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Anarchism is often misunderstood, even feared, yet it arises regularly in radical communities, resistance movements, natural disaster response, change shaping efforts, and traditional cultures. As a general starting point, we posit that anarchism is rooted in a deep suspicion of hierarchical authority. Anarchists often envision and work toward building stateless societies in which free individuals organize themselves and collaborate voluntarily without the need for centralized authority. Anarchists come in many flavors — and the tactics they favor vary accordingly. While images of anarchistic direct action (e.g., protests, strikes, sabotage, and civil disobedience) are the most commonly conveyed in mass media and popular culture, so much anarchist activity takes the form of grassroots organizing, mutual aid, cooperative development, and community-building efforts aimed at creating alternative institutions outside of the state. Many in the collapse community gravitate towards anarchism in some form, perhaps because it seems like an approachable, participatory, realistic and manageable type of change — one that we can begin to be a part of where we are, with those who are already by our sides. Anarchism invites us to build a new world in the shell of the old. This week, we will explore what anarchism really is, its relationship to cosmolocalism, whether we think it could work in any form(s), why people are attracted to it, and how the word itself came to invoke such controversy.
Recommended resources for this EcoGathering: