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anarchism: a beginner’s guide
The history of the Spanish Civil War and the tragedy of the
revolution’s defeat make these discussions of the CNT highly
emotive. Yet it’s important to remember that the point at issue here
is not the heroism or courage of Spanish workers in the face of fascist
onslaught, but the breadth of the anarchist vision. The historical
argument leaves little room for compromise: anarchy is either about
finding ways to secure the workers’ direct control of production and
distribution or it’s about something else. The anarcho-syndicalist
position is very clear. Modern alternatives suggest greater ambition,
but appear more diffuse.
anarchist communitarianism
Anarchist communitarianism operates in two spheres: intentional
community and community networking. Intentional community
describes an experiment in anarchist community-living and like much
else in anarchism it dates back to the nineteenth century. Community
networking is a more recent phenomenon, blossoming in the 1960s.
Networkers often argue that anarchy should not be regarded as a
pristine model or mere counterpoint to the state, and that it should be
seen instead as a constantly evolving movement, embracing an
attitude to social life realized through the adoption of certain principles
of organization and ‘permanent opposition’. Communitarians
in this second group live in mainstream society but work in local
organizations to advance an anarchist vision. Community networking
thus offers an alternative to anarcho-syndicalism whilst working on
the same principles: it is designed to encourage the creation of new,
decentralized institutions in the body of capitalism, by focusing on
neighbourhoods and localities rather than the workplace.
Yet anarchist communitarians share a commitment to an ideal of
the good life defined by mutual support and reciprocity. Their ideal
holds little appeal for right-libertarians who tend to identify the
good life with independence, self-help and charity rather than interdependence,
mutual aid and care and are prone to equate ‘community’
with ‘local repression and narrow-minded intolerance’. 42 Of
course, libertarians also imagine that anarchy is about social interaction,
but their models of relationships are thin – ‘modular’ rather
than organic – and tend to be posited on a primary defensive need to
secure private property against potential transgression. Rothbard’s
basic unit of organization is the homestead: even the family appears
too ‘thick’ an organization for the libertarian society. Indeed, there is