o_195qg5dto17o4rbc85q1ge61i84a.pdf

introduction
This book falls into four chapters, each organized around a particular
theme: (i) the ideology of anarchism; (ii) anarchist conceptions
of the state; (iii) principles of anarchist organization (ideas of
anarchy); and (iv) strategies for change.
The first chapter begins by introducing the terms ‘anarchism’,
‘anarchist’ and ‘anarchy’ and then discusses the problems anarchists
have encountered with popular conceptions of anarchy. The main
body of the chapter looks at three different approaches to anarchism.
The first seeks to understand the core principles of anarchism by
abstracting key ideas from the works of designated anarchist
thinkers. The second emphasizes the broadness of the ideology by
categorizing anarchists into a variety of schools or traditions. The
third approach is historical and argues that anarchism developed in
response to a peculiar set of political circumstances, active in the
latter decades of nineteenth-century Europe. The aim of this chapter
is to suggest that anarchism can be defined as an ideology by the
adherence of anarchists to a core belief namely, the rejection of the
state.
The second chapter considers some of the ways in which
anarchists have theorized the state and the grounds on which they
have called for its abolition. It looks in particular at anarchist ideas
of government, authority and power and it uses these ideas to show
why anarchists believe the state to be both detrimental and unnecessary.
Anarchists sometimes suggest that they are wholly opposed to
government, authority and power, but the chapter shows how these
concepts are incorporated into anarchist theories to bolster
anarchist defences of anarchy. Finally, the chapter reviews some
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