Communist anarchism (also known as anarchist communism, anarcho-communism, libertarian communism) is a political theory and a branch of anarchism, which, besides abolishing any hierarchical authority, such as state or capitalism, seeks to create society that is based on communal ownership on means and results of production, where decisions are made through direct democracy and goods are distributed according to the principle "from each according to ability, to each according to need".
Communist anarchism is based on several principles, which differentiate it from other branches of anarchism.
Communist anarchists seek to abolish private property on the means of production, because, according to them, it is used to exploit others. Ownership of the means of production allows employers to take surplus value.
Communist anarchists call wage labor "wage slavery" as it requires workers to give fruits of their labor to the employer, strictly comply to the rules on the workplace and prevents them to self-organize.
Direct democracy differs from participatory democracy by rejecting elections or granting authority to persons. Direct democracy works in a bottom-up manner, when everyone without exclusion participate in the decision making, and controversies are solved by voting. If number of participants is large enough to hold convention that would include them all, participants may make decision on a local level, then choose a delegate, who will carry an imperative mandate, restricting them from imposing decisions other that described by the mandate. However, some communist anarchists support consensus instead of voting.