Social anarchism
Social anarchism, also known as left-wing anarchism or socialist anarchism, is the branch of anarchism that sees liberty and social equality as interrelated.
This article is about the branch of anarchism emphasizing social equality. For the libertarian political philosophy within the socialist movement, see Libertarian socialism.
It advocates for a social revolution to remove oppressive forms of hierarchy, such as capitalism and the state. In their place, social anarchists encourage social collaboration through mutual aid and envision non-hierarchical forms of social organization, such as voluntary associations.
Identified with the socialist tradition of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin, social anarchism is often contrasted with individualist anarchism, due to the latter's criticism of socialism.
Criticism[edit]
The social anarchist model for building socialism from the bottom-up was opposed by Marxists, who instead advocated for a "dictatorship of the proletariat".[76] Marxists considered social anarchism to be an ideology of the petite bourgeoisie and the lumpenproletariat, criticising it particularly for its anti-statism, which it considered to be a politically sectarian impulse.[77] Individualist anarchists such as David Morland have also criticised social anarchism as "incoherent", due to the disconnect between its "realistic" approach to human nature and its "optimistic" view of future anarchist societies.[78]
Post-structuralists have criticised social anarchism for its narrow analysis of power.[79] To the post-structuralist Todd May, power is irreducible and dispersed, arising from many different places.[80] Whereas social anarchists such as Mikhail Bakunin focus on the concentration of power within the hands of the ruling class or the bourgeoisie, which they hold to be the principal source of social issues.[81] Critical theorists have also criticised the social anarchist understanding of power for focusing too much on the state, without considering power dynamics inherent to racism, sexism and even some interpersonal relationships.[82]
