A New Society in the Shell of the Old

Abstract

The term ‘prefiguration’ is typically associated with anarchist and syndicalist workers’ movements. Rather than to pursue radical societal change as a future ideal that must be realised after a revolution, anarchists have always sought to seek self-liberation within their own revolutionary movement and practices. Today, this is often referred to as ‘prefiguration’, but traditionally it has also been described as an attempt to ‘build a new society in the shell of the old.’ This chapter reconstructs different anarchist conceptions of prefiguration as a view of revolutionary change, focusing specifically on Mikhail Bakunin, syndicalist movements such as the Industrial Workers of the World, and Peter Kropotkin as some of its most prominent advocates. It then engages with radical-democratic theorists such as Claude Lefort to articulate a critique of anarchist notions of prefiguration. Rather than creating a harmonious and conflict-free society (which is the ultimate ideal of most anarchist theorists and tendencies), the question at stake for many contemporary prefigurative movements is how to establish democratic practices and institutions in which political conflict and social division can be durably staged. They seek to reconstitute the political form of society.