An Anarchist FAQ - Influence and Reception

Influence and Reception

The FAQ has been complimented by several sources. The anarcho-syndicalist Solidarity Federation called it an "invaluable resource" and "highly recommended" for people wishing "to gain a better understanding of anarchism". Flint Jones, a member of NEFAC, hailed the FAQ as "the most comprehensive resource available" The Workers Solidarity Movement, an Irish anarchist group, called it "the primary source of information about anarchism on the world wide web". Quebecer anarchist Normand Baillargeon calls it a "monumental and essential FAQ dedicated to anarchism" The FAQ has been cited by Harvard resident fellow Joseph Reagle " an exemplar of the principles ."

In recent years the FAQ has been cited in various published works, such as Viable Utopian Ideas: Shaping a Better World (2003) by Arthur B Shostak, and Utopia and Organization (2002) by Michael Parker. It has been described as "very comprehensive", by Paul Graham and John Hoffman in their Introduction to Political Ideologies (2006). Various versions of the FAQ have been translated into 8 languages, and it has been included in every stable Debian release since 1999.

An older version of the FAQ was once criticised by one of the anarcho-capitalists it was written to oppose. Writing in 1997 and referring to the 1996 version of the FAQ, David Friedman complained about what he called the authors' "irresponsibility" in making errors in their account of Icelandic history, and by attributing to him a position which he did not hold. He claimed that the authors' methodology was to first "make up their facts," then correct errors as he points them out, hoping that they eventually come up with a true account. The authors corrected their misstatement of Friedman's view in later versions when they became aware of his criticism. While they acknowledged that the 1996 version of the FAQ did contain some errors concerning medieval Iceland and was poorly fact-checked, they denied that this represents a "disregard for the truth", and they argue their critique was still valid despite "some serious errors in details." Friedman has not replied.

Mutualist and individualist anarchist Kevin A. Carson, called the FAQ a "onumental compendium on anarchist history, theory and practice". Carson however disagreed with the FAQ's analysis of anarcho-capitalism. He referred to the FAQ's treatment of anarcho-capitalism as "probably the FAQ's weakest spot", continuing " I consider anarcho-capitalism to be considerably diverged from classical individualist anarchism, also reject any blanket assertion that they can't be 'real anarchists'."