Anarchy Works Peter Gelderloos 2010 Contents Introduction 7 AnarchyWouldNeverWork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Whatexactlyisanarchism? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Anoteoninspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Thetrickytopicofrepresentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 1.HumanNature 13 Aren’tpeoplenaturallyselfish? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Aren’tpeoplenaturallycompetitive?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Haven’thumansalwaysbeenpatriarchal? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Aren’tpeoplenaturallywarlike? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Aren’tdominationandauthoritynatural? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Abroadersenseofself. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 2.Decisions 33 Howwilldecisionsbemade? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Howwilldecisionsbeenforced? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Whowillsettledisputes? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Meetinginthestreets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 3.Economy 48 Withoutwages,whatistheincentivetowork? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Don’tpeopleneedbossesandexperts? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Whowilltakeoutthetrash? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Whowilltakecareoftheelderlyanddisabled? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Howwillpeoplegethealthcare? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Whatabouteducation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Whatabouttechnology? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Howwillexchangework? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Whataboutpeoplewhodon’twanttogiveupaconsumeristlifestyle? . . . . . . . . . 66 Whataboutbuildingandorganizinglarge,spread-outinfrastructure? . . . . . . . . . 67 Howwillcitieswork? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Whataboutdrought,famine,orothercatastrophes? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Meetingourneedswithoutkeepingcount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 2 4.Environment 79 What’stostopsomeonefromdestroyingtheenvironment? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Whataboutglobalenvironmentalproblems,likeclimatechange? . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Theonlywaytosavetheplanet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 5.Crime 89 Whowillprotectuswithoutpolice? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Whataboutgangsandbullies? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 What’stostopsomeonefromkillingpeople? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Whataboutrape,domesticviolence,andotherformsofharm? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Beyondindividualjustice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 6.Revolution 106 Howcouldpeopleorganizedhorizontallypossiblyovercomethestate? . . . . . . . . 106 Howdoweknowrevolutionarieswon’tbecomenewauthorities? . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Howwillcommunitiesdecidetoorganizethemselvesatfirst? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Howwillreparationsforpastoppressionsbeworkedout?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Howwillacommon,anti-authoritarian,ecologicalethoscomeabout? . . . . . . . . . 128 Arevolutionthatismanyrevolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 7.NeighboringSocieties 137 Couldananarchistsocietydefenditselffromanauthoritarianneighbor? . . . . . . . 137 Whatwillwedoaboutsocietiesthatremainpatriarchalorracist? . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Whatwillpreventconstantwarfareandfeuding? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Networksnotborders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 8.TheFuture 147 Won’tthestatejustreemergeovertime? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Whataboutotherproblemswecan’tforesee? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 MakingAnarchyWork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 ItWorksWhenWeMakeItWork 152 Bibliography 155 3 Nomoretalkabouttheolddays,it’stimeforsomethinggreat. Iwantyoutogetoutandmakeitwork… ThomYorke DedicatedtothewonderfulpeopleofRuinAmalia,LaRevoltosa,andtheKyivinfos- hop,formakinganarchywork. Althoughthisbookstartedoutasanindividualproject,intheendagreatmanypeo- ple, most of whom prefer to remain anonymous, helped make it possible through proofreading,fact-checking,recommendingsources,editing,andmore.Toacknowl- edge only a small part of this help, the author would like to thank John, Jose, Vila Kula, aaaa!, L, J, and G for providing computer access throughout a year of moves, evictions,crashes,viruses,andsoforth.ThankstoJessieDodsonandKatieClarkfor helping with the research on another project, that I ended up using for this book. AlsothankstoCandE,forlendingtheirpasswordsforfreeaccesstothedatabases ofscholarlyarticlesavailabletouniversitystudentsbutnottotherestofus. 4 Therearehiddenstoriesallaroundus, growinginabandonedvillagesinthemountains orvacantlotsinthecity, petrifyingbeneathourfeetintheremains ofsocietieslikenothingwe’veknown, whisperingtousthatthingscouldbedifferent. Butthepoliticianyouknowislyingtoyou, themanagerwhohiresandfiresyou, thelandlordwhoevictsyou, thepresidentofthebankthatownsyourhouse, theprofessorwhogradesyourpapers, thecopwhorollsyourstreet, thereporterwhoinformsyou, thedoctorwhomedicatesyou, thehusbandwhobeatsyou, themotherwhospanksyou, thesoldierwhokillsforyou, andthesocialworkerwhofitsyourpastandfutureintoafolderinafilingcabinet allask “WHATWOULDYOUDOWITHOUTUS? Itwouldbeanarchy.” 5 Andthedaughterwhorunsawayfromhome, thebusdriveronthepicketline, theveteranwhothrewbackhismedalbutholdsontohisrifle, theboysavedfromsuicidebytheloveofhisfriends, themaidwhomustbowtothosewhocan’tevencookforthemselves, theimmigranthikingacrossadeserttofindherfamilyontheotherside, thekidonhiswaytoprisonbecauseheburneddownashoppingmalltheywerebuilding overhischildhooddreams, theneighborwhocleansupthesyringesfromthevacantlot,hopingsomeonewillturn itintoagarden, thehitchhikerontheopenroad, the college dropout who gave up on career and health insurance and sometimes even foodsohecouldwriterevolutionarypoetryfortheworld, maybeallofuscanfeelit: ourbossesandtormentorsareafraidofwhattheywoulddowithoutus, andtheirthreatisapromise— thebestpartsofourlivesareanarchyalready. 6 Introduction Anarchy Would Never Work Anarchism is the boldest of revolutionary social movements to emerge from the struggle againstcapitalism—itaimsforaworldfreefromallformsofdominationandexploitation.But atitsheartisasimpleandconvincingproposition:peopleknowhowtolivetheirownlivesand organizethemselvesbetterthananyexpertcould.Otherscynicallyclaimthatpeopledonotknow what is in their best interests, that they need a government to protect them, that the ascension ofsomepoliticalpartycouldsomehowsecuretheinterestsofallmembersofsociety.Anarchists counter that decision-making should not be centralized in the hands of any government, but insteadpowershouldbedecentralized:thatistosay,eachpersonshouldbethecenterofsociety, and all should be free to build the networks and associations they need to meet their needs in commonwithothers. The education we receive in state-run schools teaches us to doubt our ability to organize ourselves.Thisleadsmanytoconcludeanarchyisimpracticalandutopian:itwouldneverwork. On the contrary, anarchist practice already has a long record, and has often worked quite well. The official history books tell a selective story, glossing over the fact that all the components of an anarchist society have existed at various times, and innumerable stateless societies have thrivedformillennia. Howwouldananarchistsocietycomparetostatistandcapitalistsocieties?Itisapparentthat hierarchicalsocietiesworkwellaccordingtocertaincriteria.Theytendtobeextremelyeffective at conquering their neighbors and securing vast fortunes for their rulers. On the other hand, asclimatechange,foodandwatershortages,marketinstability,andotherglobalcrisesintensify, hierarchicalmodelsarenotprovingtobeparticularlysustainable.Thehistoriesinthisbookshow thatananarchistsocietycandomuchbetteratenablingall itsmemberstomeettheirneedsand desires. The many stories, past and present, that demonstrate how anarchy works have been sup- pressed and distorted because of the revolutionary conclusions we might draw from them. We canliveinasocietywithnobosses,masters,politicians,orbureaucrats;asocietywithnojudges, nopolice,andnocriminals,norichorpoor;asocietyfreeofsexism,homophobia,andtranspho- bia;asocietyinwhichthewoundsfromcenturiesofenslavement,colonialism,andgenocideare finallyallowedtoheal.Theonlythingsstoppingusaretheprisons,programming,andpaychecks ofthepowerful,aswellasourownlackoffaithinourselves. Of course, anarchists do not have to be practical to a fault. If we ever win the freedom to run our own lives, we’ll probably come up with entirely new approaches to organization that improveonthesetriedandtrueforms.Soletthesestoriesbeastartingpoint,andachallenge. 7 What exactly is anarchism? Volumeshavebeenwritteninanswertothisquestion,andmillionsofpeoplehavededicated their lives to creating, expanding, defining, and fighting for anarchy. There are countless paths to anarchism and countless beginnings: workers in 19th century Europe fighting against cap- italism and believing in themselves instead of the ideologies of authoritarian political parties; indigenous peoples fighting colonization and reclaiming their traditional, horizontal cultures; highschoolstudentswakinguptothedepthoftheiralienationandunhappiness;mysticsfrom China one thousand years ago or from Europe five hundred years ago, Daoists or Anabaptists, fightingagainstgovernmentandorganizedreligion;womenrebellingagainsttheauthoritarian- ismandsexismoftheLeft.ThereisnoCentralCommitteegivingoutmembershipcards,andno standard doctrine. Anarchy means different things to different people. However, here are some basicprinciplesmostanarchistsagreeon. AutonomyandHorizontality:Allpeopledeservethefreedomtodefineandorganizethem- selvesontheirownterms.Decision-makingstructuresshouldbehorizontalratherthanvertical, sonoonedominatesanyoneelse;theyshouldfosterpowertoactfreelyratherthanpoweroveroth- ers.Anarchismopposesallcoercivehierarchies,includingcapitalism,thestate,whitesupremacy, andpatriarchy. MutualAid:Peopleshouldhelponeanothervoluntarily;bondsofsolidarityandgenerosity formastrongersocialgluethanthefearinspiredbylaws,borders,prisons,andarmies.Mutual aidisneitheraformofcharitynorofzero-sumexchange;bothgiverandreceiverareequaland interchangeable. Since neither holds power over the other, they increase their collective power bycreatingopportunitiestoworktogether. VoluntaryAssociation:Peopleshouldbefreetocooperatewithwhomevertheywant,how- evertheyseefit;likewise,theyshouldbefreetorefuseanyrelationshiporarrangementtheydo not judge to be in their interest. Everyone should be able to move freely, both physically and socially. Anarchists oppose borders of all kinds and involuntary categorization by citizenship, gender,orrace. DirectAction:Itismoreempoweringandeffectivetoaccomplishgoalsdirectlythantorely onauthoritiesorrepresentatives.Freepeopledonotrequestthechangestheywanttoseeinthe world;theymakethosechanges. Revolution:Today’sentrenchedsystemsofrepressioncannotbereformedaway.Thosewho holdpowerinahierarchicalsystemaretheoneswhoinstitutereforms,andtheygenerallydoso inwaysthatpreserveorevenamplifytheirpower.Systemslikecapitalismandwhitesupremacy are forms of warfare waged by elites; anarchist revolution means fighting to overthrow these elitesinordertocreateafreesociety. Self-Liberation:“Theliberationoftheworkersisthedutyoftheworkersthemselves,”asthe oldslogangoes.Thisappliestoothergroupsaswell:peoplemustbeattheforefrontoftheirown liberation.Freedomcannotbegiven;itmustbetaken. A note on inspiration Pluralismandfreedomarenotcompatiblewithorthodoxideologies.Thehistoricalexamples of anarchy do not have to be explicitly anarchist. Most of the societies and organizations that 8 have successfully lived free of government have not called themselves “anarchist”; that term originated in Europe in the 19th century, and anarchism as a self-conscious social movement is notnearlyasuniversalasthedesireforfreedom. Itispresumptuoustoassignthelabel“anarchist”topeoplewhohavenotchosenit;instead, we can use a range of other terms to describe examples of anarchy in practice. “Anarchy” is a socialsituationfreeofgovernmentandcoercivehierarchiesheldtogetherbyself-organizedhor- izontalrelationships;“anarchists”arepeoplewhoidentifythemselveswiththesocialmovement orphilosophyofanarchism.Anti-authoritariansarepeoplewhoexpresslywanttoliveinasoci- etywithoutcoercivehierarchies,butdonot,tothebestofourknowledge,identifyasanarchists —eitherbecausethetermwasnotavailabletothemorbecausetheydonotseethespecificallyan- archistmovementasrelevanttotheirworld.Afterall,theanarchistmovementassuchemerged fromEuropeanditinheritedaworldviewinaccordancewiththisbackground;meanwhilethere are many other struggles against authority that spring from different worldviews and have no need to call themselves “anarchist.” A society that exists without a state, but does not identify itselfasanarchist,is“stateless”;ifthatsocietyisnotstatelessbychance,butconsciouslyworks to prevent the emergence of hierarchies and identifies with its egalitarian characteristics, one mightdescribeitas“anarchistic.”1 Theexamplesinthisbookhavebeenselectedfromawiderangeoftimesandplaces—about ninety altogether. Thirty are explicitly anarchist; the rest are all stateless, autonomous, or con- sciouslyanti-authoritarian.Morethanhalfoftheexamplesarefrompresent-dayWesternsociety, athirdaredrawnfromstatelesssocietiesthatprovideaviewofthebreadthofhumanpossibility outside of Western civilization, and the remaining few are classical historical examples. Some of these, such as the Spanish Civil War, are cited multiple times because they are well docu- mentedandofferawealthofinformation.Thenumberofexamplesincludedmakesitimpossible to explore each one in the detail it deserves. Ideally the reader will be inspired to pursue these questionsherself,distillingfurtherpracticallessonsfromtheattemptsofthosewhocamebefore. Itwillbecomeapparentthroughoutthisbookthatanarchyexistsinconflictwiththestateand capitalism. Many of the examples given here were ultimately crushed by police or conquering armies,anditisinlargepartduetothissystematicrepressionofalternativesthattherehavenot beenmoreexamplesofanarchyworking.Thisbloodyhistoryimpliesthat,tobethoroughgoing and successful, an anarchist revolution would have to be global. Capitalism is a global system, constantly expanding and colonizing every autonomous society it encounters. In the long run, noonecommunityorcountrycanremainanarchistwhiletherestoftheworldiscapitalist.An anti-capitalistrevolutionmustdestroycapitalismtotally,orelsebedestroyed.Thisdoesnotmean thatanarchismmustbeasingleglobalsystem.Manydifferentformsofanarchistsocietycould coexist,andtheseinturncouldcoexistwithsocietiesthatwerenotanarchist,solongasthelatter werenotconfrontationallyauthoritarianoroppressive.Thefollowingpageswillshowthegreat diversityofformsanarchyandautonomycantake. The examples in this book show anarchy working for a period of time, or succeeding in a specific way. Until capitalism is abolished, all such examples will necessarily be partial. These 1SamMbahandI.E.IgariwaywritethatbeforecolonialcontactnearlyalltraditionalAfricansocietieswere “anarchies,”andtheymakeastrongargumenttothiseffect.Thesamecouldalsobesaidofothercontinents.Butas theauthordoesnotcomefromanyofthesesocieties,andsinceWesternculturetraditionallybelievesithastherightto representothersocietiesinself-servingways,itisbesttoavoidsuchbroadcharacterizations,whilestillendeavoring tolearnfromtheseexamples. 9 examplesareinstructiveintheirweaknessesaswellastheirstrengths.Inadditiontoproviding apictureofpeoplecreatingcommunitiesandmeetingtheirneedswithoutbosses,theyraisethe questionofwhatwentwrongandhowwecoulddobetternexttime. Tothisend,herearesomerecurringthemesthatmaybebeneficialtoreflectoninthecourse ofreadingthisbook: Isolation:Manyanarchistprojectsworkquitewell,butonlymakeanimpactinthelivesofa tinynumberofpeople.Whatengendersthisisolation?Whattendstocontributetoit,andwhat canoffsetit? Alliances:Inanumberofexamples,anarchistsandotheranti-authoritarianswerebetrayed by supposed allies who sabotaged the possibility of liberation in order to gain power for them- selves. Why did anarchists choose these alliances, and what can we learn about what kind of alliancestomaketoday? Repression:Autonomouscommunitiesandrevolutionaryactivitieshavebeenstoppedcold by police repression or military invasion time after time. People are intimidated, arrested, tor- tured,andkilled,andthesurvivorsmustgointohidingordropoutofthestruggle;communities that had once provided support withdraw in order to protect themselves. What actions, strate- gies, and forms of organization best equip people to survive repression? How can those on the outsideprovideeffectivesolidarity? Collaboration:Somesocialmovementsorradicalprojectschoosetoparticipateinoraccom- modatethemselvestoaspectsofthepresentsysteminordertoovercomeisolation,beaccessible to a greater range of people, or avoid repression. What are the advantages and pitfalls of this approach?Aretherewaystoovercomeisolationoravoidrepressionwithoutit? Temporarygain:Manyoftheexamplesinthisbooknolongerexist.Ofcourse,anarchistsare nottryingtocreatepermanentinstitutionsthattakeonlivesoftheirown;specificorganizations shouldcometoanendwhentheyarenolongerhelpful.Realizingthat,howcanwemakethemost ofbubblesofautonomywhiletheylast,andhowcantheycontinuetoinformusaftertheyhave ceasedtobe?Howcanaseriesoftemporaryspacesandeventsbelinkedtocreateacontinuity ofstruggleandcommunity? The tricky topic of representation In as many cases as was possible, we sought direct feedback from people with personal ex- perienceinthestrugglesandcommunitiesdescribedinthisbook.Withsomeexamplesthiswas impossible, due to unnavigable chasms of distance or time. In these cases we had to rely exclu- sivelyonwrittenrepresentations,generallyrecordedbyoutsideobservers.Butrepresentationis notatallaneutralprocess,andoutsideobserversprojecttheirownvaluesandexperiencesonto whattheyareobserving.Ofcourse,representationisaninevitableactivityinhumandiscourse, andmoreoveroutsideobserverscancontributenewandusefulperspectives. However, our world is not that simple. As European civilization spread and dominated the rest of the planet, the observers it sent out were generally the surveyors, missionaries, writers, andscientistsoftherulingorder.Onaworldscale,thiscivilizationistheonlyonewiththeright tointerpretitselfandallothercultures.Westernsystemsofthoughtwereforciblyspreadaround theworld.Colonizedsocietieswerecutupandexploitedasslavelabor,economicresources,and ideologicalcapital.Non-WesternpeopleswererepresentedbacktotheWestinwaysthatwould 10