Анархизм в очень старых и в самых современных одеждах. Практика

Abstract

This article discusses examples of the practical implementation of the ideas of anarchism or attempts at such an implementation. The author believes that without taking into account and systematizing these phenomena, the economic history of the world is incomplete. The author does not make it his task to promote these examples and attempts, he only believes that they cannot be ignored. First, the author considers the anarchies that existed in Europe in the Middle Ages: Free Frisia and Dithmarschen in the north of Europe and the ‘Forest Cantons’ on the territory of modern Switzerland. The phenomenon of the Wild West in the history of the United States is analyzed as a form of long-term existence of the economy on a vast territory without government control. It is noted that those elements of self-organization of the population that were formed during the development of new territories in the western United States are usually hushed up. The author also considers temporarily existing anarchist communities in Spain in the 1930s and modern anarchist movements in Latin America, as well as the problem of the so-called ‘optimal size of the state’, which was raised by the anarchist Leopold Kohr. The paper describes a zone of Zomia, in which 100 million people currently live, who do not recognize the authority of any state. The author explores ideological roots of the Makhnovshchina, an anarchist movement during the Civil War. It is shown that the Republic of Nestor Makhno was organized not spontaneously, but according to certain initial political principles. The author especially highlights the successful attempt to build an anarchist community in Libya, where the principle of the absence of state taxes was practically implemented, since the state had other sources of income. In conclusion, two events of recent years are analyzed, behind which it is not customary to see the practical implementation of anarchist ideas: the Ukrainian Maidan of 2014 and the ‘Yellow Vests’ movement in France in 2018. Both of these phenomena are currently usually interpreted as spontaneous or inspired from outside. However, the author believes that such an interpretation is one-sided, not taking into account the continuity of pre-existing ideological and political currents.