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Individualist anarchism or anarcho-individualism is a collection of Anarchism currents that generally emphasize the individual and their will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions, and ideological systems.
Individualist anarchism can be divided into two main distinct movements, each with its own ideological orientations and choices. On one hand, there is American individualist anarchism, which began with Josiah Warren in the 1860s. It focuses primarily on economic freedom, drawing upon Max Stirner's egoist anarchism and Proudhon's mutualism, and develops perspectives that are notably financial in nature. Most American individualist anarchists of the 19th century advocated mutualism, a libertarian socialist form of market socialism, or a free-market socialist form of classical economics.
On the other hand, European individualist anarchism emerged between 1885 and 1895 in the labour movement. Much less studied and not directly connected to American individualist anarchism, with virtually no influence by Proudhon or Stirner for example, it generally consisted of militants with very different outlooks—particularly marked by strong radicalism, general adherence to anarchist communism, and often highly radical positions, including significant support for revolutionary violence and propaganda of the deed. The European movement was also distinguished by its strong opposition to the emerging anarcho-syndicalism of the same period, its rejection of the distinction between bourgeoisie and proletariat—seen as social constructs of capitalism to be abolished—and its close affinity with the social outlook of the Woman, Sex worker or Crime. This helps explain its rapid association with the rise of anarcha-feminism or illegalism in Europe, for example.
Although usually contrasted with social anarchism,McKay, Iain. An Anarchist FAQ. AK Press. Oakland. 2008. pp 59-60. both individualist and social anarchism have influenced each other. Among the early influences on American individualist anarchism Josiah Warren (sovereignty of the individual), Max Stirner (Egoist anarchism), Lysander Spooner (natural law), Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (mutualism), Henry David Thoreau (transcendentalism),: "Paralelamente, al otro lado del atlántico, en el diferente contexto de una nación a medio hacer, los Estados Unidos, otros filósofos elaboraron un pensamiento individualista similar, aunque con sus propias especificidades. Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), uno de los escritores próximos al movimiento de la filosofía trascendentalista, es uno de los más conocidos. Su obra más representativa es Walden, aparecida en 1854, aunque redactada entre 1845 y 1847, cuando Thoreau decide instalarse en el aislamiento de una cabaña en el bosque, y vivir en íntimo contacto con la naturaleza, en una vida de soledad y sobriedad. De esta experiencia, su filosofía trata de transmitirnos la idea que resulta necesario un retorno respetuoso a la naturaleza, y que la felicidad es sobre todo fruto de la riqueza interior y de la armonía de los individuos con el entorno natural. Muchos han visto en Thoreau a uno de los precursores del ecologismo y del anarquismo primitivista representado en la actualidad por Jonh Zerzan. Para George Woodcock, esta actitud puede estar también motivada por una cierta idea de resistencia al progreso y de rechazo al materialismo creciente que caracteriza la sociedad norteamericana de mediados de siglo XIX." Herbert Spencer (law of equal liberty)Freeden, Michael. Ideologies and Political Theory: A Conceptual Approach. Oxford University Press. . pp. 313–314 and Anselme Bellegarrigue (civil disobedience). For European individualist anarchism, one can find Pierre Martinet, Vittorio Pini, Clément Duval, Errico Malatesta, Émile Henry, Zo d'Axa, or groups such as the Intransigeants of London and Paris or the Pieds plats.
Within anarchism, American individualist anarchism is primarily a literary phenomenonAlexandre Skirda (2002). Facing the Enemy: A History of Anarchist Organization from Proudhon to May 1968. AK Press. p. 191. while social anarchism has been the dominant form of anarchism,Jennings, Jeremy (1993). "Anarchism". In Eatwell, Roger; Wright, Anthony (eds.). Contemporary Political Ideologies. London: Pinter. pp. 127–146. . "... anarchism does not stand for the untrammelled freedom of the individual (as the 'anarcho-capitalists' appear to believe) but, as we have already seen, for the extension of individuality and community" (p. 143).Gay, Kathlyn; Gay, Martin (1999). Encyclopedia of Political Anarchy. ABC-CLIO. p. 15. . "For many anarchists (of whatever persuasion), anarcho-capitalism is a contradictory term, since 'traditional' anarchists oppose capitalism".Morriss, Andrew (2008). "Anarcho-capitalism". In Hamowy, Ronald (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. SAGE; Cato Institute. pp. 13–14. . . . "Social anarchists, those anarchists with communitarian leanings, are critical of anarcho-capitalism because it permits individuals to accumulate substantial power through markets and private property." emerging in the late 19th century as a distinction from individualist anarchism after anarcho-communism replaced collectivist anarchism as the dominant tendency. (2026). 9781849351225, AK Press. ISBN 9781849351225 American individualist anarchism has been described by some as the anarchist branch most influenced by and tied to liberalism (specifically classical liberalism), or as a part of the liberal or liberal-socialist wing of anarchism — in contrast to the collectivist or communist wing of anarchism and libertarian socialism.Boyd, Tony; Harrison, Kevin, eds. (2003). "Marxism and Anarchism". Understanding Political Ideas and Movements. Manchester University Press. p. 251. .Carson, Kevin (2017). "Anarchism and Markets". In Jun, Nathan J. (2017). Brill's Companion to Anarchism and Philosophy. BRILL. p. 81. . However, others suggest a softer divide, seeing individualist anarchists as sharing with social anarchists an opposition to Anti-statism, Anti-capitalism and authority, while diverging (a) due to their evolutionary approach to change, preferring the creation of alternative institutions, such as Mutual bank or communes, and (b) in their preference for a market-based system of distribution over the need-based system advocated by social anarchists.McKay, Iain. An Anarchist FAQ. AK Press. Oakland. 2008. pp. 59. The very idea of an individualist–socialist divide is also contested by those who argue that individualist anarchism is largely socialistic and can be considered a form of individualist socialism, with non-John Locke individualism encompassing socialism.Wood, Ellen Meiksins (1972). Mind and Politics: An Approach to the Meaning of Liberal and Socialist Individualism. University of California Press. p. 7. . Lastly, some anarcho-capitalists claim anarcho-capitalism is part of the individualist anarchist tradition, while others disagree and reject the notion that anarcho-capitalism is a genuinely anarchist belief system or movement.McKay, Iain. An Anarchist FAQ. AK Press. Oakland. 2008. pp 22, 526.
Stirner, for instance, was only belatedly received in France by individualist anarchists, who found his ideas unoriginal and articulating concepts they believed they had already developed more effectively themselves. American individualist anarchism is usually way more studied and known than its European counterpart.
Michael Freeden identifies four broad types of individualist anarchism. Freeden says the first is the type associated with William Godwin that advocates self-government with a "progressive rationalism that included benevolence to others". The second type is the Moral nihilism self-serving rationality of Egoist anarchism as most associated with Max Stirner. The third type is "found in Herbert Spencer's early predictions, and in that of some of his disciples such as Wordsworth Donisthorpe, foreseeing the redundancy of the state in the source of social evolution". The fourth type retains a moderated form of egoism and accounts for social cooperation through the advocacy of market relationships. Individualist anarchism of different kinds have the following things in common:
Tucker's two socialisms were the state socialism which he associated to the Marxism and the libertarian socialism that he advocated. What those two schools of socialism had in common was the labor theory of value and the ends, by which anarchism pursued different means.Brown, Susan Love (1997). "The Free Market as Salvation from Government". In Carrier, James G., ed. Meanings of the Market: The Free Market in Western Culture. Berg Publishers. p. 107. .
The Egoist anarchism form of individualist anarchism, derived from the philosophy of Max Stirner, supports the individual doing exactly what he pleases—taking no notice of God, state, or moral rules. To Stirner, rights were spooks in the mind, and he held that society does not exist but "the individuals are its reality"—he supported property by force of might rather than moral right."What my might reaches is my property; and let me claim as property everything I feel myself strong enough to attain, and let me extend my actual property as fas as I entitle, that is, empower myself to take..." From The Ego and Its Own, quoted in Stirner advocated self-assertion and foresaw "associations of egoists" drawn together by respect for each other's ruthlessness. Another important tendency within individualist anarchist currents emphasizes individual subjective exploration and defiance of social conventions. Individualist anarchist philosophy attracted "amongst artists, intellectuals and the well-read, urban middle classes in general".
Anarchist historian George Woodcock wrote of individualist anarchism's tendency to distrust co-operation beyond the bare necessities for an Simple living.
Before being theorized, the first European individualists, particularly in France, were often militants involved in illegalism or insurrectionarism.Parry, Richard. The Bonnot Gang. Rebel Press, 1987. p. 15: "Anarchist historian George Woodcock reports the incident in which the important Italian social anarchist Errico Malatesta became involved "in a dispute with the individualist anarchists of Paterson, who insisted that anarchism implied no organization at all, and that every man must act solely on his impulses. At last, in one noisy debate, the individual impulse of a certain Ciancabilla directed him to shoot Malatesta, who was badly wounded but obstinately refused to name his assailant." Within these circles, European individualist anarchism gradually took shape. In general, anarchists of this tendency shared several intellectual positions identified by Carl Frayne in their thesis regarding the French individualist tendency:
This last point is illustrated for example by the soup conferences held in Paris by Pierre Martinet or Séverine in the winters of the early 1890s. The distinction between the European and American individualist anarchist movements was noted by Errico Malatesta in 1897, when he said that there would be 'the individualist anarchists of Tucker’s school' and 'the individualist anarchists of the communist school'.
The European individualist anarchism later on met the American one, such as in the thought, for example, of Émile Armand, who started including Stirner in his thought and his tendency of the European branch in the interwar period.
Individualist European anarchists are described as such by historian Céline Beaudet in her monograph on free communities in France at the beginning of the 20th century—anarchist experiments often linked to individualist circles, such as the Naturiens—which prefigure anarcho-primitivism and engage in calls for a return to 'nature', she writes that:
Dissenters among dissenters, 'anarchy within anarchism', they are rarely considered for their own sake, either relegated to the closets of History or described through the lens of their detractors: bourgeois or police informants for 'orthodox' anarchists, bandits or criminals for the bourgeois, 'dispersion of tendencies' or 'irresponsible' revolt among historians.
Godwin took individualism to the radical extent of opposing individuals performing together in Orchestra, writing in Political Justice that "everything understood by the term co-operation is in some sense an evil". He believed democracy to be preferable to other forms of government.
Godwin's political views were diverse and do not perfectly agree with any of the ideologies that claim his influence as writers of the Socialist Standard, organ of the Socialist Party of Great Britain, consider Godwin both an individualist and a communist;"William Godwin, Shelly and Communism" by ALB, The Socialist Standard Murray Rothbard did not regard Godwin as being in the individualist camp at all, referring to him as the "founder of communist anarchism";Rothbard, Murray. " Edmund Burke, Anarchist ." and historian Albert Weisbord considers him an individualist anarchist without reservation.
Stirner's concept of "egoistic property" not only a lack of moral restraint on how one obtains and uses things, but includes other people as well.Moggach, Douglas. The New Hegelians. Cambridge University Press, 2006 p. 194 His embrace of egotism is in stark contrast to Godwin's altruism. Although Stirner was opposed to communism, for the same reasons he opposed capitalism, humanism, liberalism, property rights and nationalism, seeing them as forms of authority over the individual and as spooks in the mind, he has influenced many anarcho-communists and post-left anarchists. The writers of An Anarchist FAQ report that "many in the anarchist movement in Glasgow, Scotland, took Stirner's 'Union of egoists' literally as the basis for their anarcho-syndicalist organising in the 1940s and beyond". Similarly, the noted anarchist historian Max Nettlau states that "on reading Stirner, I maintain that he cannot be interpreted except in a socialist sense".
This position on property is quite different from the native American, natural law, form of individualist anarchism which defends the inviolability of the private property that has been earned through labor.Weir, David. Anarchy & Culture. University of Massachusetts Press. 1997. p. 146 Other egoists include James L. Walker, Sidney Parker, Dora Marsden and John Beverly Robinson. In Russia, individualist anarchism inspired by Stirner combined with an appreciation for Friedrich Nietzsche attracted a small following of bohemian artists and intellectuals such as Lev Chernyi as well as a few lone wolves who found self-expression in crime and violence.Levy, Carl. " Anarchism". Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007. 2009-10-31. They rejected organizing, believing that only unorganized individuals were safe from coercion and domination, believing this kept them true to the ideals of anarchism.Avrich, Paul. "The Anarchists in the Russian Revolution". Russian Review, Vol. 26, No. 4. (Oct., 1967). p. 343 This type of individualist anarchism inspired anarcha-feminist Emma Goldman.
The American version of individualist anarchism has a strong emphasis on the non-aggression principle and Self-ownership. Some individualist anarchists such as ThoreauJohnson, Ellwood. The Goodly Word: The Puritan Influence in America Literature, Clements Publishing, 2005, p. 138. Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, edited by Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman, Alvin Saunders Johnson, 1937, p. 12. do not speak of economics, but simply of the right of "disunion" from the state and foresee the gradual elimination of the state through social evolution.
They believed state monopoly capitalism (defined as a state-sponsored monopoly)Schwartzman, Jack. "Ingalls, Hanson, and Tucker: Nineteenth-Century American Anarchists." American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 62, No. 5 (November 2003). p. 325. prevented labor from being fully rewarded.
Lysander Spooner besides his individualist anarchist activism was also an important Abolitionism and became a member of the First International.
Some Boston anarchists, including Benjamin Tucker, identified themselves as , which in the 19th century was often used in the sense of a commitment to improving conditions of the working class (i.e. "the labor problem").Brooks, Frank H. 1994. The Individualist Anarchists: An Anthology of Liberty (1881–1908). Transaction Publishers. p. 75. The Boston anarchists such as Tucker and his followers continue to be considered socialists due to their opposition to usury. "section G.1 Are individualist anarchists anti-capitalist?" in An Anarchist FAQ They do so because as the modern economist Jim Stanford points out there are many different kinds of competitive markets such as market socialism and capitalism is only one type of a market economy.Stanford, Jim. Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism. Ann Arbor: MI., Pluto Press. 2008. p. 36. By around the start of the 20th century, the heyday of individualist anarchism had passed.Paul Avrich. 2006. . AK Press. p. 6.
Later, this tradition continued with such intellectuals as Albert Libertad, André Lorulot, Émile Armand, Victor Serge, Zo d'Axa and Rirette Maîtrejean, who in 1905 developed theory in the main individualist anarchist journal in France, L'Anarchie.: "On the fringe of the movement, and particularly in the individualist faction which became relatively strong after 1900 and began to publish its own sectarian paper, – 315 – L'Anarchie ( 1905–14), there were groups and individuals who lived largely by crime. Among them were some of the most original as well as some of the most tragic figures in anarchist history."
In this sense, "the theoretical positions and the vital experiences of French individualism are deeply iconoclastic and scandalous, even within libertarian circles. The call of nudist naturism, the strong defence of birth control methods, the idea of "unions of egoists" with the sole justification of sexual practices, that will try to put in practice, not without difficulties, will establish a way of thought and action, and will result in sympathy within some, and a strong rejection within others".
Illegalists usually did not seek moral basis for their actions, recognizing only the reality of "might" rather than "right"; and for the most part, illegal acts were done simply to satisfy personal desires, not for some greater ideal. Influenced by theorist Max Stirner's Egoist anarchism as well as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (his view that "property is theft!"), Clément Duval and Marius Jacob proposed the theory of la reprise individuelle (individual reclamation) which justified robbery on the rich and personal direct action against exploiters and the system.
Some Russian individualists anarchists "found the ultimate expression of their social alienation in violence and crime, others attached themselves to avant-garde literary and artistic circles, but the majority remained "philosophical" anarchists who conducted animated parlor discussions and elaborated their individualist theories in ponderous journals and books".
Lev Chernyi advocated a Nietzschean overthrow of the values of bourgeois Russian society, and rejected the voluntary communes of anarcho-communist Peter Kropotkin as a threat to the freedom of the individual. Scholars including Avrich and Allan Antliff have interpreted this vision of society to have been greatly influenced by the individualist anarchists Max Stirner and Benjamin Tucker.
Catalonia historian Xavier Diez reports that the Spanish individualist anarchist press was widely read by members of anarcho-communist groups and by members of the anarcho-syndicalist trade union CNT. There were also the cases of prominent individualist anarchists such as Federico Urales and Miguel Giménez Igualada who were members of the CNT and J. Elizalde who was a founding member and first secretary of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (IAF).
Between October 1937 and February 1938, Spanish individualist anarchist Miguel Giménez Igualada was editor of the individualist anarchist magazine Nosotros in which many works of Armand and Ryner appeared. He also participated in the publishing of another individualist anarchist maganize Al Margen: Publicación quincenal individualista.: "Entre los redactores y colaboradores de Al Margen, que trasladará su redacción a Elda, en Alicante, encontraremos a Miguel Giménez Igualada ..." In his youth, he engaged in illegalist activities. His thought was deeply influenced by Max Stirner, of which he was the main popularizer in Spain through his own writings. He published and wrote the preface to the fourth edition in Spanish of The Ego and Its Own from 1900. He proposed the creation of a "Union of egoists" to be a federation of individualist anarchists in Spain, but it did not succeed.: "A partir de la década de los treinta, su pensamiento empieza a derivar hacia el individualismo, y como profundo estirneriano tratará de impulsar una federación de individualistas"
Federico Urales was an important individualist anarchist who edited La Revista Blanca. The individualist anarchism of Urales was influenced by Auguste Comte and Charles Darwin. He saw science and reason as a defense against blind servitude to authority. He was critical of influential individualist thinkers such as Nietzsche and Stirner for promoting an Asociality egoist individualism and instead promoted an individualism with solidarity seen as a way to guarantee social equality and harmony. He was highly critical of anarcho-syndicalism, which he viewed as plagued by excessive bureaucracy; and he thought that it tended towards reformism. Instead, he favored small groups based on ideological alignment. He supported and participated in the establishment of the IAF in 1927.
In 2000, Ateneo Libertario Ricardo Mella, Ateneo Libertario Al Margen, Ateneu Enciclopèdic Popular, Ateneo Libertario de Sant Boi and Ateneu Llibertari Poble Sec y Fundació D'Estudis Llibertaris i Anarcosindicalistes republished Émile Armand's writings on free love and individualist anarchism in a compilation titled Individualist anarchism and Amorous camaraderie. "Individualismo anarquista y camaradería amorosa" by Émile Armand
George Bernard Shaw initially had flirtations with individualist anarchism before coming to the conclusion that it was "the negation of socialism, and is, in fact, unsocialism carried as near to its logical conclusion as any sane man dare carry it". Shaw's argument was that even if wealth was initially distributed equally, the degree of laissez-faire advocated by Tucker would result in the distribution of wealth becoming unequal because it would permit private appropriation and accumulation.Griffith, Gareth. Socialism and Superior Brain: The Political Thought of George Bernard Shaw. Routledge (UK). 1993. p. 310. According to Carlotta Anderson, American individualist anarchists accept that Free market results in unequal wealth distribution, but they "do not see that as an injustice".Anderson, Carlotta R. All-American Anarchist: Joseph A. Labadie and the Labor Movement, Wayne State University Press, 1998, p. 250. Nonetheless, Peter Marshall states that "the egalitarian implications of traditional individualist anarchists" such as Tucker and Lysander Spooner have been overlooked.
Collectivist and dispute the individualist anarchist claim that free competition and markets would yield the libertarian-egalitarian anarchist society that individualist anarchists share with them. In their views, "state intervention merely props up a system of class exploitation and gives capitalism a human face".Heywood, Andrew (16 February 2017). "Anarchism". Political Ideologies: An Introduction (6th ed.). London: Macmillan International Higher Education. p. 146. . "Collectivist anarchists argue that state intervention merely props up a system of class exploitation and gives capitalism a human face. Individualist anarchists suggest that intervention distorts the competitive market and creates economies dominated by both public and private monopolies."
The authors of An Anarchist FAQ argue that individualist anarchists did not advocate free competition and markets as Normativity claims and merely thought those were better means than the ones proposed by anarcho-communists for the development of an anarchist society. Individualist anarchists such as Tucker thought interests, profits, rents and usury would disappear, something that both anarcho-capitalists and social anarchists did not think was true or believe would not happen. In a free market, people would be paid in proportion to how much labor they exerted and exploitation or usury was taking place if they were not. The theory was that unregulated banking would cause more money to be available and that this would allow proliferation of new businesses which would in turn raise demand for labor. This led Tucker to believe that the labor theory of value would be vindicated and equal amounts of labor would receive equal pay. Later in his life, Tucker grew skeptical that free competition could remove concentrated capital.McKay, Ian, ed. (2012). "Section G - Is individualist anarchism capitalistic?" An Anarchist FAQ. II Oakland: AK Press. .
Without the labor theory of value,Avrich, Paul (1996). Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America (abridged paperback ed.). Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 282. . "Although there are many honorable exceptions who still embrace the 'socialist' label, most people who call themselves individualist anarchists today are followers of Murray Rothbard's Austrian economics, and have abandoned the labor theory of value." some argue that 19th-century individualist anarchists approximate the modern movement of anarcho-capitalism,Outhwaite, William (2003). The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought. "Anarchism". Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 13. . "Their successors today, such as Murray Rothbard, having abandoned the labor theory of value, describe themselves as anarcho-capitalists." although this has been contested or rejected.Wieck, David (1978). "Anarchist Justice" . In Chapman, John W.; Pennock, J. Roland Pennock, eds. Anarchism: Nomos XIX. New York: New York University Press. pp. 227–228. "Out of the history of anarchist thought and action Rothbard has pulled forth a single thread, the thread of individualism, and defines that individualism in a way alien even to the spirit of a Max Stirner or a Benjamin Tucker, whose heritage I presume he would claim – to say nothing of how alien is his way to the spirit of Godwin, Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Malatesta, and the historically anonymous persons who through their thoughts and action have tried to give anarchism a living meaning. Out of this thread Rothbard manufactures one more bourgeois ideology." Retrieved 7 April 2020. As economic theory changed, the popularity of the labor theory of classical economics was superseded by the subjective theory of value of neoclassical economics and Murray Rothbard, a student of Ludwig von Mises, combined Mises' Austrian School of economics with the absolutist views of human rights and rejection of the state he had absorbed from studying the individualist American anarchists of the 19th century such as Tucker and Spooner.Miller, David, ed. (1987). The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 290. . In the mid-1950s, Rothbard was concerned with differentiating himself from communist and socialistic economic views of other anarchists, including the individualist anarchists of the 19th century, arguing that "we are not anarchists ... but not archists either .... Perhaps, then, we could call ourselves by a new name: nonarchist".
There is a strong current within anarchism including anarchist activists and scholars which rejects that anarcho-capitalism can be considered a part of the anarchist movement because anarchism has historically been an anti-capitalist movement and anarchists see it as incompatible with capitalist forms.: "Anarcho-capitalists are against the State simply because they are capitalists first and foremost. ... They are not concerned with the social consequences of capitalism for the weak, powerless and ignorant. ... As such, anarcho-capitalism overlooks the egalitarian implications of traditional individualist anarchists like Spooner and Tucker. In fact, few anarchists would accept the 'anarcho-capitalists' into the anarchist camp since they do not share a concern for economic equality and social justice. Their self-interested, calculating market men would be incapable of practising voluntary co-operation and mutual aid. Anarcho-capitalists, even if they do reject the state, might therefore best be called right-wing libertarians rather than anarchists."Meltzer, Albert (2000). Anarchism: Arguments For and Against. Oakland: AK Press. p. 50. "The philosophy of 'anarcho-capitalism' dreamed up by the 'libertarian' New Right, has nothing to do with Anarchism as known by the Anarchist movement proper."Goodway, David (2006). '. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. p. 4. "'Libertarian' and 'libertarianism' are frequently employed by anarchists as synonyms for 'anarchist' and 'anarchism', largely as an attempt to distance themselves from the negative connotations of 'anarchy' and its derivatives. The situation has been vastly complicated in recent decades with the rise of anarcho-capitalism, 'minimal statism' and an extreme right-wing laissez-faire philosophy advocated by such theorists as Rothbard and Nozick and their adoption of the words 'libertarian' and 'libertarianism'. It has therefore now become necessary to distinguish between their right libertarianism and the left libertarianism of the anarchist tradition."Newman, Saul (2010). The Politics of Postanarchism. Edinburgh University Press. p. 43. "It is important to distinguish between anarchism and certain strands of right-wing libertarianism which at times go by the same name (for example, Rothbard's anarcho-capitalism)." McKay, Iain, ed. (2008). "Section F - Is "anarcho"-capitalism a type of anarchism?" An Anarchist FAQ. I''' Oakland: AK Press. . Although some regard anarcho-capitalism as a form of individualist anarchism,See
The Palgrave Handbook of Anarchism writes that "as Benjamin Franks rightly points out, individualisms that defend or reinforce hierarchical forms such as the economic-power relations of anarcho-capitalism are incompatible with practices of social anarchism based on developing immanent goods which contest such as inequalities". Laurence Davis cautiously asks "Is anarcho-capitalism really a form of anarchism or instead a wholly different ideological paradigm whose adherents have attempted to expropriate the language of anarchism for their own anti-anarchist ends?" Davis cites Iain McKay, "whom Franks cites as an authority to support his contention that 'academic analysis has followed activist currents in rejecting the view that anarcho-capitalism has anything to do with social anarchism'", as arguing "quite emphatically on the very pages cited by Franks that anarcho-capitalism is by no means a type of anarchism". McKay writes that "it is important to stress that anarchist opposition to the so-called capitalist 'anarchists' does not reflect some kind of debate within anarchism, as many of these types like to pretend, but a debate between anarchism and its old enemy capitalism. ... Equally, given that anarchists and 'anarcho'-capitalists have fundamentally different analyses and goals it is hardly 'sectarian' to point this out".
Davis writes that "Franks asserts without supporting evidence that most major forms of individualist anarchism have been largely anarcho-capitalist in content, and concludes from this premise that most forms of individualism are incompatible with anarchism". Davis argues that "the conclusion is unsustainable because the premise is false, depending as it does for any validity it might have on the further assumption that anarcho-capitalism is indeed a form of anarchism. If we reject this view, then we must also reject the individual anarchist versus the communal anarchist 'chasm' style of argument that follows from it". Davis maintains that "the ideological core of anarchism is the belief that society can and should be organised without hierarchy and domination. Historically, anarchists have struggles against a wide range of regimes of domination, from capitalism, the state system, patriarchy, heterosexism, and the domination of nature to colonialism, the war system, slavery, fascism, white supremacy, and certain forms of organised religion". According to Davis, "while these visions range from the predominantly individualistic to the predominantly communitarian, features common to virtually all include an emphasis on self-management and self-regulatory methods of organisation, voluntary association, decentralised society, based on the principle of free association, in which people will manage and govern themselves".
(1984). 9780300031751, Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300031751
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was the first philosopher to label himself an "anarchist". "Anarchism" , BBC Radio 4 program, In Our Time, Thursday December 7, 2006. Hosted by Melvyn Bragg of the BBC, with John Keane, Professor of Politics at University of Westminster, Ruth Kinna, Senior Lecturer in Politics at Loughborough University, and Peter Marshall, philosopher and historian. Some consider Proudhon to be an individualist anarchist while others regard him to be a social anarchism. Some commentators do not identify Proudhon as an individualist anarchist due to his preference for association in large industries rather than individual control.
Max Stirner
Johann Kaspar Schmidt, better known as Max Stirner (the nom de plume he adopted from a schoolyard nickname he had acquired as a child because of his high brow, in German Stirn), was a German philosopher who ranks as one of the literary fathers of nihilism, existentialism, post-modernism and anarchism, especially of individualist anarchism. Stirner's main work is The Ego and Its Own, also known as The Ego and His Own ( Der Einzige und sein Eigentum in German which translates literally as The Only One individual and his Property or The Unique Individual and His Property).Moggach, Douglas. The New Hegelians. Cambridge University Press. p. 177. This work was first published in 1844 in Leipzig and has since appeared in numerous editions and translations.
Egoism
Max Stirner's philosophy, sometimes called egoism, is a form of individualist anarchism. Stirner was a Young Hegelians philosopher whose "name appears with familiar regularity in historically oriented surveys of anarchist thought as one of the earliest and best-known exponents of individualist anarchism". In 1844, Stirner's work The Ego and Its Own was published and is considered to be "a founding text in the tradition of individualist anarchism". Stirner does not recommend that the individual try to eliminate the state, but simply that they disregard the state when it conflicts with one's autonomous choices and go along with it when doing so is conducive to one's interests.Moggach, Douglas. The New Hegelians. Cambridge University Press, 2006 p. 190. Stirner says that the egoist rejects pursuit of devotion to "a great idea, a good cause, a doctrine, a system, a lofty calling", arguing that the egoist has no political calling, but rather "lives themselves out" without regard to "how well or ill humanity may fare thereby".Moggach, Douglas. The New Hegelians. Cambridge University Press, 2006 p. 183. Stirner held that the only limitation on the rights of the individual is that individual's power to obtain what he desires.The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge. Encyclopedia Corporation. p. 176 Stirner proposes that most commonly accepted social institutions, including the notion of state, property as a right, natural rights in general and the very notion of "society" as a legal and ideal abstractness, were mere spooks in the mind. Stirner wants to "abolish not only the state but also society as an institution responsible for its members".Heider, Ulrike. Anarchism: Left, Right and Green, San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1994, pp. 95–96 Stirner advocated self-assertion and foresaw Union of egoists, non-systematic associations which he proposed in as a form of organization in place of the state. A Union is understood as a relation between egoists which is continually renewed by all parties' support through an act of will. Even murder is permissible "if it is right for me",Moggach, Douglas. The New Hegelians. Cambridge University Press, 2006 p. 191 although it is claimed by egoist anarchists that egoism will foster genuine and spontaneous unions between individuals.
(2026). 9781849351225, AK Press. ISBN 9781849351225
Early individualist anarchism in the United States
The intentional communal experiments pioneered by Josiah Warren influenced European individualist anarchists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries such as Émile Armand and the intentional communities they founded.
Individualist anarchism in the United States
Mutualism and utopianism
For American anarchist historian Eunice Minette Schuster, "it is apparent ... that Anarchism was to be found in the United States at least as early as 1848 and that it was not conscious of its affinity to the Individualist Anarchism of Josiah Warren and Stephen Pearl Andrews ... William B. Greene presented this Proudhonian Mutualism in its purest and most systematic form". Native American Anarchism: A Study of Left-Wing American Individualism by Eunice Minette Schuster William Batchelder Greene is best known for the works Mutual Banking (1850) which proposed an interest-free banking system and Transcendentalism, a critique of the New England philosophical school. He saw mutualism as the synthesis of "liberty and order". His "associationism ... is checked by individualism. ... 'Mind your own business,' 'Judge not that ye be not judged.' Over matters which are purely personal, as for example, moral conduct, the individual is sovereign, as well as over that which he himself produces. For this reason he demands 'mutuality' in marriage—the equal right of a woman to her own personal freedom and property. Within some individualist anarchist circles, mutualism came to mean non-communist anarchism.Wilbur, Shawn P. (2018). "Mutualism". In Adams, Matthew S.; Levy, Carl. The Palgrave Handbook of Anarchism. Springer. p. 221. .
Boston anarchists
Another form of individualist anarchism was found in the United States as advocated by the so-called Boston anarchists. By default, American individualists had no difficulty accepting the concepts that "one man employ another" or that "he direct him", in his labor but rather demanded that "all natural opportunities requisite to the production of wealth be accessible to all on equal terms and that Monopoly arising from special privileges created by law be abolished".Madison, Charles A. "Anarchism in the United States." Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol 6, No 1, January 1945, p. 53.
Individualist anarchism in Europe
Early precursors
France
From the legacy of Proudhon and Stirner there emerged a strong tradition of French individualist anarchism. An early important individualist anarchist was Anselme Bellegarrigue. He participated in the French Revolution of 1848, was author and editor of Anarchie, Journal de l'Ordre and Au fait ! Au fait ! Interprétation de l'idée démocratique and wrote the important early Anarchist Manifesto in 1850. Catalan historian of individualist anarchism Xavier Diez reports that during his travels in the United States "he at least contacted (Henry David) Thoreau and, probably Josiah Warren".
Germany
In Germany, the Scottish-German John Henry Mackay became the most important propagandist for individualist anarchist ideas. He fused Stirnerist egoism with the positions of Benjamin Tucker and actually translated Tucker into German. Two semi-fictional writings of his own, Die Anarchisten and Der Freiheitsucher, contributed to individualist theory through an updating of egoist themes within a consideration of the anarchist movement. English translations of these works arrived in the United Kingdom and in individualist American circles led by Tucker. Stirnerist individualism was popular among literary and intellectual anarchists in pre-WWI Germany, for instance influencing the expressionist movement and the early thought of Otto Gross.
Italy
In Italy, individualist anarchism had a strong tendency towards illegalism and violent propaganda by the deed similar to French individualist anarchism, but perhaps more extreme: "At this point, encouraged by the disillusionment that followed the breakdown of the general strike, the terrorist individualists who had always – despite Malatesta's influence – survived as a small minority among Italian anarchists, intervened frightfully and tragically." and which emphazised criticism of organization be it anarchist or of other type.: "in a dispute with the individualist anarchists of Paterson, who insisted that anarchism implied no organization at all, and that every man must act solely on his impulses. At last, in one noisy debate, the individual impulse of a certain Ciancabilla directed him to shoot Malatesta, who was badly wounded but obstinately refused to name his assailant."
Russia
Individualist anarchism was one of the three categories of anarchism in Russia, along with the more prominent anarcho-communism and anarcho-syndicalism. The ranks of the Russian individualist anarchists were predominantly drawn from the intelligentsia and the working class. For anarchist historian Paul Avrich, "the two leading exponents of individualist anarchism, both based in Moscow, were Alexei Borovoi and Lev Chernyi (born Pavel Dmitrievich Turchaninov). From Nietzsche, they inherited the desire for a complete overturn of all values accepted by Bourgeoisie society political, moral, and cultural. Furthermore, strongly influenced by Max Stirner and Benjamin Tucker, the German and American theorists of individualist anarchism, they demanded the total liberation of the human personality from the fetters of organized society".
Spain
While Spain was influenced by American individualist anarchism, it was more closely related to the French currents. Around the start of the 20th century, individualism in Spain gathered force through the efforts of people such as Dorado Montero, Ricardo Mella, Federico Urales, Miguel Giménez Igualada, Mariano Gallardo and J. Elizalde who translated French and American individualists. Important in this respect were also magazines such as La Idea Libre, La Revista Blanca, Etica, Iniciales, Al margen, Estudios and Nosotros. The most influential thinkers there were Max Stirner, Émile Armand and Han Ryner. Just as in France, the spread of Esperanto and anationalism had importance just as naturism and free love currents. Later, Armand and Ryner themselves started writing in the Spanish individualist press. Armand's concept of amorous camaraderie had an important role in motivating polyamory as realization of the individual.
Individualist anarchism in Latin America
Argentina anarchist historian Ángel Cappelletti reports that in Argentina "among the workers that came from Europe in the 2 first decades of the century, there was curiously some stirnerian individualists influenced by the philosophy of Nietzsche, that saw syndicalism as a potential enemy of anarchist ideology. They established ... affinity groups that in 1912 came to, according to Max Nettlau, to the number of 20. In 1911 there appeared, in Colón, the periodical El Único, that defined itself as 'Publicación individualista'".
Developments and expansion
Anarcha-feminism, free love, freethought and LGBT issues
In Europe, interest in free love developed in French and Spanish individualist anarchist circles: "Anti-clericalism, just as in the rest of the libertarian movement, is another of the frequent elements which will gain relevance related to the measure in which the (French) Republic begins to have conflicts with the church ... Anti-clerical discourse, frequently called for by the french individualist André Lorulot, will have its impacts in Estudios (a Spanish individualist anarchist publication). There will be an attack on institutionalized religion for the responsibility that it had in the past on negative developments, for its irrationality which makes it a counterpoint of philosophical and Progress. There will be a criticism of proselitism and ideological manipulation which happens on both believers and agnostics". This tendencies will continue in French individualist anarchism in the work and activism of Charles-Auguste Bontemps and others. In the Spanish individualist anarchist magazine Ética and Iniciales, "there is a strong interest in publishing scientific news, usually linked to a certain atheist and anti-theist obsession, philosophy which will also work for pointing out the incompatibility between science and religion, faith and reason. In this way there will be a lot of talk on Darwinism or on the negation of the existence of the soul".
Anarcho-naturism
Individualist anarchist groups also were affiliated with naturism (2026). 9781405198073, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN 9781405198073 and individualist anarchist Henri Zisly promoted naturism in France. (2026). 9781405198073, John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781405198073
Criticism
Murray Bookchin criticized individualist anarchism for its opposition to democracy and its embrace of "lifestylism" at the expense of anti-capitalism and class struggle.
Individualist anarchism and anarcho-capitalism
While anarcho-capitalism is sometimes described as a form of individualist anarchism, some scholars have criticized those, including some Marxists and right-libertarians, for taking it at face value. (2026). 9783319756196, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783319756196 Other scholars such as Benjamin Franks, who considers anarcho-capitalism part of individualist anarchism and hence excludes those forms of individualist anarchism that defend or reinforce hierarchical forms from the anarchist camp, have been criticized by those who include individualist anarchism as part of the anarchist and socialist traditions whilst excluding anarcho-capitalism, including the authors of An Anarchist FAQ. Some anarchist scholars criticized those, especially in Anglo-American philosophy, who define anarchism only in terms of opposition to the state, when anarchism, including both individualist and social traditions, is much more than that.McLaughlin, Paul (2007). Anarchism and Authority: A Philosophical Introduction to Classical Anarchism. Ashgate. pp. 28 –166. . "Anarchists do reject the state, as we will see. But to claim that this central aspect of anarchism is definitive is to sell anarchism short. ... Opposition is (contrary to what many scholars believe) not definitive of anarchism."Jun, Nathan (September 2009). "Anarchist Philosophy and Working Class Struggle: A Brief History and Commentary". WorkingUSA. 12 (3): 505–519. . . "One common misconception, which has been rehearsed repeatedly by the few Anglo-American philosophers who have bothered to broach the topic ... is that anarchism can be defined solely in terms of opposition to states and governments" (p. 507).Franks, Benjamin (August 2013). Freeden, Michael; Stears, Marc (eds.). "Anarchism". The Oxford Handbook of Political Ideologies. Oxford University Press: 385–404. . "Many, questionably, regard anti-statism as the irremovable, universal principle at the core of anarchism. ... The fact that anarchists share a core concept of 'anti-statism', which is often advanced as ... a commonality between them ..., is insufficient to produce a shared identity ... because they the concept of state-rejection ... differently despite the initial similarity in nomenclature" (pp. 386–388). Anarchists, including both individualist and social anarchists, also criticized some Marxists and other socialists for excluding anarchism from the socialist camp. (2026). 9781849351225, AK Press. ISBN 9781849351225 In European Socialism: A History of Ideas and Movements, Carl Landauer summarized the difference between communist and individualist anarchists by stating that "the communist anarchists also do not acknowledge any right to society to force the individual. They differ from the anarchistic individualists in their belief that men, if freed from coercion, will enter into voluntary associations of a communistic type, while the other wing believes that the free person will prefer a high degree of isolation".9781849351225, AK Press. ISBN 9781849351225Landauer, Carl (1960). European Socialism: A History of Ideas and Movements. University of California Press. p. 127.
others contend individualist anarchism is largely socialistic and contest the concept of a socialist–individualist divide. (2026). 9781849351225, AK Press. ISBN 9781849351225 Some writers deny that anarcho-capitalism is a form of anarchismSee
(2026). 9783319756196, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783319756196
(2026). 9783319756196, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783319756196 Finally, Davis includes a footnote stating that "individualist anarchism may plausibly be re regarded as a form of both socialism and anarchism. Whether the individualist anarchists were consistent anarchists (and socialists) is another question entirely. ... McKay comments as follows: 'any individualist anarchism which support wage labour is inconsistent anarchism. It can easily be made consistent anarchism by applying its own principles consistently. In contrast 'anarcho'-capitalism rejects so many of the basic, underlying, principles of anarchism ... that it cannot be made consistent with the ideals of anarchism'". (2026). 9783319756196, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783319756196
See also
Bibliography
(1992). 9780002178556, HarperCollins. ISBN 9780002178556
Further reading
External links
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