An Anarchist Programme & Anarchist Propaganda by Errico Malatesta

We also believe that defining and obtaining freedom for ourselves is the best way to guarantee our well-being.Īnarchist analyses of capitalism, the state, patriarchy, and colonialism have proven useful in countless social struggles over the past several decades, as have our critiques of reformism, authoritarian revolution, and the institutional left-and perhaps most importantly, our practices of mutual aid and self-organization. In our view, it cannot be defined via a piece of paper or granted to us by a powerful institution each of these practices actually destroys freedom. It is not written in stone it does not pretend to represent a general will, the public, the people, or any such abstraction.Īnarchists understand freedom as arising from an ongoing process it is something we create individually and communally every day of our lives. What follows is the opposite of an ordinary political program. As you read this, reflect on what resonates and what does not think about what changes you want to make in the world and what means of change are consistent with your values and desires. There should be as many such programs as there are anarchists. To be clear, this program does not represent our collective as a whole, nor the international anarchist movement. In response, one of our contributors has put together an example of an anarchist program-a set of proposals that could be put into effect in the course of a revolution-as an imaginative exercise, to make it easier to picture what sort of practical changes anarchists might aim to implement. Still, whenever people encounter anarchist ideas for the first time, there is a certain kind of person who always demands to see a clear template.

Anarchists take a different approach: rather than offering a prefabricated blueprint, we propose to work things out together, dynamically, according to the principles of self-determination, horizontality, mutual aid, and solidarity.

These platforms are not binding-politicians rarely fulfill their promises, and it’s often worse when they do-but they do offer an outline of the vision each party claims to represent.

Every campaign season, political parties publish platforms detailing their promises plank by plank.

An Anarchist Programme & Anarchist Propaganda by Errico Malatesta