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Anarchy (from Greek: ἀναρχία anarchía, "without ruler") may refer to any of the following:
"Absence of government; a state of lawlessness due to beliefs that people are inherently good and can organize themselves without government or bureaucracies; another type of political order."[1]
"A theoretical social state in which there is no governing person or body of persons, but each individual has absolute liberty (without the implication of disorder)."[2]
"Absence or non-recognition of authority in any given sphere."[3]
or, simply, (from Greek: an-, "without" and Greek: -archy, "leadership")
Without leadership. Hence, the common use of anarchism as a system of organisation without leaders.
It should be noted that "ruler", used in this context, has no explicit connection to the term "rules". In an anarchy, as defined by the last bullet point, it is possible to have rules (laws), however, these must be agreed upon by the participants in the system, and not imposed from above, by a ruler (leader, authority). Some Languages, such as Norwegian[4] have two separate words for the two meanings. This lack of separation causes problems of understanding in a similar way that the word "free" in English causes misunderstandings when relating to open-source software.
Anarchism
Anarchists are those who advocate the absence of the state, arguing that common sense would allow for people to come together in agreement to form a functional society allowing for the participants to freely develop their own sense of morality, ethics or principled behaviour. The rise of anarchism as a philosophical movement occurred in the mid 19th century, with its notion of freedom as being based upon political and economic self-rule. This occurred alongside the rise of the nation-state and large-scale industrial capitalism, and the corruption that came with their successes.
Although anarchists share a rejection of the state, they differ about economic arrangements and possible rules that would prevail in a stateless society, ranging from complete common ownership and distribution according to need, to supporters of private property and free market competition. For example, most forms of anarchism, such as that of anarcho-communism, anarcho-syndicalism, or anarcho-primitivism not only seek rejection of the state, but also other systems which they perceive as authoritarian, which includes capitalism, wage labor, and private property. In opposition, another form known as anarcho-capitalism argues that a society without a state is a free market capitalist system that is voluntarist in nature. Most anarchists reject the claim that anarcho-capitalism is a form of anarchism as it is marked by authoritarian structures.
The word "anarchy" is often used by non-anarchists as a pejorative term, intended to connote a lack of control and a negatively chaotic environment. Because of this, some activists have self-identified as libertarian socialists. In more recent times anti-authoritarian has offered another similar self-identification. However, anarchists still argue that anarchy does not imply nihilism, anomie, or the total absence of rules, but rather an anti-authoritarian society that is based on the spontaneous order of free individuals in autonomous communities, operating on principles of mutual aid, voluntary association, and direct action.
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Anthropology
Some anarchist anthropologists, such as David Graeber and Pierre Clastres, consider societies such as those of the Bushmen, Tiv and the Piaroa to be anarchies in the sense that they explicitly reject the idea of centralized political authority. [13] However, others point out that tribal societies of the past have often been more violent than modern technological societies, on average.[14]
For example, more than a third of the Yanomamo males, on average, died from warfare.[15] Men who participated in killings had more wives and kids than those who did not.[16] Some Yanomamo men, however, reflected on the futility of their feuds and made it known that they would have nothing to do with the raiding.[16] These findings, originally reported by the anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon, have been empirically replicated several times.[17]
Some more recent antropologists, such as Marshall Sahlins and Richard Borshay Lee, have defied the notion of hunter-gatherer societies as being a source of scarcity and brutalization, describing them as - in the words of Sahlins - "affluent societies". [18]
However the evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker writes:
Adjudication by an armed authority appears to be the most effective violence-reduction technique ever invented. Though we debate whether tweaks in criminal policy, such as executing murderers versus locking them up for life, can reduce violence by a few percentage points, there can be no debate on the massive effects of having a criminal justice system as opposed to living in anarchy. The shockingly high homicide rates of pre-state societies, with 10 to 60 percent of the men dying at the hands of other men, provide one kind of evidence. Another is the emergence of a violent culture of honor in just about any corner of the world that is beyond the reach of law. ..The generalization that anarchy in the sense of a lack of government leads to anarchy in the sense of violent chaos may seem banal, but it is often over-looked in today's still-romantic climate.[14]
PUNK
In its original nature, the punk culture has been primarily concerned with individual freedom, which tends to create beliefs in concepts such as individualism, anti-authoritarianism, anarchism and free thought. Punk ideologies have often included a critical view of the world; seeing modern day societies as placing extensive limits on humanity. Punk ideologies are usually expressed through punk rock music, punk zines, independently-published literature and spoken word recordings.
Punk culture originated as a movement of shock, rebellion, and discontent; and from certain points-of-view, it has evolved into an overt socio-political movement. Lyrically, punk bands often express discontent with the individuals and institutions that influence society. The political ideology most often associated with punk is anarchism, however punk has also been associated with other leftist ideologies such as social liberalism, socialism and communism. Despite the association that punk ideologies have with the left wing, some punks perceive the efforts of leftists as ineffectual, and sometimes just as objectionable as the right wing. Although not as common, some right-wing ideologies have appeared within punk culture, including conservatism and neo-Nazism.
Religious ideologies within the punk subculture include atheism, agnosticism, humanism, Christianity, Islam, the Rastafari movement and the Hare Krishna movement (especially amongst 1980s straight edge scene), which often overlap onto a punk's political beliefs.
In the late 1970s, the punk movement was operating in an environment controlled by outside influences. Because this impinged on the freedom of the movement, people in the punk scene began creating their own record labels, organizing their own concerts, and creating their own print media. This became known as the do it yourself (DIY) ethic. "Don't hate the media, become the media" is a motto of this movement.
Punks sometimes participate in direct action such as protests, boycotts, and in some cases, violence. Some of the most militant punks have bombed gas stations, destroyed animal research laboratories, alterred billboards to include political messages, and occupied abandoned buildings. Hacktivism has become an additional method of sabotage. These acts are committed in an effort to create social change when it is felt that the normal channels for change have been proven ineffective. See songs on direct action.
Selling out refers to any abandonment of personal values in exchange for reciprocal gain, in the form of wealth, status, or power. Because anti-establishment attitudes are such an important part of punk ideologies, a network of independent music labels, venues, and distributors has developed. Some punk bands have chosen to break from this independent system and work within the established system of major labels. Some punks argue that these artists have betrayed their communities, and that their creative integrity is necessarily compromised. However, some artists argue that working in the major label system is a necessary evil, allowing the widest distribution of their messages.
Another meaning of selling out is for a punk band to change its musical style, such as to prog rock, pop or heavy metal. For example, many of Black Flag's later songs show obvious metal influence, while their older work was mainly punk rock. Selling out also has the meaning of adopting a more conservative, mainstream lifestyle and ideology. One example of someone accused of selling out is Garry Bushell, who largely abandoned socialism after getting a job at The Sun newspaper.
