Anarchy Works by Peter Gelderloos

8/13/2019 Anarchy Works by Peter Gelderloos

1/146

Anarchsm s h bolds of rvouonary soca movemets

mrg from h srgg agains capiaim-i im r word

fr from al forms of dominaon and xpoiaion. B a it har

is a simp and convincing proposiion: pop kow how o iv

hr own livs and organiz hmsvs br han any pr

cod Ohrs cynicay caim ha w nd a govrnmn o proc

s. Thy caim anarchy is impracica and opian i wod nvr

wor. On h conray, anarchis pracic arady has a ong rcord

and has ofn word qi w. hisoris in hs book showha an anarchis socy can sccd a nabling a is mmbrs

o m hi nds and dsirs.

r

,16 \.

rr

'\ .


2/146

Anarchy Works

by Peter Geldeloos

Arden Press,

N cpyrigh

Arden Press is a gup engaged in researchpublshing d lcal prjes

Fr mre nfran please vis denpressrg

This bk s se in enium.

m alk ab h ld day i im fr mhing graI wan y g and mak i wrkThoorke

Dediated to the woder peope o RuiAaia LReotoa ad the Kyi iohop or akig aarhywork

Athough thi book taed out a a ididua projeti the ed a great ay peope ot o who preerto reai aoyou heped ake t poibe throughprooeadig atheg, reoedig oureeditig ad ore To akowedge oy a a part othi hep e author wod ike to thakohoe ViaKua aaaa L, J, ad G or proidig oputer aethroughout a year o oe, eitio, rahe irue ad o orth Thak to Jeie Dodo ad Katie Carkor hepig wi the reearh o aother proet, that eded up uig or thi book. Ao thak to C ad E, oredig heir paword or ree ae to the databae ohoary artie aaiabe to uieriy tdet but ot

to the ret o u.


3/146

T a idd toi a aoud ugowig i abadod viag i t moutaio vaat ot i t iptiig bat ou ft i t maiof oiti ik otig w'v kowwipg to u tat tig oud b ditBut t poitiia you kow i yig to yout maag wo i ad you

t adod wo vit yout pidt of t bak tat ow you out pofo wo gd you papt op wo o you ttt pot wo ifom yout doto wo mdiat yout ubad wo bat yout mot wo pak yout odi wo ki fo youad t oia wok wo t you pat ad tu ito a fodi a ig abit

a ak"WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITHOUT US?It woud b aay"

Ad t daugt wo u aw om omt bu dv o t pikt it vt wo tw bak i mda but od o to i t boy avd om uiid by t of i idt maid wo mut bow to to wo a't v ook fotmvt immigt ikig ao a dt to d famiy o tot idt kd o i w to po bau bud dow a oppigma ty w buidig ov i idood damt igbo wo a up t ig om t vaat otopig omo w it ito a gadt itik o t op oadt og dopout wo gav up o a ad at iuad omtim v food o oud wit voutioa potfo t wodmayb a of u a f itou bo ad tomto a aaid ofwat ty woud dowitout u

ad ti tat i a pomit bt pat ofou iv a aay aady


4/146

IAnarchy would never work What exacly is anarchism? A noe on inspiraion

The ricky opic of represenaion 7I H N

Aren' people naurally selfish? Aren people naurally copeii 6Haven humans always been patiarchal Aen people naurally warlike? 27Aren dominaion and auhoriy natural? 32A broader sense of self

DHow will decisions be ade

ow will decisions e enforced? 5Who ll setle dispues? Meeing in he srees 7

EyWihou wages, wh is he incenie o work? 76Don people need bosses and expers? Who w ake ou he rash? Who will ke care of he elderly and disabled How will people ge healhcare? Wha abou educaion?

Wha abou echnolo? How will exchange work


5/146


6/146

Intoduton

Anrh wol nr worAarhi i the boldet o revolutioa oial oveet to

eerge o the trle agait apitali-it ai or a worldee o all or o doiatio ad ploitatio But at it heti a iple ad oviig propoitio people kow how to livetheir ow live ad orgaize theelve better tha ay expertould Other yially lai that people do ot kow what i itheir bet iteret that they eed a goveet to protet thethat the aeio o oe politial party ould oehow eurethe iteret o all eber o oiety Aarhit outer thatdeiioakig hould ot be etralized i the had o aygoveet but itead power hould be deetralized that i toay, eah pero hould be the eter o o ie, ad all hould be

ee to build the eork ad aoiatio they eed to eet eeed i oo with other

he eduatio we reeive i tater hool teahe u todoubt our abili to orgaize ourelve. hi lead ay to oludeaarhy i ipraial ad utopia: it woud v ok. O theotra aarhit pratie already ha a log reord ad haoe worked uite well he oiial hitory book tell a eletivetory gloig over the at that all the opoet o a aarhitoiety have eited at variou tie ad iuerable tateleoietie have thrived or illeia.How would a aarhit

oiety opa to tatit ad apitalit oietie? It i apparetthat hierarhial oietie work well aordig to erai riteriahey ted to b e eeely eetive at ouerig their eighborad eurig vat ortue or their rler O the other had aliate hage oo d ad water hortage, arket itabili adother obal rie itei hierarhi al odel are ot provig tobe partilarly utaiable he hitorie i thi book how that a


7/146

inn

anachst socie can do much better at enabling a its members tomeet their needs and desires.

The many stories past n d present that demonsate howanarchy works have been suppressed and distoted because of therevolutionary conclusions we might dw om them We can livein a socie with no bosses, masters politicias or bureaucats; a

society with nojudges, no police and no criminas no rich or poora socety ee of sexism homophobia and transphobia a SOciety inwhich the wouds fm centies of enslavement, colonialism an dgenocide are nally allowed to heal. The only things stopping us arethe prisons programming and paychecks of the power as well asour own lack o f faith in ourseles

f couse anarchists do not to be pactical to a fault. If weeer wn the eedom to rn our own lives, we'll probably come upwith entely new approaches to organiation that improv e on thesetried and true forms. o let these stories be a starting point, and a

challenge

Wh xtly i nrhimolues hae been wrien to aswer thi s question, and illions

of people hae dedicated their lies to creating, panding dening,and ghting for anarchy There re countless paths to anarchisand countless beginings: workers in 19th centu Europe ghtngagainst capitism and believing in themselves instead of theideologies of authoritaian political pates; indigenous peoplesghting coloniation and reclaiming their taditionl, horizontacultres high school stdents wakng up to e depth of theiralienation and unhappiness mystics om China one ousand yearsago or fm Eupe e hunded years ago Daoiss or Abaptstsghing agast government and organized religion woen rebellingagainst the authotarianism and sexism of the Le There is noCentral Committee giing out mebership cds and no standarddoctrine. Anarchy eans different things to dierent people

2

ay W

Howeer, here ae soe basic prnciples most ancsts agree onAuonomy and Hozonliy

All people desere the freedom to define and organiethemselves on their own terms Decision-makng stuctuesshould be horiontal rather tan ertical so no onedominates anyone else they shod foster p to act

freely rather than p others Anarchism opposes allcoercie hierarchies includng capitalism, the state, whitesupremac and patiarchy

Muual People shod help one another oluntarily; bonds of

solidarity and generosiy form a stronger social glue than thefear inspired by laws bordes prisons, and aries Mutalaid is neither a form of charity nor of erosum exchange

both ger and receiver are equal and interhangeable nceneither holds power oer the other tey increase their

collectie power by creating opportnities to work togetherVouny Assoton

People should be free to coopete with whoeer theywant however they see t; likewise they should be ee torefuse any relationship or arrangeent they do not judge tobe in their interest eryone should be able to mo e freelyboth physically and socially. Anarchists oppose borders of allnds and inolunta categoriation by citienship, gender,or raceDrec Aon

It is more empowering ad effecive to accomplish goalsdirely than to rely on authoiies or representaties. Freepeople do not request e changes they want see in thewod they make those changes

Revouon

Todays entrenched systems of repression cannot bereformed away Those who hold power in a hierarchical

3


8/146

duio

system are the ones who institute reforms, and they generallydo so in ays that preserve or even ampl their power.Systems like capitalism and white suprema are forms ofwafare waged by elites; anarchist revolution means ghtingto overthrow these elites n order to create a e societySelf-Uberton

"The liberation of the workers is the du of the workersthemselves' as the old slogan goes This applies to othergroups as well: people must be at the foreont of their onliberation reedom cannot be given; it must be taken

A note on insprtonPuaism and freedom are not compatible with orthodox

ideologies The hstorical examples of anarchy do not have tobe explicitly anarchist Most of the societies and orgzations

that have successlly lived ee of govement have not calledthemelves anarchist that term originated in Europe n the 19th

cent and anarchsm as a self-consciou social movement is notnearly as iversal as t he desire for eedom

It is presumptous to assi the label anarchist to peoplewho have not chosen it instead, we can use a range of oer termsto describeeples of anarchy n practice Anarchy is a socialsituation ee of govement and coercive hierarchies held togetherby self-organied horizontal relationships "anarchists ae peoplewho identi themelves with the social movement or philosophy

of anarchism nti-authoritarans are people who expressly wantto live in a society without coercive hierarchies but do not tothe best of our knowledge ident as anarchistseither becausethe term was not available to them or because they do not seethe specically anarchist movement as relevant to their orldAer all the anarchist movement as such emerged om uropeand it inherited a worldview in accordance with this backound

4

Aarch Wk

meanwhile there are many other strugges against authorithat spng om different worldiews and have no need to calthemselves anarchistA socie that exists ithout a state butdoes not ident itself as anarchist is stateless that societyis not stateless by chance but consciously works to preventthe emergence of hierarchies and identes with its egaitarianchacteristics one migt describe it as anarchisti

The exampes in this book have been selected om a wide range

of times and pacesabout nine atogether Thirty are expliityanarchist te rest are all stateless autonoous or consciousyantiauthoritarian More than haf of the examples are from presentday Weste society a thir are dw from stateless societies thatprovide a view of the breadth of hman possibility outside of Westeviliation and e remaining few e lassal histocal ampesSome of these sucha the Spanish Civ War are cited multiple timesbeause they are well docmented an oer a ealth of information

The number of examples included makes it impossible to exploreeach one in the etail it deseres Ideally the reader ill be inspiredto prsue these questions herself distilling frther pracica lessonsfrom the attempts of those ho came before.

t will become apparent throuout this book that anarchy existsin conict with the state and capitaism any of the examples givenhere were ultimately cshed by police or conquering armies andit is in large part due to this systemaic repssion of a lternativesthat there have not been more examples of anachy wokng Thisbloody histo implies that to be thorougoing and successl an

. Sam Ma ad E Igaway wrte that before coloa cotact early aladton Ac ocete wee "arche, ad they make a tongagent to ths eect The ame coud o be ad o oher contetBut a the autho doe not come om y o thee ocete ad nceWete culue tadionaly beleve t has the ght to epeentothe ocete e-erg way t bet to aod uch boadchracezaton whle tll endeaorg e from hee exampe

5


9/146

anarchist revoluton would have to be global. Capitaism is a obalsystem, constantly expandng and colonzing eve autonomoussocie it encounters In the long no one communi or contcan remain anarchist while the rest of the world is cpitalst Ananti-capitaist revolution must destroy capitalism totay, or elsebe destroyed. This does not mean that anrchism must be a singe

global system Many different forms of anarchist socie couldcoexist and these in cod coexist with societies that werenot anarchist so long as the latter were not confrontationalyauthoritarin or oppressive The following pages wi show the greatdiversity of forms archy nd autonomy can take

The examples in this book show anarchy working for a period oftime or succeeding in a specic way Unti capitalism is abolished,all such examples will necessarily be prtial These examplesre instructive in their weaknesses well ther strengths Inaddition to providing a picture of people creang communities and

meeting their needs without bosses, they raise the queson of whatwent wrong and ho w we could do better nt time.

To this end here are some recurring themes that may bebenecial to reect on in the course of reading this book:

Isolaon

Many narchist projects work qute well, but only makean impact in the lives of a tiny number of people Whatengenders this isolation? What tends to contribute to it, andwhat can offset it?Allanes

In a number of exampes, anarchists and other antiauthoritarians were betrayed by supposed allies whosabotaged the possibli of liberation in order to gan powerfor themselves Why did anarchists choose these alliancesand what cn we lea about wt kind of allinces to maketody

6

ah W

Repesson

Autonomous communities and revolutionary activitieshave been stopped cold by police repression or miltaryinvasion tme er time People are intimidated restedtortred, and lled d the survivors must go nto hidingor drop out of the struggle; communities that had once

provided support withdraw in order to protect themselvesWhat actions, srateges and forms of organiation best

equip people to survive repression? How can those on theoutside provide effective solidarity?Collaboaon

Some socia moveents or radica projects choose to

paricipate in or accommodate themselves to aspects of thepresent system in order to overcome isolation be accessibleto a greater range of people, or avoid repression. What arethe advatages and pitfalls of this approach? Are there ways

to overcome isolation or avoid repression without it?Temoa gan

Many of the examples in s book no longer exist fcourse, anarchists ae not trying to create permanentinstitutions that take on lives of their own specificorganiations should come to an end when they are nolonger hepl Realiing that how can we make the mostof bubbles o autonomy whie they last d how can theycontinue to inform us aer they have ceased to be? How cana series of tempo spaces and events be nked to create a

contiuity of stule and community?

Th ricy opic of rprnionIn as many cases as was possible, we sought direct feedback om

people with personal expeience in the strges and comitiesdescribed in this book With some examples this was impossible


10/146


11/146

nn

Lida Tuhiwai Sith book Doozig Mtodoog Rsaca dgous Pop (odo: Zed Book offer a iportatperpetive o oe of thee thee

Recoeded Readg

Errico Malatesta At the Cafe: onversations on Anarchism. London: FreomPress 200

The Dak Sta Collective, Quiet Rumours An Anarcha-Feminist Reade Oakland Press 2002

Crimethnc. Ds of Wa Nights of Love Crimethn 2002

Danie Guein AnchmFrom The New York Mony Reiew6.

bel hooks Ain't I a Woman? Black wmen minismBoston South ndPress

Mitchel Verer and Chaz Bufe eds reams oFreem A Ricdo ores MagonReade Oakland AK Press 200

Derri]ensen A Culture o Make Beieve. White Rier Junction VemontChesea Green 2004

Vine Deloia, r usr ied r Your Sins an Indian Maniesto. ew orkMamlan 1969.

Wad ChurhiFrom a Natie Son; Seected Esss on ndigenism 1515Caridge Sout nd Press or his interview on Indigenism andnaism in the journal Uing the Ant

0

I Human Natur

Ahi hege the pia Wete oeptio of huaatre by eviioig oietie buit o ooperatio utual adad oidarity betwee peope rather tha opetitio ad urviva

of the ttet.

Ar popl rll lhEverybody ha a e e of efiteret ad the apabii to

at i a eh way at other peope' expee But everyoe aoha a ee of the eed of thoe aroud the, ad we are aapabe of geerou ad ee atio. Hua urviva depedo geeroi The ext tie oeoe te you a ouaaarhiti oie oud ot work beaue peope are aturayeh te hi he houd withhod food fro hi hidre

pedg payet do othig to hep hi paret have a digedretireet, ever doate to haritie ad ever hep hi eighboror be kid to trager ue he reeive opeatio Wodhe be abe to ead a fiig exitee, tag the apitait

phioophy to it loa ouio? f oe ot Eve aerhudred ofyear of beig uppreed harig ad geeroireai vita to hu exitee You dot have to ook to radaoia oveet to fid expe of thi The Uited State aybe o a trutura eve the ot elfih atio i the word-it ithe rihet of "deveoped outrie but ha aog the owet ife

expetaie beaue the poitia ulture woud ooer et po orpeope e tha give the heathare ad wefare But eve i theUS it eay to d ititutioa exape of harig that for aiportat part of the oiety ibraie o er a iteroetedetwork of iio of free book. A potuk ad eighborhoodbarbeue brig peope together to hare food ad ejoy eahother opay What exape of harig it deveop outide


12/146

human tu

the restrctve bounds of state and captal?Currency-based economes have only existed a few thousand

years, and captalism has onl been around a few hndred years.The latter has proven to work qute mserably, leadng to thegeatest nequalites of wealth, the largest mass svations, andthe worst dstrbution systems i wold histothough hats o

ts produced a lot of wonderl gadgets It mght suprise people tole how comm on other pes of economies have been in earliertmes, and how much the differed om captalsm

One economy developed over and over by humans on evecontnent has been the gi economy In ths system peoplehave more than they need of anything, the gve t awa Theydon't assig value, the dont cont debts Eveng you dontuse personally can be gven as a gi to someone else, and bygiving more gis you inspe more generos d strengthenthe iendshps that keep you swimmng in gis too Man g

economes lasted for thousands of ears, and proved much moreeective at enablng all of the partcipants to meet their needsCapitalism may have drastically ncreased productivty, but to whatend On one side of your typical capitalist c someone s staingto death while on the other sde someone is eatg caviar

Western economsts and poltcal scientsts nitally assumed thatmany of these gft economes were actually bater economies: protocaptalist exchange systems lackng an ecient currenc "Ill giveyou one sheep for twen loaves of bread In general, this s not howthese societie s desbed themselves Later, anthopolgists who

went to lve n such societes and were able to shed their cltualbases showed people n Euope that any of these were ndeed gieconomes n whch people intentonally kept no tally of who owedwhat to whom so as to foster a socie of geneosty and sharng

What these antopologsts ma not have kown is that gieconomies have never been totally suppressed n the est; in factthey surfaced equently withn rebellous movements Anarchsts

Aahy Wo

n the today also exempl the desire for relationshps basedon generosi ad the gaantee that eveones needs wll be metIn a number of towns and ctes, anarchists hold Reall Reall FreeMarketsessentally ea markets wthout prces People brnggoods the have made or thngs tey dont need anmore and gvethem awa for free to passersby or other particpants Or the

share usel sklls with one another In one ee maket n NorthCaolina every month

two hudred or more people fom all walks of gatherat the commons in the center of ou town They brngeverthing om jewel to rewood to give awa andtake wtever the want There are booths oerngbicycle repa, harsling even tarot readngs Peopleleave wth fullsize bed mes and old computers; f theydont have a vehcle to transpo them volunteer drivers

are avalable No money changes hds, no one halesover the compaative worth of items or sevices nobods ashamed about eng n need Contary to governmentordnances no fee is pad for the use of ths publc space,nor is anyone n charge Sometimes a marchng bandappears sometimes a puppet toupe peorms, or peopleline up to take a swng at a pata Games and conversatonste place aond the perpher, and eveone has a plateof warm food and a bag of ee goceries Banners hngfrom branches and raers proclaming for the commons,

not lanords or bureaucrac and "ni jefes, n ronteaand a nge blanket s spread wth racal readngmaterial, bu these arent essental to the eventthis is asocal insttuion not a demonstation

Thanks to ou monthl Free Markets, eveone n our townhas a workng reference point for anarchst economcs


13/146

ha a

Lf s ll s fo hos of us wh low o no nomnd lonshps dlop n sp n whh sol clss

nd fnnl mns ls mpol ln.

Th tdonl so of h S! n Ml s bsd on

gng h hn bng W could no nd n ouns of

h so odd b h Sm hmsls bu h xplndhow wokd o Rob Dnn Ws nhopologs whold wh hm fo m Dnn ws h h "ssm b whhh Sm dsbu food nd ss s on of h mos sgnnws n whh mmbs of ommun kn ogh Smonom xhngs mo lk Chsms xhngs hn lkomml xhngs I ws onsdd punn; o boo fommbs of Sm so o lul h lu of gs gn od Oh ommonl hld uls of qu nludd h duo sh wh h hd h h dd no mmdl nd nd

h du o sh wh guss nd non who skd I ws punnno o sh o o s qus bu lso o sk fo mo hnsomon ould g

Mn oh sos h lso dsbud nd ngdsupluss s gs Asd fom h sol ohson nd jo h sgnd fom shng h ou ommun whou dl kpngouns g onom n lso b jusfd n ms of psonlnss On pson nno onsum wh h podu ll bhmsls Th m om ds hun wll go bd bfo ou n ll A ool lk sw wll l unusd mos of h m f sh pop of sngl pson I mks mo sns o g

mos of h m o sh ou sw wh ou nghbos bs

2 "The Rely Really Free Mket: Instituting the Gi Econmy, Rollg

Thundr, N.4 Sprng 07 . 43 Rbert K. Dentan Te Semi: A Nnvilent Peple a/Ml. New Yrk

Hlt Rinehartad Winstn 197 p.48.

Aah Wor

ou nsung h n h u h wll g x food o ound sh h ools wh ou-hus nsung h ou h sso mo food nd wd ng of ools nd ou nd ou nghbos

bom h whou hng o xplo nb odFom wh w know how mmbs of g onoms would

pobbl no jus h ons wh gumns of luld slf

nsbu wh mol sonng xplnng shng s h ghhng o do A ll n onom suplus s th sul of nw of lookng h wold: s sol ho nd no mln Sos mus hoos o m o wok mo hnh nd o o qun lu o o onl onsum h mnmumqud fo h sul nd o sund ll h s of hpoduo ommon sohous onolld b lss of ldsEn f hunng p o goup of ghs gs lu nd bngshom hug moun of food h s no suplus h onsd noml o sh wh on ls glu hmsls wh

bg fs o n nghbong oun o pt unl ll hfood s n Is n mo w hn msung oupounds of food nd lulng wh png w nd

As fo lofs n f popl do no lu h lu of gsnd kp bln sh h wll no f somon onssnlss o sh o onbu o h goup olng h usomsof h nd h sns of mutul d Gdull suh poplwll dmg h lonshps nd mss ou on som of thn bnfs of lng n so I sms h n ll owng onoms n h lzs of popl w n s dfoodn sk ons o plsmbu fdng fw lofss n nsgnfn dn on sos sous spll whnompd o pmpng h oous l of ou soc Andlosng hs n moun of sous s fa pfbl o losng ouompsson nd lng popl s o dh n mo xtmss f mmbs of suh so w mo gssl psmpng o monopolz sous o fo oh popl o wok


14/146


15/146

human nature

coonization of hat coninent imposed ther own mora amewokon he Mbui Because they ony encounteed the Mbui in theviages of the Banu faers srrounding the luri forest, theyassumed he Mbut ee a pimitive sevan cass. In the 1950s, theMbi invied Wese anthopoogs Coin Tunbu to ive withthem n he foest hey oeraed his ude and iorant qesions,

and ook the time to each him about thei cuture The stories herecouns describe a sociey fa otside of what a Wesern wordviewconsides possibe Around he ime hat anthopoogists andsubsequeny, Western anachists began to ague abou whathe Mbui mean for thei espective theoies, goba econominsiuions wee eaboaing a pocess of genocide hat theatensto desroy the Mbti as a peope Nowithstanding, various Wesewiters have aready ideazed or deaded the Mbi o podceagments fo o agans primitivis vegnism feminism, andoher poitca agendas

Theefore perhaps he most porant esson to ta omthe story of the Mbuti i no hat anachy-a cooperaive, eeand eaivey heathy society-is possibe but tha fee socieiesae no possibe so ong as govenmens t to cush any pocket ofindependence, corpoations nd genoide in ode o manufactuece phones, and supposedy sympatheic peope are moe inteestedin witing ehnographies han fighting back

In unbu's pespetive he Mbuti wee resotey egaitarian,and many o f he ways hey organized thei society edcedcompeiion and promoed coopeion between membes.Gaheing food was a coni aair and when they hntedoen he whoe band uned ot One haf woud beat the bush inthe direcon of the other haf who waed with nes to snare anyanimas ha had been shed o A success hu was he esutof everyone woing togehe effecivey, and the whoe communishared in the cach.

Mbuti chidren wee given a high degee of auonomy and spent

18

Anachy Work

mch of thei days in a wing of e camp ha was offimis oadus One game they feqenty payed invoved a group of smachiden cimbing p a young tee n hei combined weigh benhe tee owads the eah Ideay, the chiden woud et go aa once, and he sppe ee wod shoo pigh Bt if one chidwas no in synch and e go oo ate he chid od be anched

hogh he rees and ven a good scae Such games each goupharmony ove individua pefomance and povide an eay fom ofsociaizaon into a cuture of vounta coopeaion he wa gamesand individuaized competition ha chaacteze pay in Wesensociey povide a noaby diffeen form of sociaion

he Mbu aso discuaged compeiion o even excessivedistincion beween gendes hey did no se gendeed ponounso famiia wodseg instead of "son hey say "chid; "sibingnsead of "sister-excep in he case of paens, in which hee is aciona difeence beween one who gives brh or povides mi

and one who provides oher foms of careA impoant ita gepayed by adut bti wod o ndemine gende compeiionAs b describes i he game began ie a ugofwa mach,wh the women ping one end of a ong rope or vine and he menping the oher Bu as soon as one side sred to win, someonefrom hat eam woud rn to he oher side aso symboicaychanging thei gende and becoming a membe of he ohe oupBy the end, the paicipants coapsed in a heap aghing, a havingchanged hei gendes muipe imes Neither side won, b haseemed o be he pin roup harmony was esoed

The Mb tradiiony viewed coc or "nose as a commonpobem d a theat o he harmony of he oup f he dispanscod no resove hings on eir own o wih he hep of iends,he enire band woud hod an impoan iua a oen asteda nigh ong. Everyone gatheed ogeher o discuss and if thepobem si coud no be soved he youh, who oen payedhe roe ofjsiceseekers wihn hei soiety, wod sneak ino

19


16/146

hman nate

the night and begin rampaging arund the camp blwing a hthat made a sund ike an eephant, symbizing hw the prbemtreatened the existence f the whe band. Fr a particuayseri dipute that had disupted the grup's hamny theyuth might ve extra expressin t their ustratin by cashingthrugh camp itsef, kicking ut res and cking dwn huse

Meanwhie, the aduts wud sing a t-pat hamny, buidi up asene f cperatin and tgethees

The Mbuti as underent a srt f ssin and sinthrughut the year oen mtivated by interpersna cnicts,the band wud break up int smaer, mre intimate grups. Pepehad the ptin t take pace frm ne anther rather than beingfrced by the arger cmmunity t suppres their prbems Aertraveing and iving eparately fr a time, te smaer grups jinedtgether again, nce there had been me fr cnics t c dwn.Eventuay te whe band was reunited and the prces stated

ver. It eems the Mbuti synchrnized tis sca uctuatin withtheir ecnmic activities s their perid f iving tgether as anentire band cincided with the easn in whch the pecific frmsf gathering and hunting require the cperatin f a arger grup

The perid f maU disparate ups cincided with the time fthe year when the fds were in easn that were best avested bysma grup pread thrughut the whe frest, an d the peridwhen the whe band came tgether crrepnded with the seann which hunting and gatheng activitie were beer accpihedby big grup wrking tgether

rtatey fr us neither the ecnmc, pitica r sciastructures f Western cie are cnducive t cpeatin Whenur jbs and cia staus depend n utperfmi u peers, withthe "ers beng red r straczed withut regad t hw it hutsthe dii r their abiity t feed themseves its nt surisingthat cmpetitive behavirs cme t unumber cperatvebehavirs But the abii t ive cpeativey is nt st t pepe

0

nahy Wo

wh ive under the detructive inuence f tate and capitaim.Scia cperatin is nt restricted t scietie ike the Mbuti whinhabit ne f the ew remaining pket f autnmy in the wrdLiving cperatvey i a pssibiity fr a f us right nw.

Earier thi decade in ne f the mst individuaitic andcmpetitive cieties in human hist tate authOrty aped r

a time n ne city. Yet in this perid f catarphe, with hundredf pepe dying and resuce necessar fr suviva rey imited,tranger cae tgeter t ait ne anther in a piit mutuaaid. The ci in questn i New rean, aer Hurricane Katrna

truck in 200 nitiay the crprate media pread racist triesf avagery cmmited by the mty back urvivr, and piceand natina ard trp perrmng heric recues whie ghtngff rving band f ter t wa ater admitted that thee streswere fase. n fact, the vast marity f recue were carried ut ntby pice and prfesina but by cmmn New rean reident

en in deiance the rder authritie5 he pice meanwhewere murderng pepe wh were avaging drinking water, diaper,and ther living uppies frm abandned grce tres, suppiethat wud therie have been utimatey hrwn away becaecntamnatin fr dwaters had made them unalabe

New reans i nt atypica: evene can ean cperativebehavir when they have the need r desire t d s. Scigicatudie have fund that in neary a natura disasters, cperatinand sidarity amng pepe increase, and it is cmmn pepe ntgvernments wh vuntariy d mt f the wrk carrying utrecue and prtectng ne anter thruut the crii

Gooa Louisiaa Oia Fra Gov Abo wOras" Dorac Now, Spbr 7, 2005. Fo Nws, CN Nw ork is a asy rpor urs rovi s o rpissi Supo, wr rs ar ri so (AoKi uria orror Sois Sao. co)

6 Jss War iar i Nw Ors Do isss sro soi


17/146

hman nat

n hmn w n irhOne of th e most ancient forms of oppression and hierarchy is

patriarchy: the division of humans int o two rigid gender roles andthe domination of men over women. But patriarchy is not natural oruniversal. Many societies have had more than two gen der categories,and have allowed their members to change gender. Some even

created respected spiritual roles for those who did not fit into eitherof the primary genders. The majori of prehistoric art depictspeople who are either of no determinate gender or people withambigous, exaggerated combinations of masculine and femininetraits. In such societies, gender was uid. It was something of ahistoric coup to enforce the notion of two fixed, idealized gendersthat we now consider natural. Speaking in strictly physical terms,many perfectly healthy people are born intersexed, with male andfemale physiologicl characteristics, showing that these categoriesexist on a luid continuum. It makes no sense to make people who do

not t easily into one category feel as though they are unnatural.Even in our patriarchal society, in which everyone isconditioned to believe that patriarchy is natural, there has alwaysbeen resistance. Much current resistance by queer people andtrans gender people takes a horizontal form. One organization inNew York City, called FIERCE!, includes a wide spectrm of peopleexcluded and oppressed by patriarchy transgender, lesbian, gay,bisexual, two-spirit (an honored catego in many Native Americansocieties for people who are not identified as strictly men orwomen), queer, and questioning (people who have not made up

their minds about their sexuali or g ender identi, or who donot feel comfortable in any catego). FIERCE was founded in

coopeo?" Reso le Sepembe 7 2005 ces e sues osocolos EL Quell wo s ou Ae e cclsmsocl bos wll see volueesm wll eploe volece wll bee"

nahy Wo

000, mostly by youth of color, and with anarchist participation.They uphold a horizontal ethic of "organizing by us, for us,and they actively link resistance to patriarchy, transphobia, andhomophobia with resistance to capitalism and racism. Their actionshave included protesting police brutality against transgenderand queer youth; education through documentary films, z ines,

and the internet; and organizing f or fair healthcare and againstgentrification, particularly where the latter threatens to destroyimportant cultural and social spaces for queer youth.

At the time of this writing they are particularly active in acampaign to stop the gentrification of the Christopher Street Pierwhich has been one of t he only safe public spaces for homeless andlow-income queer youth of color to meet and build comunity.Since 001, the city has been trying to develop the Pier, and policeharassment and arrests have multiplied. The FIERCE campaignhas helped provide a rallying point for those who want to save the

space, and changed the public debate so that other voices are heardbesides those of the govement and business owners Or society'sattitudes about gender and sexuality have changed radically i nthe past centuries, largely because of groups like this taking directaction to create what i s said to be impossible.

Resistance to patriarchy goes back as far as we care to look.In the "good old days when these gender roles were supposedlyunchallenged and accepted as natural, we can find stories of utopia,that upset the assumption that patriarchy is natural, and the notionthat civilized progress is bringing us steadily from our brtal originstowards more enlightened sensibilities. n fact the idea of totaleedom has always played a role in human history.

In the 1600s, Eropeans were streaming to North America fora varie of reasons, building new colonies that exhibited a widerange of characteristics. They included plantation economiesbased on slave labor, penal olonies, trading networks thatsought to compel the indigen ous inhabitants to produce large


18/146

hman na

quantities of animal skins, and ndmentalist relious utopiasbased o n the total genocide of the native population. But just asthe plantation colonies had thei r slave rebellions the religioucolonies had their heretics One noteworhy heretic was AneHutchinson An anabaptist who came to New England to escapereligious persecution in the old world she began to hold in her

house women's discuss ion groups based on ee interpretation ofthe ible As the popularity of these meetings spread men began toparticipate as well Anne won popular support for her well aredideas which opposed the slavery of Africans and Native Aericanscrticized the church and insisted that beng bo a woman was ablessing and not a curse

The religious leaders of the Massachuett Bay Colony put heron tria for blasphemy but at trial she stood by her ideas She washecked ad called an instrument of the devil ad one ministersaid "You have stepped out of your place you have rather been a

husband tha a wife a pacher thn a herer and a magistratethan a subect: Up on her expulsion Anne Hutchnson organieda group in 37 form a setlement ned Pocsset Theyintentionally settled near to where Roger Wllias a pgressivetheolgan hd founded Prvidence lantations a setlementbased on the idea of totl eqli and freedom of conscience for allinhabtats and friendly relations with the indigenous neighborsThese settlements were to become respectively Porsmouth ndProvidence Rhode Island Early on they oined to form the RhodeIsland Colony Both settlements allegedly maintained iendlyrelation with the neighboring indgenou naton the Narraganset;Roger Williams settlement was gied the land they built onwhereas Hutchinsons gup negotiated an exchnge to buy land

Initially Pocasset was organied through elected councils andthe people resed to have a goveor The selement recoiedequality between the sexes and trial by uy abolished capitalpunishment witch trials imprisonment for debt and slave and

4

nahy Wo

granted tota religi eedom The second synagoge in Norhmerica was built in the hode Island colony In 51 one memberof Hutchinsons group s eized power and got the goveent ofngland to bestow him goveorsip over the colony but aer twoyears the other people in the settlement kcked him out in a minirevolution Aer this incident ne Hutchnson realied that her

religious beliefs opposed magistra or govemental authrtand in her later years she was said to have developed a poliicalreligious philosophy very similar to indvidualist narchism Onemight say that Hutchinson and her colleagues were ahead of theirtimes but in every period of history there have been stories ofpeople creating utopias women asserting their equality laypeoplenegating the religious leaders monopoly on tth

Outside of Weste civiliation we can find many examples ofnon-patriarchal societies Some stateless societies intentionallypreserve gender like the Mbut described previously

Many societies accept xed genders d division of roles betweenmen and wome but seek to presere equali beween theseroles everal o f these societies allow trnsgender eressionsindividuals changing their gender or adopting a unique genderidenti In huntergatherer societies a sharp and hard division oflabor beween the sexes is not universal [and n the ce of onepticulr socie} virtually eve subsistence activity can be andoen is peormed by either men or women

The Igbo of weste Aica had separate spheres of acivi formen ad women Women were responsible for cerain economctask and men for oers and each up held power autonomouslyover eir sphere These spheres deignated who produced whichgoods domesticated which animals and took which responbilities

7 Roe M Kes, Aew Sat ulua hooo Cemp Pesee, Eto New or Haout Ba Compy p

25


19/146

human naue

in the garden and maket. If a man intefered n the women's phereof ativiy or abued hs wie, the women had a rial of olletvesolidar that preered the balae and punished the oender,alled "siting on a man: All te women would asemle outidethe mans houe, yellg at him and nsulting hm in order to auehim shame. I f he dd not ome out to apologize the mob of women

might detroy the fene around hi house and his oulying toragebuildings. f hi ofene were grievou enough the women mighteven storm into hi houe drag im out, and beat him up. Whenthe British olonzed the Igo they reognized mens institutionand eonomi role, but ignored or were blind to the orrepondingwomen sphere o oial life Wen gbo women reponded toBritih indeeny with the traditional prate of ing on a manthe British, poibly staking it for a womens inurretion, openedre putting an end to the gender-baaning ritual and ementingthe intitution of paiahy in the oie th had colonized

The Haudennosaunne alled the Ioquois by Europeans area maeal egalitarian oie of eate Noth Ameria Theytraditionally use several me to balane gender relations. WhereasEuropean ivation utilize gender divsion to soialize peopleinto rigid role and to oppress wome n, queer and angenderedpeople, e gendered diviion of labor and oia role among theHaudennoaunne ntons to preere a balane, aignng eahgrop autonomou nihes and powers, and alloing a greater degreeof movement between gender tan i onidered posible i n Weternoiety. For hundreds ofyear the audennoaunne have oordinatedbetween multiple naton ui a federative struure, and atea level o f organization there were women ounil and menounil At what might e alled the national level, whih onerned

J a lle S aMa; oloalm a ot oltalIttuto oo Wome Cdn Joul ofAfric Ses. ol 1972 pp 229.

6

nahy W

itelf with matter of ar and peae th men ounil made thedeiion though the omen held a veto power. At the loal evel,women held more iluene The bai oio-eonomi unit thelonghouse wa onidered to belong to the women nd men had noounil at this level When a man maed a oman he moved intoher houe Any man o did not behave oud ulmately be kked

out of the ongoue by the omenWete oety typially see the higher leves o

organization a eing more mportant and powerleven thelanguage we use reet his; but beause the audennoaunneere egalitarian and deentraled, the lower or loal levels oforganization where the women had more inuene were moreimportant daily lie n fat when there was no eud between thedferent nation the highet onil might go a long time withoutmeetng at all However, their wa not a "matriarhal oiety menwere not exploited or devalued the way women are in pariarhal

oeties Rather, eah group ad a meaure o f autonomy and meanfo preervng a balane Depite enurie of olonization by apatral ulte, many up o f Haudenoaunne retan theirtradtional gender reations and till tand out n harp onrat tote genderoppreive ule ofanada and the United Ste

Arn popl nrll wrli?Politial philoophers l ike Thomas obbe and psyholOgts

lie Sigmund Freud aumed that ivilization and govement havea moderating effet on what they saw as peoples warlike and brutalntint op-ulture representation of human origins like thert ene of the lm A Spa Od or the illustration inhidrens ook o hyper-maulne avemen battling maothand sabertoot tiger, prVide a pire that an be a onvininga mmo early han had to fight one another and even battlenatre to survive But f early human life had been as bloody and

7


20/146

man

warlike as our mytholo has depicted it, human s would simplyhave died out. Any species wi a reproductive cle o 1520 yearsthat usually only produce one ospring at a time simply cannotsurvive i ther chance or dying in any given year is more than acouple percent I t would have been mathematcally impossible orHomo apin to have surived that imagina battle aganst nature

and against one anothernarchists have long aeged that war is a product o the stateSome anthropolocal research has produced accounts of peacelstateless societies and o warre among oher stateless societies thatwas little more than a ou spo with ew casuaties9 Naturally,the state has ound its deenders, who have se out to prove thatwar is indeed inevitable and thus not the lt o specic oppressivesocial stucures In one monumental study, W bo CiviaionLawrence Keeley showed that o an extensive sample o statelesssocieties, a large number had enged in aess ive warare and ageat majo ri had engaged at the ve lea st in deensiv warareOny a tiny minori had never encountered war, and a ew ledtheir homelands to avoid.Keeley was endeavoring to show thatpeople are warlie even though his esults demonstrated that peoplecoud choose om a wide ange o behaviors including being warliavoiding war but still eending ainst aession not nowingwar at al, and disliing war so much they would ee their homeland

9 Johan MG van def Dennen "Ritualized 'Primitive W and Rituas inW henocopy Homology or ?"http://rechtenedoc ubrgnIFLES/root/Agemeen

oergepubliaties005enouderRTUATUA pd mong oherexamples an der Dennen cites the New Guin ea highlanders amongwhom warring bands would ae o yel nsult and shoot arws thatdid not hae ehers and thus ould not be whle another and one sideines woud yell that it was ong or brothers ght and attmptto calm the sitation bere bood was shed The oigina soue or isaccount is Rappaport RA Pg/o e Aeos Rua eoo / New ea Pepe New Haven Yae Universi Press

8

na Wo

rather than ight Contrary to his title, Keeley was documentingwar er civilization not "beore A major pa o his ata on nonWeste societies came om the explorers, missionaries, sodiers,traders and anthropologists who rode e waves o colonizationaround the world brnng land coicts and ethnic valries topreviousy unimaginable scales thugh ass enslavement, genocide

invasion evangelism and the troduction o new weapons diseases,and addctive substances Needless to say the civilzing inuenceo the colonizers generated warre at the marns Keeley's studycharacterizes as warlie societies that had been peacel or ahndred years but were chased o their land and-given the optionso starving to death or invading their neighbors territo or spaceto livechose the latter The act that under these conditions oobal colonialism, genocide, and enslavement any societies remanedpeacel at all pves that i people really want to they can bepeacel even in the worst o circumstances Not to say that n such

circumstances here is anthing wrong with iting bac agistaession War may be the resut o natual human behavior butso is peace Violence certainly existed beore the state but the statedeveloped warare and domnation to unprecedented leves As oneo its great proponents pointed out ar is th e heath o the state tis n o mistae that th e institions o power our civilization-mediaacademia govement religions-have exaerated the prevalence owar and nderstated the possibiity or peace These instittions areinvested in ongoing wars and occupations; they prot om them, andattempts to create a more peacel society threaten their existence

One such attempt is the Faslane Peace Camp, a land occupationoutside Scotlands Faslane Naval Base which houses Trident nuclearmssil es The Peace Camp is a popular expression o the desireor a peacel socie, organized on anarchist and socialist linesFaslane Peace Camp has been continuousy occupied snce June and is no w well established, th hot water and bathomacilities a communal kitchen and living room and 12 caravans

9


21/146

han na

housing permanent residents and space for visitors. The Peace Campserves as a base area for protests in which people block the roa,shut down the gates, and even penetrate the base itself to carout sabotage Galvanzed by the Peace Camp, there is widespreapopular opposition to the naval base, and some of coland's politicalparties have called for the base to be losed down In September

1981 a group of Welsh women formed a similar camp, the GreenhamCommon Womens Peace Camp, outside an RF base housing cruisemissiles in Berkshire, England The women were forcibly evictedn 198 but immeiately reoccupied the site, and 1991 the lastmissiles were removed The camp remained until 2000 when thewomen won permsion to set up a commemorative memorial

These peace camps bear some similari to he Life and LaborCommune the largest o f the Tolstoyan communes It was agriulura commune esablished near Moscow in 1921 by peopefollowing the paci st and anarchist teachings o f Leo Tolstoy It s

members, nearly one thousand at their peak, were at odds withthe Soviet govement on account of resing to peorm militaservice For his reason, the comune was finally sht down bythe authorities in 1930 but during is exstence, e participantscreated a arge self-organie comuni in peace and resistance

The Catholic Worker movement began in e United Statesin 1933 as a response to the Gret Depression, but today many ofthe 18 Catholic orker communities throghot North Americaand Erope focus on opposing the militarsm of the govementand creatng the fondations of a peacel society Inseparabefrom their opposition to war is their commitment to social justice,

which manifests n the soup kitchens, shelters, an d other sericeprojects to hep the poor that form a part of every Catholi Workerhouse though Christian he Catholic Workers generally criticizechurch erarchy and promote tolerance of other relions They arealso anicapitalist preaching voluna pover an "distributistcomuniaranism; selfsucien[cy] through faing, craing,

30

nahy

and appropriate technology a radically new socie where peoplewill rely on the fruits of their own toil and labor as sociations ofmutali, nd a s ense o f faiess to resolve conits: SomeCaolic Workers even call themselves Chris tian Anarchists CatholicWorker commnies, which nction as communes or ai centersfor the poor, oen provide a base for protests and direc actions

against the mil itary Catholic Workers have entered mlita basesto sabotage weapon, thogh they waited for the pol ice aerwards,intentionally going to jail as a rther act of protest Some of thircommunities also shelter victims o f war such as tortre survivorseeing the results of US imperiaism in other contries

How peace a society cold we create if we overcame thebelligerence of governments and fostered new norms in orclture? he Semai, agriclturalists in Malaya, offer one indicationTheir murder rate is only 0100000 per year, compared with08 in Norway 2 in the US, and 2020 in Russia This may berelated to ther childrearing strate traitionally he Semai donot hit their chidren and respect for ther chilrens atonomyis a normalized vle in their society One of the few occasions inwhich Semai adults will typically interene is when chldren losetheir tempers or ght one another, in whh case nearby adutswl snatch up the ildren and take them to ther respecivehoses The major forces that uphold Semai peaceness s eem tobe an emphass on leaing selfcontrol and the great imporance

1 Th m ad Mans o th Cathol Workr e Cal Ma2

Graham Kemp and ougas y ( ds) eeng te Peae Cnelutn an Peaeu Setie aun te l N orRoutledge 24 Sema murder rate p 19 other murdr rate p 14he lo Norg murder rate shos that ndutra sotes aao paeu t hould e noted that Nora has on othe oetalth gap o a apt ount and also a lo rane o pol eand prsons h majort o l dput and many rma aes ora ar sed through mdaon p

31


22/146

hman

accorded o public opinion i n a cooperaive socieAccording o Robe Denan a Wesn nhropologis who lived

wih hem lile violence occurs wihin Sei sociey iolence infac seems o erri he Semai A Semai does no mee force wihforce bu wih passivi or ligh Ye he has no insiuionalizedway of prevening violenceno social conrols no police or cours

omehow a Semai learns auomaically always o keep igh reinover his aggressive impulses' The firs ime he Semai picipaedin a war was when he Briish conscriped hem o figh againshe Communis insurgency in he ely 95 0s Clearly warfe isno an ineviabili and ceainly no a human need: raher i is aconsequence of poliical social and economic arrangemens andhese arrangemens are ours o shape

Arn ominion n hori nrl

Nowadays i is harder o make ideological usicaions for hesae A massive body ofresearch demonsraes ha many hsocieies have been saunchly egaliarian and ha even wihincapialism many people coninue o form egaliarian neworksand communiies In order o reconcile his wih heir view haevoluion is a maer of erce compeiion some scieniss haveposuaed a human egaiarian syndrome heorizng hahumans evolved o live in osekni homogenous ups n whichhe passing on ofmembers genes was no assured by he surival ofhe individual bu by he survival o f he goup

According o his heo cooperaion and egaliarianism

prevailed wihin hese groups because i was in everyone's geneicselfineres ha he group survived eneic compeiion occuredbeween differen groups and he groups ha did he bes job of

12 Robert Dentan e Se' Novoe Peopl ofM New YorkHot Rneart ad Wo 99 9

3

nahy Wo

aing care of heir members were he ones o pass on heir genesDirec geneic compeiion beween individuals was superseded bycompeiion beween dieren oups employing dieren socialsregies and humans evolved a whole hos of social skills haalowed for greaer coopeaion This would explain why for mosofhumn exisence we have lived in sociees wih lile or no

hierarchy unil cerain echnological developmens allowed somesocieies o sai and dominae heir neighbors

This is no o say ha dominaion d auoriy were unnaualand ha echnology was a forbidden i ha coped anohewise innocen humaniy In fac some hunergaherersocieies were so pariarchal hey used gang rape as a form ofpunishmen agains women and some socieies wih agriculureand meal ools have been fiercely egaliarian Some of he peoplesin Norh Americas Pacic Nohwes were sedenary hunergaherers and hey had a heavily saified iey wih a slave class

And a he far end of he echnological specum nomadic hunergaher oups in Auslia were dominaed by male elders ldermen could have muiple wives younger men had none and womenwere evidenly doled ou like social propey

Humans re capable of boh auoririan nd anauhoriarianbehavior Horizonal socieies ha were no inenonally aniauhoriarian could easily have developed coercive hierarchies whennew echnologies made ha possible and even wihou a lo ofechnolo hy cod make life hell for oups considered inferior seems ha he mos common forms of inequaliy aong oherwiseegaliarian socieies were gender and age diriinaon which

could accusom a sociey o inequaliy and creae he pooype fora power srucurele by ale elders This srucure could becomemore powerl over ime wih he developmen of mea ools and

Dmtr M Bondenko and Andrey V orotayev Cvo Moes ofologees Moow Ruan Aademy of Sene 20 00

33


23/146

h W


24/146

hmannr

deeloping in urope there were number of rebellion thtdemontrte ht een here uthori w n impoiion One o f theetet ofhee rebellion w the Pent Wr I n 52 nd 525 mny three hundred thound pent nurgent oined bytownfolk nd ome lee r nobili roe up gint the propertyowner nd hurh hierrhy in wr tht le bout one hundred

thound people ded throughout Bri Sxony ThringenShwb en Ale well p o f wht re now Switerlndnd Autri. The prine nd lerg of the Holy Romn mpirehd been tedily inreing txe to py for riing dminitrtied mlit ot goernment beme more top-he Therti nd worker of the town were eted by thee txe butthe pent reeied the heiet burden To inree heir powernd their reenue prine fored ee pent into erfdom ndreurreed omn Ciil lw whih intituted prte ownerhipof nd omething of tep bkwd om the feudl ytem inwhih the lnd w trut beween pent nd lor d tht noledright nd obligtin

Menwhile, element of the old feudl hierrhy uh theknighthood nd he ler were beoming oboete nd oniedwith other element ofthe ruling l The new burgher merntilel well mny progreie prine oppoed the priilege ofthe ler nd the on ertie ruure of the Ctholi hurh Anew le entrized truture tht ould be power in ounil inthe town nd itie uh the ytem propoed by Mrin Lutherwould ow the new poitil l to end

In the yer immeditely prior to her number of

Anbptit pphet begn treling round he region e pouingreolutionry ide gnt politil uthority h dore ndeen gint the reform of Mrtin Luher The e peop le inudedThom Drehel, Niol Storh Mr k Thom Sbner nd motfmoul Thom Mntzer Some of them rgued for tot religioufreedom the end of nonoluntry bptim nd he boliion

36

nahy Wo

of goernment on erth Needle to y they were pereutedby Ctholi uthoritie nd by upporter of Luther nd bnnedom mny itie, but they ontinued to rel round BohemiBri nd Switzerlnd wining upporter nd toking petrebelioune

In 52 pent nd ubn worker met in the Shwzwd

region of Germny nd dred the 2 Artile of the Blk Foretnd the moement they reted qUikly pred The rtile withBibil referene ued utifition lled for the bolition oferfdom nd the eedom of ll peope; the muniipl power forpeople to eet d remoe preher; the boition of txe ontle nd inheritne prohibition on the priilege of the nobilityto rbitrry rie txe free e to wter hunting hing ndthe foret nd the retortion of ommunl lnd exproprited bythe nobil ity Another text printed nd iruted in mie quntityby e inurgent w the Budeordnung the federl order whihexpounded mode o order bed on federted muiplitieLe l iterte element of the moement were een more rdil udged by their tion nd the folklore they e beind th eir gow to wipe the nobiity o the fe of the eh nd intite myiit utopi then nd there

Soil tenion inreed throughout the yer uthoritieted to preent outght rebeion by uppreing rurl geringuh popur fetil nd wedding In Aut 152 the itutionnlly erupted t Sthngen in the Blk Foret region A ountedemnded tht the pent render her pei het on hurh hoidy Inted the pent reed to py ll txe nd

formed n rmy of twele hundred people under the lederhipof former meren Hn Mler They mrhed to the town ofWldhut nd were oined by the townpeople nd then mrhedon he tle t Shlingen nd beieged it Relizing they neededome kind of milit tutue ey deided to eet thei ownptin ergent nd oorl In September they defended

37

h A h W k


25/146

human nature

themseves from a Hapsburg army in an indecisive batte andsubsequent resed to ay down thei d beg pardon whenentreated to do so. That auun peasant strikes resas to patithes, nd rebeions broke out throuout the region as peasantseended their poitics om individua compaints t o a uniedrejection ofthe feuda system as a whoe

With the spring thaw of 1 525 ghting resed with a ferocity.he peasant armies seized cities d executed arge nubers ofcer and nobii But in Feba the Schwabin League (anaiance of the region's nobiit and ler) were abe to bring their

troops home from Itay and devote them to crshing the pe asantsMeanwhie Martin Luther the bghers and the progessive princeswithdrew a their support nd caled for the annihation of therevoutiona peasants; they wanted to reform the sstem n ot todestro it and the uprising had aread suffcienty destbiized thepower strcture. Finay on Ma 15 1525 the man peasant rm wasdeiivey defeated at Frankenhausen Mntzer nd oher inuentiaeaders were seized nd executed nd the rebeion was put downHowever over the foowing ears the Anabaptist movement s preadthroughout Geran Switzerand and the Netherands and peasantrevots continued to break out in the hopes that one day the chuchad the state woud be destoyed for good

apitaism and moder democratic states succeeded inestbishing themseves over the follOing centies but the hvebeen forever haunted b the spe cter of rebeion fm beow Withinstatist societies the abii to organize without hiechies stiexists t od nd the possibii reins to eate anti-authoritrin

cutures that can bring an woldbe leaders back down to erthAppropriatey much of the resistance against goba authori isorganized horizonta The wordw ide antigobaization movementarose arge from the resistance of the Zapatistas in Mexicoautonomists and narchists in Euope farmers and worers inKorea and popuar rebeions againt financia institutions ike

38

Anachy Wok

the IMF occurring across the word om South Africa to Indiahe apatists and autonomists especiay are mared b theirantiauthoritarian cutues a marked break from the hierarch ofMxistLeninists who had donated inteationa strugges inprevious genertions

he ntigobaization movement proved itef to be a goba

force in June 1999, when hundreds of thousands of peope in citisfrom London Enand to Po Harcourt Nigeria took e streets forthe J18 Caiva Against Capitaism n November ater that earparticipants in the same movement shoced the word b shuttingdow the sumit of the Wod Trade rganization Se ate

he most remarkabe thing about this goba resistance is thatit was created horizontay b diverse organizations and ainitygroups pioneering new forms of consens This movement hadno eaders and fomented constant opposition to a forms ofauthorit that deveoped within its rns Those who attempted toput themseves permnently in the roe of chief or spokesper sonwere ostracizedor even treated to a pie in the face as high proeorganizer Medea Be njamn was at the us Socia For in 2007

Lackng eadership short on form ornization constantycritiquing intea power dynics nd studing more egaitarianwas of orgizing tigobaization activists went on to achievether tactica victories In Prague in September 2000 eenthousand protestors overce the massive poice presence andbroke up the ast day of the summit of the nteation MonetarFund n Quebec Cit in Apil 20 01 protestors breached thesecuity fence arond a summit paning the Free Trade Area of the

Americas poice responded b fiig the ci wih so much teargasthat it even entered the buiding where the taks were taking paceConsequent man i residents came to favor e protestorsPoce had to step up repression to contain the growing antigobaization movement they arrested 6 00 protestors nd injuredthree with gnfire at the European Union smit in Sweden in 200

39

human nau W


26/146

human nau

and a month later they murered anarchit Calo Giulani at e G8it in Genoa, where 150,000 people ha gthered to protet theconference of the eight mot powel world goveent.

The Dient Network aroe out of e European antiglobalizationmovement to organize ajor protet againt the G8 umt nsotland in 2005. The Network alo organized major protet camp

and blockade ation aaint the G8 umit in Germany n 2007,an helpe with the mobilization againt the G8 ummit in Japan 2008 Without a central leaerhip or hierarchy the networkcilitate communcation between group locate in ifferent citieand countrie and oranized major meetin dicu and decideon tratee for upcoming ation aaint the G8. The trategie wereitended to enable divere approache: o any afni oup couldorganize utually upporive action wiin a common frameworkrather tan cari out the order of a cenl ornization Forexample a blockade plan might deate one roa leaing to theumit ite a a zone for people who prefer peacel or theatricaltctic while another entrnce mit be deSiated for people whowih to contrut barriade an are wUlng to defen themelveagant the police. Thee trate meeting rew people from a dozencounrie and inlue tranlaton in multple langge erwarder announcement poition paper an critique were tranlatean uploaded to a webite The aarchit form of coordination uedby the protetor repeatedy proved eetive at countering andometie even outmeuverin the police an coporate medwhich enjoye tea of thouand of paid profeional avancecommunication and urveillance iatrucure and reource farbeyond what wa available to the movement.

The anti-lobalization oveent can be contrated with theantiwar ovement that aroe n repone to the ocalled War onTerror. er epteber 11 2001, wol leader ought to ndercutthe growin anticapitalit movement by identing terrori aenemy number one thu reaming the narative of global conlit

40

a W

Following e collape of the oviet Bloc and the end of the oldWar they needed a neww and a new oppoition. People had toview teir option a a choice between hierarchical powertatitemocracy or namentalit teoritrather than betweendomination an eeom In the conervative enviroent thatfollowe eptember 11, the antiwar oveent quickly cae to

be oinated by reforit and hierarchicallyorganize groupAlthouh the movement kicked off with th e ot idely atteneday of protet n hman hito o n February 15, 2003 the organizereliberately channele the ener of the participant into riilycontrolled ritual that did not allene the war machine. Withintwo year the antiwar movement ha completely uanere theoentum bult up ding the antiglobalization era

The antiwar movement could not top the occupation of raqor even utain itelf becaue people are neither epowerednor lfilled by paively participating in ybolic pectacle nconrat the eectivene of decenalized network can b e een inthe ny victorie of the antiglobalizaion moveent: the umithut down the collape of theWO and the ramaticcaling back ofthe IMF and Word Bak;16Thi nonhiearchalmovement demontrated that people deire to ee themelveom domnation and tat they have the abili to cooperate n anantiauthortarian manner even in lrge group of tranger froifferent nation and culture

o fro cientic tudie of han hitoy to potete makinghitory today the evience overwhelmigly contradict te tatitaccout of hua nature Rather than comn om a brutaly

authoritrian ancet an later ubumn thee intinct into acompetitive ytem baed on obedience to authority huanknd

6 The vitrie f the mvement and the falure f the and Wrld Banare agued by David Graeber in The Sh f Vitry Rong Thunen Sring 2008

human natu Anahy Work


27/146

human natu

has no had one single rajeco Oubeginnings seem o have

been characerized by a range beween sric egaliarianism andsmall-scale hierarchy wih a relaively equal disribuion of wealh

When coercive hierarchies did appear, hey did no immediaelyspread everywhere, and oen provoked significan resisance Evenwhere socieies are ruled by auhoriarian srucures, resisance is

every much a par of he social realiy as dominaion and obedienceFurhermore, he sae and auhoriarian civilizaion are no helas sops on he line Even hough a global revoluion has ye osucceed, we have many examples of pos-sae socieies, in whichwe can make ou hins of a saeless ure

Half a cenu ago, anhropologis Pierre Clasres concludedha he saeless and ani-auhoriarian socieies he sudied inSouh America were no holdous from a primordial era, as oherWeseers had assumed He argued ha, on he conra, hey werewell aware of he possible emergence of he sae, and hey wereorganizing hemselves o preven his I urns ou ha many of

hem were in fac pos-sae socieies founded by regees and rebelswho had ed from or overhrown earlier saes Similarly, anarchisPeer Lamborn Wilson hypohesized ha ani-auhoriarian socieies

in easern Norh America formed in resisance o he hierarchicalHopewell mound-building socieies, and recen research seemso be confirming his Wha ohers had inerpreed as ahisorical

ehniciies were he end resuls of poliical movemensThe Cossacks who inhabied he Russian oniers provide

anoher example of his phenomenon Their socieies were

founded by people eeing serfdom and oher e ffecs of governmen

oppression They learned horsemanship and developed impressivemarial skills o survive in he onier environmen and defendhemselves agains neighboring saes Evenually, hey came o beviewed as a disinc ehnici wih a privileged auonomy, and hesar (whose forebears heir ancesors renounced) sough hem ouas miliary allies

42

Anahy Work

According o Yale poliical scienis]ames C Sco, everyhingabou such socieiesfrom he crops hey grow o heir kinship

sysemscan be read as aniauhoriarian social sraegies. Scotdocumens he Hill People of Souheas Asia an agglomeraion ofsocieies exising in rugged errain where fragile sae srucures

face a severe disadvanage For hundreds ofyears, hese people have

resised sae dominaion, including equen wars of conques orexerminaion by he Chinese empire and periods of coninuousaacks by slavers Cultural and linguisic diversiy is exponeniallygreaer in he hills han in he saeconrolled rice paddies of hevalleys where a monoulure holds sway Hill People frequenlyspeak muliple languages and belong o muliple ehniciies

Their social organizaion is suied for qUick and easy dispersaland reunificaion, allowing hem o escape assauls and wageguerrilla warfare. Their kinship sysems are based on overlapping

and redundan relaionships ha creae a srong social neworkand limi he formalizaion ofpower Their oral culures are moredecenralized and lexible han nearby lierae culures, in whichreliance on he writen word encourages orhodoxy and gives exra

power o hose wih he resources o keep records

The Hill People have an ineresing relaionship wih hesurrounding saes The people of he valleys view hem as "livingancesors, even hough hey have formed as a response o he valley

civilizaions They are possae, no presae, bu he ideoloof he sae reses o recognize such a caego as "possaebecause he sae supposes iself o be he pinnacle of proessSubecs of he alley civlizaions frequenly "headed for e hl ls

o live more eely; however he narraives and myhologies of heChinese, Vienamese, Burmese, and oher auhoriarian civilizaions

in he cenuries leading up o World War II seemed o be designed opreven heir members from "going back o hose hey perceivedas barbarians According o some scholars, he Grea Wall of Chinawas buil as much o keep he Chinese in as he barbarians ou ye in

43


28/146

han nae nahy


29/146

to social control policing and cull production reinforcingcapitalist values. The Western idea of h nature ntions as apart of this social conol, discourang rebellion against authori

We are taught om childhood that withot authori human lifewould descend into chaos

This view of human nature was advanced by Hobbes and

other European philosophers to explain the origins an d puposeof the State; this marked a shi to scientific arguments at atime when divine arguments no longer suced Hobbes and his

contemporaries lacked the psychological historical archaeologicaland ethnoapc data tat we have today and their thinkng wasstill heavily inluenced by a legacy of Christian teachings Even nowthat we have access to an abundce of information contadictingChistian cosmolo and statist political science the popularconception ofhuman nature has not changed dramatically are we still so miseducated? A second question answers the firs:who controls education in ou society Nonetheless anyone whocounters authoritaran doa faces an uphill battleagainst thecharge o f "romantcism'

But if human naure is not xed, if it can encompass a wide rangeof possibilities coudnt e use a romanic dose of imagnation inenvisioning new possibilities The acts of rebellion occrring withinour socie right now from the Faslane Peace Camp to the Really

Really Free Markets contain the seeds of a peacel and openhandedsoie opular responses to natural disasters such as HurricaneKatrina in New Oleans show that eveone has the potential tocooperate when the dominant social order is disrupted These

exples pot the way to a boader sense of self-an understandingof human beings as creats capable of a wide range of behaviors

One mit say selfishness is natural n that people ineVitablylive according to their own desires and experiences Bt egoismneed not be competitive or dismissive o f others Our relationshipsextend far beyond ou bodies and our minds-we live in

46

y

communties depend on ecosystems for food and ater and neediends families and lovers for our emotional health Withoutinstitutionalized competition and exploitation a persons selfnterest ovelaps wi the nterests o f her couni and herenvironent eeing our relationships wit our iends and natueas ndamental parts of orselves expands our sense of connetion

with he wold and our responsibili for it It i s not in ou selfinterest to be domnated by authorities or to domnate others developing a boader sense of self we can struce ou lives andcommunities accordingly

Reoended Readng

R Dnan e ema A Nnent ple Mala Nw Y Hlnha and Wnn 1979

Chph B, "gaaan Bhav and Rv Dmnan

Hahy' ent Antpy, Vo4 N3 Jn 993

P Ca e aganst t e tate 1974) Nw Y Zn B 987

l ng Tanende W Mang Ht m Jan A t DennsRdmanBn Bn P 1997

Davd Ga ment an A nat Antpl Chag PlyPaadgm P 2004

Cln Tnll Te et Peple Nw Y Smn & Sh 1961

Jam S Dmnan and te At Retane Hdden anpt NwHavn al Unv P 990.

B Bla Th ln W; 1985 hp!wwnpam/la!aln!alnhml

4

nahy Wo


30/146

2. Decisions

Anrchy is the absence of rules. Fee people do not followorders; they make thei own decisions and come to aeementswithin their communities, and deveop shared means for puttngthese decisions into practice

How wil ciion mThere should be no doubt that human beings can make decisions

in non-hierarchical egalitarian ways The majority of humansocieties have been stateless, and many stateless societies have notbeen goveed by the dictates o f some Big Man but by commonassemblies sing some form of consensus Nmerous consensusbased societies have srived thousands ofyeas, even throughEuopean colonialism into the pesent day, in Aica Ausalia, Asiathe Americas, and on e peripheries of upe

People from societies i n which decisionmaking power hasbeen monopolized by the stte and cooations may initiallyfind it difficlt to make decisions in an eglitaian but it getseasier with practice Forunately we all have some experiencewith horizontal decisionmaking. Most of the decisions we makein daily life with friends and one hopes with colleages and familyas well, we make on the basis of cooperation rather than authorityriendship is precious because it is a space in which we interactas equals where or opinions are valed regardess of our socilstatus Grops of friends typicay use informal consensus decide how to spend time together, organize activities, assist one

another and respond to challenges i n hei daily lives So most of salready nderstand consensus intitively; it tas more pctice tole how to come to consensus wi people who ae significntlydierent om us especially in large groups or when it is necessato coordinate complex activites but it is possible

Consenss is not the only empowering way to mae decisions In

y

certain contingencies, grops that are tly volary associationscan still be empowering for their members when they se majoritydecisionmaking Or one person making her own decisions andacting aone c inspire dozens more people to take similar actionsor to spport what she has started, thus avoiding the sometimesstng weight of meetin In creative or inspiring circmstances

people oen scceed in coordinating themselves sponteously andchaotically producg unprecedented reslts he specic decisonmaking form is jst a tool and with consenss or indivdua acionas with majori decisionmakng people can take an active part insing that tool as they see t

Korean anarchists won an opportnity to demonstrate peope'sability to make their own decisions in 99 he Korean AnarchistCommnist Federation (KAF) was a huge organization at that me,with enough support that it cold declare an atonomous zone inthe Shinmin pvnce Shinmin was outside of Korea i Manchra,bt two milion Korean immigrants lived there Using assembliesand a decentrized federative strcre that grew out of the KF,they created village concils, disict councs and area councils todeal with maters ofcooperative agricltre, edtion, and ancehey also foed an army spearheaded by the anarchist Kim Jwain,which sed gerrla ctics against Soviet nd Japanese forces. KACFsections in China Korea and Japan organized nternational supporteffors Caught between the Stalinists and the Japanese imperialay the autonomos province was ltiately cshed in 9Bt for two years large poplations ha d freed themselves om theathori of andlords and goveors and reasserted their power to

come to collective decisions to organize their daytoday le, pursetheir reams and defend those dreams from invadg armies.

8 an MaSmn The rean narh Mvemen ak in DubnSember 99 MaSmn refereneH R A Hito hK Ahst oveet 986


31/146

en nahy W


32/146

villages joined with other collectives in order to pool resources, aidone another, and arrange trade. The collec ives Aragon donatedhundreds of tons of food to te volunteer militias who were holdingback te fascists on te front, and als o took in large numbers ofregees wo ad ed te fascists The town ofGraus for example,with a population of twen six undred took in and supported twohundred twen four regees, only twen of wom could work

At assemblies, ollectives discssed problems and proposals.Many collectives e lected administrative committees, generallyconsistng of half a dozen people, to manage afirs util the nextmeeting Te open assemblies

allowed te habitants to ow, to so understand, and tofeel s o mentally tegrated in socie, to s o participate inth e maagement of public aairs, te responsibilities,that te recrinations te tensions which alwaysoccr wen the power of decision is entruted to a few

individuals did not happen there The ass emblies werepublic, the objections, the proposals publicly discussedevebody being free as in te sydical assemblies, toparicipate in the discussions, to criticie propose, etc.Democra exended to the whole of social life In mostcases even the individualists [locals who had not joinedte collective] could take par in e deliberations Teywere given te same hearing as the collectivists:1

If not eve village inabitant was a member of the collective,

tere might be a muncipal concil in addition to the collectiveassembly, s o tat no one would be excluded from decision-making

In many collectives tey agreed that if a member violated a

2 Gon Lev Cetve e Sp Rev London FeedoPe 9 20620

52

collective rle once e was repmanded f it happened a secondtime he was referred to the general assembly Only the generalassembly could epel a member om te collective; deletesand administrators were denied punitive power The power ofte general assembly to respond to transgressions was aso usedto prevent people wo had been delegated tasks fom bengirresponsible o r authoritarian delegates or elected ainistratorswho failed to abide by collective decisions or usued autority weresuspended or removed by a general vote In some villages that weresplit between anarchists and socialists, the peasats fored twocollectives side by side to allow for different ways of making andenforcing decisions rather than imposing one method on everybody

Gaston Leval described a general assembly in the village ofTamarite de itera in Huesca province, wich te noncollectivepeasants were als o allowed to attend One problem brought upat te meetng was that several peasants who had notjoined thecollective e their eldery parents te care of the colletive

while taking their prents' land to rm as their own The entegroup dscussed the matter and evenlly decded to adopt aspecific proposal they would not kck the elderly parents out ofthe collective, but tey wanted to old tose peasants accountableso they decided that the latter had to take care o ftheir pents orels e receive neiter solidari nor land om the collectve n teend a resoution aeed to by a n entire community will carry morelegitima, and is more likely to be followed than o ne handed downby a specialist or a govement oicial

mpotant decisions also took place at work in te elds evey

day

Te work of te collectives was conducted by teams ofworkers headed by a delegate cosen by each team Theland was divided into cutivated ones Team delegatesworked like the others There were no special privileges

5

decins Anac Wks


33/146

Aerthe days ork deegates fom a the ork teams meton the job and made necessay technica arrangements forthe next day's or. . The assembly made nal decisionson a important questions and issued instcions to boththe team delegates and the administrative commission

any aeas aso had Disict ommittees that pooed theresources ofall the colectives in a distctbasicay acting as acearinghose to cicuate suplus m the collectives that had itto other colectives that needed it Hundeds of collectives joinedfederations organized throu the or UGT (the socialist laborunion). The federations proided economic coordination, poolingresources to ao peasants to buid their own uit and vegetabecanneries gathering information about hich items ere inabunance and hch ere in sho supply, and organizing unifomexchange systems This coective fom of decisin-making provedeffective for the approximately seven to eit milon peastsinvoved in this movement Half the and in antifascist paintheeuarters of the land in Aragonas collectivized and sef-organized

In Augst 1937,ust over a yea aer anarchist and sociaistpeasants started forming colectives the Republican governmentunder contol of the talinists had consoidated enou to moveagainst the aess zones of Aragon The Karl ax Brigade nits ofthe Inteationa Brigades and other uni disarmed and dissolvedthe collectives in Aagon, crushing any esistance and spiritingoff numerous anarchists and libertaian sociists to the prisonsand toture chambers the tainists had se t up to use against their

revoutionary alies.Baz today bears a imia ith pain in 13 in that a

tny percentage of the popuation ons nealy half of all the and

Sa l Ach Clc New Y Fee Lfe Edt197 p 13

hile miions of people are thout and or sustenance A morsocial movement has spng up n response. The Movimento dosTbaadr Rurai Sem ea (T or Ldless Worke ovementis made up of one and a half miion impoverished aborers hooccupy unused land to set up farmng collectives. ince its fodingin 18 he T has on and tites for three hundred thousand

families iving in to thousand different settements The basicunit of organization consists of a goup of famiies living togetherin a settlement on occupied land These groups etain autonomyand seforganize matters ofdaytoday iving To participate inregiona meetings they appoint two or thee representatives, hichin principe incude a man and a oman though in practice thisis not aays the case. The T has a federative stc thereae also state and national coordinatng bodies While most ofthe decision-making taes pace at the grassroots level ith landoccupations, faing and the establishment of settlements, the aso ornizes at higher levs to coordinate massive protests and

highay blocades to pressure the goveent to give and titesto the settlements The T has shon a great deal of innovationand strength organizing schoos and potecing itsef againstfrequent poice repression. has developed pactices of sustainableagricultre inuding setting up seed banks for native seeds andit has invaded and destoyed environmentaly harml eucayptsforesy pantations and test grounds for genetcay modied crops

Win the logc ofdemocracy one and a haf mion peope isconsidered simply too arge a group for eveone to be alloed topaticipate directly in decisionmaking the majoi shoud entrust

that poer to poiticians But the T hods an idea in hich allpossibe decisionmaking remains on the loca leve In pacticehoever, they oen do not meet this idea As a massive organizationthat does not seek to abolish capitism or overhro the statebut rather to pressre it the T has been brout into the gaeof poitic in hich all principes are for sale Fuhemore, a

nahy Wo


34/146

huge portion of their member coe from extremely poor anoppee commitie that for generation ha been conolleby a combination of religion patriotim crime ug aiction anpatriary Thee ynamic o not iappea hen people enter intothe moement an they caue iicant proble ithin e MT

Throughout the '80 an 90 ne MT etlement erecreate by actiit o the organization ho oul eelanle people n ural area or e pecially in thee, theurban lum ho ante to form a grup an occupy lan Theyoul go through a baebuiling perio of o month in hichthey oul hol meeting an ebate to t to buil a en e ofcommunity afi an political comon oun Then they ouloccupy a piece of unue lan one by a ajo r lanlor chooerepreentatie to feerate ith the larger organization an beginfaring Actiit orking ith the MT local oul pa throughperioically to ee if the ettleent neee help acquiring toolan material reoling internal ipute or protecting theele

fro police parailitarie or majo r lalor (all of hofrequently conpire to threaten an aainate MT member)

n pat ue to the autonomy of each ettement they hae etith a ariety of outcome Leit o other countrie picallyranticize the MT hile the Brazilian capitalit eia portrayhem all a iolent ug ho teal lan an en ell it n fact thecapitait eia portrayal i accurate in oe cae though by noean in a majori ofcae t i no t unhear of for people in a neettlement to iie up the lan an later ght oer the alloentome might ell thei allotment to a local lanor or open a liquor

tore on thei allotent or encroach on their neighbor allotentan uch bouna ipute are ometie reole ith iolenceThe majori ofetleent iie ino completely iniiualizeeparate hometea rather than orking the lan collectiely orcounally. Another comon eakne relect the ocie omhich the e lanle orker coemany ofhe ettlement ae

56

ominate by a Chritian patriotic an patriarchal culture.Though it eanee nee to b e aree the MT ha

achiee a l ong lit o f ictorie The moeent ha on la n anelfufciency for a huge number of extreely poor people Manyof the ettlement they create enjoy a much higher tanar oflig an the lm they le behin an are bou by a ene ofoliari an couni By any eaure their accoplihment ia triuph for irect action by iregaring egality or petitioningthe poerl for change oer a illion people hae on theelelan an contol oer their lie by going out an oing ittheele Brazilian ociety ha not collape ue to thi ae ofanachy on the contra it ha become healthier although anyproble remain in the ocie at large an in the eleentt largely come on to circutance hether a particularettleent i empoering an liberate or greey a oppreie

Accoring to an MT member ho orke for eeral yearin one of the ot angerou region of Bazil to month a

imply not enough time in mot cae oerome people antiocial training an create a real ene of communi but it amuch beer than a prealent pate in the ubequent perio Athe organization eerience a ruh to o many actiit beganlapping together ettlement by recruitng group of trangerpromiing them lan an enig them of into the region iththe pooret oil or mot iolent anlor oen contributing toeforetation in the proce. Naturally thi emphai on quantitatiereult amplifie the ort characteritic of the organization an inmany ay eane it een a it political poer increae.23

The conte for thi aterhe in the MT a the election ofPreient Lula of the Worker p PT) in 00. Preiouly the

23 h tm oth a h foowg aagah ba o vw wth o Ctm o th MST Fbuay 200ao

57


35/146

n nay W


36/146

made the decisions necessa to organize spaces and events, reachout to the surrounding commities, bring in new participantsraise money and resist attempts by local government and busi nessleaders to shu them down. Whats more it seems like the numberof projects using consensus in the is only growing Grntedconsensus works best for peope who know one another and have acommon interest in working together, whether they are volunteerswho want to n an infoshop, neibors who want to resistgentrfication or members of an a fnity group planning attacsagainst the systembut it does work

A common complaint hat consensus meetings take onger butare they reay less ecient? Authoritaran models of decsion-making(incuding majori voting in which the nori is forced to conformto the decision of the majori) hide or ernalze ther tre costsComunities that use authoritarian means to make their decisionscannot exist without police or some other strctre to enforcethese decisions onsensus precludes the need for enforcement and

punishment by mang sure that eveone is satised beforehandWhen we take nto account al the work hours a communi losesmaintaing a poice forcea huge drain on resourcese hoursspent in consensus meetin seem lke a good usage of te aer all

The rebelion in the southe Mexican state of Oaxaca oersanother example of popular decisionmakng In people tookover Oaxaca ity and much of the stat e The population of Oaxcais over half indigenous and the strles there against coonialismand capitalism go back five hundred years I n June seventythousand strikng teachers gathered in Oaxaca de Juarez, the

Anarchy Works by Peter Gelderloos

Documents

Transcript of Anarchy Works by Peter Gelderloos