he argues, is a ‘complex of life’, charged with ethical meaning. Nature is essentially
creative, directive, mutualistic and fecund (Marshall, 1993: 605–6). This confirms
the sociability and decency of humans. Without anarchism, there will be ecological
disaster.
Bookchin’s work is particularly important, because many of his positions have
been adopted in the new social movements by people who may be unfamiliar with
anarchism and would not regard themselves as anarchists. The new social
movements concern themselves with a wide array of causes – animal rights and
ecology, peace and women’s rights, road building and private transport, to name
just some of them. New social movements are characterised, in our view, by a general
anti-authoritarianism which sees conventional politics as stifling and treacherous;
by a concern with breaking down barriers between the personal and political; and
through adopting a style of campaigning that unites ends and means and links
enjoyment to efficiency. All this suggests that particular anarchist ideas have made
a huge impact, even if anarchism considered as a comprehensive philosophy and
systematic movement has not.
Green parties, like that in Germany, have enjoyed some electoral success, and
have built into their procedures a libertarian distrust of authoritarianism, and what
are regarded as the dangers inherent in conventional political organisation. At the
same time, they have not ignored parliament or the state, and they have treated
anarchism less as a dogma and more as a set of values, some of which are more
relevant and valid than others.
The philosophy of direct action – that laws and private property are not
sacrosanct – stems from an anarchist suspicion of the state. When people in Britain
refused to pay their poll tax in the 1980s or occupied military and nuclear bases,
they were acting according to anarchist values – understood in the sense of particular
attitudes that may be appropriate for particular situations. Writing to your Member
of Parliament is all very well – but much more immediate action may be called for!
A commitment to social justice; a belief in the worthiness of human nature;
adherence to equality; a dislike of repressive hierarchy; a concern with the
destruction of the environment; anxiety about poverty in the so-called Third World- these and many other movements are inspired by parts of anarchism, though not
by anarchist philosophy as a whole.
Classical anarchism is seen as being in the same boat as classical Marxism: rigid;
dogmatic; old-fashioned; weak on issues of women, children’s rights and the
environment – too concerned with ideological rectitude and theoretical rigour.
Anarchists often link their dislike for large organisations to a belief that the market
is corrupting and capitalism unfair. Turner argues that the natural supporters of
anarchist values are those who are excluded from consumerist society and who see
politicians as an elite and incapable of engineering real change. He speaks of
anarchism having a more receptive and permanent home among an underclass that
might include ‘disaffected youth, the long-term unemployed and inner-city dwellers
in perpetual poverty’ (1993: 32). Anarchism and anarchist values are clearly the
price which society pays for a conventional politics that fails to ameliorate inequality
and ecological damage.
250 Part 2 Classical ideologies