Anarchism

What was so threatening about anarchism? What was the challenge that the anarchists posed for radical politics? What lessons does anarchism have for us today? To answer these questions, we must take a closer look at the situation of radical politics today. My contention here is that – contrary to what many have argued – this is not a time for despair and faux-radical hand-wringing. Rather, that we are witnessing a disengagement of many people from traditional modes of political activity, and an invention or re-invention of alternative and more autonomous political practices. The political practices are not centred around participation in formal political structures – indeed they express a clear suspicion and, indeed rejection, of these arrangements and institutions. Radical politics today, I would argue, is increasingly anarchistic and embodies a desire for greater autonomy from political power.