Questions on Anarchism

[communist_lefist]

While I'm personally a Communist, I have a interested in Anarchism, but i do not know where to begin to understand it. I understand that as a movement they have similar goals to Communist, such as a classless society, but do not agree to the evolution from capitalism to communism as Marx laid out. But other then that I don't know much. Who are the theorist that really defined it? and which works should I read to get a better understanding of Anarchism? Any help with this is welcomed as I want to better under all the theories on the Left.

[garrus]

Rudolf Rocker - Anarchosyndicalism , Anarchism and Organization
Chomsky - on Anarchism
An anarchist FAQ : http://www.infoshop.org/AnAnarchistFAQ


I understand that as a movement they have similar goals to Communist, such as a classless society, but do not agree to the evolution from capitalism to communism as Marx laid out.
The important part , i think , is that if you accept with the marxist definition of a state (an instrument of class oppression) , then you could classify an anarchist as a marxist, loosely speaking , that uses a special kind of state : one that it's organized non hierarchically but implements federalism.


but do not agree to the evolution from capitalism to communism as Marx laid out.
Since anarchists are communists, they do accept the prospect of communism, i doubt though that they consider it "inevitable", which is a kinda metaphysical thing to say to begin with.
If you are refering to the stage theory, many leninists have abandoned it as well, and is irrelevant to the economically and socially developed parts of the world.


Who are the theorist that really defined it?
Many, but all with different flavors.
Proudhon, Stirner for an individualistic non socialistic clusterfuck ,
Kropotkin for mutual aid and anarcho-communism with some idealistic sprinkles and ambiguity about the transition ,
Rocker and Durruti for anarcho - syndicalism,
Bakunin for the foundations of social anarchism , but with a taste of blanquism at times.

Personally, i'd stick with the anarchist FAQ, as it answers specifically common questions, and the books i posted above :)

[Ele'ill]

I'm not sure it matters who theorized anarchy there are a lot of people everywhere giving input on it. To give some perspective on how vast this is I'd start here http://theanarchistlibrary.org/

There may be better sites out there but there is enough here for you to search by topic of interest, specific author/title.

Also the wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism I haven't really looked through it but it might help.

[MP5]

Anarchy Archives (http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_archives/) is a pretty decent site for all kinds of Anarchist tendencies.

Marxists Internet Archive (http://www.marxists.org/) is another website that has alot of works by alot of different Anarchist writers. It's not just for Marxists ;)

[Os Cangaceiros]

Who are the theorist that really defined it?

I think Michael Bakunin is really the chief figure within anarchism. He's kind of like the Karl Marx of anarchism, I guess. There were others like Proudhon, of course, proto-anarchist individuals who introduced important concepts like anti-statism etc, and even other anti-state theorists dating way back, but Bakunin was really responsible for fusing it's philosophical foundation (anti-authoritarianism) and it's practical political/social character as a movement of workers & artisans. Bakunin was a man of considerable intellectual talents, too, IMO...he was extremely well read and educated, actually. His writings from the best few years in his life are still quite interesting to read, and somewhat "prophetic" in some respects. It's strange because Bakunin has this kind of dual character, where on one hand he sometimes writes these very radical, firebrand things, and that's still how he's kind of portrayed on the left, but in a lot of his letters and addresses his tone is actually pretty moderate, I think...still has the character of revolutionary socialism, but more geared towards political emancipation, the progressive rule of the working class when they assume political power, etc, rather than fiery, burn-it-all-down anarchism.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

I feel like it's significantly harder to pin down foundational theorists as far as anarchist politics go than to do the same for Marxism. Contemporary anarchisms are certainly influenced to some degree by "Classical Anarchism" (Bakunin, Kropotkin, Emma Goldman), but are also lean just as heavily on a whole hodgepodge of autonomist Marxism (Midnight Notes), feminism (Silvia Federici, Butch Lee), the French ultra-left (Giles Duave), and more. There also tends to be a pretty active culture of theory generated by militants, and probably most anarchists are as likely, if not more likely, to have read their peers (Crimethinc., prole.info, Fire To The Prisons) than any "big names".

[The Feral Underclass]

I feel like it's significantly harder to pin down foundational theorists as far as anarchist politics go than

No you don't, silly. You listed three of them. You missed off Malatesta and Makhno though.

[communist_lefist]

Thanks everyone for their post, I'm finding them very helpful.

[Starship Stormtrooper]

Since no one has recommended Berkman's What Is Anarchism (found here http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/alexander-berkman-what-is-communist-anarchism) I thought I would. I personally found it very easy to read and quite convincing in many aspects. The anarchist "canon" found on r/anarchy101 (http://www.reddit.com/r/Anarchy101/wiki/canon)has several good suggestions as well esp. The Conquest of Bread and The Platform. As Mari3l mentioned, you can find most works on the anarchist library (libcom.org also has alot of the harder to find works as well should you want to look for them).