A Guide to Understanding the Types of Anarchism

We’ve heard it all over. But what really is Anarchism?

It’s a joke within anarchist circles that for every anarchist you’ll get a different definition of Anarchism. So what really is Anarchism?

Anarchist. Increasingly Anarchism has been used as a buzzword by both the American right and center, who ignore the history of the words use and instead escribe it to anyone who dares to stand against the state. Politicians like Joe Biden have called for the arrests of so-called anarchists and the President has described basically everyone who opposes him an anarchist: evidently this redefinition is not limited to Republicans.

Anarchism’s Stigmatization Within America

During the original Red Scare in the early 20th century, Anarchism received a spotlight along with Bolshevism as a way to demonize immigrants, particularly those of Italian origin. Throughout the early 1900s, there were multiple bombings perpetrated by anarchists, most famous being the Haymarket Affair, which gained particular attention due to the scale of the bombing as well as the sham trial following it. This stigmatization has persisted in American culture, leading to the mass use of “Anarchist” as a pejorative for political opponents, similar to “Communist” in its application.

Defining Anarchism

While Anarchism is not intrinsically leftist, the term’s use in America has almost always been to describe left and post-left anarchists.

It’s a joke within anarchist circles that for every anarchist you’ll get a different definition of Anarchism. For the left anarchists, it’s “The abolition of all unjust hierarchy”; for post-left anarchists, it’s “The abolition of all that hinders the ability of the individual to act in their own self-interest”; and for the right anarchists, it’s “the abolition of the state”. While Anarchism is not intrinsically leftist, the term’s use in America has almost always been to describe left and post-left anarchists.

Left Anarchism

Most Left Anarchists are some variant of Anarcho-Communist, an ideology that advocates for the establishment of Communism: A stateless classless society in which the workers own the means of production. However, unlike Marxists, Anarcho-Communists don’t believe in transitionary stages between revolution and Communism, which puts them at odds with most other Communists. The other prevalent ideology within Left Anarchist circles is Anarcho-Syndicalism which envisions a society in which everyone in the community is in a giant union. As many Anarcho-Syndicalists see this society as a steppingstone towards communism, they share a flag with Anarcho-Communists.

Post-Left Anarchism

Post-Left Anarchists fall mainly into 3 separate camps, Egoists, Insurrectionary Anarchism, and Anarcho-Primitivists. Post-Leftists are heavily influenced by the Post-Modernist movement; as such, they reject constructs such as Moralism, Nations, Property, and religion.

1. Anarcho-Primitivism vs. Neo-Luddism

In popular media and even within many political communities the Unabomber has been mischaracterized as an Anarcho-Primitivist. This mischaracterization seems to come from a misunderstanding of the main tenants of An-Prim philosophy. Anarcho-Primitivists believe that Humanity should regress to pre-agricultural societal structures, with the aim of halting exploitation of nature and climate change. This contrasts with the Unabomber’s manifesto, in which he criticizes Primitivism, aiming to regress to pre-industrial rather than pre-agricultural society.

While on a surface level the Unabomber appears to be an Anarcho-Primitivist, delving deeper into his philosophy shows this to be false. Ted Kaczynski would be much better described as a Neo-Luddite or an Anarcho-Agrarianist.

2. Egoists

An essential step to understanding Egoist thought is the idea that Reality is completely subjective, so there is no way to prove other people exist. Egoists, instead of wallowing in Nihilism, say that as they are the person at the center of their reality, Individuals should act only in their own self-interest. While at first, this could be construed as the realization of the non-ideological word Anarchy, upon further inspection this proves false. The creator of Post-Left Egoism, Max Stirner essentially argued that it is in one’s self-interest to form a “Union of Egoists” what amounts basically to a commune. Interestingly enough, Stirner was really good friends with Fredrich Engels, whereas Marx dedicated 300 pages of a book to calling Stirner's ideology trash. Egoists come in many forms, but most are “Stirnerite Egoists” who argue that communism helps achieve the ultimate individual freedom: Freedom from the state, class, and work.

3. Insurrectionary Anarchism

Unlike Egoists, who find a kind of solace within nihilism, Insurrectionary Anarchists dive deep into the pit. They say “We’re done, the climate crisis will kill us all, anarchist revolution is never going to happen”, but instead of simply saying give up, Insurrectionary Anarchists say that anything goes. Within Anarchist circles Insurrectionary Anarchists are well known for being very violent and extreme, typically the ones throwing Molotov’s and smashing in people’s faces. Additionally, their theory, such as the pamphlet Dessert, is known for being depressing and hopeless.

Slicing Through the Stigma.

Anarchism within the mainstream is often pictured as purely violent rebellion, but Anarchy has a long history of scholarly theory. The creator of the term “Anarchist”, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, described it as “Order without Power”.

Sovereign Power is threatened by this ideology, as the abolition of the state is the abolition of their control, so they rebrand Anarchism from a complex, theory-driven philosophy, to a stereotype of a Rebellious Teenager.

What we see within the media is a propagandized narrative of Anarchists, created by Sovereign Power to scare the general populace into supporting stronger measured to suppress ‘radical speech’.

The Paradigm Shift of State Control

Much like Marxists view society as a constant conflict between classes, Anarchists see society as a progression of stronger state control, from feudal lordship; to monarchy; to liberal colonial empires; to neo-colonialist liberal states.

While these different societal structures seem different, they are cut from the same cloth. In his book, “Democratic Confederalism” Anarchist Abdullah Öcalon argues that in the transition from Monarchy to Liberalism, the Nation itself replaced the monarch and Nationalism replaced the Monarchist Divine Right of Kings.

Anarchism as a buzzword.

I encourage everyone reading this to do some research into the rich history of Anarchism, it’s movements, it’s intricate theory. Whether it be the establishment of the Catalonian syndicate or the split in the first international, Anarchism has proven itself to be more than what it’s political opponents describe it to be.

Anarchist Reading Suggestions

The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin: Great introductory Anarcho-Communist book.

Anarchy by Errico Malatesta.

Desert by Anonymous: Anarcho-Nihilist pamphlet.

The Ego and His Own by Max Stirner: Egoist literature.