Libertarian socialism

Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)
"What Is Libertarian Socialism?"
The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (2012). "Anarchism". In Gaus, Gerald F.; D'Agostino, Fred, eds. ''The Routledge Companion to Social and Political Philosophy''. p. 223. "In the meantime, anarchist theories of a more communist or collectivist character had been developing as well. One important pioneer is French anarcho-communistes Joseph Déjacque (1821–1864), who ..appears to have been the first thinker to adopt the term 'libertarian' for this position; hence 'libertarianism' initially denoted a communist rather than a free-market ideology." political philosophy within the socialist movement which rejects the state's control of the economy under state socialism. Overlapping with anarchism and libertarianism, libertarian socialists criticize wage slavery relationships within the workplace, emphasizing workers' self-management and decentralized structures of political organization. As a broad socialist tradition and movement, libertarian socialism includes anarchist, Marxist, and anarchist- or Marxist-inspired thought and other left-libertarian tendencies.

Libertarian socialism rejects the concept of a state."I1. Isn't libertarian socialism an oxymoron?"
. In ''An Anarchist FAQ''. "So, libertarian socialism rejects the idea of state ownership and control of the economy, along with the state as such. Through workers' self-management it proposes to bring an end to authority, exploitation, and hierarchy in production." It asserts that a society based on freedom and justice can only be achieved with the abolition of authoritarian institutions that control specific means of production and subordinate the majority to an owning class or political and economic elite. Libertarian socialists advocate for decentralized structures based on direct democracy and federal or confederal associations such as citizens'/popular assemblies, cooperatives, libertarian municipalism, trade unions and workers' councils. This is done within a general call for liberty and free association through the identification, criticism and practical dismantling of illegitimate authority in all aspects of human life. Libertarian socialism is distinguished from the authoritarian and vanguardist approach of Bolshevism/ Leninism and the reformism of Fabianism/social democracy.

A form and socialist wing of left-libertarianism,Long, Roderick T. (2012). "Anarchism". In Gaus, Gerald F.; D'Agostino, Fred, eds. ''The Routledge Companion to Social and Political Philosophy''. p. 227. "In its oldest sense, it is a synonym either for anarchism in general or social anarchism in particular. Later it became a term for the left or Konkinite wing of the free-market libertarian movement, and has since come to cover a range of pro-market but anti-capitalist positions, mostly individualist anarchist, including agorism and mutualism, often with an implication of sympathies (such as for radical feminism or the labor movement) not usually shared by anarcho-capitalists. In a third sense it has recently come to be applied to a position combining individual self-ownership with an egalitarian approach to natural resources; most proponents of this position are not anarchists". past and present currents and movements commonly described as libertarian socialist include anarchism (especially anarchist schools of thought such as anarcho-communism, anarcho-syndicalism, collectivist anarchism, green anarchism, individualist anarchism, mutualism, and social anarchism) as well as communalism, some forms of democratic socialism, guild socialism, Marxism ( autonomism, council communism, left communism among others),Bookchin, Murray (1992)
"The Ghost of Anarcho-Syndicalism"
Graham, Robert
"The General Idea of Proudhon's Revolution"
participism, revolutionary syndicalism, and some versions of utopian socialism.Bromley, Kent (1906). "Preface". In Kropotkin, Peter. ''The Conquest of Bread''. New York and London: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Overview

Name

Libertarian socialism is also referred to as socialist libertarianismCarlson, Jennifer D. (2012). "Libertarianism". In Miller, Wilburn R., ed. ''The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America''. London: Sage Publications. p. 1006. . "There exist three major camps in libertarian thought: right-libertarianism, socialist libertarianism, and left-libertarianism; the extent to which these represent distinct ideologies as opposed to variations on a theme is contested by scholars. .. cialist libertarians view any concentration of power into the hands of a few (whether politically or economically) as antithetical to freedom and thus advocate for the simultaneous abolition of both government ''and'' capitalism". and often used interchangeably with the terms anarcho-socialism, anarchist socialism, free socialism. stateless socialism, and socialist anarchism.

Definition

Libertarian socialism is a Western philosophy with diverse interpretations, although some general commonalities can be found in its many incarnations. It advocates a worker-oriented system of production and organization in the workplace that, in some aspects, radically departs from neoclassical economics in favour of democratic cooperatives or common ownership of the means of production (socialism). They propose that this economic system be executed in a manner that attempts to maximize the liberty of individuals and minimize the concentration of power or authority ( libertarianism). Adherents propose achieving this through decentralization of political and economic power, usually involving the socialization of most large-scale private property and enterprise (while retaining respect for personal property). Libertarian socialism tends to deny the legitimacy of most forms of economically significant private property, viewing capitalist property relations as a form of domination that is antagonistic to individual freedom.

The first anarchist journal to use the term ''libertarian'' was '' Le Libertaire, Journal du Mouvement Social,'' and it was published in New York City between 1858 and 1861 by French libertarian communist Joseph Déjacque.The Anarchist FAQ Editorial Collective
"150 years of Libertarian". 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 1881 saw a French manifesto on "Libertarian or Anarchist Communism". Finally, 1895 saw leading anarchists Sébastien Faure and Louise Michel publish '' Le Libertaire'' in France. The term stems from the French cognate ''libertaire'' used to evade the French ban on anarchist publications. In this tradition, ''libertarianism'' is generally used as a synonym for anarchism, the term's original meaning. In the context of the European socialist movement, the term ''libertarian'' has been conventionally used to describe socialists who opposed authoritarianism and state socialism, such as Mikhail Bakunin and largely overlaps with social anarchism.Chomsky, Noam (2004). ''Language and Politics''. In Otero, Carlos Peregrín. AK Press. p. 739. However, individualist anarchism is also libertarian socialist. Non- Lockean individualism encompasses socialism, including libertarian socialism.

The association of socialism with libertarianism predates that of capitalism, and many anti-authoritarians still decry what they see as a mistaken association of capitalism with libertarianism in the United States. As Noam Chomsky put it, a consistent libertarian "must oppose private ownership of the means of production and wage slavery, which is a component of this system, as incompatible with the principle that labor must be freely undertaken and under the control of the producer". Terms such as '' anarchist socialism'', ''anarcho-socialism'', '' free socialism'', '' stateless socialism'', '' socialist anarchism ''and '' socialist libertarianism'' have all been used to refer to the anarchist wing of libertarian socialism or vis-à-vis authoritarian forms of socialism.

In a chapter of his ''Economic Justice and Democracy'' (2005) recounting the history of libertarian socialism, economist Robin Hahnel relates that the period where libertarian socialism had its most significant impact was at the end of the 19th century through the first four decades of the 20th century. According to Hahnel, "libertarian socialism was as powerful a force as social democracy and communism" in the early 20th century. The Anarchist St. Imier International, referred by Hahnel as the Libertarian International, was founded at the 1872 Congress of St. Imier a few days after the split between Marxists and libertarians at The Hague Congress of the First International, referred to by Hahnel as the Socialist International. This Libertarian International "competed successfully against social democrats and communists alike for the loyalty of anticapitalist activists, revolutionaries, workers, unions and political parties for over fifty years". For Hahnel, libertarian socialists "played a major role in the Russian 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, libertarian socialists were still strong enough to spearhead the social revolution that swept across Republican Spain in 1936 and 1937".

On the other hand, a libertarian trend also developed within Marxism which gained visibility around the late 1910s mainly in reaction against Bolshevism and Leninism rising to power and establishing the Soviet Union. Libertarian socialists argue that these states were transitioning from capitalism to socialism following Leninist doctrine and never reached further stages of development. Libertarian socialists seek the abolition of the state without going through a state capitalist transitionary stage.

In his preface to Peter Kropotkin's book ''The Conquest of Bread'', Kent Bromley considered French utopian socialist Charles Fourier to be the founder of the libertarian branch of socialist thought instead of the authoritarian socialist ideas of the French François-Noël Babeuf and the Italian Philippe Buonarroti.

Anti-capitalism

According to John O'Neil, " is forgotten that the early defenders of commercial society like damSmith were as much concerned with criticising the associational blocks to mobile labour represented by guilds as they were to the activities of the state. The history of socialist thought includes a long associational and anti-statist tradition prior to the political victory of the Bolshevism in the east and varieties of Fabianism in the west".

Libertarian socialism is anticapitalist and can be distinguished from capitalist and right-libertarian principles, which concentrate economic power in the hands of those who own the most capital. Libertarian socialism aims to distribute power more widely among members of society. Libertarian socialism and right-libertarian ideologies such as neoliberalism differ in that advocates of the former generally believe that one's degree of freedom is affected by one's economic and social status. In contrast, advocates of the latter believe in the freedom of choice within a capitalist framework, specifically under capitalist private property. This is sometimes characterized as a desire to maximize free creativity in a society in preference to free enterprise.

Within anarchism emerged a critique of wage slavery which refers to a situation perceived as quasi-voluntary slavery, where a person's livelihood depends on wages, especially when the dependence is total and immediate. It is a negatively connoted term used to draw an analogy between slavery and wage labour by focusing on similarities between owning and renting a person. The term "wage slavery" has been used to criticize economic exploitation and social stratification, with the former seen primarily as unequal bargaining power between labour and capital (particularly when workers are paid comparatively low wages, e.g. in sweatshops) and the latter as a lack of workers' self-management, fulfilling job choices and leisure in an economy. Libertarian socialists believe that by valuing freedom, society works towards a system in which individuals have the power to decide economic issues along with political issues. Libertarian socialists seek to replace unjustified authority with direct democracy, voluntary federation and popular autonomy in all aspects of life, including physical communities and economic enterprises. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, thinkers such as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Karl Marx elaborated the comparison between wage labour and slavery in the context of a critique of societal property not intended for active personal use. Luddites emphasized the dehumanization brought about by machines, while later, Emma Goldman famously denounced wage slavery by saying: "The only difference is that you are hired slaves instead of block slaves".

Many libertarian socialists believe that large-scale voluntary associations should manage industrial production while workers retain rights to the individual products of their labour. They see a distinction between concepts of private property and personal possession. Private property grants 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. Furthermore, " the separation of work and life is questioned and alternatives suggested that are underpinned by notions of dignity, self-realization and freedom from domination and exploitation. Here, a freedom that is not restrictively negative (as in neo-liberal conceptions) but is, as well, positive – connected, that is, to views about human flourishing – is important, a profoundly embedded understanding of freedom, which ties freedom to its social, communal conditions and, importantly, refuses to separate questions of freedom from those of equality".

Anti-authoritarianism and opposition to the state

Libertarian philosophy generally regards concentrations of power as sources of oppression that must be continually challenged and justified. Most libertarian socialists believe that when power is exercised as exemplified by the economic, social, 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. Libertarian socialists oppose rigid and stratified authority structures, whether political, economic, or social.

Instead of corporations and states, libertarian socialists seek to organize society 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 these institutions using rotating, recallable delegates to higher-level federations. Spanish anarchism is a significant example of such federations in practice.

Contemporary examples of libertarian socialist organizational and decision-making models in practice include many anticapitalist and global justice movements, including Zapatista Councils of Good Government and the global Indymedia network (which covers 45 countries on six continents). There are also many examples of indigenous societies worldwide whose political and economic systems can be accurately described as anarchist or libertarian socialist, each uniquely suited to the culture that birthed it. For libertarians, that diversity of practice within a framework of common principles is proof of the vitality of those principles and 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 what a future society would or should look like. The tradition instead has been that such decisions cannot be made now and must be made through struggle and experimentation so that the best solution can be arrived at democratically and organically and to base the direction for struggle on established historical examples. They point out that the success of the scientific method comes from its adherence to open rational exploration, not its conclusions, in sharp contrast to dogma and predetermined predictions. Noted anarchist Rudolf Rocker once stated: "I am an anarchist not because I believe anarchism is the final goal, but because there is no such thing as a final goal".

Because libertarian socialism encourages exploration and embraces a diversity of ideas rather than forming a compact movement, there have arisen inevitable controversies over individuals who describe themselves as libertarian socialists yet disagree with some of the core principles of libertarian socialism. Peter Hain interprets libertarian socialism as minarchist rather than anarchist, favouring radical decentralization of power without going as far as the complete abolition of the state. Libertarian socialist Noam Chomsky supports dismantling all forms of unjustified social or economic power while emphasizing that state intervention should be supported as temporary protection while oppressive structures remain in existence. Similarly, Peter Marshall includes "the decentralist who wishes to limit and devolve State power, to the syndicalist who wants to abolish it altogether. It can even encompass the Fabians and the social democrats who wish to socialize the economy but who still see a limited role for the State".Marshall, Peter (2009) 991 '' Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism'' (POLS ed.). Oakland, California: PM Press. p. 641. .

Proponents are known for opposing the existence of states or governments and refusing to participate in coercive state institutions. In the past, many refused to swear oaths in court or to participate in trials, even when they faced imprisonment or deportation. For Chamsy el-Ojeili, "it is frequently to forms of working-class or popular self-organization that Left communists look in answer to the questions of the struggle for socialism, revolution and post-capitalist social organization. Nevertheless, Left communists have often continued to organize themselves into party-like structures that undertake agitation, propaganda, education and other forms of political intervention. This is a vexed issue across Left communism and has resulted in a number of significant variations – from the absolute rejection of separate parties in favour of mere study or affinity groups, to the critique of the naivety of pure spontaneism and an insistence on the necessary, though often modest, role of disciplined, self-critical and popularly connected communist organizations".

Civil liberties and individual freedom

Libertarian socialists have been strong advocates and activists of civil liberties (including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and other civil liberties) that provide individual specific rights such as the freedom in issues of love and sex (free love) and of thought and conscience ( freethought). In this activism, they have clashed with state and religious institutions which have limited such rights. Anarchism has been an important advocate of free love since its birth. A strong tendency for free love later appeared alongside anarcha-feminism and advocacy of LGBT rights. Recently, anarchism has voiced opinions and taken action around certain sex-related subjects such as pornography, BDSM Anarchist Federation (18 December 2002)
"Interview with an anarchist dominatrix"
. ''Organise'' (59). and the sex industry.

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 early feminist anarchists such as Lucy Parsons, Emma Goldman, Voltairine de Cleyre and Virginia Bolten. Like other radical feminists, anarcha-feminists criticise and advocate the abolition of traditional conceptions of family, education and gender roles. Council communist Sylvia Pankhurst was also 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. Free love advocates sometimes traced their roots back to the early anarchist Josiah Warren and experimental communities, who viewed sexual freedom as a clear, direct expression of an individual's self-ownership. Free love particularly stressed women's rights since most sexual laws discriminated against women: for example, marriage laws and anti-birth control measures.

Libertarian socialists have traditionally been sceptical of and opposed to organized religion. Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds opinions should be formed based on science, logic and reason; and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas. The cognitive application of freethought is known as freethinking, and practitioners of freethought are known as freethinkers. In the United States, freethought was an anti-Christian and anti-clerical movement "whose purpose was to make the individual politically and spiritually free to decide for himself on religious matters". Some contributors to the anarchist journal ''Liberty'' were prominent figures in both anarchism and freethought. The individualist anarchist George MacDonald was co-editor of ''Freethought'' and ''The Truth Seeker''. E. C. Walker was also co-editor of ''Lucifer, the Light-Bearer'', another free love and freethought journal. McElroy, Wendy (1981)
"Culture of Individualist Anarchism in Late 19th Century America"
Mises Institute. ''The Journal of Libertarian Studies''. 5 (3). Retrieved 5 January 2020. ''Free Society'' (1895–1897 as ''The Firebrand''; 1897–1904 as ''Free Society'') was a major anarchist newspaper in the United States at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.Goldman, Emma; Falk, Candace (2003). ''Emma Goldman: Making Speech Free, 1902–1909''. University of California Press. p. 551. "''Free Society'' was the principal English-language forum for anarchist ideas in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century." The publication staunchly advocated free love and women's rights and critiqued comstockery—censorship of sexual information. In 1901, Catalan anarchist and freethinker Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia established modern or progressive schools in Barcelona in defiance of an educational system controlled by the Catholic Church. The schools' goal was to " educate the working class in a rational, secular and non-coercive setting". Fiercely anti-clerical, Ferrer believed in "freedom in education", education free from the authority of church and state.

Later in the 20th century, Austrian Freudo-Marxist Wilhelm Reich, who coined the phrase sexual revolution in one of his books from the 1940s, became a consistent propagandist for sexual freedom, going as far as opening free sex counseling clinics in Vienna for working-class patients (Sex-Pol stood for the German Society of Proletarian Sexual Politics). According to Elizabeth Danto, Reich offered a mixture of "psychoanalytic counseling, Marxist advice and contraceptives" and "argued for sexual expressiveness for all, including the young and the unmarried, with a permissiveness that unsettled both the political left and the psychoanalysts". The clinics were immediately overcrowded by people seeking help. During the early 1970s, the English anarchist and pacifist Alex Comfort achieved international celebrity for writing the sex manuals ''The Joy of Sex'' and ''More Joy of Sex''.

Political roots

Within early modern socialist thought

Peasant revolts in the post-Reformation era

For Roderick T. Long, libertarian socialists claim the 17th century English Levellers among their ideological forebears. p. 310: "LibSocs and LibCaps can both claim the seventeenth-century English Levellers and the eighteenth-century French Encyclopedists among their ideological forebears .."

Age of Enlightenment

For Long, libertarian socialists also often share a view of ancestry in the 18th-century French Encyclopédistes alongside Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine.

Noam Chomsky considers libertarian socialism "the proper and natural extension" of classical liberalism "into the era of advanced industrial society".Chomsky, Noam (2005)
''Government in the Future''
Seven Stories Pr. Open Media. . . Chomsky sees libertarian socialist ideas as the descendants of the classical liberal ideas of the Age of Enlightenment, arguing that his ideological position revolves around "nourishing the libertarian and creative character of the human being". Chomsky envisions an anarcho-syndicalist future with direct worker control of the means of production and government by workers' councils which would select representatives to meet together at general assemblies. In Jefferson's words, the point of this self-governance is to make each citizen "a direct participator in the government of affairs". Chomsky believes that there will be no need for political parties. Chomsky believes individuals can gain job satisfaction and a sense of fulfilment and purpose by controlling their productive life. Chomsky argues that unpleasant and unpopular jobs could be fully automated, carried out by specially renumerated workers, or shared among everyone.

Romantic era and utopian socialism

In his preface to Peter Kropotkin's book ''The Conquest of Bread'', Kent Bromley considered early French socialist Charles Fourier to be the founder of the libertarian branch of socialist thought as opposed to the authoritarian socialist ideas of François-Noël Babeuf and Philippe Buonarroti. Anarchist Hakim Bey describes Fourier's ideas as follows: "In Fourier's system of Harmony all creative activity including industry, craft, agriculture, etc. will arise from liberated passion – this is the famous theory of "attractive labor." Fourier sexualizes work itself – the life of the Phalanstery is a continual orgy of intense feeling, intellection, & activity, a society of lovers & wild enthusiasts". Fourierism manifested itself in the middle of the 19th century when hundreds of communes (phalansteries) were founded on Fourierist principles in France, North America, Mexico, South America, Algeria, and Yugoslavia. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Friedrich Engels

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