Anarchism & Education

A Philosophical PerspectiveA presentation on the book by Judith Suissa

Presentation by Matthew Hayden

Anarch-schisms

Political movement or Philosophy? Must an anarchist hold a positive desire to

abolish the state, or can he be content with the exercise of local autonomy within a larger state?

Anarch-schisms

Individual Freedom or Equality? Is it more important that each individual be

absolutely free from social or organization restraint, or that all basic goods be procured and distributed among all people?

Anarch-schisms

Individualistic Anarchism or Social Anarchism? Is the point of anarchism to free the individual

from the fetters of social organization and state control, or is it merely to rid society of distant, centralized control in favor of nonpermanent, autonomous, local organizations and affiliations?

Anarch-isms

Mutualism The basic anarchist belief that society should

be organized on the basis of reciprocal voluntary agreements among individuals.

Federalism Similar to the structure of mutualism, but

extends itself to social and economic organization between communities (preferably mutualist communities, of course).

Anarch-isms

Collectivism Based on the previous two, but then asserts

that the free and just societies therein can only obtain through the reorganization (through revolution, if necessary) of production on a communal basis. Bakunin was one of these.

Anarchist Marxism Much overlap between the two, mostly in the

centralized ownership of the economy and production. The Marxist state is just another state that must be abolished. Bakunin was not a Marxist.

Anarch-isms

Anarcho-Communism The view that the products of labor should be

collectively owned and distributed. Not Marxists, either, but certainly looked like them. Most revolutionary anarchists were this. Kropotkin was one.

Anarcho-Syndicalism Argues that trade unions should form the basic

foundation of social reorganization. Similar to collectivists and communists. Chomsky claims to be one of these, and Ori suspects that Dewey shares tendencies with these.

Anarchism is…

All anarchists share a principled rejection of the state and its institutions. as a result they…

DO NOT reject the notion of social organization per se;

DO NOT necessarily regard freedom – specifically individual freedom – as the primary value and major goal of social change;

DO NOT propose any “blueprint” for the future of society.

Anarchism and Human Nature

Human nature is both egotistic and sociable (read: altruistic). [Proudhon & Bakunin]

Cooperation in humans is seen as a replacement of “struggle” that Darwin identified. [Kropotkin]

Godwin considered benevolence to be a natural result of human rationality.

Anarchism and Human Nature

Generally reject the notion that, pre-society, man was “free” (unlike Rousseau, for instance) [Bakunin]

A mostly contextualist view of human nature

This lack of “essentialism”, according to Suissa, rescues anarchism from the jaws of utopianism.

Anarchism Values

Contextualist account explains why education (and schooling) is a necessary component of anarchism.

Create the conditions and consciousness under which anarchism can obtain and sustain itself

Anarchism Values

How can anarchism institute formal education which, however localized, will eventually become a centralized institution?

Anarchism Values

Individual freedom can only be obtained by “complementing it through all the individuals” around a person (Bakunin). Such people will freely choose to belong to a society organized on a realized conception of equality and social justice.

“I can feel free only in the presence of other men” (Bakunin).

Anarchism Values

Reciprocal AwarenessPeople are drawn, psychologically or

instrumentally, to a moral or mental independence [Godwin] which is shared through community support leading to “trust, solidarity, and emotional and intellectual growth” (Ritter in Suissa, p.45)

Authority, the State, and Education

AuthorityRejection of state DOES NOT

automatically result in rejection of authority Rather “authoritarianism” – absolute

authority to require someone to do something that person does not wish to do.

All authority is temporary, and subject to removal or revision at any time.

Authority, the State, and Education

Functionally Specific authorityNo hierarchies, no fixed or petrified polices

or posts

Positive Core of Anarchism

Equality & Fraternity Both appeal to rationalityNeither is conceptually prior to the other

(no value is)

What’s so funny about anarchism?

The liberal state and liberal educationThe former is supposed to be “neutral” re:

conceptions of the good…while the latter cannot be; the very

nature of the centralized educational project is one that promotes certain conceptions over others. Yet the two are conflated, ubiquitously so

What’s so funny about anarchism?

Anarchist view is that there is no single comprehensive conception of the good

Instead, the “good” is sought and re-created and collectively negotiated, and never-ending.

In effect, the process above IS the good (according the Matt, not Suissa)

…and in the end…?

Suissa’s hopes Anarchism is not a political theory Anarchism is not naively optimistic, but rather

realistic and pragmatic (hello, Dewey!) Social Anarchist thought is very similar to the

liberal tradition Conceptions of liberalism should expand beyond

constraints of liberal state, and thus anarchism would no longer be seen necessarily as a threat to liberalism, but maybe the liberal state

…and in the end…?

Suissa’s fears (re: education) Anarchists have not paid enough attention to

pedagogy Tenuous account of authority is problematic in

educational settings Because the anarchist society is not currently

realized, the education for maintenance of an anarchist society must be supplanted with education for social change.

How is this to be done, while remaining true to anarchist principles?

Matt’s Take

Anarchism is all around us Farmer’s market co-ops, fraternal organizations,

strong city-councils, Napster (now dead), Olga.net (now dead and in litigation)

In Int’l Ed Dev, talk of “local control” and “participatory development” [when genuine] is just code for temporary, functionally-specific, local autonomy

Pockets of bottom-up, locally-originated, issue-oriented social movements are very anarchistic

Matt’s Take

Cosmopolitan educational theories (take your pick),

theories of “ethical progress” (like Kitcher, Appiah, and Hauser),

dynamic and progressive educational pragmatism (Dewey),

…all contain strands, some quite thick and prominent, of anarchist thought and practice

Matt’s Take

Maybe…Anarchism is the only form of social organization truly compatible with liberal conceptions of democracy, Smithian conceptions of economy, Rawlsian theories of justice, and Marxist conceptions of equality, that may reconcile in the most palatable and functional way freedom, liberty, and equality for society.

Matt’s Take

Or, maybe…anarchism is merely a process, an expression of democratic principles and liberty that can ONLY take place within the confines of a state or otherwise constraining system of social organization;

…or, maybe anarchism is the canary in the cave charged with detecting authoritarian gas

Matt’s Take

Or, maybe…anarchy’s just another word for everything to lose.