What is ANARCHISM: summary

In this lesson from a Teacher we will explain what is anarchism. we are in full industrial Revolution. There has been a great migration from the countryside to the city to look for work and better living and working conditions. When they arrive in the city they find work but they find the same thing they wanted to leave behind in rural areas. Overcrowding, low salaries, precariousness, unhealthy working conditions... That is why labor movements arise that promulgate a change of mentality and that the capitalist system does not devour the proletariat.

These movements include Marxism, utopian socialists and anarchism (the one that we will deal with today) and perhaps the most radical of all of them. The anarchists wanted a frontal opposition to the state (they did not believe in it) and wanted to get to the abolition of said state. To know in depth what anarchism is, do not miss the complete lesson on anarchism and practice with the exercises that we leave you below.

Index

1. what is anarchism
2. Anarchism: main characteristics
3. How did anarchism arise?
4. What ideology does anarchism have?

Anarchism is a political and philosophical current characterized by seeking total absence of government, considering that a society is capable of living without any type of government. Like other currents of its time, anarchism played an important role in the history of the contemporary world.

Anarchism had its birth in the XIX century, when the philosopher William Godwin wrote a series of texts that sought a new system to replace the capitalism, so we can say that anarchism has a similar origin to socialism and communism.

Over the years, anarchism has been evolving, since several thinkers have transformed the main ideas of this current, thus generating numerous branches to adapt anarchism to the new times.

To know in depth what anarchism is, we must talk about its main characteristics, since this will help us to understand what we are talking about, and to differentiate this system from other similar ones.

The main characteristics of anarchism are the following:

• Its basis is to find the total freedom and autonomy of people, since for anarchists there should be no control. Anarchists consider that the human being is free by nature, and that there should be no control that blocks this freedom.
• believe in remove any organism that serves to manage the population, thus asking for the elimination of entities such as the government, political parties, unions, employers, and in general any collective organization.
• They consider that private property should not exist, since it is one of the elements that causes the greatest inequality, and all human beings must have the same opportunities.
• There should be no positions of power or representation, since these generate inequalities, because it is as if one person were above another, and we must all be equal.
• Education is one of the bases of anarchism, since for this system to exist, people must understand the world and the system, and it is essential that the entire population have a correct education.
• Social classes should not exist, since they are the greatest sample of inequalities, and their destruction entails the balance between all.
• Anarchists believe that Human beings are caring by nature. but capitalism makes us selfish, so everyone must be in solidarity in order to create an anarchist system in which we all have the same thing.

The beginning of anarchism took place in 1793 when the philosopher William Godwin He published a series of texts that spoke of a society that could function without a government, thereby providing the first elements that would define this system. These first ideas are called utopian anarchism, since they were just thoughts, without any intention of putting them into practice.

Modern anarchism arose at the beginning of the 19th century., in a period in which thinkers began to create possible political systems that could replace capitalism, due to the great inequalities that it was generating. It was at this time when the english workers began to destroy machines, asking to work without any type of control, and forming the first groups of anarchists.

With the arrival of the 20th century, anarchism became much more important, appearing in political life, and even forming political parties with representations in certain countries. That was the greatest splendor of anarchism, taking relevance in areas such as international meetings.

Anarchism is an ideology by itself, so we can say that the ideology of anarchism is anarchism itself. Anarchism is contrary to capitalism, but also to other ideologies such as communism either socialism, since these need the state and anarchism totally rejects this control.

To understand the ideas that anarchism defends, we must talk about its principles, since these are the basis of an ideology. Therefore, the principles of anarchism are the following:

• Freedom: Anarchists believe that in a perfect society all people should be free, thus there is total freedom among all of society. For this reason, he considers that there should not be a government, since this prevents the existence of total freedom.
• Equality: In anarchism there must be total equality, since all people must be equal. For this reason, anarchism considers that social classes should not exist, since they make us different from each other.
• Solidarity: Anarchism considers that human beings are supportive by nature, and that they only behave selfishly due to the existence of capitalism. Anarchists defend the idea that we should all be in solidarity, being the only way to create a perfect society based on anarchism.

If you want to read more articles similar to What is anarchism: summary, we recommend that you enter our category of History.

• Malatesta, E., & Fabbri, L. (2000). Anarchism and anarchy. Tupac Editions.
• Montseny, F. (1976). What is anarchism. The gay science.