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ANARCHISM: Arguments For and Against

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ISBN 10: 
1873176570
Number of pages: 
96
First published: 
1981
This edition: 
2000
Blurb: 

Everything you wanted to know about anarchism but were afraid to ask. A new revised and updated edition of the definitive pocket primer.

From the historical background and justification of anarchism, to the class struggle, organisation and the role of an anarchist in an authoritarian society, this slim volume walks the reader through the salient points, theory and practice of this much maligned philosophy. From workers' self-defence to the myth of taxation, the second half of the book runs through the gamut of objections and queries from Marxist-Leninists, liberal-democrats, fascists and the average person. If you're constantly wishing you were better informed, or just mildly curious, this is the place to start.

"Those who use the word 'anarchy' to mean disorder or misrule are not incorrect. If they regard government as necessary, if they think that we could not live without Whitehall or the White House directing our affairs, if they think politicians are essential to our wee-being and that we could not behave socially without policemen, they are right in assuming that anarchy means the opposite to what government guarantees. But those who take the reverse opinion, and consider government to be tyranny, are right too in considering anarchy, no government, to be liberty. If government is the maintenance of privilege and exploitation - and inefficiency of distribution its tool - then only anarchy is order."

Contents: 

Editor's Introduction
Albert Meltzer: An Appreciation -- Stuart Christie

ANARCHISM: Arguments For and Against

Introduction
The Historical Background to Anarchism

Inalienable Tenets of Anarchism
That People are Born Free
If People are Born Free, Slavery is Murder
As Slavery is Murder, so Property is Theft
If Property is Theft, Government is Tyranny
If Government is Tyranny, Anarchy is Liberty

The Class Struggle

Organisation and Anarchism

The Role of an Anarchist in an Authoritarian Society
Workers' Control
The Anarchist as Rebel
Non-Violence
Immediate Aims of the Anarchist
Workers' Self-Defence
How Will a Revolution Come About?

Bringing About the New Society
What Constitutes an Authoritarian Society?
Can One Do Without the State?
The Money Myth
The Myth of Taxation
The Effect of Immigration
The Abolition of the Wage and Monetary Systems
Is Anarchism Compatible with Capitalism?
Community Control
Need There be a Transitional Society?
A Free Society
The Employers Do Not Give Work

Objections to Anarchism
Leadership
Can Public Opinion Itself be Authoritarian?
Unity

The Marxist Criticism of Anarchism
Petty Bourgeois
Vanguards

The Social-Democratic Critique of Anarchism

The Liberal-Democratic Objection to Anarchism

The Fascist Objection to Anarchism

Trade Union (and Anti-Trade Union) Objections to Anarchism

Feminist Arguments for and Against Anarchism

The Average Person's Objection to Anarchism

The Reduction of Anarchism to Marginalisation

Contacts List
Further Reading

Biographical note(s): 

Albert Meltzer, described by Emma Goldman as a "hooligan and rascal who knows nothing of anarchism and syndicalism", was actively involved in the class struggle for 60 years. He is the author of numerous works on anarchism and its practice, and his autobiography I Couldn't Paint Golden Angels: Sixty Years of Commonplace Life and Anarchist Agitation was published before he died.