anarchist communism

Anarchist communism is a form of anarchism that advocates the abolition of the State and capitalism in favor of a horizontal network of voluntary associations through which everyone will be free to satisfy his or her needs.

Anarchist communism is also known as anarcho-communism, communist anarchism, or, sometimes, libertarian communism. However, while all anarchist communists are libertarian communists, some libertarian communists, such as council communists, are not anarchists. What distinguishes anarchist communism from other variants of libertarian communism is the former's opposition to all forms of political power, hierarchy and domination.

Development of ideas

Anarchist communist currents manifested themselves during the English Revolution and the French Revolution. Gerrard Winstanley, who was part of the radical Diggers movement in England, wrote in his 1649 pamphlet, "The New Law of Righteousness," that there "shall be no buying or selling, no fairs nor markets, but the whole earth shall be a common treasury for every man," and "there shall be none Lord over others, but every one shall be a Lord of himself."[1] During the French Revolution, Sylvain Marechal, in his "Manifesto of the Equals" (1796), demanded "the communal enjoyment of the fruits of the earth" and looked forward to the disappearance of "the revolting distinction of rich and poor, of great and small, of masters and valets, of governors and governed."[2]

An early anarchist communist was Joseph Déjacque, the first person to describe himself as "libertarian". Unlike Proudhon, he argued that "it is not the product of his or her labor that the worker has a right to, but to the satisfaction of his or her needs, whatever may be their nature."[3]

The collectivist anarchists advocated remuneration for labor but held out the possibility of a post-revolutionary transition to a communist system of distribution according to need. Bakunin's associate, James Guillaume, put it this way in his essay, Ideas on Social Organization(1876): "When… production comes to outstrip consumption… [e]veryone will draw what he needs from the abundant social reserve of commodities, without fear of depletion; and the moral sentiment which will be more highly developed among free and equal workers will prevent, or greatly reduce, abuse and waste."

Anarchist communism was first formulated in the Italian section of the First International, by Carlo Cafiero, Errico Malatesta, Andrea Costa and other ex-Mazzinian Republicans. Out of respect for Mikhail Bakunin, they did not make their differences with collectivist anarchism explicit until after Bakunin's death. The collectivist anarchists sought to collectivize ownership of the means of production while retaining payment for labor, but the anarcho-communists sought to extend the concept of collective ownership to the products of labor as well. While both groups argued against capitalism , the anarchist communists departed from Proudhon and Bakunin who maintained that individuals have a right to the product of their labor and to be remunerated for their work, while the communists believe individuals should be free to access goods according to their needs without respect to how much labor they exert. Cafeiro explains in Anarchy and Communism (1880) that private property in the product of labor will lead to unequal accumulation of capital, and therefore undesirable class distinctions: "If we preserve the individual appropriation of the products of labour, we would be forced to preserve money, leaving more or less accumulation of wealth according to more or less merit rather than need of individuals."[4] In 1876, at the Florence Conference of the Italian Federation of the International, held in a forest outside Florence due to police activity, they declared the principles of Anarcho-communism, beginning with:

"The Italian Federation considers the collective property of the products of labour as the necessary complement to the collectivist programme, the aid of all for the satisfaction of the needs of each being the only rule of production and consumption which corresponds to the principle of solidarity. The federal congress at Florence has eloquently demonstrated the opinion of the Italian International on this point..."

The above report was made in an article by Malatesta and Cafiero in the (Swiss) Jura Federation's bulletin later that year.

Peter Kropotkin, often seen as the most important theorist of anarchist communism, outlined his economic ideas in The Conquest of Bread and Fields, Factories and Workshops. Kropotkin felt co-operation to be more beneficial than competition, arguing in Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution that this was illustrated in nature. He advocated the abolition of private property through the "expropriation of the whole of social wealth" by the people themselves, and for the economy to be co-ordinated through a horizontal network of voluntary associations. He maintained that in anarcho-communism "houses, fields, and factories will no longer be private property, and that they will belong to the commune or the nation" and money, wages, and trade would be abolished. Individuals and groups would use and control whatever resources they needed as the aim of anarchist-communism was to place "the product reaped or manufactured at the disposal of all, leaving to each the liberty to consume them as he pleases in his own home." Moreover, he repeatedly stressed (like other communist-anarchists) that individuals would not be forced into communism, arguing that the peasant "who is in possession of just the amount of land he can cultivate," the family "inhabiting a house which affords them just enough space… considered necessary for that number of people" and the artisan "working with their own tools or handloom" would be free to live as they saw fit.

Theory

Anarchist communism stresses egalitarianism and the abolition of social hierarchy and class distinctions that arise from unequal wealth distribution, the abolition of capitalism and money, and the collective production and distribution of wealth by means of voluntary associations.

In anarchist communism, the state and property no longer exist. Each individual and group is free to contribute to production and to satisfy their needs based on their own choice. Systems of production and distribution are managed by their participants.

The abolition of wage labor is central to anarchist communism. With distribution of wealth being based on self-determined needs, people will be free to engage in whatever activities they find most fulfilling and will no longer have to engage in work for which they have neither the temperament nor the aptitude. Anarchist communists argue that there is no valid way of measuring the value of any one person's economic contributions because all wealth is a collective product of current and preceding generations.

Anarchist communists argue that any economic system based on wage labor and private property will require a coercive state apparatus to enforce property rights and to maintain the unequal economic relationships that will inevitably arise.

Philosophical arguments

Anarchist communists reject the claim that wage labor is necessary because people are by "nature" lazy and selfish. They point out that even the so-called "idle rich" sometimes find useful things to do despite having all their needs satisfied by the labor of others.

Anarchist communists support communism as a means for ensuring the greatest freedom and well-being for everyone, rather than only the wealthy and powerful. In this sense, anarchist communism is a profoundly egalitarian philosophy. Anarchist communists do not think that anyone has the right to be anyone else's boss.

Criticisms

Many individualist anarchists believe that elements of anarcho-communism are undesirable or even incompatible with anarchism. For example, Benjamin Tucker referred to anarcho-communism as "Pseudo-anarchism" (Labor and its Pay) when admonishing Peter Kropotkin for opposing wages.

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, whose philosophy had great influence on early anarchist communists, nonetheless refused to use the term "communism" to describe his own views. At the time he wrote most of his works, the word "communism" was typically used to refer to the views of the utopian socialists, whom Proudhon accused of attempting to impose equality by sovereign decrees. In opposition to the communist maxim "to each according to need", Proudhon said "To each according to his works, first; and if, on occasion, I am impelled to aid you, I will do it with a good grace; but I will not be constrained" (The Philosophy of Misery).

More recently, advocates of post-left anarchy, such as Bob Black in Anarchy After Leftism, argue that leftists have an attachment to generic moral standards which are incompatible with anarchism, and seek to establish political forms, such as platformism and direct democracy, which amount to forms of the state.

See also

• Anarchism
• communism
• Libertarian Socialism
• Socialism

People

• Mikhail Bakunin
• Alexander Berkman
• Murray Bookchin
• Joseph Déjacque
• Emma Goldman
• Daniel Guérin
• Peter Kropotkin
• Nestor Makhno
• Errico Malatesta

Books

• Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici, Anarchist Communists: A Question Of Class, others
• Alexander Berkman, What is Communist Anarchism?, Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, others
• Mikhail Bakunin, God and the State, The Paris Commune and the Idea of the State, others
• Emma Goldman, Anarchism and Other Essays, Living My Life, others
• Peter Kropotkin, Mutual Aid, The Conquest of Bread, others
• Nestor Makhno Ida Mett Piotr Arshinov Valevsky Linsky, The Organizational Platform of the Libertarian Communists (available in: Castellano, čeÅ¡tina, English, Έλληνικά, Français, Italiano, Ivrit, Magyar, Nederlands, Polska, Português, Pyccкий, Svenska, Türkçe)
• Robert Graham (anarchist historian), Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas, Volume 1: From Anarchy to Anarchism (300CE-1939)[5] contains extensive selections from the anarchist communists, including Joseph Dejacque, Carlo Cafiero, Peter Kropotkin, Luigi Galleani, Errico Malatesta, Charlotte Wilson, Ricardo Flores Magon, Shifu, Hatta Shuzo, Alexander Berkman, Voline, and Isaac Puente.

External links

• Anarchist-Communism by Alain Pengam
• Anarkismo.net - Anarchist Communist news, discussion and theory from across the globe
• Anarchist Federation - anarchist communist organisation in Britain
• Conceivia.com - Technology development and support of the world movement
• libcom.org - the home of anarchism and libertarian communism in the UK
• Work - Community - Politics - War: An easy introduction to anti-political insurrectionist communism
• Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici - (FdCA)
• North Eastern Federation of Anarcho-Communists - (NEFAC)
• Workers Solidarity Movement - Anarchist Communist organisation in Ireland

Criticisms

• A Critique of Anarchist Communism by Ken Knudson A criticism from an individualist anarchist perspective
• My Anarchism S. E. Parker explains his conversion from communist to individualist anarchism
• The Death Wish of Anarcho-Communists by Murray Rothbard

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