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Libertarian socialism is a Western philosophy with diverse interpretations, thou

gh some general commonalities can be found in its many incarnations. It advocate


s a worker-oriented system of production and organization in the workplace that
in some aspects radically departs from neoclassical economics in favor of democr
atic cooperatives or common ownership of the means of production (socialism).[38
] They propose that this economic system be executed in a manner that attempts t
o maximize the liberty of individuals and minimize concentration of power or aut
hority (libertarianism).
August 17, 1860 edition of libertarian Communist publication Le Libertaire edite
d by Joseph Djacque.
Libertarian socialists are strongly critical of coercive institutions, which oft
en leads them to reject the legitimacy of the state in favor of anarchism.[39] A
dherents propose achieving this through decentralization of political and econom
ic power, usually involving the socialization of most large-scale private proper
ty and enterprise (while retaining respect for personal property). Libertarian s
ocialism tends to deny the legitimacy of most forms of economically significant
private property, viewing capitalist property relations as forms of domination t
hat are antagonistic to individual freedom.[40][41]
The first anarchist journal to use the term "libertarian" was Le Libertaire, Jou
rnal du Mouvement Social and it was published in New York City between 1858 and
1861 by French anarcho-communist Joseph Djacque.[42] The next recorded use of the
term was in Europe, when "libertarian communism" was used at a French regional
anarchist Congress at Le Havre (16 22 November 1880). January the following year s
aw a French manifesto issued on "Libertarian or Anarchist Communism". Finally, 1
895 saw leading anarchists Sbastien Faure and Louise Michel publish La Libertaire
in France."[42] The word stems from the French word libertaire, and was used to
evade the French ban on anarchist publications.[43] In this tradition, the term
"libertarianism" in "libertarian socialism" is generally used as a synonym for
anarchism, which some say is the original meaning of the term; hence "libertaria
n socialism" is equivalent to "socialist anarchism" to these scholars.[2][44] In
the context of the European socialist movement, libertarian has conventionally
been used to describe those who opposed state socialism, such as Mikhail Bakunin
.
The association of socialism with libertarianism predates that of capitalism, an
d many anti-authoritarians still decry what they see as a mistaken association o
f capitalism with libertarianism in the United States.[45] As Noam Chomsky put i
t, a consistent libertarian "must oppose private ownership of the means of produ
ction and wage slavery, which is a component of this system, as incompatible wit
h the principle that labor must be freely undertaken and under the control of th
e producer."[46]
In a chapter recounting the history of libertarian socialism, economist Robin Ha
hnel relates that thus far the period where libertarian socialism has had its gr
eatest impact was at the end of the 19th century through the first four decades
of the twentieth century.
Early in the twentieth century, libertarian socialism was as powerful a forc
e as social democracy and communism. The Libertarian International founded at the
Congress of Saint Imier a few days after the split between Marxist and libertar
ians at the congress of the Socialist International held in The Hague in 1872 com
peted successfully against social democrats and communists alike for the loyalty
of anticapitalist activists, revolutionaries, workers, unions and political par
ties for over fifty years. Libertarian socialists played a major role in the Rus
sian revolutions of 1905 and 1917. Libertarian socialists played a dominant role
in the Mexican Revolution of 1911. Twenty years after World War I was over, lib
ertarian socialists were still strong enough to spearhead the social revolution
that swept across Republican Spain in 1936 and 1937.[47]

On the other hand a libertarian trend also developed within marxism which gained
visibility around the late 1910s mainly in reaction against Bolshevism and Leni
nism rising to power and establishing the Soviet Union.
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Libertarian socialists are anti-capitalist, and can thus be distinguished from r
ight-wing libertarians. Whereas capitalist (and right-libertarian) principles co
ncentrate economic power in the hands of those who own the most capital, liberta
rian socialism aims to distribute power more equally amongst members of society.
A key difference between libertarian socialism and capitalist libertarianism is
that advocates of the former generally believe that one's degree of freedom is
affected by one's economic and social status, whereas advocates of the latter fo
cus on freedom of choice within a capitalist framework. This is sometimes charac
terized as a desire to maximize "free creativity" in a society in preference to
"free enterprise."[48]
Within anarchism there emerged a critique of wage slavery which refers to a situ
ation perceived as quasi-voluntary slavery,[49] where a person's livelihood depe
nds on wages, especially when the dependence is total and immediate.[50][51] It
is a negatively connoted term used to draw an analogy between slavery and wage l
abor by focusing on similarities between owning and renting a person. The term w
age slavery has been used to criticize economic exploitation and social stratifi
cation, with the former seen primarily as unequal bargaining power between labor
and capital (particularly when workers are paid comparatively low wages, e.g. i
n sweatshops),[52] and the latter as a lack of workers' self-management, fulfill
ing job choices and leisure in an economy.[53][54][55] Libertarian socialists be
lieve if freedom is valued, then society must work towards a system in which ind
ividuals have the power to decide economic issues along with political issues. L
ibertarian socialists seek to replace unjustified authority with direct democrac
y, voluntary federation, and popular autonomy in all aspects of life,[56] includ
ing physical communities and economic enterprises. With the advent of the indust
rial revolution, thinkers such as Proudhon and Marx elaborated the comparison be
tween wage labor and slavery in the context of a critique of societal property n

ot intended for active personal use,[57][58] Luddites emphasized the dehumanizat


ion brought about by machines while later Emma Goldman famously denounced wage s
lavery by saying: "The only difference is that you are hired slaves instead of b
lock slaves.".[59]
Many libertarian socialists argue that large-scale voluntary associations should
manage industrial manufacture, while workers retain rights to the individual pr
oducts of their labor.[60] As such, they see a distinction between the concepts
of "private property" and "personal possession". Whereas "private property" gran
ts an individual exclusive control over a thing whether it is in use or not, and
regardless of its productive capacity, "possession" grants no rights to things
that are not in use.[61]
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Libertarian socialists generally regard concentrations of power as sources of op
pression that must be continually challenged and justified. Most libertarian soc
ialists believe that when power is exercised, as exemplified by the economic, so
cial, or physical dominance of one individual over another, the burden of proof
is always on the authoritarian to justify their action as legitimate when taken
against its effect of narrowing the scope of human freedom.[62] Libertarian soci
alists typically oppose rigid and stratified structures of authority, be they po
litical, economic, or social.[63]
In lieu of corporations and states, libertarian socialists seek to organize soci
ety into voluntary associations (usually collectives, communes, municipalities,
cooperatives, commons, or syndicates) that use direct democracy or consensus for
their decision-making process. Some libertarian socialists advocate combining t
hese institutions using rotating, recallable delegates to higher-level federatio
ns.[64] Spanish anarchism is a major example of such federations in practice.
Contemporary examples of libertarian socialist organizational and decision-makin
g models in practice include a number of anti-capitalist and global justice move
ments[65] including Zapatista Councils of Good Government and the Global Indymed
ia network (which covers 45 countries on six continents). There are also many ex
amples of indigenous societies around the world whose political and economic sys
tems can be accurately described as anarchist or libertarian socialist, each of
which is unique and uniquely suited to the culture that birthed it.[66] For libe
rtarians, that diversity of practice within a framework of common principles is
proof of the vitality of those principles and of their flexibility and strength.
Contrary to popular opinion, libertarian socialism has not traditionally been a
utopian movement, tending to avoid dense theoretical analysis or prediction of w
hat a future society would or should look like. The tradition instead has been t
hat such decisions cannot be made now, and must be made through struggle and exp
erimentation, so that the best solution can be arrived at democratically and org
anically, and to base the direction for struggle on established historical examp
le. They point out that the success of the scientific method comes from its adhe

rence to open rational exploration, not its conclusions, in sharp contrast to do


gma and predetermined predictions. To libertarian socialists, dogmatic approache
s to social organization are doomed to failure; and thus they reject Marxist not
ions of linear and inevitable historical progression.[citation needed] Noted ana
rchist Rudolf Rocker once stated, "I am an anarchist not because I believe anarc
hism is the final goal, but because there is no such thing as a final goal".[67]
Because libertarian socialism encourages exploration and embraces a diversity of
ideas rather than forming a compact movement, there have arisen inevitable cont
roversies over individuals who describe themselves as libertarian socialists but
disagree with some of the core principles of libertarian socialism. For example
, Peter Hain interprets libertarian socialism as minarchist rather than anarchis
t, favoring radical decentralization of power without going as far as the comple
te abolition of the state[68] and libertarian socialist Noam Chomsky supports di
smantling all forms of unjustified social or economic power, while also emphasiz
ing that state intervention should be supported as a temporary protection while
oppressive structures remain in existence.
Proponents are known for opposing the existence of states or government and refu
sing to participate in coercive state institutions. Indeed, in the past many ref
used to swear oaths in court or to participate in trials, even when they faced i
mprisonment[69] or deportation.[70]
Civil liberties and individual freedom
Main articles: Free love, Anarchism and issues related to love and sex, Anarchis
m and religion, Anarcha-feminism, Anarchism and education, Queer anarchism and I
ndividualist anarchism
Libertarian socialists have been strong advocates and activists of civil liberti
es that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom in issues of l
ove and sex (free love) (see Anarchism and issues related to love and sex) and o
f thought and conscience (freethought). In this activism they have clashed with
state and religious institutions which have limited such rights (see Anarchism a
nd religion). Anarchism has been an important advocate of free love since its bi
rth. Later a strong tendency of free love appeared alongside anarcha-feminism an
d advocacy of LGBT rights (see Anarchism and issues related to LGBTI persons). I
n recent times anarchism has also voiced opinions and taken action around certai
n sex related subjects such as pornography,[71] BDSM[72] and the sex industry.[7
2]
American anarchist Emma Goldman, prominent anarcha-feminist, free love and freet
hought activist
Anarcha-feminism developed as a synthesis of radical feminism and anarchism that
views patriarchy (male domination over women) as a fundamental manifestation of
compulsory government. It was inspired by the late 19th-century writings of ear
ly feminist anarchists such as Lucy Parsons, Emma Goldman, Voltairine de Cleyre
and Virginia Bolten. Anarcha-feminists, like other radical feminists, criticise
and advocate the abolition of traditional conceptions of family, education and g
ender roles. Also the council communist Sylvia Pankhurst was a feminist activist
as well as a libertarian marxist. Anarchists also took a pioneering interest in
issues related to LGBTI persons. An important current within anarchism is free
love.[73] Free love advocates sometimes traced their roots back to the early ana
rchist Josiah Warren and to experimental communities, viewed sexual freedom as a
clear, direct expression of an individual's self-ownership. Free love particula
rly stressed women's rights since most sexual laws discriminated against women:
for example, marriage laws and anti-birth control measures.[74]
Libertarian socialists have traditionally been skeptical of and opposed to organ
ized religion.[75] Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds opinions
should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be i
nfluenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas.[50][76] The cognitive applic

ation of freethought is known as "freethinking," and practitioners of freethough


t are known as "freethinkers."[50] In the United States, "freethought was a basi
cally anti-Christian, anti-clerical movement, whose purpose was to make the indi
vidual politically and spiritually free to decide for himself on religious matte
rs. A number of contributors to Liberty (anarchist publication) were prominent f
igures in both freethought and anarchism. The individualist anarchist George Mac
Donald was a co-editor of Freethought and, for a time, The Truth Seeker. E.C. Wa
lker was co-editor of the...free-thought / free love journal Lucifer, the LightBearer".[77] Free Society (1895 1897 as The Firebrand; 1897 1904 as Free Society) wa
s a major anarchist newspaper in the United States at the end of the nineteenth
and beginning of the twentieth centuries.[78] The publication staunchly advocate
d free love and women's rights, and critiqued "Comstockery"
censorship of sexual
information. In 1901, Catalan anarchist and free-thinker Francesc Ferrer i Gurdi
a established "modern" or progressive schools in Barcelona in defiance of an edu
cational system controlled by the Catholic Church.[79] The schools' stated goal
was to "educate the working class in a rational, secular and non-coercive settin
g". Fiercely anti-clerical, Ferrer believed in "freedom in education", education
free from the authority of church and state[80] (see Anarchism and education).
Later in the 20th century Austrian freudo-marxist Wilhelm Reich became a consist
ent propagandist for sexual freedom going as far as opening free sex-counselling
clinics in Vienna for working-class patients[81] as well as coining the phrase
"sexual revolution" in one of his books from the 1940s.[82] During the early 197
0s the anarchist and pacifist Alex Comfort achieved international celebrity for
writing the sex manuals The Joy of Sex and More Joy of Sex.
Violent and non-violent means
See also: Anarchism and violence
Some libertarian socialists see violent revolution as necessary in the abolition
of capitalist society, while others advocate non-violent methods. Along with ma
ny others, Errico Malatesta argued that the use of violence was necessary; as he
put it in Umanit Nova (no. 125, September 6, 1921):
It is our aspiration and our aim that everyone should become socially consci
ous and effective; but to achieve this end, it is necessary to provide all with
the means of life and for development, and it is therefore necessary to destroy
with violence, since one cannot do otherwise, the violence that denies these mea
ns to the workers.[83]
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon argued in favor of a non-violent revolution through a pro
cess of dual power in which libertarian socialist institutions would be establis
hed and form associations enabling the formation of an expanding network within
the existing state-capitalist framework with the intention of eventually renderi
ng both the state and the capitalist economy obsolete. The progression towards v
iolence in anarchism stemmed, in part, from the massacres of some of the commune
s inspired by the ideas of Proudhon and others. Many anarcho-communists began to
see a need for revolutionary violence to counteract the violence inherent in bo
th capitalism and government.[84]
Anarcho-pacifism is a tendency within the anarchist movement which rejects the u
se of violence in the struggle for social change.[85][86] The main early influen
ces were the thought of Henry David Thoreau[86] and Leo Tolstoy.[85][86] It deve
loped "mostly in Holland [sic], Britain, and the United States, before and durin
g the Second World War".[87] Opposition to the use of violence has not prohibite
d anarcho-pacifists from accepting the principle of resistance or even revolutio
nary action provided it does not result in violence; it was in fact their approv
al of such forms of opposition to power that lead many anarcho-pacifists to endo
rse the anarcho-syndicalist concept of the general strike as the great revolutio
nary weapon. Later anarcho-pacifists have also come to endorse to non-violent st
rategy of dual power.

Other anarchists have believed that violence (especially self-defense) is justif


ied as a way to provoke social upheaval which could lead to a social revolution.
Environmental issues
See also: Green anarchism and Eco-socialism
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Green anarchism, or ecoanarchism, is a school of thought within anarchism which
puts a particular emphasis on environmental issues. An important early influence
was the thought of the American anarchist Henry David Thoreau and his book Wald
en,[88] as well as Leo Tolstoy[89] and Elisee Reclus.[90][91] In the late 19th c
entury there emerged anarcho-naturism as the fusion of anarchism and naturist ph
ilosophies within individualist anarchist circles in France, Spain, Cuba[92] and
Portugal.[88][89] Important contemporary currents are anarcho-primitivism and s
ocial ecology.[93] An important meeting place for international libertarian soci
alism in the early 1990s was the journal Democracy & Nature in which prominent a
ctivists and theorists such as Takis Fotopoulos, Noam Chomsky,[94] Murray Bookch
in and Cornelius Castoriadis[95] wrote. The journal promoted a green libertarian
socialism when it manifested as its aims that:
...the public realm has to be extended beyond the traditional political doma
in to the economic and broader social domains so that the reintegration of socie
ty with the economy, polity and Nature can be achieved. In this sense, democracy
should be seen as irreconcilable with any form of inequity in the distribution
of power, that is, with any concentration of power, political, social or economi
c. Consequently, democracy is incompatible with commodity and property relations
, which inevitably lead to concentration of po

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