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FROM BAKUNIN TO LACAN:
Anti-authoritarianism and the dislocation of o!er
"aul Ne!man
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For Suzy, with love
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Contents
Foreword by Ernesto Laclau
Acknowledgments
Introduction
vii
ix
1
1 Marxism and the Problem of Power 1
! Anarchism "
" #tirner and the Politics of the Ego $$
% Foucault and the &enealogy of Power $
$ 'he (ar)Machine* +eleu,e and &uattari -
. +errida and the +econstruction of Authority 11$
Lack of the /utside0/utside of the Lack*
Mis23eading Lacan 1"
4 'owards a Politics of Postanarchism 1$
5ibliogra6hy 1-
Index 14-
About the Author 1-
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Fore!ord
7ontem6orary 6olitical analysis is increasingly centered on the com6lexities that
the multifarious forms of the relation 6ower0resistance show in 6resent day
societies8 &one are the times in which the locus of 6ower could be referred to in
a sim6le and une9uivocal way:as in the notion of ;dominant class8< 'oday= the
6roliferation of social agents and the increasingly com6lex fabric of relations of
domination have led to a66roaches which tend to stress the 6lurality of networks
through which 6ower is constituted= as well as the difficulties in constructing
more totali,ing 6ower effects8 'his= in turn= has led to a transformation of the
discursive logics attem6ting to gras6 such 6lurality and com6lexity8
/ne of the merits of +r8 >ewmanewman
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Ac#no!led$ments
'here are a number of 6eo6le who have advised and guided me along the way=
and without whose hel6 this book would never have gotten off the ground8 I
would like to thank E6hraim >imni and ?ohn Lechte who have worked closely
with me over the 6ast few years= and for whose friendshi6= su66ort= warmth= and
encouragement I am eternally grateful8 I am also greatly indebted to Ernesto
Laclau= who kindly wrote the foreword to this book and whose groundbreaking
work in the area of contem6orary 6olitical theory has had a great im6act on my
own thinking8 I would also like to thank 'odd May and Paul Patton for their
invaluable advice and feedback8 A s6ecial mention must go to Aree 7ohen for
his technical wi,ardry and assistance in 6re6aring the manuscri6t8 I would also
like to thank 'revor Matthews for com6iling the index8 &ratitude must also go
to a certain government de6artment where I worked for a little while= which
made my life so miserable that I decided to go back to academia= for better or
for worse8 Most im6ortantly= I want to thank #u,y 7asimiro who has alwaysbeen there for me= and who has ins6ired= hel6ed= and encouraged me
throughout8
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Introduction
The Return of %o!er
Ultimo da del despotismo
y primero de lo mismo
(The last day of despotism;
the first day of the same thing).1
(e are always being told that we are living in a time of dramatic= swee6ing
6olitical and social change8 /n the one hand this is undoubtedly true8
Everything from relatively recent colla6se of communist systems in 3ussia and
Eastern Euro6e= the emergence of a distinctly Euro6ean 6olitical identity= and
the ex6losive growth of new technologies and forms of communication= to the
wides6read revival of national and ethnic identities= and the wars and genocides
that seem to be the conse9uence of this= would all seem to suggest that ours is atime of radical change8
5ut on the other hand= one could be forgiven for thinking that things have
not really changed that much at all8 'he same forms of domination and
institutional hierarchies seem to a66ear time and time again= only in different
garbs and ever more cunning disguises8 (ith every 6o6ular u6rising against the
state and with every overthrow of some re6ressive regime or other= there always
seems to be a new and more subtle form of re6ression waiting to take its 6lace8
'here is always a new discourse of 6ower to take the 6lace of the old8 For
instance= what does it matter to the Australian Aboriginal= or the townshi6
dweller in #outh Africa= or the 6risoner in a 3ussian @ail= or the Latino illegal
immigrantB in the Cnited #tates= whether he or she has a new set of mastersD
/ne is still dominated by a series of institutional 6ractices and discursive
regimes which tie him to a certain marginali,ed and= therefore= sub@ugated
identity8 Increased technology seems to go hand in hand with intensified social
control and more so6histicated and com6lex ways of regulating individuals8
Freedom in one area always seems to entail domination in others8 #o there is
still= des6ite these 6rofound global changes= the raw= brutal inevitability of
6ower and authority8 Maybe Friedrich >iet,sche was right when he saw history
as merely a ha,ardous 6lay of dominations8B!
'his is not say= of course= that there have not been significant advancements
on a world scale8 >or is it to say that all regimes and modes of 6olitical and
social organi,ation are e9ually o66ressive8 'o argue that the 6osta6artheid
regime in #outh Africa= or the now not so new governments in the former #oviet
bloc= are as dominating as the ones they re6laced= would be ludicrous and
insulting8 Moreover= we must once and for all sto6 falling into the 6erniciouserror of advocating a 6urer or more universal revolutionary theory that would
1
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Introduction
seek to be more com6lete and swee6ing in its 6aroxysm of destruction8 #uch a
revolutionary strategy only reaffirms= 6aradoxically= the very 6ower and
authority that it seeks to overthrow8 'he 5olshevik revolution is a good exam6le
of this8 I will be arguing that the very notion of revolution as a universal=cataclysmic overriding of current conditions should be abandoned8 Also I am
not trying to be excessively 6essimistic or fatalistic by talking about the
interminable reaffirmation of 6ower at every turn8 owever the reality of 6ower
is something that cannot be ignored8
For too long 6ower was shrouded in ob@ectiveB ex6lanations offered by
6hiloso6hies like Marxism= or dressed u6 in some theory or other which allowed
it to be neglected8 owever= 6ower can= and should= now be seen as6ower8 It
can no longer be seen as an e6i6henomenon of the ca6italist economy or classrelations8 Power has returned as an ob@ect of analysis to be studied in its own
right8 I use returnB here in the Lacanian sense of repetitionfor Lacan= the 3eal
is that which always returns to the same 6laceB [my italics]8" 'he real= for
Lacan= is that which is missing from the symbolic structure= the indefinable=
elusive la!"that always resists symboli,ation by returningB* ere the real is
that which always comes back to the same 6lace:to the 6lace where the sub@ect
in so far as he thinks= where the res !ogitans= does not meet it8B%
'he com6lexities of the 3eal and lack will be discussed later= yet we may6erha6s say here that 6ower is like the real 6ower inevitably returnsB to the
same 6lace= des6ite various attem6ts to remove it8 It always haunts= by its sheer
inability to be defined= by its resistance to re6resentation within 6olitical
discourse= the very 6olitical discourses that have as their aim the overthrow of
6ower8
'he 6oint of this discussion is not really to offer a definition of 6ower that
has hitherto eluded us= but on the contrary to recogni,e that 6ower is abstract
and indefinable= and to construct a definition 6recisely through this very
resistance to definition8 3ather than saying what 6ower is= and 6roceeding from
there= it may be more 6roductive to look at the ways in which theories and ideas
of revolution= rebellion= and resistance reaffirm 6ower in their very attem6t to
destroy it8 'his logic which inevitably re6roduces 6ower and authority= I will
call the pla!e of power8 PlaceB refers to the abstract 6re6onderance= and
ceaseless reaffirmation= of 6ower and authority in theories and movements that
are aimed at overthrowing it8 'he real always returns to the same 6lace=B and it
is thispla!e= or more 6recisely this logic of return,that I will be talking about8 It
is a cruel and malicious logic= but a logic that is nevertheless crucial to the waywe think about 6olitics8
#o= in light of this= how should we look at the 6olitical and social changes
that have characteri,ed our recent 6ast and continue to structure the hori,ons of
our 6resentD /n the one hand= one might argue that= dramatic as these
develo6ments are= they signify that we are still tied to the same essentialist ideas
and 6olitical categories that have dominated our thought for the 6ast two
centuries8 For instance= we do not seem to be able to esca6e the category of the
nation state which has been with us since the 'reaty of (est6halia in 1.%4= andmore s6ecifically= since the French 3evolution8 'he outbreak of wars fought
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'he 3eturn of Power "
over ethnic identities indicates= in a most violent and brutal manner= how much
we are still tied to the idea that it is best for ethnic and national identities to have
their own state8 Perha6s in this sense= then= the idea of the state may be seen as a
manifestation of the 6lace of 6ower8 Moreover= we are still= 9uite clearly=tra66ed in essentialist ethnic identities8 'he idea that one is essentially 7roat or
#erb or Albanian or utu or Euro6ean= and that one defines oneself in
o66osition to other= less 6ure=B less educatedB or enlightened=B less
rational=B less clean=B less hardworkingB identities= is still all too evident
today8 'he changesB that are ceaselessly 6romulgated have only succeeded in
solidifying these essentialist nationalist ideas8
owever= the 6roblem of essentialism is broader than the 6roblem of
nationalism8 Essentialist ideas seem to govern our 6olitical and social reality8Individuals are 6inned down within an identity that is seen as true or natural8
Essentialist identities limit the individual= constructing his or her reality around
certain norms= and closing off the 6ossibilities of change and becoming8 'here
is= moreover= a whole series of institutional 6ractices which dominate the
individual in a multitude of ways= and which are brought into 6lay by
essentialist logics8 /ne has only to look at the way in which social and family
welfare agencies and correctional institutions o6erate to see this8 'he identity of
the delin9uent=B welfare de6endent=B or unfit 6arentB is carefully constructed
as the essence of the individual= and the individual is regulated= according to this
essential identity= by a whole series of rational and moral norms8
'he changes that have taken 6lace on a global scale seem only to have
denied the individual the 6ossibility of real change8 >ot only does essentialist
thinking limit the individual to certain 6rescribed norms of morality and
behavior= it also excludes identities and modes of behavior which do not
conform to these norms8 'hey are categori,ed as unnaturalB or 6erverse=B as
somehow otherB and they are 6ersecuted according to the norms they
transgress8 'he logic of essentialism 6roduces an o66ositional thinking= from
which binary hierarchies are constructed* normal0abnormal= sane0insane= hetero)
homosexual= etc8 'his domination does not only refer to individuals who fall
outside the category of the norm [homosexuals= drug addicts= delin9uents= the
insane= etc] it is also suffered by those for whom certain fragments of their
identity:for identity is never a com6lete thing:would be condemned as
abnormal8 (e all suffer= to a greater or lesser extent= under this tyranny of
normality= this discourse of domination which insists that we all have an
essential identity and that that is what we are8 (e must not think= though= that
this domination is entirely forced u6on us8 (hile this is no doubt true to a
certain extent:think of 6risons= mental institutions= the army= hos6itals= the
work6lace:an essentialist identity is also something that we often willingly
submit to8 'his mode of 6ower cannot o6erate without our consent= without our
desire to be dominated8 #o not only will this discussion examine the domination
involved in essentialist discourses and identities:the way they su66ort
institutions such as the state and the 6rison for exam6le:it will also look at the
ways in which we 6artici6ate in our own domination8
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Introduction
'he 6roblem of essentialism is the 6olitical 6roblem of our time8 'o say that
the 6ersonal is the 6olitical= clichGd and hackneyed though it is= is merely to say
that the way we have been constituted as sub@ects= based on essentialist
6remises= is a 6olitical issue8 'here is really nothing radical in this8 5ut it is stilla 9uestion that must be addressed8 Essentialism= along with the universal=
totali,ing 6olitics it entails= is the modern 6lace of 6ower8 /r at least= it is
something around which the logic of the 6lace of 6ower is constituted8 It will be
one of the 6ur6oses of this discussion to show how essentialist ideas= even in
revolutionary 6hiloso6hies like anarchism= often re6roduce the very domination
they claim to o66ose8 Modern 6ower functions through essentialist identities=
and so essentialist ideas are something to be avoided if genuine forms of
resistance are to be constructed and if genuine change is to be 6ermitted8 'hechanges of recent times= dramatic as they were= were still tied to these
essentialist ways of thinking= 6articularly with regard to national identity= and to
forms of 6olitical sovereignty like the state8 'hey did not at all challenge or
disru6t these categories= often only further embedding them in 6olitical
discourse and social reality8
owever= modernity= like everything= is a 6aradox8 It is o6en to a 6lurality of
inter6retations and characteri,ed by different im6lications= voices= and dreams8
'he changes that I have s6oken about can be seen= at the same time= in a
different light8 (hile they have consolidated the 6olitical categories that
continue to o66ress us= they have also discovered ways they may be resisted8
(hile they have tightened the 6arameters of our identity= they have also shown
us extraordinary 6ossibilities of freedom hitherto undreamt of8 Freedom= I will
argue= is a dia6hanous idea= often involving its own forms of domination8 5ut it
is also something indefinable= like 6ower* it remains constitutively o6en= and its
6ossibilities are endless8
Like 6ower= freedom may be seen in terms of the real* it always exceeds the
boundaries and definitions laid down for it= and the 6ossibility of freedom
always returns=B des6ite the most ardent attem6ts to su66ress it8 #o our time
6resents us with an o6en hori,on= a hori,on that allows us to construct our own
reality= rather than having it constructed for us8 #lavo@ Hi,ek talks about the
colla6se of communist states as characteri,ed by an ex6erience of o6enness=B
of a symbolic moment of the absence of any kind of authority to re6lace the one
@ust overthrown8$It is asu#limemoment= a moment of em6tiness 6regnant with
6ossibility a truly revolutionary moment caught in that infinitesimal lack
between one signifying regime and the next8 'his is the moment in which the6lace of 6ower becomes an empty 6lace8 'here is no inevitability about
domination= but there is always its 6ossibility8.'he same goes for freedom8
Perha6s we too are caught in this em6ty 6lace= this chasm between one world of
6ower and the next8
Although we are still very much tied to the old 6olitical categories= we are
beginning to see their limits8 (e are beginning to see how we can move beyond
them8 'he 9uestion is where are we going to nextD If we think that we can move
to a world without 6ower= then we are already tra66ed in the world thato66resses us8 'he dream of a world without 6ower is 6art of the 6olitical
%
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'he 3eturn of Power $
language of this world8 It is based on essentialist ideas about humanity= ideas
which render it nothing more than that:a dream= and a dangerous one at that8
(hile there is no moving com6letely beyond 6ower= there are= however=
6ossibilities of limiting 6ower= or at least organi,ing it in such a way that therisk of domination is defused8 /ne of these ways= I will argue= is through a
criti9ue of essentialist and totali,ing logics8
'he idea that we can be com6letely free from 6ower is based on an
o66ositional Manichean logic that 6osits an essential division between humanity
and 6ower8 Anarchism is a 6hiloso6hy based on this logic8 It sees humanity as
o66ressed by state 6ower= yet uncontaminated by it8 'his is because= according
to anarchism= human sub@ectivity emerges in a world of natural lawsB which
are essentially rational and ethical= while the state belongs to the artificialBworld of 6ower8 'hus man and 6ower belong to se6arate and o66osed worlds8
Anarchism therefore has a logical 6oint of de6arture= uncontaminated by 6ower=
from which 6ower can be condemned as unnatural= irrational= and immoral8 In
the 6ast= radical 6olitical theory has always relied on this uncontaminated 6oint
of de6arture in order to 6resent a criti9ue of 6ower= whether it be the 6ower of
the state= the 6ower of the ca6italist economy= the 6ower of religion= etc8
(ithout this 6oint of de6arture= it would seem that any kind of resistance
against 6ower would be im6ossible8 (here would resistance or revolution come
from if this were not the caseD #urely it must come from a rational= ethical form
of sub@ectivity which is somehow uncorru6ted by the 6ower it confronts8
>ow here is the 6roblem:the 6roblem that will haunt our discussion8 Let us
imagine that the natural human essence= the essential= moral= and rational
sub@ectivity su66osedly uncontaminated by 6ower= is contaminated= and indeed=
!onstituted= by the 6ower it seeks to overthrow8 Moreover= not only is this
sub@ectivity= this 6ure 6lace of resistance= decidedly im6ure it also constitutes=
in itself= through its essentialist and universalist 6remises= a discourse of
domination8 'o 6ut it sim6ly= then= would this not mean that the 6lace of
resistance has become a 6lace of 6owerD Csing the argument that one needs a
6ure agent to overthrow 6ower= the 6ossibility of a contaminated agent would
only mean a reaffirmation of the 6ower it claims to o66ose8 In anarchist
discourse humanity is to re6lace the state8 5ut if we were to suggest that
humanity is actually constituted by this 6ower and that it contains its own
discourses of domination= then the revolution that the anarchists 6ro6ose would
only lead to a domination 6erha6s more 6ernicious than the one it has re6laced8
It would= in other words= fall into the tra6 of 6lace8 'his would seem to leave usat a theoretical im6asse* if there is no uncontaminated 6oint of de6arture from
which 6ower can be critici,ed or condemned= if there is no essential limit to the
6ower one is resisting= then surely there can be no resistance against it8 Perha6s
we should give u6 on the idea of 6olitical action altogether and resign ourselves
to the inevitability of domination8
owever= the 9uestion of the 6ossibility of resistance to domination is
crucial to this discussion8 'he work will ex6lore= through a com6arison of
anarchism and 6oststructuralism= the 6aradox of the uncontaminated 6lace ofresistance8 I will suggest that the 6oint of de6arture central to anarchist
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Introduction
discourse:the essential human sub@ect and its concomitant morality and
rationality:cannot o6erate in this way because it is actually constituted by
6ower8 Moreover= because it is based on essentialist ideas= it forms itself into a
discourse of domination:a 6lace of 6ower8 I will use the arguments of variousthinkers:#tirner= Foucault= +eleu,e and &uattari= +errida= and Lacan:to
ex6lore the logic of the 6lace of 6ower8 'hey will be used to show that the
human sub@ectivity of anarchist discourse is constructed= at least 6artially= by a
variety of institutions and discursive regimes= and that therefore it cannot be
seen as an uncontaminated 6oint of de6arture8 'he 6olitics of 6oststructuralism
is the 6olitics of dislo!ationthe meta6hor of war= rift= and antagonism is used
to break down the essentialist unity of human sub@ectivity= showing its
de6endence on the 6ower it claims to o66ose8 'his idea of dislocation develo6sthe argument u6 to the logical im6asse mentioned before* how can there be
resistance to 6ower without a theoretical 6oint of de6arture outside 6owerD It
will remain of the discussion to argue= des6ite these limits= that a discourse of
resistance can be constructed through a non)essentialist notion of the /utside8
5roadly s6eaking= then= the aim of this work is to ex6lore the logic of the
6lace of 6ower in various 6olitical discourses and ideas= and to develo6 a way of
thinking about resistance that does not reaffirm domination8 It could be seen as
an exercise in anti)authoritarian thought because it tries to resist the tem6tation
of 6lace8 It resists= in other words= the desire to find an essential 6oint of
resistance= because this will inevitably form itself into a structure or discourse of
authority8 'he discussion tries to develo6 anti)authoritarian thinking relevant to
our time8
It may seem strange= however= that this thinking will be develo6ed through a
com6arison between anarchism and 6oststructuralism8 At first glance it would
seem as though anarchism and 6oststructuralism have little in common* the
former is a revolutionary 6hiloso6hy born out of nineteenth century humanist
ideals= while the latter:can it really be said to be a 6hiloso6hyD:would a66ear
to re@ect the very foundations u6on which anarchism is based8 owever it is
6recisely for this reason that the two are brought together8 'he fundamental
differences between them= 6articularly on the 9uestions of sub@ectivity= morality=
and rationality= ex6ose= in a most crucial way= the 6roblems of modernity8 (hile
anarchism as a revolutionary 6hiloso6hy would seem to have very little to do
with our time= it is based on various essentialist categories which still condition
our 6olitical reality= and which must be ex6lored if we are to ever move beyond
them8Moreover= anarchism is= as I will argue= a 6hiloso6hy of 6ower8 It is=
fundamentally= an unmas"ingof 6ower8 In contrast to Marxism= anarchism was
revolutionary in analy,ing 6ower in its own right= and ex6osing the 6lace of
6ower in Marxism itself:its 6otential to reaffirm state authority8 For our
6ur6oses= anarchism is the 6hiloso6hy that invented the 6lace of 6ower as a
6olitical conce6t8 I will also argue that anarchism itself falls into the tra6 of the
6lace of 6ower= and this is ex6lored through the 6oststructuralist criti9ue of
essentialism8 And it is through this criti9ue that the 6roblems central to radical6olitical theory are brought to the fore8 Poststructuralism too is an unmasking of
.
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'he 3eturn of Power
6ower:an unmasking of the 6ower in discourses= ideas= and 6ractices that we
have come to regard as innocent of 6ower8 In this sense= then= anarchism and
6oststructuralism= as different as they are= can be brought together on the
common ground of the unmasking and criti9ue of 6ower8 owever= as I saidbefore= what really makes this com6arison interesting and useful is not what
they have in common= but rather in the crucial ways in which they differ8 #o this
work is not really a com6arison of anarchism and 6oststructuralism= but rather a
bringing together of certain contrasting ideas in order to highlight the 9uestions
facing radical 6olitical theory today8 'his com6arisonB is merely a device used
to think through these 9uestions and 6roblems and= ho6efully= to find solutions
to them8
It is= however= undoubtedly an unusual com6arison= and it is a com6arisonnot often made8 I am only aware of one work:'odd Mayiet,sche
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Introduction
Chater Outline
'he first cha6ter is a discussion of the anarchist criti9ue of Marxism8 It uses
the arguments of the classical anarchists= such as 5akunin and ro6otkin= tounmask the authoritarian currents in Marxism8 It looks at the ideas of Marx and
Engels= as well as those of modern Marxist theorists such as Althusser=
Poulant,as= and 7allinicos= and contends that Marxist theory ignored the
6roblem of 6ower= 6articularly state 6ower= by reducing it to an economic
analysis8 'his would lead to the fate of every ?acobin revolution* as the
anarchists 6redicted= the structure= or pla!eof state 6ower would be left intact=
and even 6er6etuated in an infinitely more tyrannical way8 'he cha6ter also
looks at the broader 6roblem of authority in Marxism:the authority of thevanguard 6arty and the 6rivileging of the industrial 6roletariat:and it argues
that although Marx himself regarded authority as 6ernicious= he was inesca6ably
indebted to a egelian logic which allowed authority to be 6er6etuated8
'he anarchist criti9ue of Marxism= then= is used to construct a theory of the
6lace of 6ower:which anarchists detected in the state:which will become the
6oint of de6arture for the discussion8 Moreover= the dialogue between anarchism
and Marxism is im6ortant= because it introduces anarchism as a 6hiloso6hy of
6ower8 Anarchism sought to study 6ower in its own right= without shrouding itin an economic or class analysis8 'his unmasking of 6ower and authority makes
it 6articularly relevant to our discussion8
'he second cha6ter looks at anarchism= not merely as a criti9ue of Marxism=
but also as a 6hiloso6hical system in its own right8 It is based on a notion of a
natural human essence= and a morality and rationality which emanate from this
essence8 I suggest that anarchism is a radical humanist 6hiloso6hy
fundamentally influenced by Feuerbach
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'he 3eturn of Power -
essence8 I a66ly this argument to anarchism= suggesting that in its criti9ue of
6olitical authority= it has dis6laced this authority only to reinvent it within the
idea of human essence8 'his 6lace of resistance to 6ower has become= then= a
6lace of 6ower itself8#tirner= in talking about the links between 6ower and sub@ectivity= 6rovides
an obvious but hitherto unex6lored connection with 6oststructuralism8 #tirner is
therefore the link in this discussion between the 6olitics of classical anarchism
and the 6olitics of 6oststructuralism to which it is being com6ared8 'he 6ossible
connections between #tirneriet,sche= and for this reason it is all the more curious that he has been almost
entirely ignored by contem6orary theory8-
'he contribution of #tirner to6oststructuralist thought remains largely unex6lored= and I ho6e that this
discussion of #tirner in this context will ins6ire some interest in the to6ic8
'he 6lace that #tirner has in this discussion of 6ower and resistance is
e9ually im6ortant8 e shows that there can be no world outside 6ower= and that
the 6olitics of resistance must be engaged within the limits of 6ower8 'herefore=
the fourth cha6ter looks at Michel Foucault
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Introduction
the structure of hierarchy:the 6lace of 6ower:intact8 +errida does= however=
incor6orate a notion of the /utside:as an ethical realmB of @ustice:which=
while it is seen as being constituted by the Inside= is still 6roblematic in the
context of the 6oststructuralist argument8 #o where does this leave usD (e canno longer 6osit an essential 6lace of resistance outside 6ower= but it seems that
there needs to be some notion of an outside= no matter how momentary= for
resistance to be theori,ed8
7ha6ter seven 6roceeds to address the 6roblem of this non)essentialist
outside through the ideas of ?ac9ues Lacan8 Like #tirner= Lacan will be seen as a
6ivotal 6oint in the discussion8 is arguments about sub@ectivity= signification=
and 6articularly his notion of lack= will be used as a way of breaking through the
theoretical im6asse that has arisen8 e allows us to go beyond the limits of the6oststructuralist 6aradigm:the limits of difference and 6lurality:to ex6lore
this 9uestion of the outside8 I use the conce6t of the lack at the base of
sub@ectivity to formulate a notion of the outside that does not become
essentialist or foundational:which does not become= in other words= a 6lace8 I
also use Lacanian ideas such as the real to contest abermas< ideal of rational
communication8 'his criti9ue of abermas is relevant here= not only because the
ideal of rational communication= and the communitarian 6hiloso6hies founded
on this= is similar to anarchism it is also im6ortant to show that the universal
and essential categories that this communication is based on amount to a
totalitarian discourse that is embroiled in the very domination it claims to
eschew8 Moreover= this Lacanian terminology is a66lied to the identity of
society= and I attem6t to reconstruct the notion of 6olitical and social identity on
the basis of its own im6ossibility and em6tiness8 'he social is shown to be
constructed by its limits= by what makes its com6lete identity im6ossible:
namely 6ower8 owever= the identity of 6ower itself is found to be incom6lete=
so there is a ga6 between 6ower and identity8 5ut this lack is not from another=
natural world= as anarchists would contend8 /n the contrary= it is 6roduced by
the 6ower it limits8 'his would allow us to conce6tuali,e an outside to 6ower=
6aradoxically on the inside of 6ower:in other words= a non)essentialist 6oint of
resistance8
I argue that resistance must not refer to essentialist foundations if it is to
avoid reaffirming domination8 'his is because= as I will have shown= the 6lace
of 6ower is inexorably linked to essentialism* universal and totaling 6olitics that
deny difference inevitably flow from essentialist notions8 #o the next cha6ter
[cha6ter eight]will try to delineate= using the non)essentialist 6lace I have @ustdevelo6ed= a 6olitics of resistance without foundations:a 6olitics which re@ects
universali,ing and totali,ing tendencies8 'he ethical 6arameters of this 6olitics
are 6rovided by the anarchist moral discourse of freedom and e9uality= which
has been freed from its essentialist)humanist foundations8 'he ethical limits that
I am trying to develo6 remain constitutively o6en to difference and 6lurality=
while= at the same time= restricting discourses which seek to deny difference and
6lurality8
'he 6ur6ose of this cha6ter= and indeed the whole discussion= is 6erha6s toshow that 6olitics can be thought in both a non)essentialist= non)universal way=
1J
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'he 3eturn of Power 11
and in a way which is 6roductive and not nihilistic8 'o say this may not sound
all that radical or contentious= but it must be remembered that 6olitical theory is
still= to a large extent= tra66ed within essentialist and foundational discourses
which limit it to certain norms and modes of sub@ectivity= while dominating andexcluding others8 'he 6olitical 6ro@ect that I attem6t to outline is an o6en
6ro@ect= a 6ro@ect defined by its fundamental incom6leteness8 I can only offer a
few suggestions here8 'he 6oint of this discussion is not really to construct a
6olitical 6ro@ect= but rather to show how this 6olitical 6ro@ect arises through the
limitations of modern 6olitical discourse8
'his has been nothing more than a brief outline of the argument:the thread
I will draw through the discussion8 As I said before= the cha6ters can be read
both as stages in an argument= and as se6arate discussions with their ownthemes and digressions8 I would feel ha66ier if they were taken as both8
I am also aware that there are certain issues that could have been= and
6erha6s should have been= raised in the discussion= but due to limitations of
s6ace were not8 /ne of these is the 9uestion of libertarianism8 In my discussion
of anarchism I mention its 6ossible connection with libertarian 6hiloso6hy8 I
also mention this connection with reference to Foucault8 I do not go into great
length for the reason @ust mentioned8 Libertarianism is an anti)authoritarian=
antistate 6hiloso6hy= which sees 6olitical 6ower as an insufferable burden u6on
the individual= and which seeks to maximi,e 6ersonal freedom and minimi,e the
6ower of institutions81J(hat is more= it is a 6hiloso6hy that= if its advocates are
to be believed= is becoming more relevant and more 6rominent in 6olitics today8
It is a 6hiloso6hy= moreover= which cuts across both the left and right= and
which informs the radical= anti)authoritarian elements of both8 It clearly has
links with both anarchism and 6oststructuralism which= although they a66roach
the 6roblem of authority in radically different ways= still seek to minimi,e
6olitical domination= and maximi,e 6ersonal freedom8 5oth anarchism and
6oststructuralism may be seen as forms of left libertarianism8 5ut the 6roblem
with this similarity is that= although certain as6ects of the libertarian tradition
a66eal to those on the left:if leftB or rightB still means anything today:
libertarianism is= more often than not= considered a right wing 6hiloso6hy in the
sense that it ideali,es free market individualism and wants to liberate society
from the o66ressive burden of the welfare state and its taxes8 'his cannot easily
be dismissed8 It must be remembered that anarchists also saw the state as a
burden on the natural functioning of society= and they would be e9ually
sus6icious of welfare= and Foucault= for instance= was interested in= or at leastdid not discount= liberalism= which forms the basis of libertarianism= as a
criti9ue of excessive government811
Anarchism and 6oststructuralism both re@ect the ideali,ed notion of the
individual that libertarian 6hiloso6hy is founded on8 For anarchists= the
individual cannot be taken out of the context of the natural society that creates
him= and= moreover= the free market= which libertarians see as a mechanism that
ex6ands individual freedom= anarchists see as a fundamental site of o66ression8
For 6oststructuralists= to 6osit such an abstracted notion of individuality aslibertarians do= is to ignore the various dominations that are involved in its
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Introduction
construction8 In this sense= then= anarchism and 6oststructuralism= while they are
both anti)authoritarian 6hiloso6hies= and while they both aim at increasing
individual freedom= still 9uestion the abstracted notion of individuality:where
the individual exists in a kind of vacuum of the free market in which he hasabsolute free choice:that libertarianism 6ro6ounds8 >evertheless= there are still
undeniable links that can be established here with a 6hiloso6hy that easily gives
itself over to right wing 6olitics8 Perha6s libertarianism can be seen as a dark
6otentiality of the criti9ue of authority8 'o deny this 6otentiality would be
against the s6irit of theoretical o6enness that I ho6e is imbued in this book8 /n
the other hand= I do not want to em6hasi,e this link too much because the
discussion is not about libertarianism8 I only mention it here to indicate that the
anti)authoritarian categories of anarchism and 6oststructuralism are notwatertight8 'heir meanings and im6lications cannot be contained in narrow=
clear cut definitions= but rather are contaminated= and very often overflow in
directions they might not have counted on= and which they might be o66osed to8
(ithout this un6redictability of meaning there would be no such thing as
6olitics8
&efinitions
Political definitions are a difficult thing= and rightly so8 >evertheless= I
reali,e that I had better define certain terms that I will be using throughout the
discussion8 Many of the terms that I have used already like the lackB and the
real=B are Lacanian terms= and will be defined in the cha6ter devoted to Lacan8
owever there are other terms that need some ex6lanation8
$ower, &omination, and %uthorityI reali,e that I have= to a certain extent= been using these termsinterchangeably8 >ow because these ideas are seen in radically different ways
by the different thinkers I am discussing= it will be im6ossible to offer an overall
definition for them here8 Moreover=power in this discussion= is an intentionally
abstract conce6t8 'he 6roblem is that although I will be using these
interchangeably= by the time we get to Foucault= 6owerB and dominationB
have somewhat different meanings8 Although relations of domination arise from
relations of 6ower= domination [and authority]is something to be resisted= while6ower is something to be acce6ted as unavoidable8 For Foucault and= to a certain
extent= #tirner= 6ower relations are inevitable in any society= and this is 6recisely
where the 6roblems for anarchism= which 6osits an essential division between
6ower and society= emerge8 #o the confusion that arises from Foucault
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'he 3eturn of Power 1"
the state and the 6rison= etc8 it also refers to authoritarian discursive structures
like rational truth= essence= and the sub@ectifying norms they 6roduce8
'ssentialismEssentialism is the idea that beneath surface differences= there lies one true
identity or character8 'his essential identity= it is claimed= is concealed or
re6ressed by forces external to it81! For exam6le= anarchism claims that the
essential identity of the individual= defined by a natural morality and rationality=
is concealed and distorted by the 6ower of the state and religion8 /nce these
institutions are destroyed= according to this argument= human essence will
flourish8
(e can see that this argument= which views 6olitical forces as external tothis essence= constructs this essence as an uncontaminated 6oint of de6arture= a
moral and rational 6lace from which these 6olitical forces can be resisted8 My
argument against this will be twofold8 First= I will try to show= using the
6oststructuralist thinkers mentioned above= that the logic of the uncontaminated
6oint of de6arture is flawed* in reality= the essential human identity that
constitutes this 6oint of de6arture is already constructed by= or at least infinitely
bound u6 with= the 6ower regimes it claims to o66ose8 Indeed its identity of
o66osition to these 6ower regimes is itself constructed by 6ower8 #econd=essential identity= far from being an identity of resistance= actually becomes an
authoritarian signifier* it becomes the norm according to which other identities
are 6ersecuted8 It becomes the basis of a whole series of binary o66ositions that
restrict other identities by constructing them as somehow a failure or 6erversion
of the norm8 'hese arguments are develo6ed from the 6oststructuralist criti9ue
that eschews the very idea of an essential identity= seeing identity as nothing
more than a dis6ersed series of surfaces= 6luralities= and antagonisms8
$oststru!turalismPoststructuralism is an ambiguous area that re9uires some ex6laining8 For a
start= there is considerable debate as to whether there is any such thing as
6oststructuralism at all8 Many of the 6oststructuralistB thinkers I will be
discussing would have re@ected the title8 Poststructuralism is merely a
catch6hrase= a term of convenience= which grou6s together a whole series of
thinkers and ideas which= in many res6ects= are 9uite diverse8 #o it must be
remembered that 6oststructuralism by no means signifies a unified theory orbody of thought8 'here are= however= among these thinkers= certain shared
strands of thinking and 6hiloso6hical traditions which can be brought out and
develo6ed= and it is this which may be termedpoststru!turalist8
Poststructuralism has its origins in the structuralism of 5arthes= Levi)
#trauss= Althusser= etc81"5roadly= structuralism subordinated the signified to the
signifier= seeing the reality of the sub@ect as constructed by structures of
language that surround it8 'hus essentialist ideas about sub@ectivity are re@ected=
and in their 6lace is 6ut a wholly determining structure of signification8 For
instance= Althusserian Marxism saw the sub@ect as overdetermined by the
signifying regime 6roduced by ca6italism= the sub@ect becoming merely an
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Introduction
effect of this 6rocess8 'he 6roblem with this re@ection of essentialism was that
the all)determining structure of language became= in itself= an essence8 'he
structure becomes @ust as determining as any essence= @ust as totali,ing and as
closed an identity8 As +errida argues= the structure became a pla!ethe entirehistory of the conce6t of the structure 8 8 8 must be thought of as a series of
substitutions of center for center= as a linked chain of determinations of the
center8B1% In other words= the all)determining structure becomes merely a
substitution for the essential centers:like &od= man= consciousness:that it
su66osedly resisted8
'his criti9ue of structuralism may be broadly characteri,ed as 6ost)
structuralist8B Poststructuralism goes one ste6 beyond structuralism by seeing
the structure itself= to a certain extent= as affected by other forces8 At least theidentity of the structure is not closed= com6lete= or 6ure:it is contaminated= as
+errida would argue= by what it su66osedly determines8 'his makes its identity
unde!ida#le8 'here can be no notion= then= of an all)determining= centrali,ed
structure like language8 For 6oststructuralists= the sub@ect is constituted= not by a
central structure= but by dis6ersed and unstable relations of forces:6ower=
discursive regimes= and 6ractices8 'he difference between structuralism and
6oststructuralism is that* first= for 6oststructuralists= the forces which constitute
the sub@ect do not form a central structure:like ca6italism= for instance:but
remain decentrali,ed and diffused second= for 6oststructuralists= the sub@ect is
!onstitutedby these forces= rather than determined8 /ne is constituted in such a
way that there is always the 6ossibility of resistance to the way one is
constituted8 It must be remembered= then= that for 6oststructuralism= as o66osed
to structuralism= forces= like 6ower= which constitute the sub@ect= are always
unstable and o6en to resistance8
Poststructuralism may be seen as a series of strategies of resistance to the
authority of 6lace8 Poststructuralists sees structuralism as falling into the tra6 of
6lace by 6ositing= in the 6lace of &od= or man= a structure which is @ust as
essentialist8 #o 6oststructuralism is not only a re@ection of the essentialism of
Enlightenment humanism= but also the essentialism of the structuralist criti9ue
of humanism8 A6art from this= I am not 6re6ared to define 6oststructuralism any
further8 Its definition will be brought out in the discussion8 owever= as I
suggested before= the 6ur6ose of the discussion is really not to define or
describe= but to use= and this is how I will a66roach 6oststructuralism8
It may be noticed that I refer topoststru!turalismand notpostmodernism8
'he two terms are often e9uated= but they are not the same8 Poststructuralistslike Foucault would wholly re@ect the descri6tion 6ostmodernist=B and in fact
Foucault said that he did not know what 6ostmodernityB actually meant81$For
?ean)Francois Lyotard= 6ostmodernity refers not to a historical 6eriod= but rather
to a condition of criti9ue of the unities and totalities of modernity: an
incredulity towards metanarratives8B1. 'his would seem to e9uate
6ostmodernism with 6oststructuralism8 owever= the word 6ostmodernB has
become so clichGd:(e all live in a 6ostmodern worldB etc8:that it comes to
be seen as an actual stage in history beyond modernity8 It is for this reason that I6refer to use the termpoststru!turalism8
1%
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'he 3eturn of Power 1$
Poststructuralism is a strategy= or series of strategies= of resistance to the
unities and totalities of modernity:its essentialist categories= its absolute faith
in rational truth= morality= and the 6ractices of domination which these are often
tied to8 owever= 6oststructuralism does not see itself as a stage beyondmodernity= but rather a criti9ue conducted u6on the limits of modernity8
Poststructuralism o6erates withinthe discourse of modernity to ex6ose its limits
and unmask its 6roblems and 6aradoxes8 It 6resents us with a 6roblem rather
than a solution8 Modernity is not a historical 6eriod but a discourse to which we
are still heavily indebted8 (e cannot sim6ly transcend modernity and revel in a
nihilistic 6ostmodern universe8 Is this not to fall once again into the tra6 of 6lace
:to re6lace one discourse= one form of authority= with anotherD 3ather= we
must work at the limits of modernity= and maintain a critical attitude= not onlytoward modernity itself= but toward any discourse which claims to transcend it8
'his is what I understand 6oststructuralismB to mean8 It means that our work is
yet to be done8
Notes
18 AgustKn 7ueva= 'l pro!eso de la &omina!on $olti!a en '!uador uito*#olitierra= 1-2= 8 uoted in Peter (orsley= The Three orlds London* (eidenfeld
>icholson= 1-4%2= !.8
!8 Michel Foucault= >iet,sche= &enealogy= istory=B in The Fou!ault eader, ed8
Paul 3abinow >ew Nork* Pantheon= 1-4%2= .)1JJ8
"8 ?ac9ues Lacan= The Four Fundamental *on!epts of $sy!hoanalysis,ed8 ?ac9ues)
Alain Miller London* ogarth Press= 1-2= !4J8
%8 Lacan= The Four Fundamental *on!epts of $sy!hoanalysis,%-8$8 #lavo@ Hi,ek= Tarrying with the +egative ant, -egel, and the *ritiue of
/deology +urham* +uke Cniversity Press= 1--"2= 18.8 'he fact that what came after these communist states was even worse:the
recurrent 6attern of ethnic cleansing=B for exam6le:illustrates this 6oint88 #ee 'odd May= The $oliti!al $hilosophy of $oststru!turalist %nar!hism
Cniversity Park= Pa8* Pennsylvania #tate Cniversity Press= 1--%28 #ee also May=Is Post)structuralist Political 'heory AnarchistDB in $hilosophy and So!ial
*riti!ism1$= no8 " 1-4-2* 1.)141 and Andrew och= Poststructuralism and theE6istemological 5asis of Anarchism=B $hilosophy of the So!ial S!ien!es !"= no8 "
1--"2* "!)"$18
48 Michel Foucault= Prison 'alk=B in $ower0nowledge Sele!ted /nterviews
and 1ther ritings 234562344, ed8 7olin &ordon 5righton= #ussex* arvester
Press= 1-4J2= ")$%8
-8 'his is not= of course= to diminish the im6ortance of >iet,sche= who 6lays an
im6ortant role in this discussion= although there is no single cha6ter devoted to
him8 In the same way that +errida sees Marx as the s6ecter that continues to haunt
our 6resent= 6erha6s one could see >iet,sche as the s6irit who haunts our
discussion8 #ee ?ac9ues +errida= Spe!ters of 7ar8 The State of the &e#t, the
or" of 7ourning, 9 the +ew /nternational, trans. Peggy amuf >ew Nork*
3outledge= 1--%2= %8
1J8 For a fuller account of libertarianism see +avid 5oa,=:i#ertarianism a $rimer>ew Nork* Free Press= 1--2 and #te6hen L8 >ewman=:i#eralism at its 'nds The
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Introduction
:i#ertarian evolt %gainst the 7odern State Ithaca= >8N8* 7ornell Cniversity Press=
1-4%28
118 #ee Andrew 5arry= ed8= Fou!ault and $oliti!al eason :i#eralism, +eo6
:i#eralism and the ationalities of ew #ocial Movements=
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Chapter One
Mar'ism and the %ro(lem of %o!er
'he conflict between Marxism and anarchism was a 6ivotal debate that sha6ed
nineteenth century radical 6olitical thought8 'he anarchist Mikhail 5akunin was
one of Marxow= for Marxists= as well as for
anarchists= the state is an enemy of human freedom8 For Marx and Engels it was
essentially the instrument through which one economic class dominated another8
'he state= then= was something to be transcended8 owever= Marx is ambiguouson this 6oint8 e does not formulate a consistent theory of the state= seeing it at
certain times as a tool of economic and class domination= and at other times as a
relatively autonomous institution that acts= in some cases= against the immediate
interests of the bourgeoisie8 'he extent of the state
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7ha6ter /ne
owever= this would be transcended= according to egel= by the modern state
which would instigate a universal system of law= and unite consciousness= so
that the egoism of civil society would be ke6t out of the 6olitical s6here8 14 In
other words the 6articular state:the state that governs on behalf of 6articularinterests in society must be re6laced by a universal state:one which governs
for the general good8 For egel= the modern liberal state is the overcoming of
contradictions and divisions in society8 It is the culmination of morality and
rationality81-'his idea that the state can exist for the general good= for the whole
of society= was re@ected by Marx8 According to Marx= the state is always a
6articular state that 6aints itself as universal8 Its universality and inde6endence
from civil society are only a mask for the 6articular economic interests:such as
6rivate 6ro6erty:that it re6resents8!J
Marx was later to develo6 from this the6osition that the state re6resented the interests of the most economically
dominant class:the bourgeoisie8 For Marx= then= unlike egel= the state cannot
overcome the tensions and contradictions in civil society and must= therefore= be
transcended8 'hus= Marx talks about the abolition of the state through universal
suffrage8!1
It is this 6oint that those who want to em6hasi,e the anti)authoritarian=
antistatist as6ect of Marx
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Marxism and the Problem of Power 1-
'his was a res6onse to an article by 5runo 5auer in which he suggested that the
state should be used to combat religious alienation8 'he state= according to
5auer= could emanci6ate society from the gras6 of religion by becoming
secular8!$
Marx argued= in res6onse= that if the state became secular and religionbecame a 6rivate matter for the individual= this would not necessarily mean that
society would be freed from the hold of religion* 'o be 6olitically emanci6ated
from religion is not to be finally and com6letely emanci6ated from religion=
because 6olitical emanci6ation is not the final and absolute form of human
emanci6ation8B!. 'hepoliti!al emanci6ation that 5auer advocates would only
further entrench religion in society and exacerbate the division between general
and 6rivate interests= between the state and civil society:a division that Marx
wanted to overcome8 It would not do anything to weaken religion
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7ha6ter /ne
Marx was unable to see the state as anything but an instrument of economic
forces* e Marx2 says ;Poverty 6roduces 6olitical slavery= the #tate=< but he
does not allow this ex6ression to be turned around to say ;Political slavery= the
#tate= re6roduces in its turn= and maintains 6overty as a condition of its ownexistence so that in order to destroy 6overty= it is necessary to destroy the
#tate
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Marxism and the Problem of Power !1
institution in the sense that it is not essentially beholden to class interests= it can
be used against ca6italism and the economic dominance of the bourgeoisie8 'he
second 6osition !b2= on the other hand= because it sees the state as essentially a
bourgeois state= an instrument of class domination= demands that the state bedestroyed as 6art of a socialist revolution8""'his is the 6osition exem6lified by
Lenin8"%
'his traditional inter6retation of the relation between the 9uestion of the
autonomy of the state and its role in a socialist revolution may be best
re6resented by a table*
The 7ar8ist model
1a2 Autonomous state)))))))))) 1b2 #tate as tool of revolution!a2 +etermined state))))))))))) !b2 #tate to be destroyed in revolution
>ow it is this dichotomy of state theories and their concomitant
revolutionary strategies that could be 9uestioned8 It may be argued that it is
6recisely the second 6osition 1b2:the view of the state as an instrument of
class:that entails the first revolutionary strategy !a2 which allows the state to
be used as a revolutionary tool of liberation8 Furthermore= one could see the first
6osition 1a2 which allows the state relative autonomy:as entailing the secondrevolutionary strategy !b2 which calls for the destruction of the state in a
socialist revolution*
%n %nar!hist model1a2 Autonomous state)))))))) !b2 #tate to be destroyed in revolution
!a2 +etermined state)))))))))) 1b2 #tate as tool of revolution
'he reason for this rather radical overturning of the acce6ted logic is that thefirst 6osition 1a2 comes closest to an anarchist theory about the state8
Anarchism sees the state as a wholly autonomous and inde6endent institution
with its own logic of domination8 It is 6recisely for this reason that the state
cannot be used as a neutral tool of liberation and change during the time of
revolution8 Even if it is in the hands of a revolutionary class like the 6roletariat
:as Marx advocated:it still cannot be trusted because it has its own
institutional logic above and beyond the control of the ruling class8B 'he time
of revolution is when the state institution can least be trusted= as it will use theo66ortunity to 6er6etuate its own 6ower8 'o regard the state as neutral= then= as
strategy 1b2 does= is fatal8 According to this anarchist logic= moreover= 6osition
!a2:that which sees the state as an instrument of the bourgeoisie:is the most
dangerous because it is this which im6lies that the state is merely a neutral
institution subservient to the interests of the dominant class8 It is this 6osition
which would actually entail revolutionary strategy 1b2:the use of the state as a
tool of revolution when in the hands of the revolutionary class8 It is really a
dis6ute over the meaning of neutrality* according to the Marxist logic= neutrality
would mean autonomy from class interests= whereas for anarchists neutrality
would im6ly 6recisely the o66osite:su#servien!e to class interests8 'his is
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7ha6ter /ne
because the view that the state is determined by class interests does not allow
the state its own logic it would be @ust a humble servant of class interests and
could= therefore= be used as a neutral tool of revolution if it was in the hands of
the right class8 /n the other hand= it is Marx
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Marxism and the Problem of Power !"
domination and ex6loitation of the 6roletariat8 'his inter6retation would allow
the state a large degree of 6olitical autonomy* it could work against the 6olitical
will of the bourgeoisie= but it still would have to 6rotect the long)term economic
interests of the bourgeoisie8#o rather than saying that= for Marx= the state is the instrument of
bourgeoisie= it may be more accurate to say that the state is a refle!tion of
bourgeois class domination= an institution whose structure is determined by
ca6italist relations8 According to al +ra6er= the state rules in a class)
distortedB way8"-Its function is to maintain an economic and social order that
allows the bourgeoisie to continue to ex6loit the 6roletariat8 5y maintaining the
conditions of the ca6italist economy in the name of the common good= the state
serves the interests of the bourgeoisie8 'his is what Marx meant by saying thatthe state was derivative of 6articular interests in society8
/ne can see in Marx
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7ha6ter /ne
the transitional 6eriodB between ca6italist and communist society= will exercise
6olitical 6ower through the instrumentality of the state* 'here corres6onds to
this Qtransitional 6eriodR also a 6olitical transition in which the state can be
nothing but the dictatorshi6 of the 6roletariat8B%!
Marx called= furthermore= in his%ddress of the *entral *ommittee to the *ommunist :eaguefor the workers to
strive for the most decisive centrali,ation of 6ower in the hands of state
authority8B%"'he coercive 6ower of the state may be used by the 6roletariat to
su66ress class enemies and swee6 away the conditions of the old bourgeois
society8 'hus Marx says in the *ommunist 7anifesto* 'he 6roletariat will use
its 6olitical su6remacy to wrest= by degrees= all ca6ital from the bourgeoisie= to
centrali,e all instruments of 6roduction in the hands of the state8B%%#o the state=
controlled by the 6roletariat= has become= for Marx= albeit tem6orarily= thevehicle which would liberate society from bourgeois domination by re6resenting
society as a whole8 'hus the aim of the revolution= for Marx= was not to destroy
state 6ower= but rather to sei,e hold of it and to 6er6etuate it in the transitional
6eriod8B It must be remembered that Marx sees this 6roletarian state as a
tem6orary arrangement= and Engels argued that it would wither awayB when no
longer necessary8%$owever= the anarchists argued that to ex6ect the state to @ust
disintegrate on its own was naive8 'he reason for this will become clear later8
#o Marx
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Marxism and the Problem of Power !$
the Marxist revolutionary 6rogram= more centrali,ed and 6owerful than it ever
was in bourgeois society= or in any other society8 'his claim that the
increasingly dominant transitionalB state no longer exercises 6olitical 6ower is=
argued the anarchists= dangerously naive8 It neglects what they see as thefundamental law of state 6ower [or= for that matter= any form of institutional
6ower]* that it is inde6endent of economic forces= and that it has its own logic:
that of self)6er6etuation8 >ow it is true that= as we have shown before in the
case of the 5ona6artist state= Marx allows the state some inde6endence from
class will= but the 9uestion is whether he has allowed it enough8 'he anarchists
would argue that he has not= and that the evidence for this is 6recisely Marx
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7ha6ter /ne
obstacle to the social revolution8B$1/66ression and des6otism exist in the very
structure and symbolism of the state:it is not merely a derivative of class
6ower8 'he state has its own im6ersonal logic= its own momentum= its own
6riorities* these are often beyond the control of the ruling class and do notnecessarily reflect economic relations at all8 For anarchists= then= 6olitical 6ower
refers to something other than class and economic relations8
'he modern state has its own origins too= inde6endent of the rise of the
bourgeoisie8 Cnlike Marx= who saw the modern state as a creation of the French
3evolution and the ascendancy of the bourgeoisie= 5akunin saw the state as the
child of the 3eformation8 According to 5akunin= the crowned sovereigns of
Euro6e usur6ed the 6ower of the church= creating a secular authority based on
the notion of divine right:hence the birth of the modern state* 'he #tate is theyounger brother of the 7hurch8B$!ro6otkin= in his discussion of the state= also
attributes the rise of the state to noneconomic factors such as the historical
dominance of 3oman law= the rise of feudal law= the growing authoritarianism
of the church= as well as the endemic desire for authority8$"
Furthermore= it could be argued that the 6olitical forces of the state actually
determine and select s6ecific relations of 6roduction because they encourage
certain forces of 6roduction which are functional for the state= allowing the
develo6ment of the means of coercion needed by the state8 'his turns the base)
su6erstructure model of the state on its head= seeing the determining forces
going from to6 to bottom rather than from the bottom to the to68 According to
Alan 7arter= then= because many Marxists have neglected the 6ossibility of
6olitical forces determining economic forces= they have fallen into the tra6 of
the state*
Marxists= therefore= have failed to reali,e that the state alwaysacts to 6rotect its
own interests8 'his is why they have failed to see that a vanguard which sei,ed
control of the state could not be trusted to ensure that the state would witheraway8B (hat the state might do= instead= is back different relations of
6roduction to those which might serve the 6resent dominant economic class if it
believed that such new economic relations could be used to extract from theworkers an even greater sur6lus:a sur6lus which would then be available to
the state8$%
#o for the anarchists= to view the state= as some Marxists do= as derivative of
class 6ower= is to fall victim to the state
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Marxism and the Problem of Power !
the state a66aratus does not mean= as Marx claimed= an end to 6olitical 6ower8
/n the contrary= the Marxist 6rogram only meant a massive increase in 6olitical
6ower and domination= as well as new lease of life for ca6italism8 Indeed=
5akunin believed that Marx
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7ha6ter /ne
state a66aratus= may be used to facilitate the transition to the new society8
Cnlike the anarchists= who did not distinguish between ty6es of states= and
considered all states to be e9ually o66ressive whatever form they took= Marx
saw some 6rogressive and 6otentially liberating as6ects in the modern liberalstate8 Marx considered bourgeois re6resentative democracy= for instance= to be
an im6ortant stage in the develo6ment of human emanci6ation8.1Anarchists= on
the other hand= regarded the modern liberal state with scorn:it was seen as
another insidious attem6t to mask the brutal= des6otic character of the state and
was= for this reason= even more 6ernicious than the autocratic state8.!'herefore
Marxism= unlike anarchism= sees it as 6ossible= and indeed essential= that the
struggle for a new society be articulated within the terms and institutions of the
old society8'he anarchist res6onse to this is that the forms and institutions of the old
society will not sim6ly fall away* they will become entrenched= denying the
6ossibility of genuine liberation8 'hey must therefore be removed straight away
:their destruction must be the first revolutionary act8 Anarchism is= in this
res6ect= anti)egelian8 5akunin re@ected the egelian tracheotomy* there was no
reconciliation between thesis and antithesis= between the Positive and the
>egative8."In 5akuninegative8 owever= in this victory both the Positive and the
>egative are destroyed8 For egel= and indeed for Marx= on the other hand= the
thesis and antithesis are transcended:however elements of both are 6reserved
in the synthesis8 In the same way= elements of the old society are 6reserved and
form a necessary 6art of the foundations of the new8 For Marx= then= the
communitarian= 6ublic essence that the state ex6resses should survive the
destruction of the existing society8 For anarchists= on the other hand= the new
society was to emerge only with the com6lete destruction of the old8.%
In contrast to the egelian dialectical framework= anarchism works within a
dualistic or even Manichean view of the world= seeing the state as essentially
evil and society as essentially good8 Anarchism is based= to some extent= on the
se6aration central to liberal theory= between the state and society:the very
division that Marx wanted to overcome dialectically8 Anarchists argue that the
state o66resses society= and that if only the state was destroyed= then society
could flourish8 Marx= on the other hand= argued that the domination is not in the
state but in society itself= and that if the state were to be destroyed before
socialist economic relations could be established= society would not flourish or
be liberated:it would be even more at the mercy of the forces of economicauthority8
For anarchists= the liberation of human society must be made by society
itself:through libertarian means8 Freedom can never come through the agency
of authority8.$ For Marx= on the other hand= 6ower and authority are not
necessarily something to be embraced= but something to be used in a certain
way= with a view to their own transcendence8 owever= if one takes account of
the anarchists< analysis= 6articularly of state 6ower= 6ower and authority can
never be transcended unless they are destroyed immediately8
!4
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Marxism and the Problem of Power !-
The Broader %ro(lem of Authorit)
'he anarchist res6onse to Marxism has shown that Marx is tra66ed within an
authoritarian bind:a statist= centralist framework8 ?ohn 7lark argues that whilethere are certainly some elements of Marxist theory which have anti)
authoritarian and decentralist im6lications= if the totality of his thought is
considered= Marx was attached to centralist and authoritarian structures which
are inse6arable from statist and bureaucratic forms of domination8B.. +es6ite
Marx
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7ha6ter /ne
fact 5akunin 6refers not to call this a class at all= but a mass8B 7lassB im6lies
hierarchy and exclusiveness81
Anarchists argued= moreover= that not only is the industrial 6roletariat
actually numerically small com6ared to other grou6s and classes in society [thisis obviously more so today]= but that it is also thoroughly imbued with bourgeois
ethics8 5akunin believed that the small elite of class)consciousB 6roletarians
constituting the u66er echelons of the working class= lived in a relatively
comfortable and semibourgeois fashion= and had been= in fact= coo6ted into the
bourgeoisie8!Murray 5ookchin= a modern day anarchist= argues that Marxist
6rivileging of the 6roletariat over other grou6s in society is obsolete and= more
im6ortantly= counterrevolutionary8 'his is because the 6roletariat has become
an imitation of its masters=B ado6ting the worst as6ects of ca6italist society* thework ethic= bourgeois morality= and a res6ect for authority and hierarchy
conditioned by the disci6line and hierarchy of the factory milieu8"'herefore=
anarchists argue that the Marxist 6rivileging of the 6roletariat above other
grou6s as the most revolutionary is a 6ractice which is itself born of a bourgeois
mentality and is doomed= as a conse9uence of this= to 6er6etuate bourgeois
systems of domination8 'he category of class= for anarchists= is authoritarian in
itself* it is a form of sub@ectivity that ties the worker to the work 6lace and to
authoritarian industrial hierarchies8
The $arty'he Marxist desire for a unified= disci6lined 6roletariat is= anarchists
suggest= a thoroughly authoritarian desire8 'ied to this is the re9uirement for a
disci6lined= authoritarian 6arty controlling the 6roletariat8% 'he communist
6arty was subse9uently built on hierarchical and authoritarian 6remises8 'he
role of the communists was defined by Marx in terms of leadershi6 and control8
e says* they have over the great mass of the 6roletariat the advantage ofclearly understanding the line of march8B$As anarchists argue= this is clearly
elitist* the most class)consciousB of the industrial 6roletariat leads others in
society= and this elite= in turn= is led by the communist 6arty= 6laying the
vanguard role8
'he vanguard role of the communist 6arty= furthermore= is based on an
e6istemological authority:on the claim that it is the sole 6ossessor of
knowledge of the movement of history8 It is seen as having a mono6oly on
scientific knowledge that no one else can gras68 5akunin often critici,ed
Marxists as doctrinaire socialists whose strategy would culminate in a
dictatorshi6 of scientists and ex6erts:a domination of science over life8
5akunin believed that scientific dogma= 6articularly when it was 6art of the
revolutionary 6rogram was an authoritarian discourse that mutilated the
com6lexity and s6ontaneity of life8 'he Marxist 6rogram= he argued= would
o6en the way for a society governed by a new class of scientists and
bureaucrats* It will be the reign of the scientific mind= the most aristocratic=
des6otic= arrogant and contem6tuous of all regimes8B.
"J
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Marxism and the Problem of Power "1
Te!hnologyAnother as6ect of Marx
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7ha6ter /ne
logic8 'o reduce everything to economics is to neglect the 6roblem of
domination8
Marxism is tra66ed in an authoritarian framework for this very reason8 It is
not because Marx believed that authority was necessarily good* indeed Marxbelieved that domination was dehumani,ing and would be transcended8 3ather it
was the conviction that all forms of domination= 6articularly 6olitical
domination= could be reduced to economic domination= which led Marx into this
authoritarian bind8 Even those who want to em6hasi,e the libertarian as6ects of
Marx give some credibility to the anarchist view6oint8 According to 3a66a6ort=
even within the framework of historical materialism 5akunin was right to
6redict that socialist authority would become tyrannical84"#he also argues that*
is [Marx
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Marxism and the Problem of Power ""
multi6licity of social 6ractices that cannot be diale!ti!izedback into an original
unity84It is this 6otential o6enness to the notion of difference and 6lurality=
according to 7allinicos= which has caused the crisis of Marxism8B Instead what
must be reaffirmed is the classical Marxist notion of the social totality= centrallydetermined by the economy8 It is only this 6ers6ective= 7allinicos argues= that
allows for the 6ossibility of the class struggle8 owever= it is 6recisely this
6ers6ective which negates the 6ossibility of other sources of 6ower in society=
that is being challenged by anarchism8
5ob ?esso6 tries to develo6 within the Marxist framework a contingent
theory of 6olitical 6ower and the state8 e argues that in Marxist theory there
are three main ways of a66roaching this 9uestion* the first sees the relationshi6
between economic interests and institutional systems 6urely in terms offunction the second a66roach stresses the way in which the institutional form of
different systems reflects or corres6onds to the structural needs of economic
systems the third a66roach re@ects the economic determinism of the last two
and sees the relationshi6 between institutions and economic systems to be based
on !ontingent arti!ulatory pra!ti!es.B44 'he second= and 6ossibly even the
first= a66roach is re6resented by 7allinicos who sees the social and 6olitical as
centrally determined by economic relations8 'he third strand of Marxist thought
is 6erha6s best reflected by Althusser who= on the surface= seems to 6ut forward
a contingent a66roach to the relationshi6 between the 6olitical and the economic
which allows the 6olitical considerable autonomy8 owever= as we have seen=
even in this sort of analysis the 6olitical is still= ultimately= dominated by the
economy8 'herefore= it could be argued that for a genuinely contingent and
autonomous theory of 6olitical and noneconomic 6ower= it means going beyond
Marxism8 'he 6roblem of 6olitical 6ower cannot be ade9uately answered within
the Marxist theory8 As 3a66a6ort says* It does 8 8 8 re9uire going beyond Marx
in develo6ing a theory ca6able of ex6laining 6olitical relationshi6s which do not
have their foundations in material scarcity8B4- ence the im6ortance of
anarchism today8
#ome Marxists have in the 6ast been too ready to blame things like
bureaucratic deformationB and bourgeois revisionismB for what ha66ened in
the #oviet Cnion8 Foucault= for instance= condemns those Marxists who refuse
to 9uestion the actual texts of Marx when looking at what ha66ened in the
C##3= and who try to ex6lain away the 6ersecutions and the &ulag by 6utting it
down to a betrayal of the true theoryB through deviationB or misunderstanding8B /n
the contrary=B says Foucault= it means 9uestioning all these theoretical texts=however old= from the stand6oint of the &ulag8 3ather than searching in those
texts for a condemnation in advance of the &ulag= it is a matter of asking what
in those texts could have made the &ulag 6ossible8B-J
In other words= although Marx obviously cannot be held res6onsible for
what ha66ened= one must nevertheless 9uestion his ideas:they must be studied
for 6ossible links8 'here can be no absolute se6aration between theory and
6ractice* one clearly informs the other= even if not directly8 As we have seen=
there are links which can be made= certain connections to be found= sometimesex6licit= sometimes more subtle= between the authoritarian tendencies in Marx
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7ha6ter /ne
work and the growth of totalitarianism in 3ussia8 It is these connections= these
authoritarian undercurrents= which I have tried to unearth in this debate between
Marx and the anarchists8
'his debate has revolved around the 9uestion of the 6lace of 6ower8Marxism= through its economic reductionism= has neglected the 6lace of 6ower8
It dismantles one form of 6ower= the bourgeois state= but repla!esit with another
kind of 6ower= the workers< state8 'hus= 6ower itself:its mechanisms= its
o6eration:remains unhindered8 In fact= 6ower is only reaffirmed and
6er6etuated by Marxism8 'his is what one learns from the anarchist criti9ue of
Marxism8 Marxism failed to revolutioni,e 6ower8 It has failed to overcome the
6lace of 6ower:it has succeeded only in renamingit8 A Marxian revolution is=
therefore= only a changing of the guard= the anarchists argue8 5ecause Marxismreduces social 6henomena to the ca6italist economy= it neglects= to its 6eril=
other autonomous sources of 6ower in society8 Moreover= this economic
reductionism has its roots in a egelian historicism* state 6ower cannot be
destroyed immediately in a socialist revolution because its existence is a
necessary 6art of the historical 6rocess8 Anarchism= on the other hand= tries to
esca6e= to some extent= this dialectical determinism by establishing a moral
6lace of sub@ectivity8 'his moral 6lace will be the sub@ect of the next cha6ter8
Notes
18 #ee Michel Foucault= ed8=3evolutionary Action* ;Cntil >ow=< B in :anguage,
*ounter67emory, $ra!ti!e /xford* 5asil 5lackwell= 1-2= !14)!""8
!8 Paul 'homas=arl 7ar8 and the %nar!hists London* 3outledge egan Paul=
1-4J2= !!8
"8 &eorg (ilhelm Friedrich egel= The $hilosophy of ight, trans. '8 M8 nox
7hicago* Encyclo6aedia 5ritannica= 1-$!2= 1$$)1$.8
%8 arl Marx= *ritiue of -egels ;Philoso6hy of 3ight=< ed8 ?ose6h /
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Marxism and the Problem of Power "$
18 eld and rieger= 'heories of the #tate* #ome 7om6eting 7laims=B %8
148 #ee Oladimir Ilich Lenin= The State and evolution The 7ar8ist Theory of the
State and the Tas"s of the $roletariat in the evolution Moscow* Progress Publishers=
1-.$28
1-8 >icos Poulant,as=$oliti!al $ower and So!ial *lasses London* Oerso= 1-42= !$48
!J8 3al6h Miliband= The State in *apitalist So!iety >ew Nork* 5asic 5ooks= 1-.-2= $8
!18 arl Marx= 'he &erman Ideology=B in The 7ar86'ngels eader, !d ed8=148
!!8 arl Marx= Manifesto of the 7ommunist Party=B in The 7ar86'ngels eader, !d
ed8= %.-)$JJ8
!"8 al +ra6er=arl 7ar8s Theory of evolution, vol.2 State and ?ureau!ra!y >ew
Nork* Monthly 3eview Press= 1-2= !%-8
!%8 'homas=arl 7ar8 and the %nar!hists,18!$8 arl Marx= 7ontribution to the *ritiue of -egels $hilosophy of ight
Introduction=B in The 7ar86'ngels eader, !d ed8=1.)!$8!.8 arl Marx= 7riti9ue of the &otha Program=B in The 7ar86'ngels eader, !d ed8=
$!$)$%18!8 arl Marx and Friedrich Engels= Address to the 7entral 7ommittee of the
7ommunist League=B in The 7ar86'ngels eader, !d ed8= $J1)$118!48 Marx= Manifesto=B %-J8
!-8 Friedrich Engels=%nti6&uhringMoscow* Progress Publishers= 1-.-2= """8
"J8 Marx= Manifesto=B %-J8
"18 arl Marx= After the 3evolution* Marx +ebates 5akunin=B in The 7ar86'ngels
eader, !d ed8=$%!)$%48"!8 3obert #altman= The So!ial and $oliti!al Thought of 7i!hael ?a"unin 7onnecticut*
&reenwood Press= 1-4"2= .-8
""8 'his 6oint of difference is summari,ed by Engels* 5akunin maintains that it is the
statewhich has created ca6ital= that the ca6italist has his ca6ital only #y the gra!e of the
state8 As= therefore= the state is the chief evil= it is above all the state which must be done
away with and then ca6italism will go to bla,es of itself8 (e= on the contrary= say* +o
away with ca6ital 8 8 8 and the state will fall away of itself8B #ee Friedrich Engels= Oersus
the Anarchists=B in The 7ar86'ngels eader,!d8 ed8=!4)!-8
"%8 Mikhail 5akunin=$oliti!al $hilosophy S!ientifi! %nar!hism,ed8 &8 P8 MaximoffLondon* Free Press of &lencoe= 1-4%2= !!18
"$8 Peter ro6otkin= The State /ts -istori! ole London* Freedom Press= 1-%"2= -8
".8 Mikhail 5akunin=From 1ut of the &ust#in ?a"unins ?asi! ritings 2CD362C42,
ed8 3obert M8 7utler Ann Arbor= Mi* Ardis= 1-4$2= !J8
"8 ro6otkin= The State, !48 Also 5ookchin elaborates an anarchist criti9ue of the
Marxist conce6tion of the #tate and its relation to class* Each #tate is not necessarily an
institutionali,ed system of violence in the interests of a s6ecific ruling class= as Marxism
would have us believe8 'here are many exam6les of states that were the ;ruling classL5= 1-2= 1J18
J8 Louis Althusser= 'he /b@ect of *apital=B ineading *apital,eds8 Louis Althusser and
Etienne 5alibar London* Oerso= 1--2= 1)1-48
18 Alex 7allinicos=/s There % Future for 7ar8ismE London* Macmillan Press= 1-4!2= .!)
.%8
!8 5ob ?esso6= State Theory $utting *apitalist States in their $la!e. 7ambridge=
C88* Polity Press= 1--J2= 4J8"8 3a66a6ort= Anarchism and Authority=B "%"8
%8 Michel Foucault= Power and #trategies=B in $ower0nowledge, 1"%)1%$8
".
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7ha6ter 'wo
The Uncontaminated %oint of &earture
Natural and Artificial Authorit)
'his struggle can be understood only through the conce6t of natural
authorityand its o66osition to artifi!ial authority. Anarchists do not re@ect all
forms of authority as the old clichG would have it8 /n the contrary= they declare
their absolute obedience to the authority embodied= as Mikhail 5akunin argues=
in natural laws8B >atural laws are essential to manothing
can free him= from their domination he is their unconditional slave8B-!owever=
anarchists argue that this is not a form of slavery because these laws are not
external to man8 'hey are= on the contrary= what constitute man:they are his
essence8 Man is constituted in a natural system he is 6art of nature and is thus
sub@ect to its laws8-"Man is inextricably 6art of a natural= organic society* Man
did not create society society existed before Man=B claims ro6otkin8-%
'herefore= natural authority [natural laws] is not external to human beings*
those laws are not extrinsic in relation to us= they are inherent in us= they
constitute our nature= our whole being 6hysically= intellectually and morally8B-$
>atural laws make u6 human nature according to 5akunin8 'hey determine
human essence8
Anarchism is based on a s6ecific notion of human essence8 For anarchists
there is a human nature with essential characteristics8 'his human nature is
distinguished by two faculties according to 5akunin* the thinking faculty andthe urge to rebel=B as well as free will8B-.Moreover= morality has its basis in
human nature= not in any external source* the idea of @ustice and good= like all
other human things= must have their root in man
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Anarchism "-
liberate man from slavery and ignorance8 For 5akunin= then= 6olitical
institutions are hostile and fatal to the liberty of the masses= for they im6ose
u6on them a system of external and therefore des6otic laws8B1JJ
In 5akunin
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7ha6ter 'wo
celestial #tate8B1J"5akunin shows the way in which 7hristianity
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Anarchism %1
addressed8 As we have seen in the 6revious cha6ter= Marxism was unable to
come to terms with this 9uestion and ended u6 reaffirming state 6ower8 For the
anarchist ro6otkin= all 6olitical struggles must have an end in mind* >o
destruction of the existing order is 6ossible= if at the time o