Anarcho-primitivism: what it is and what are its political proposals

Despite the fact that technology, living in democratic societies and all kinds of cultural advances are considered by the immense majority as something inherently positive, a source of well-being and security for humanity, there are those who strongly disagree harshly.

There are people whose vision of civilization, as we live it today, is seen in such a crude way who defend the return to a primitive state, to the lifestyle of our human ancestors prehistoric.

Anarcho-primitivism has as its sign the defense of that idea. He considers that the inequalities between people are due, fundamentally, to the abandonment of a nomadic lifestyle to move to a sedentary one and, progressively, more complex. Let's see more thoroughly what this peculiar current of thought consists of.

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What is anarchoprimitivism?

Primitivist anarchism, shortened to anarcho-primitivism, is a current within individualist anarchism that criticizes the origins and progress of civilization

. This way of thinking is encompassed within radical environmentalism and ecocentrism, that is, it puts the conservation of the environment at all costs as the main objective of its ideology.

Within anarcho-primitivism it is argued that one of the main historical events that represented a great advance for humanity, the passage of a A nomadic hunter-gatherer society to an agrarian and sedentary one gave rise to injustices between human beings, manifesting itself in the form of stratification social. This stratification would be both the beginning of the idea of ​​civilization and the dynamics of power within humanity, with dominated and dominators.

Primitivists advocate returning humanity to a primal state, an “uncivilized” age through deindustrialization, the abolition of the division of labor or specialization in professions. An abandonment of technology is also advocated, although, since the idea behind this term is very broad, anarcho-primitivist positions They range from the abandonment of electronics to the complete abandonment of any product made by the human being, no matter how simple it may be. be.

It should be said that within this current of thought, several causes are pointed out, such as the evils of civilization: the industrial revolution, the invention of monotheism, writing, patriarchy, the use of metal tools... Whatever these causes that generate inequality, what all anarcho-primitivists share, such as As we said, it is the desire to return to a simpler state of humanity, a pre-civilization era, with some defenders of a return to nudism and "resavajization".

Historical background

Anarcho-primitivism has its origins from the most original anarchism, only with changes in its conception and the way of understanding the need for human beings to live without depending on the organization of a state or political hierarchy.

This current of thought began to have a more ecological approach thanks to the figure of Henry David Thoreau, an American individualist anarchist. In his best known book, "Walden" (1854) (not to be confused with "Walden 2" by B. F. Skinner) Thoreau defends the idea of ​​living simply and self-sufficiently, in natural environments, as a resistance to the advance of industrial civilization. It is for this reason that, although in the book he does not defend the idea of ​​going back to prehistory, Thoreau is considered a precursor of environmentalism and anarcho-primitivism.

Today, the main representative of the anarcho-primitivist movement is John Zerzan, who, although he does not defend such a radical idea as the one they have come to advocate certain violent characters and groups, if he defends the idea of ​​returning to a world in which technology does not monopolize our lives, and almost better avoid its use. Zerzan argues that humanity will eventually see this return to its most primal state as plausible.

As for the most radical and dangerous sector of the movement, there is the figure of Theodore Kaczynski, alias "Unabomber", and eco-extremist groups such as Individuals Tendiento a lo Salvaje. Although Kaczynski is not an anarcho-primitivist, properly speaking, part of his thought could be considered as such. The name of Ted Kaczynski is known for having carried out several terrorist attacks between 1978 and 1995, sending bomb packages that killed three people and injured 23 others.

Theoretical fundament

The main idea behind anarcho-primitivism is that before the advent of agriculture, human beings lived in nomadic tribes. In these tribes, individuals were not organized in hierarchies or in submission-domination relationships; all of them lived socially, politically and economically equally. In fact, the more general anarchist movement itself sees this type of tribe as a precursor of a properly anarchist society.

Primitivists see in the appearance of agriculture the beginning of a greater dependence on technological development, which has worsened over time. In parallel with this greater need for the benefits of technology, society has been promoting a increasingly unfair power structure, based on the division of labor and the creation of hierarchies social.

However, and despite the fact that they stop living in a nomadic way to live based on agriculture in societies sedentary, within the movement there are conflicting views on the need to completely reject the horticulture. While some defend that agriculture, to a greater or lesser extent, is necessary, understanding its risks in that there are individuals who may have more than others, other anarcho-primitivists advocate returning to a strictly hunter-gatherer society.

1. rejection of civilization

Within anarcho-primitivism, the idea of ​​civilization is considered as a physical and institutional apparatus which is the origin of domestication, control and domination, both over other animals and over human beings themselves. Civilization is the root of oppression and the ultimate goal of anarcho-primitivists is its destruction.

The appearance of the first civilizations, around 10,000 years ago, was the beginning of a disconnection from nature and from other human beings. which culminated in an individualistic lifestyle, separated from the rest, but in which each of our vital aspects is strongly controlled.

Before civilization, individuals had ample leisure time, gender autonomy and social equality. They had no greater needs than the basic ones: feeding, resting, reproducing, maintaining contact with others...

Since not many things were needed to live, human beings lived in peace and harmony. Being sedentary societies, there was no idea that a land belonged to one or another tribe and, therefore, there were no territorial conflicts that ended in the form of war.

But with the advent of civilization this changed. The creation of this type of society is associated with the appearance of war, the oppression of women, population growth, labor injustices, the idea of ​​property and, eventually, capitalism.

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2. Criticism of symbolic culture

Anarcho-primitivists criticize one of the greatest, if not the greatest, advancement of the human species: symbolic culture. That is, they are critical of the idea of ​​language, be it oral or written.

One of the questions that is usually asked in the face of this particular criticism is that how do anarcho-primitivists intend to communicate. It is impossible not to think of the stereotyped figure of prehistoric man, who grunted and gestured to make himself understood.

According to anarcho-primitivism, and in the words of John Zerzan himself, it is the idea that human beings prehistoric people got along so well it was because there was no language, that they communicated in a more direct.

It should be said that, despite being critical of the idea of ​​the symbolic, they have not yet given a solid argument that allows to understand why language is a bad communication tool or what alternative exists that is better.

3. taming of life

Within the logic of anarcho-primitivism, it is understood that domestication is a process that has served to control life in accordance with the designs of civilization.

The mechanisms of this process are various, and are applicable to both animals and humans (the eugenics could be considered one of them): breed, tame, genetically modify, cage, educate, rule, enslave, murder...

These mechanisms are imposed through institutions, customs and rituals, be they apparently harmless.

4. Rejection of science and technology

Primitivists reject modern science, especially that which incurs in the constant use of new technologies in our daily lives.. They defend the idea that science, as it develops, is not neutral: there are interests, both commercial and dominant, behind each technological development.

They have a very cold vision of science, seeing it as something that has distanced itself from human values ​​and emotions, being extremely quantitative. The scientific implies a mechanical way of looking at life and sometimes behaves as if it were the dominant religion of our time.

As for technology, they see it as an element that promotes the alienation of the human being, and decrease meaningful interactions between people. This is especially evident with the media, which offer a distorted and partial form of reality.

Criticism of anarcho-primitivism

Given how radical the anarcho-primitivist foundations are, it was a matter of time before strong criticism of the movement arose.

The main criticism that anarcho-primitivists receive is that they maintain an inconsistent attitude. They criticize the idea of ​​civilization, but most of them continue to live a properly civilized, often Western, lifestyle. Another idea is that, despite rejecting technology, they make use of mobile devices, offer interviews via Skype, sell books in both physical and digital formats...

However, it can be said that considering the defenders of this current hypocritical for defending the abandonment of technology and society as it is organized today, without them taking the first step, is a very critical criticism. simplistic. They are “ad hominem” arguments, which instead of criticizing the ideas they defend, limit themselves to criticizing the lifestyle of those who raise them.

In the same way that they defend a gradual abandonment of civilization, the anarcho-primitivists are aware that it is very difficult to abandon the current lifestyle. If a catastrophe occurred that forced humanity to organize itself into nomadic societies, it is very likely that the apocalypse would be close, and authors like Zerzan know this.

Bibliographic references:

• Kaczynski, T. (1996). The Unabomber Manifesto: Industrial Society and Its Future (3rd ed.). Berkeley: Jolly Roger Press. ISBN 0-9634205-2-6.
• Jensen, D. (2000). A Language Older Than Words. New York: Context Books. ISBN 1-893956-03-2.
• Zerzán, J. (1999). Elements of refusal. Columbia, MO: C.A.L. Press/Paleo Editions. ISBN 9781890532017.
• Gagliano, G. (2010). I return to Mother Earth. The green utopia between radical ecology and ecoterrorism. Publisher Uniservice. p. 229. ISBN 978-88-6178-595-3.