Post-Anarchism

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Post-Anarchism, or Post-Structuralist Anarchism is anarchism understood not as a certain set of social arrangements, or even as a particular revolutionary project, but rather as a sensibility, a certain ethos or way of living and seeing the world which is impelled by the realization of the freedom that one already has. It suggests that revolution – as a way of thinking about radical political changes – is no longer operational, and proposes the notion of insurrection instead – in which one distances oneself from power, rather than seeking to fight against it directly creating a new rule.

In layman's terms, Post-anarchism is not a single coherent theory, but rather refers to the combined works of any number of post-modernists and post-structuralists such as Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida, Jean Baudrillard; postmodern feminists such as Judith Butler; and alongside those of classical anarchist and libertarian philosophers such as Zhuang Zhou, Emma Goldman, Max Stirner, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Thus, the terminology can vary widely in both approach and outcome.

History

The term "post-anarchism" was coined by philosopher of post-left anarchy Hakim Bey in his 1987 essay "Post-Anarchism Anarchy." Bey argued that anarchism had become insular and sectarian, confusing the various anarchist schools of thought for the real experience of lived anarchy. In 1994, Todd May initiated what he called "poststructuralist anarchism", arguing for a theory grounded in the post-structuralist understanding of power, particularly through the work of Michel Foucault and Emma Goldman, while taking the anarchist approach to ethics.

The "Lacanian anarchism" proposed by Saul Newman utilizes the works of Jacques Lacan and Max Stirner more prominently. Newman criticizes classical anarchists, such as Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin, for assuming an objective "human nature" and natural order; he argues that from this approach, humans progress and are well-off by nature, with only the Establishment as a limitation that forces behavior otherwise. For Newman, this is a worldview that depicts the reversal of Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, in which the "good" state is subjugated by the "evil" people.

Lewis Call has attempted to develop post-anarchist theory through the work of Friedrich Nietzsche, rejecting the Cartesian concept of the "subject." From here, a radical form of anarchism is made possible: the anarchism of becoming. This anarchism does not have an eventual goal, nor does it flow into "being"; it is not a final state of development, nor a static form of society, but rather becomes permanent, as a means without end. Italian autonomist Giorgio Agamben has also written about this idea. In this respect it is similar to the "complex systems" view of emerging society known as "Panarchy". Call critiques liberal notions of language, consciousness, and rationality from an anarchist perspective, arguing that they are inherent in economic and political power within the capitalist state organization.

Duane Rousselle has approached the term from the perspective of Lacanian psychoanalysis in After Post-Anarchism and Post-Anarchism: A Reader. The journal Anarchist Developments in Cultural Studies has been a key academic journal disseminating post-anarchist theory.

Variants

Deleuzoguattarian Anarchism

Deleuze and Guattari aren't political thinkers but philosophers, still, something prescriptive can be taken from their books Capitalism and Schizophrenia, Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus. It is strongly discouraged to read them before you understand Sigmund Freud and his successor Jacques Lacan. What are those ideas in short:

Consciousness contains three fragments: ego, superego, and id. Its role is to produce desires, the superego attempts to hold those desires back by morality, shame, and critique, and the ego is the judge that tries to make decisions from this dialog. When something goes wrong in those relations person becomes insane, and a psychologist should intervene and through dialog, calm down the id or superego. Deleuze and Guattari being part of the anti-psychiatry movement, say that this is coercion. Not only the superego, ego, and id should be free, but the id shouldn't even be whole. They compare it with the factory of desires, and it is inhabited by many personalities, just like the proletariat should be freed from the factory, those personalities should be freed to live separately, creating each their own desire, in short, every person should become a schizophrenic, however, they don't oppose the formation of "healthy" consciousness, they are against of formation of consciousness through coercive means by the society. As well they believe that all forms of society should be free to practice since telling what is normal and not is a form of fascism, for example, they believe capitalism can be practiced in the post-capitalist society, despite being Marxists in a very orthodox way.

Personality and Behaviour

  • Hangs around French cafes talking continental philosophy no one can understand.
  • Talks with Existentialist Anarchism frequently.

How to Draw

  1. Draw a ball,
  2. Fill it in black,
  3. Draw one big white eye,
  4. Add the anarchy symbol, in black, as a pupil.
  5. You’re done.
Color Name HEX RGB
Black #141414 20, 20, 20
White #FFFFFF 255, 255, 255


Relationships

Friends

  • Anarcho-Egoism - "What Stirner says is a word, a thought, a concept; what he means is no word, no thought, no concept. What he says is not what is meant, and what he means is unsayable." - Max Stirner
  • Post-Leftism - You'll help me move past the constraints of leftism, to better anarchism.
  • Anarcho-Nihilism - Our crushing futility is possibly the most freeing aspect of our existence.
  • Taoist Anarchism - The anarchy that can be spoken is not the anarchy.
  • Existentialist Anarchism - The anarchism of becoming is no static state of society, nor final stage of development, rather it is a means without end.
  • Acid Communism - Imagining new futures.
  • Tunisian Boys - Hey Kids!

Frenemies

  • Anarcho-Communism - The ideas of pure communism are antiquated, we have to adjust for our contemporaries.
  • Anarcho-Capitalism - An individual impeded by the hurdles of capital is not really free.
  • Soulism - You are my optimistic sibling that believes in the existence of the chance of a better future. But one day, we will have fun in TAZ.

Enemies

  • Fascism - We must never go back to subjecting the will of individuals to something as pernicious as totalitarianism.
  • Marxism–Leninism - You had a chance to make real change for the better, but became a tyrant like the rest.
  • Landian Accelerationism - What happened to Land? You're an embarrassment...
  • Minarchism - "The problem with the minimal state such as that advocated by Nozick, is that it is never minimal in practice: on the contrary, a state which preoccupies itself with security functions – military and police force – is in fact highly interventionist, intrusive and authoritarian. The libertarian minimal state always ends up as a Leviathan state."

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