Anarchist law

Legal theory within anarchist philosophy

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Anarchist law is a term variously used to describe the apparent norms regarding behavior and decision-making operative within an anarchist community from the perspective of a law-normative viewpoint. Although many anarchists would consider "anarchist law" simply synonymous with natural law, others contend law as implied in anarchy by outside observers would have additional, unique elements.[1] Over the course of the last two hundred years as anarchism has grown and evolved to include diverse strains, there have been different conceptions of "anarchist law" produced and discussed, or used in practice.

## Non-coercion

[edit]

The most fundamental maxim of many anarchist tendencies is that no individual has the right to coerce another individual, and that everyone has the right to defend themselves against coercion (the non-aggression principle or zero aggression principle). Systems typically considered coercive include the state, capitalism, and institutional oppression. This basic principle, like mutual aid, is foundational to much of anarchist law, and indeed much of anarchist theory. Peter Kropotkin, a prominent anarcho-communist, stated it was "best summed up by the maxim 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you.'" In short, anarchist philosophy includes the "ethic of reciprocity," but typically condones violence intended to retaliate against or dismantle systems of oppression (with the exception of anarcho-pacifism, some Christian anarchism and other nonviolent/pacifistic movements.)[2]

## Consensus-based social contracts

[edit]

See also: Consensus democracy

Since the principle of non-coercion makes hierarchical state structures unfeasible, anarchist communities must find an alternative basis for setting the rules of engagement within a collective. Accordingly, virtually all anarchist legal models begin with the assumption that whatever rules are set in place must be freely agreed to by the entirety of the community that is to be governed by them in a setting free from coercion or intimidation. Such freely given consent constitutes a social contract, though the exact nature of such contracts is a matter of heated debate.[2]

## Free association

[edit]

Free association (also called voluntary association) also implies the right of individuals to form those exact social contracts. This freedom to not associate means if the terms of a social contract become unacceptable to an individual member or sub-group(s) within a society, the discontented have the right to secede from the contract. They may also form new associations with others that more closely fit their needs.[3]

## Enforceability

[edit]

Enforceability is one of the most controversial areas of anarchist law. Early writers such as Proudhon argued that it was legitimate for working-class people to self-organize against criminals who prey on the weak, a process which would unequivocally entail some degree of coercion.[4]

## Examples

[edit]

See also: List of anarchist communities

## See also

[edit]

* Voluntary association
* Polycentric law

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Borovoi, Alexei. "Anarchism and Law". The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
2. ^ a b Tamblyn, Nathan (2019). "The Common Ground of Law and Anarchism". Liverpool Law Review. 40: 65–78\. doi:10.1007/s10991-019-09223-1. hdl:10871/36939. S2CID 155131683. Archived from the original on 2020-10-09. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
3. ^ Sweger-Hollingsworth, Lauren (2019-06-15). "Proudhon, Bakunin and Anarcho-socialism". Portland State University Economics Working Papers. 5. Archived from the original on 2021-08-13. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
4. ^ Ritter, Alan (1975). "Godwin, Proudhon and the Anarchist Justification of Punishment". Political Theory. 3: 69–87\. doi:10.1177/009059177500300107. S2CID 149216607.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Holterman, Thom; Henc van Maarseveen (1984). Law and Anarchism. Montréal: Black Rose Books. ISBN 0-919619-10-X.

## External links

[edit]

* Anarchist Studies Network Reading List on Anarchism & Law. Archived 22 May 2019.

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Anarchism

Concepts|

* Anarchy
* Anarchist Black Cross
* Anarchist criminology
* Anationalism
* Anti-authoritarianism
* Anti-capitalism
* Anti-militarism
* Affinity group
* Autonomous social center
* Black bloc
* Classless society
* Class struggle
* Consensus decision-making
* Conscientious objector
* Critique of work
* Decentralization
* Deep ecology
* Direct action
* Free love
* Freethought
* Horizontalidad
* Individualism
* Law
* Mutual aid
* Participatory politics
* Permanent autonomous zone
* Prefigurative politics
* Proletarian internationalism
* Propaganda of the deed
* Refusal of work
* Revolution
* Rewilding
* Sabotage
* Security culture
* Self-ownership
* Social ecology
* Sociocracy
* Somatherapy
* Spontaneous order
* Squatting
* Temporary autonomous zone
* Union of egoists
* Voluntary association
* Workers' council

Issues|

* Animal rights
* Capitalism
* Education
* Love and sex
* Nationalism
* Religion
* Violence

Schools of thought|

| Classical|

* Individualist

* Egoist
* Illegalist
* Naturist
* Philosophical

* Mutualist
* Social

* Collectivist
* Communist
* Magonist

|

Post-classical|

* Feminist
* Green
* Primitivist
* Social ecology
* Independence
* Insurrectionary
* Pacifist
* Religious
* Christian
* Buddhist
* Jewish
* Without adjectives

Contemporary|

* Black
* Free-market
* Postcolonial
* Post-anarchist
* Post-left
* Queer

Types of federation|

* Affinity group
* Anarcho-syndicalism
* Platformism
* Anarchist synthesis
* Union of egoists

Economics|

* Communization
* Cooperative
* Cost the limit of price
* Decentralized planned economy
* Free association
* General strike
* Gift economy
* Give-away shop
* Labour voucher
* Market socialism
* Mutual bank
* Mutual credit
* Social ownership
* Wage slavery
* Workers' self-management

Culture|

* A las Barricadas
* Anarchist bookfair
* Anarcho-punk
* Anarchy in the U.K.
* Architecture
* Arts
* DIY ethic
* Escuela Moderna
* Films
* Freeganism
* Infoshop
* Independent Media Center
* The Internationale
* Lifestylism
* May Day
* "No gods, no masters"
* Popular education
* "Property is theft!"
* Radical cheerleading
* Radical environmentalism
* Self-managed social center
* Symbolism

History|

* French Revolution
* Revolutions of 1848
* Spanish Regional Federation of the IWA
* Paris Commune
* Hague Congress
* Cantonal rebellion
* Haymarket affair
* Trial of the Thirty
* International Conference of Rome
* Ferrer movement
* Strandzha Commune
* Congress of Amsterdam
* Tragic Week
* High Treason Incident
* Manifesto of the Sixteen
* German Revolution of 1918–1919
* Bavarian Soviet Republic
* 1919 United States bombings
* Biennio Rosso
* Kronstadt rebellion
* Makhnovshchina
* Amakasu Incident
* Alt Llobregat insurrection
* Anarchist insurrection of January 1933
* Anarchist insurrection of December 1933
* Spanish Revolution of 1936
* Barcelona May Days
* Red inverted triangle
* Labadie Collection
* Provo
* May 1968
* Kate Sharpley Library
* Carnival Against Capital
* 1999 Seattle WTO protests
* Really Really Free Market
* Occupy movement

People|

* Alston
* Armand
* Ba
* Bakunin
* Berkman
* Bonanno
* Bookchin
* Bourdin
* Chomsky
* Cleyre
* Day
* Durruti
* Ellul
* Ervin
* Faure
* Ferrer
* Feyerabend
* Giovanni
* Godwin
* Goldman
* González Prada
* Graeber
* Guillaume
* He-Yin
* Kanno
* Kōtoku
* Kropotkin
* Landauer
* Liu
* Magón
* Makhno
* Maksimov
* Malatesta
* Mett
* Michel
* Most
* Parsons
* Pi i Margall
* Pouget
* Proudhon
* Raichō
* Reclus
* Rocker
* Santillán
* Spooner
* Stirner
* Thoreau
* Tolstoy
* Tucker
* Volin
* Ward
* Warren
* Yarchuk
* Zerzan

Lists|

* Anarcho-punk bands
* Books
* Fictional characters
* Films
* Jewish anarchists
* Musicians
* Periodicals

By region|

* Africa
* Albania
* Algeria
* Andorra
* Argentina
* Armenia
* Australia
* Austria
* Azerbaijan
* Bangladesh
* Belarus
* Belgium
* Bolivia
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Brazil
* Bulgaria
* Canada
* Chile
* China
* Colombia
* Costa Rica
* Croatia
* Cuba
* Cyprus
* Czech Republic
* Denmark
* Dominican Republic
* Ecuador
* Egypt
* El Salvador
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* French Guiana
* Georgia
* Germany
* Greece
* Guatemala
* Hong Kong
* Hungary
* Iceland
* India
* Indonesia
* Iran
* Ireland
* Israel
* Italy
* Japan
* Korea
* Latvia
* Malaysia
* Mexico
* Monaco
* Mongolia
* Morocco
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
* Nicaragua
* Nigeria
* Norway
* Panama
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Philippines
* Poland
* Portugal
* Puerto Rico
* Romania
* Russia
* Serbia
* Singapore
* South Africa
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Syria
* Taiwan
* Timor-Leste
* Tunisia
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Uruguay
* Venezuela
* Vietnam

Related topics|

* Anarcho-capitalism
* Anti-corporatism
* Anti-consumerism
* Anti-fascism
* Anti-globalization
* Anti-statism
* Anti-war movement
* Autarchism
* Autonomism
* Communism
* Definition of anarchism and libertarianism
* Dual power
* IWA
* Labour movement
* Left communism
* Left-libertarianism
* Libertarianism
* Libertarian socialism
* Marxism
* National-anarchism
* Relationship between Friedrich Nietzsche and Max Stirner
* Situationist International
* Socialism
* Spontaneous order

* Anarchism portal
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Law

Core subjects|

* Administrative law
* Civil law
* Constitutional law
* Contract
* Criminal law
* Crime
* Deed
* Doctrine
* Equity
* Evidence
* International law
* Law of obligations
* Private law
* Procedure
* Civil
* Criminal
* Property law
* Public law
* Punishment
* Corporal
* Restitution and unjust enrichment
* Statutory law
* Tort

Disciplines|

* Abortion law
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* Aviation law
* Amnesty law
* Banking law
* Bankruptcy
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* Conflict of laws
* Construction law
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* Product liability
* Public international law
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* Space law
* Sports law
* State of emergency
* Tax law
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* Trust law
* Unenforced law

Sources of law|

* Charter
* Legal code / Statutory law
* Constitution
* Custom
* Divine law
* Divine right
* Human rights
* Legitimacy
* Letters patent
* Man-made law
* Natural law
* Natural and legal rights
* Case law
* Precedent
* Law reports
* Legal treatise
* Regulations

Law making|

* Ballot measure
* Codification
* Decree
* Edict
* Executive order
* Proclamation
* Legislation
* Delegated legislation
* Regulation
* Rulemaking
* Promulgation
* Ratification
* Repeal
* Treaty
* Concordat
* Statutory law
* Statute
* Act of parliament
* Act of Congress
* Basic structure doctrine

Legal systems|

* Civil law
* Common law
* Chinese law
* Legal pluralism
* Religious law
* Canon law
* Catholic canon law
* Hindu law
* Jain law
* Jewish law
* Parsi law
* Sharia
* Roman law
* Byzantine law
* Socialist law
* Statutory law
* Xeer
* Yassa

Legal theory|

* Anarchist
* Contract theory
* Comparative law
* Expressive function
* Feminist
* Law and economics
* Legal ethics
* Legal formalism
* History
* Libertarian
* International legal theory
* Principle of legality
* Principle of typicality
* Pseudolaw
* Rule of law
* Rule of man
* Sociology

Jurisprudence|

* Adjudication
* Administration of justice
* Admission to practice law
* Constitutionalism
* Criminal justice
* Court-martial
* Disbarment
* Dispute resolution
* Fiqh
* Lawsuit/Litigation
* Legal opinion
* Legal remedy
* Damages
* Deterrence (penology)
* Proportionality
* Reparations
* Legal status
* Judge
* Justice of the peace
* Magistrate
* Judgment
* Judicial activism
* Judicial interpretation
* Judicial misconduct
* Kangaroo court
* Judicial review
* Jurisdiction
* Jury
* Justice
* Practice of law
* Attorney
* Barrister
* Counsel
* Lawyer
* Legal representation
* Prosecutor
* Solicitor
* Question of fact
* Question of law
* Trial
* Trial advocacy
* Trier of fact
* Ultra vires
* Verdict

Legal institutions|

* Barristers' chambers
* Bureaucracy
* The bar
* The bench
* Civil society
* Court
* Ecclesiastical
* Court of equity
* Election commission
* Executive
* Judiciary
* Law enforcement
* Agency
* Legal education
* Law school
* Legal industry by country
* Legislature
* Military
* Police
* Political party
* Tribunal

History|

* History of the legal profession
* History of the American legal profession
* Women in law

* Law portal
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