claim with which I began have often been grounded in
mistakes about what anarchists want, about utopianism, and about human sociability.
I reach my conclusion partly by considering and refuting them, beginning with some
common mistakes about the nature of anarchism.
Anarchism: Marginalisation and Variety
This book is both anarchist and about historical anarchism. But it is not immediately
obvious what anarchism in general is, and it may be too marginal or too flawed
to be worth such consideration. As James Joll remarks, ‘Anyone who has tried to
write about anarchism sometimes comes to a point at which he wonders just what
it is he is writing about’; elsewhere, Joll feels the need to justify writing about the
subject by appeal to the thought that ‘if the aim of the historian, like that of the artist,
1 For instance: George Woodcock, Anarchism: A history of libertarian ideas and
movements (Harmondsworth, 1963); David Goodway ed., For Anarchism: History, theory,
and practice (London, 1989).