Hoping an Anarchist can help me with this...

[RedKobra]

As far as I'm aware Anarchism implies piecemeal liberation. By that I mean the fact that only as individuals and communities reach revolutionary consciousness do they liberate themselves. No one else can do it for them. Anarchists don't believe in movements such as vanguards that would, according to vanguardists, drag some of the less conscious sections of society along with them, thus creating a mass movement and negating the problem of patchy revolution.

So, if I've understood correctly then what is the difference between Anarchistic ideas of piecemeal liberation and Socialism in One Country? In the sense that it implies isolation amidst a sea of Capitalism. If we can only reach revolutionary consciousness in our own time and cannot be swept along by a vanguard then in what sense is the revolution a mass uprising? In what sense is the revolution broad? In what sense does the revolution create anything more than pockets of liberationists amidst oceans of pre-consciousness workers still slaving for Capitalism?

[BIXX]

Well first of all this is worth a read: http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/alfredo-m-bonanno-why-a-vanguard

It basically explains that while most anarchists give lip service to being anti-vanguard, very few in practice actually are, and haven't actually do anything that is noticeably different from vanguardist shit.

Another issue is that of consciousness, as you have brought up. Consciousness means, not actually following your class interests, but being organized into this or that model. Like a lot of statists claim that anarchists are falsekt conscious because they do not organize in a way that they like.


Now, to answer your question: most anarchists are concerned with building consciousness with propaganda. Most aren't really concerned with trying to liberate themselves now, but rather raising enough consciousness first. So there for they believe that the proles will rebel alongside them.

I'm more into a different mode of thought but basically that should answer your question regarding the majority of anarchists.