What you probably don’t know about the political anarchism

Parliamentary offices vandalized, burning attempts, activists dressed in black, circled A’s drawn on the walls… That’s all it takes for the media and the ruling political class: it’s the work of anarchists! And the frightening epithets rain down: “violent” anarchists, “criminals”, “sowing disorder”, “endangering democracy”… So much for ambiguity and clichés. The spectator must be terrified. The main thing is to reanimate their fragile republican spirit, even if it means conveying preconceived ideas and prejudices about anarchism with a discourse that smacks of putrid obscurantism. So let’s deconstruct 6 common misconceptions about political anarchism.

1. Anarchy is disorder and absence of laws

The word anarchy comes from the ancient Greek ἀναρχία (anarkhia) meaning absence of power, authority, command. The absence of laws is actually anomie.

Anarchists advocate neither disorder nor anomie. They simply reject any form of external authority that would govern individuals by dictating their behavior. But anarchism is not chaos, because it is based on autonomy, the ability of each individual to take responsibility and exercise self-discipline.

To be governed is to be watched over, inspected, spied on, directed…