The Many Sects, Tribes, and Schools of Anarchism

Let’s Play Polcomball!

Anarchist movements have many ideological cousins including decentralists, minarchists, objectivists, autonomists, localists, regionalists, enclavists, radical individualists, guild socialists, council communists, agrarians, micro-nationalists, folk-village traditionalists, ethno-religious communitarians, Luddites, radical environmentalists, deep ecologists, animal liberationists, Green politics, eco-socialism, Georgists, geonomists, geolibertarians, libertarian socialists,  DeLeonists, libertarian Marxists, Luxemburgists, Western Marxists, Lettrists, situationists, utopian socialists, Bordigists,  libertarian feminists, libertarian queer liberationists, anti-globalists, libertarian constitutionalists, libertarian patriots, sovereign citizens, common law advocates, neo-tribalists,  anti-state communists, anti-state conservatives, non-reactionary third positionists, non-racist militias, non-supremacist separatists, farmer liberationists, ecovillagers, seasteaders, and proponents of networked states. Many other movements and ideologies function as pipelines that feed into anarchist tendencies.

The Farm (1971-present) A Tennessee commune based on non-violence, respect for the Earth, and communal living, founded by Stephen Gaskin.

“Imagine, after your initial surprise, the picture of a country exposed to governmental competition – that is to say, simultaneously possessing as many regularly competing governments as have ever been conceived and will ever be invented.” -Paul Emile de Puydt

Those who are sympathetic to anarchist ideas or certain aspects of anarchist thought or practice can be found in other ideological currents including but not limited to populism, Jeffersonianism liberalism, cantonalism, federalism, distributism, Catholic Worker, neo-classical liberalism, classical progressivism, civil libertarianism, left-libertarianism, paleolibertarianism, libertarian brutalism, humanitarian libertarianism, bleeding heart libertarianism, cosmopolitan libertarianism, thick libertarianism, thin libertarianism, liberaltarianism, bioregionalism,  participatory economics, inclusive democracy, demarchy, Steiner-Vallentyne school, Frankfurt school, New Left, futurism, futarchism, radical centrism, third party advocates,  the squatter community, the intentional communities movements, startup societies, alternative religious communities, the underground arts and culture milieu, and other social, cultural, political, or economic currents with an orientation towards decentralization of political, economic, and cultural power.

The Ottoman millet system provided some degree of autonomy even for those who were otherwise subject to a centralized imperium

How Fringe Are Your Opinions?

Anarchists and anarchist adjacents also participate or have participated in other movements including, among many others, neo-Gandhians, the truther/conspiracy community, the Zeitgeist movement, the Venus Project, the Occupy movement, the Tea Parties the liberty movement, the 9/11 truth movement, the “End the Fed” movement, anti-globalization activists, the anti-police brutality movement, the antiwar movement, the prisoner rights movement, the Bitcoin community, the LETS and barter community, the anti-drug war movement, the sex worker rights movement, anti-statist neo-reactionaries, anti-statist social justice warriors, third party advocates, the men’s rights movement,  non-statist race-realists, non-statist anti-racists, the worker cooperative movement, the non-statist LGBTQ community, ethnic self-determinationists and enclavists,  populism, paleoconservatism, Jeffersonianism, Southern Agrarianism, distributism, radical traditionalism, black nationalism, revolutionary nationalism, southern nationalism, Afro-centrism, European New Right, alternative right, third-positionism, and Third Worldism.

Kibbutzim (early 20th century – present) Socialist-Zionist agricultural communities in Israel practicing communal ownership and shared labor.

Anarchism of the Left and Left-Anarcho-Progressive Deviations

In recent as well as past times, anarchists and anarchist adjacents from the left have participated in such movements as Black Lives Matter, #MeToo Movement, Extinction Rebellion, Sunrise Movement, Antifa, Democratic Socialists of America, Democratic Party (US), Green Party (US), Occupy Wall Street, Fight for $15, Idle No More, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, The Women’s March, Indivisible, March for Our Lives, Never Again Action, Queer Liberation March, SlutWalk, Decolonize This Place, Poor People’s Campaign, Freedom to Marry, Human Rights Campaign, Amnesty International, International Socialist Organization, Industrial Workers of the World, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Workers World Party, Socialist Workers Party, Socialist Alternative, International Marxist Tendency, Solidarity, United Students Against Sweatshops, Food Not Bombs, Mutual Aid Networks, Our Revolution, Take Back the Night, Marxist Student Federation, Socialist Aotearoa, Global Women’s Strike, and Red-Green Alliance.

Medieval China was a minarchy, or a society with only minimum government

Anarchists and anarchist adjacents from the left (such as left-libertarians and libertarian socialists) have been involved with such issues as climate change, racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration reform, gun control, income inequality, healthcare access and affordability, education reform, police reform, criminal justice reform, workers’ rights, indigenous rights, animal rights and welfare, disability rights, mental health awareness and support, environmental conservation, homelessness and affordable housing, internet privacy and net neutrality, access to clean water and sanitation, drug policy reform, voting rights and electoral reform, government transparency and accountability, food justice and security, freedom of speech and expression, artistic freedom and cultural diversity, anti-war and anti-militarization, public transportation access and affordability, affordable childcare, eldercare and aging support, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, sustainable energy and infrastructure, technology and innovation for social good, financial regulation and consumer protection, science education and research funding, space exploration and colonization, religious freedom and tolerance, mental health in the workplace, public health and disease prevention, global peace and conflict resolution, online harassment and cyberbullying, youth empowerment and education, parental leave and family support, women’s health and reproductive rights, digital literacy and media literacy, social media ethics and regulation, healthcare for veterans and military families, marriage equality and family law, advocacy for the homeless and disenfranchised, equity and inclusion in all aspects of society.

Auroville (1968-present) An experimental township in India aiming for universal harmony and sustainable living, inspired by Mirra Alfassa and Sri Aurobindo.

Anarchism of the Right and Right-Anarcho-Conservative Opportunisms

Other types of anarchists and anarchist adjacents from the right (such as free-market libertarians and small government conservatives) have been involved with such causes as limited government, free markets and capitalism, individual freedom and personal responsibility, traditional family values, second amendment rights, national defense and military strength, law and order, lower taxes and reduced government spending, energy independence and domestic production, sovereignty and national borders, school choice and education vouchers, parental rights and family autonomy, pro-life and anti-abortion, religious freedom and expression, right to work and anti-union, fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets, limited regulation and deregulation, support for law enforcement and the military, opposition to political correctness and cancel culture, patriotism and american exceptionalism, support for small businesses and entrepreneurship, pro-growth economic policies and job creation, traditional marriage and opposition to same-sex marriage, opposition to affirmative action and identity politics, support for the coal and oil industries, strong border security and immigration restriction, limited foreign aid and international intervention, support for traditional education and academic rigor, opposition to government-run healthcare, pro-gun and pro-Second Amendment.

Twin Oaks Community (1967-present) An income-sharing, egalitarian, and non-violent commune in Virginia with around 100 members.

Anarchists truly practice the principle of “infinite diversity in infinite combination.” The causes, movements, and issues with which different types of anarchists align themselves reflect the vast diversity of thought and opinion among anarchists concerning what an ideal stateless society organized on such principles as decentralization, local self-rule, free association, voluntary cooperation, autonomous communities, organic culture, and individual sovereignty would look like.

Anarchist Catalonia (1936-1939) A region in Spain controlled by anarchist and socialist militias during the Spanish Civil War, with collectivized industries and agriculture managed by workers’ councils.

“In a flat world, you can have left and right, but in a round world, which is what we live on, there are totalitarians at the top (Stalin, Hitler, Genghis Khan) and anti-authoritarians at the bottom (anarchists, communalists, libertarians), with squishy liberals and mindless conservatives in between.”-Kirkpatrick Sale

The era of globalization brought with it an ongoing transition from a “modern” phenomenon of imperialism, centered around individual nation-states, to an emergent postmodern construct created among ruling powers. This new imperialism existed not in the form of multiple empires ruled by nation-states, but in the form of a singular, global Empire ruled by the international super-class. The rise of the Empire signified the decline of national conflict. The “enemy” of the Empire, whoever he was, could no longer be regarded as specifically ideological or national. The enemy came to be understood as a kind of criminal, as someone who represented a threat not to a political system or a nation but to the law. This enemy of the Empire was not regarded not as a rival state or ideological foe but as a “terrorist.” In this new order that enveloped the entire space of civilization, where conflict between nations had been made irrelevant, the “enemy” was simultaneously banalized (reduced to an object of routine police repression) and absolutized (as the Enemy, an absolute threat to the ethical order).

Rojava (2012-present) An autonomous region in northern Syria with a decentralized government based on direct democracy, gender equality, and communal economy.

By using analogies to classical political theory, the Empire could be understood as consisting of a  monarchy (the G20, and international organizations such as NATO, the International Monetary Fund or the World Trade Organization), an oligarchy (the multinational corporations and other nation-states) and a democracy (the various non-government organizations and the United Nations). The Empire was total and resistance could only take the form of negation, or the will to resist. The Empire was total, and economic and political oppression continued, even as all heterogeneous cultural identities were wiped out and replaced with a universal mono-cultural one, the socio-economic identity of the poor persists.

However, multiple subsequent developments have signified the decline of the Empire and a return not to the bipolar world of the Cold War but to the multipolar world consisting of rivalries between Great Powers that existed prior to World War One. The declining influence of the United States as a unipolar hegemon and the assertiveness of the European Union, Russia, China, India, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the “Pink Tide” nations, and other international forces have created the foundation for a return to multipolarity.

Most anarchists reject bigotry or out-group hostility concerning race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability, culture, lifestyle,  or other categories.  Some anarchists regard “political correctness” as social progress that is helpful for the purpose of overcoming past forms of out-group hostility.  Other anarchists feel that political correctness errors by vilifying entire categories of people on the basis of group identity with derisive labels and regard such actions as counterproductive, divisive, ethically dubious, strategically self-defeating and counter to the libertarian ideals of anarchism. Some anarchists regard political correctness as contrary to the freedoms of speech, association, religion, due process,  and academic and scientific inquiry.  Other anarchists believe such values are secondary to combating social inequality. Some anarchists regard violence against rival political groups as a legitimate preemptive means of preventing future forms of oppression from emerging. Other anarchists regard such actions as inherently authoritarian and creating the foundation for future forms of oppression. Questions concerning the legitimacy of the use of violence and the degree to which to extend tolerance to political enemies have long been contentious topics of debate among anarchists. The late, great anarchist historian Paul Avrich recognized these tensions within anarchism.

Anti-Oppression Policy

A once prominent journalist observed that theoretically speaking, oppressed minorities represent approximately 372% of the general population. Anarchists normally stand in opposition to all forms of bigotry, oppression, social injustice, or out-group scapegoating including but not limited to racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, classism, ageism, anti-Semitism, anti-indigeneity, ableism, looksism, fatphobia, thinism, beautyism, producerism, appearance discrimination, mentalism, sanism, speciesism, adultcentrism,  chronocentrism, slut shaming,   heterosexism, cissexism, religious oppression, right-handedism, culturalism,  anti-transracialism, anti-transablism, anti-otherkinism, environmentalism racism, climate oppression, environmental homophobia, anti-homo sapien-presenting otherkinism, pedophobia,zoophobia, anti-asexualism,   anti-sex workerism, therapeutism, monogamism, anti-illegalism, addiction oppression, drugophobia, literatism, educationism, intellectual supremacism, competencyism, alcoholism bigotry, anti-prisonerism, anti-gamerism, parentism, gangophobia, anti-bikerism, anti-aspieism, dylexiophobia, agoraphobia, hydrophobia, penis sizism, four eyes phobia, anti-autism, anti-farsightedism, and cleanism, mansplaining, manspreading, manshaming, anti-unhousedism, white shaming, privilege shaming, redneckophobia, Yankee discrimination, incestophobia, misandry, and cisphobia, Islamophobia, Iranophobia, Russophobia, Sinophobia, Europhobia, medical heretic persecution, historical revisionist oppression, scientific dissident discrimination, cisphobia, Christophobia, rightwingophobia, leftwingophobia, anti-TERFism, anti-SWERFism, conspiracyphobia, anti-carnivorism, anti-omnivorism, anti-vegan, vegetarian oppression, vegetable oppression, pregophobia, historophobia,  squirterphobia, medophobia, anti-bipolarism, goldenphobia,  analphobia, anti-schizoidalism, statuephobia,  anti-strawism, anti-gunownerism, anti-smokerism, cultophobia, occultophobia, TDS, anti-TDS, anti-BDS, anti-BDSM, anti-Renaissance Festivalism, anti-footballerism, and UFOphobia.

On the Social Questions

“Infinite diversity in infinite combinations.” -Gene Roddenberry

On social and cultural questions, many anarchists are cultural liberals or radicals, while some others are cultural conservatives, traditionalists, or centrists. The political philosophies of anarchism transcend ordinary cultural differences of this type.  Anarchists, anti-statists, decentralists,  libertarians,  communalists, utopians, counterculturalists, and other anti-authoritarian radicals differ among themselves on a wide range of questions. These include animal rights, children’s rights, abortion, capital punishment, religion, environmentalism in its many forms, the legitimacy of conspiracy analysis, competing economic views, sexual norms, the role of technology, varying expressions of identity politics, matters of political strategy and many other things. Additionally, anarchists face the challenge of engaging with the wider society outside of the various anarchist and libertarian milieus for the purpose of building a much larger anti-state, anti-ruling class movements for which anarchists provide the leadership and militant wing. This inevitably involves recruiting, organizing, or engaging in dialogue with people from all layers of society and a wide range of cultural backgrounds.

Plato’s Republic (c. 380 BCE) Plato’s vision of an ideal society ruled by philosopher-kings, with a class structure emphasizing justice and the common good.