Anarcho-communism - key concepts

Social solidarity - definition

• Relationship of sympathy/cooperation/harmony between humans

Social solidarity - role of the state

• No role for the state as it would make social solidarity impossible

Social solidarity - components

• Collective ownership of wealth encourages social solidarity

Collectivisation - definition

• Entails

1. Abolition of private property

2. Replacement of private property with common ownership

Collectivisation - reasoning

• Private property = theft

  • Because represents exploitation of workers who create wealth by the employers… who then own this wealth

• Labour = social experience

  • Therefore, wealth should be collectively owned, as everyone has contributed to its creation

Views on property (incl Kropotkin)

• Private property = theft

  • As detailed above

• Property should be collectively owned (aka moved back into the common good) to give everyone access to what they need

• Kropotkin had some respect for private property

  • Peasants and families who have just what they need should not have this taken away from them

  • Artisans who work with their ‘own tools or handloom’ should also be left be as they are not exploiting anyone to gain this property

Consequences of the ownership of private property

• Inherent inequality created by private property encourages

  • Selfishness

  • Promotes conflict

  • Promotes social disharmony

• This then leads to crime and disorder :(

Coordination of the economy

• Should be done by voluntary associations

Distribution of goods

• By need, not labour

Current organisation of life - Kropotkin

• Division into individuals, classes and/or countries is destructive and is bound to breed conflict by pitting people against each other

• Govt = “personification of injustice, oppression, and monopoly”

Solution: communal organisation of life

• Anarchist society based on the principles of communism

Features of communal organisation of life and their advantages - principles

• Founding in principles of sharing and collective endeavour

  • Strengthens bonds of compassion and solidarity

  • Geed and selfishness kept at bay

Features of communal organisation of life and their advantages - democratic system

• Direct democracy

  • Political equality

  • High participation

Features of communal organisation of life and their advantages - size of communities

• Small-scale nature of communities

  • Allow individuals to manage their own affairs through face-to-face interactions

Features of communal organisation of life and their advantages - social contract

• Part of the community by voluntary agreement

  • Allows communities to be connected as voluntary federations

  • Strengthens bonds of compassion and solidarity

Kropotkin - mutual aid

• Mutual aid = helping each other, cooperating

  • Rule, not exception

• Biological foundation for social solidarity

Mutual aid in nature

• Evolution shows that

• Sociability is important

  • Cooperation > competition

• Species are successful as they can harness collective energies through cooperation

  • Successful species have a strong inclination for mutual aid

Mutual aid in a human context

• Tendency towards cooperation is undermined by the competitive nature of capitalism

• This threatens the further evolution of humans

Views on the structure of society - Kropotkin and Malatesta

• State = abolished

• Replaced by small, self-managing communities

  • Kropotkin - these own their wealth in common