Very Old and the Very Modern Clothing of Anarchism. Theory

Abstract

This article discusses the main stages in the development of the theory of anarchism. The author started his examination of anarchist ideas from Errico Malatesta’s book “The System of Anarchism in Ten Conversations for the Peasants”. Then, the author considers the works of a French politician, philosopher and economist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. The paper touches upon the problem of practical implementation of his theoretical principles up to the present time. The author also takes into account the works of the geographical school of anarchism (Elise’e Reclus and Peter Kropotkin). The paper analyses the anarchist origins of the classical school of political economy. It is noted that a significant part of Adam Smith’s ideas was previously expressed by his predecessor, anarchist William Godwin. In particular, it is shown that the category of ‘invisible hand’ originated from anarchist ideas about the inner world of a person, and not from the ideas that ‘the market will decide everything’. Some aspects of the history of the First International, the role of anarchists in the creation and activities of the First International are considered. The article describes the emergence and development of anarchism in Japan, it is shown that the Japanese branch of anarchism is closely connected with the works of M. Bakunin. The problem of long-term propaganda of the ideas of anarchism in US universities is touched upon. The main authors of anarchist works are singled out from among them. The author also considers Christian theological anarchism associated with the name of I. Illich, as well as the works of the followers and propagandists of anarcho-Islam that have appeared in recent years. According to the author, the ideas of anarchism are poorly analyzed by historians, which leads to many incorrect assessments of current events and erroneous predictions of the future, especially in recent decades. The reason for this is ignoring the role of anarchist thought in the socio-economic life of the world. It is noted that the penetration of anarchist ideas into social theories and political doctrines of very different directions takes place in such a way that they become an inseparable part of them and are no longer considered anarchist. Briefly, the main idea of the article can be expressed in the words: “Theoretical anarchism does matter”.