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Anti-statism is an approach to social, economic or political philosophy that opposes the influence of the state over society. It emerged in reaction to the formation of modern , which anti-statists considered to work against the interests of the people. During the 19th century, anarchists formulated a critique of the state that upheld the inherently cooperation and decentralised aspects of human society. In the 20th century, anti-state neoliberals sought to cut state investment in the public sector and expand investment in the private sector. Other anti-state social movements sought to overthrow states through guerrilla warfare or limit states by establishing autonomous local institutions.
One branch of anti-statism soon developed into the political philosophy of anarchism, which through the works of Peter Kropotkin and Elisée Reclus, constituted a naturalist argument against the state. Kropotkin theorised that human evolution had been driven by a process of mutual aid and that humanity's natural tendency towards cooperation had thus influenced its sociocultural evolution. Kropotkin believed that capitalism and statism acted against human society's natural tendency towards cooperation and decentralisation, and viewed the territorial expansionism of modern states, including that of the Russian Soviet Republic, as antithetical to human geography. Reclus likewise criticised state as inherently "artificial" as they did not tend to corresponded with , and saw violent conflict as an inevitable consequence of a state's territorial expansionism, which he criticised as pitting humanity against nature.
In the 20th century, anti-statism evolved in two directions, one that sought to "hollow out the state" and another that sought to create a movement to overthrow the state. The former tendency coagulated into neoliberalism, which aimed to undo Keynesian reforms by cutting state investment in public infrastructure and welfare spending and instituting deregulation, rather than abolishing the state entirely. Neoliberals tend to advocate for laissez-faire economics, preferring to invest in the private sector rather than the public sector, as they think the former will provide a greater benefit to society than the latter. In contrast, anti-statist social movements can seek to either limit or eliminate the influence of the state, either through violent or non-violent means. Some carry out guerrilla warfare against the state, while others attempt to establish a form of autonomy from the state or decentralise power to local institutions. In many cases, these social movements emerged in reaction against the policies of neoliberalism, as fewer people felt invested in a state that was increasingly divesting from the public sector.
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