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ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY 35
Anarchism (Archia — governance, rule, an-archia — absence of governance)
Anarchism is a social theory foregrounding the individual’s responsibility against any
— legal, dictatorial or parliamentary — governance or domination. By domination, it
understands rule by property, law or state. An anarchist society is based on the free
cooperation of people; instead of power systems, it evolves via solidarity, freedom,
equality, and voluntary collaboration. It is characterized by anthropological optimism,
i.e., the belief that human nature is fundamentally good. These characteristics (solidarity,
etc.) are therefore inherent in human nature, which is why it is possible to realize an
anarchist society. In an anarchic society, the basic principle of individual interactions
is mutuality. Individuals do not execute orders but instead contribute to the common
good by mutually helping each other out of self-interest.
Mutuality at the social level is realized as reciprocity or mutual exchange between
communities of society; the life of a free society is permeated with the basic principle
of reciprocity.
The anarchist worldview differentiates between social order and political order: a
social order can be achieved without political intervention. Moreover, only in this way
can it become the order of liberty , whereas a political order legalizes violence. The state
is actually a group of people, the ones whose interests are asserted. The social order of
anarchism is spontaneous: Its emergence does not depend on institutional power as
that hinders the unfolding of the spontaneous order and represents the will of certain
interest groups.
This new society — anarchy — is built from the bottom up, via forming of autonomous
alliances, societies, and federations Anarchism does not oppose institutions or
organizations as such, but only rejects power institutions, while it regards other unions
and autonomous collectives as the natural integrative process of humankind (Bozóki
— Siikésd 1991: chapter on The essence of anarchism).
Innumerable trends and branches of anarchism have evolved from reformist trends
to radical revolutionary groups and from religious anarchism to a preference for political
uprisings. Notable anarchist authors include Mikhail Bakunin, Piotr Kropotkin, Max
Stirner, Pierre Joseph Proudhon, Josiah Warren, Emma Goldman, Daniel Guérin, Lev
Tolstoy, and Mahatma Gandhi. Among the Hungarian anarchist authors are Andras
Szalay, Jenő Henrik Schmitt, Count Ervin Batthyány, and Károly Krausz.
The anarchist vision of ideal society had a fundamental influence on the new social
movements whose networks were undergoing grassroots organization.
While deep ecology is a typical example of eco-centric thought, Bookchin’s social
ecology advocates anthropocentric views — in a certain sense: he said that although
humans are part of nature, they are in a position of special significance, which
entails responsibility. He held that humankind’s misconceived domination over
nature was rooted in the dysfunctionality of society, and in deep-rooted social
(economic, ethnic, cultural, and national) problems and that, therefore,
environmental challenges could not be solved without addressing these problems
as well. For the remedy, he proposed a free and harmonious society built on radically
new foundations: ecological principles without hierarchy, classes or domination.
The necessary prerequisite for the new society was the transformation of human
thought and values. For, according to Bookchin, “human beings intervene in
natural evolution with their best capacities — their moral sense, their unprecedented
degree of conceptual thought, and their remarkable powers of communication”