Issues in Anarchism - Relations With The Left

Relations With The Left

See also: Anarchism and Marxism

On May 1937 the President of Republican Spain, Manuel Azaña, then living in the parliament house in Exposition Park, talked by telephone to the President of Catalonia, Luis Companys, who was in his office in the Palace of the Generalitat. The conversation had been going on for some time, when it was sharply interrupted by an anarchist in the Telefónica who said: "This conversation will have to stop. We have more interesting things to do than listen to your stupid conversations." The line was then broken.

Jaume Miravitlles

While many anarchists (especially those involved in the anti-globalization movement) continue to see themselves as a leftist movement, some thinkers and activists believe it is necessary to re-evaluate anarchism's relationship with the traditional Left. Like many radical ideologies, most anarchist schools of thought are, to some degree, sectarian. There is often a difference of opinion within each school about how to react to, or interact with, other schools. Many anarchists however, draw from a wide range of political perspectives, such as the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, the Situationists, "ultra leftists", Autonomist Marxism, various indigenous cultures.

A movement called post-left anarchy seeks to distance itself from the traditional "left" - Communists, socialists, social democrats, etc. - and to escape the confines of ideology in general. Post-leftists argue that anarchism has been weakened by its long attachment to contrary "leftist" movements and single issue causes (anti-war, anti-nuclear, etc.). It calls for a synthesis of anarchist thought and a specifically anti-authoritarian revolutionary movement outside of the leftist milieu. Important groups and individuals associated with post-left anarchy include: CrimethInc., the magazine Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed and its editor Jason McQuinn, Bob Black, Hakim Bey and others.

The term postanarchism was originated by Saul Newman, first receiving popular attention in his book From Bakunin to Lacan, a synthesis of classical anarchist theory and poststructuralist thought. Subsequent to Newman's use of the term, however, it has taken on a life of its own and a wide range of ideas including autonomism, post-left anarchy, situationism, post-colonialism and Zapatismo. By its very nature post-anarchism rejects the idea that it should be a coherent set of doctrines and beliefs. Nonetheless key thinkers associated with post-anarchism include Saul Newman, Todd May, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari.

Some activists, calling themselves "insurrectionary anarchists", are critical of formal anarchist labor unions and federations, and advocate informal organization, carrying out acts of resistance in various struggles. Proponents include Wolfi Landstreicher and Alfredo M. Bonanno, author of works including "Armed Joy" and "The Anarchist Tension". This tendency is represented in the US in magazines such as Willful Disobedience and Killing King Abacus.