According to different scholars, the history of anarchism either goes back to ancient and prehistoric ideologies and social structures, or begins in the 19th century as a formal movement. As scholars and anarchist philosophers have held a range of views on what anarchism means, it is difficult to outline its history unambiguously. Some feel anarchism is a distinct, well-defined movement stemming from 19th-century class conflict, while others identify anarchist traits long before the earliest civilisations existed.
Prehistoric society existed without formal hierarchies, which some anthropologists have described as similar to anarchism. The first traces of formal anarchist thought can be found in ancient Greece and China, where numerous philosophers questioned the necessity of the state and declared the moral right of the individual to live free from coercion. During the Middle Ages, some religious sects espoused libertarian thought, and the Age of Enlightenment, and the attendant rise of rationalism and science, signalled the birth of the modern anarchist movement.
Alongside Marxism, modern anarchism was a significant part of the workers' movement at the end of the 19th century. Modernism, industrialisation, reaction to capitalism and mass migration helped anarchism to flourish and to spread around the globe. Major anarchist schools of thought sprouted up as anarchism grew as a social movement, particularly anarcho-collectivism, anarcho-communism, anarcho-syndicalism, and individualist anarchism. As the workers' movement grew, the divide between anarchists and Marxists grew as well. The two currents formally split at the fifth congress of the First International in 1872. Anarchists participated enthusiastically in the Russian Revolution, but as soon as the Bolsheviks established their authority, anarchist movements, most notably the Makhnovshchina and the Kronstadt rebellion, were harshly suppressed.
Anarchism played a historically prominent role during the Spanish Civil War, when an anarchist territory was established in Catalonia. Revolutionary Catalonia was organised along anarcho-syndicalist lines, with powerful labor unions in the cities and collectivised agriculture in the country, but ended in the defeat of the anarchists.
In the 1960s, anarchism re-emerged as a global political and cultural force. In association with the New Left and Post-left tendencies, anarchism has influenced social movements that espouse personal autonomy and direct democracy. It has also played major roles in the anti-globalization movement, Zapatista revolution, and Rojava revolution.
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According to different scholars, the historyofanarchism either goes back to ancient and prehistoric ideologies and social structures, or begins in the...
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is against all forms of authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary...
Contemporary anarchism within the historyofanarchism is the period of the anarchist movement continuing from the end of World War II and into the present...
Individualist anarchism is the branch ofanarchism that emphasizes the individual and their will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions...
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to anarchism: Anarchism – political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable...
chronological list of both fictional and non-fictional books written about anarchism. This list includes books that advocate for anarchism as well as those...
authority and hierarchical organization in the conduct of human relations. Proponents ofanarchism, known as anarchists, advocate stateless societies based...
Social anarchism, also known as left-wing anarchism or socialist anarchism, is the branch ofanarchism that sees liberty and social equality as interrelated...
Anarchism in Russia developed out of the populist and nihilist movements' dissatisfaction with the government reforms of the time. The first Russian to...
contemporary anarchism, the anti-capitalism of classical anarchism has remained prominent. Around the turn of the 21st century, anarchism grew in popularity...
Green anarchism, also known as ecological anarchism or eco-anarchism, is an anarchist school of thought that focuses on ecology and environmental issues...
considered the end of the golden age of classical anarchism. There were several variants ofanarchism in Spain, namely expropriative anarchism in the period...
Anarchism in the United Kingdom initially developed within the religious dissent movement that began after the Protestant Reformation. Anarchism was first...
Italian anarchism as a movement began primarily from the influence of Mikhail Bakunin, Giuseppe Fanelli, and Errico Malatesta. Rooted in collectivist...
Anarchism in Ukraine has its roots in the democratic and egalitarian organization of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who inhabited the region up until the 18th...
stateless societies based on non-hierarchical voluntary associations. Anarchism is generally defined as the libertarian philosophy which holds the state...
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Anarchism was first introduced to Egypt by Italian immigrant workers and political exiles in the 1860s. The Italian community in Egypt was one of numerous...
Collectivist anarchism, also called anarchist collectivism and anarcho-collectivism, is an anarchist school of thought that advocates the abolition of both the...
Max (1996). A Short HistoryofAnarchism. Freedom Press. p. 145. ISBN 0-900384-89-1. Nettlau, Max (1996). A Short HistoryofAnarchism. Freedom Press. p...
Anarchism in Korea dates back to the Korean independence movement in Korea under Japanese rule (1910-1945). Korean anarchists federated across their end...
Anarchism in France can trace its roots to thinker Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who grew up during the Restoration and was the first self-described anarchist...
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skeptical of or vehemently opposed to organized religion. Nevertheless, some anarchists have provided religious interpretations and approaches to anarchism, including...
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between anarchism and Friedrich Nietzsche has been ambiguous. Even though Nietzsche criticized anarchists, his thought proved influential for many of them...
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