On Anarchism

Although radical feminism is the best place to look when deconstructing sex-based oppression, it's important to recognize that writings from other radical women provide unique insights that are crucial to overcoming patriarchy. This comes to the fore when examining contemporary radfem proposals that pursue state-based remedies, and the problem with such remedies is explained by the esteemed Anarchist Emma Goldman, ¹ who observed “The interests of the State and those of the individual differ fundamentally and are antagonistic.” ²

Indeed:

Civilization has been a continuous struggle of the individual or of groups of individuals against the State and even against 'society,' that is, against the majority subdued and hypnotized by the State and State worship. ³

Notably, women were oppressed long before modern states formed, and it may be true that abolishing patriarchy will abolish the state, because the state is a patriarchal construct — which serves the key point here: state-based remedies bolster patriarchy instead of weakening it. This means we must not overlook the nature of states when devising solutions to sex-based oppression, because we have every reason to believe that state-based remedies cannot eradicate injustice and there's no reason to believe the state can be used to abolish itself. As Audre Lorde famously put it, “the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house.”

With regard to the political state, radical feminism itself is well aware of the need to look elsewhere for exposition, because “Feminism has no theory of the state.” ⁴ Anarchism's analysis of statism must be combined with radical feminism then, because Anarchism invalidates state intervention as a long-term strategy for women's liberation. Understanding that Anarchism offers a sophisticated model of the state and a potent takedown of statism, we see that activists fighting for women's liberation can draw on Anarchism to avoid allowing statist politics to derail the long-term goal of eliminating sex-based persecution.

However, while Anarchism rightly rejects statism (as well as Capitalism and hieratic modes of Marxism) and goes much of the way toward rejecting the politics of domination, it does not thoroughly reject patriarchy and it has a severe misogyny problem that persists to this day, ⁵ with many adherents and self-described “Anarcha-Feminist” thinkers promoting the twin horrors of porn and prostitution. But I include the adverb “thoroughly” in the previous sentence because not all forms of Anarchism are patriarchal, as Anarchy itself promotes strategic diversity, being based on the fundamental premise of “safeguarding a free community.” ⁶ This fundamental premise leads its most revered proponents not to declaim the ineffable superiority of their own plans, but instead to expect and embrace “different forms of economic co-operation existing side by side”, because “any social progress must be associated with free experimentation and practical testing out of new methods.” ⁷

Emma Goldman, whose life, theory, and practice remain remarkably relevant today despite the fact that she was most active a century ago.

With respect to social progress and supporting the community of women, the above matters because with the help of anti-patriarchal forms of Anarchism, activists working to end women's oppression can recognize that while the state is a present-day reality and must be factored into our plans, the state can not actually be used to win independence and freedom for women, because:

That slow and arduous liberation of the individual was not accomplished by the aid of the State. On the contrary, it was by continuous conflict, by a life-and death struggle with the State, that even the smallest vestige of independence and freedom has been won. ⁸

Accepting the analysis above while also taking inspiration from matriarchal studies, ⁹ Feminist Separatism, ¹⁰ and the proposals of Anarchist women, ¹¹ it would seem that male activists who want to support women face three fundamental concerns:

• Addressing women's immediate needs by using existing structures to promote secure working and living conditions, in the near-term

• Helping to develop comprehensive alternatives and institutional foundations for “different forms of economic co-operation existing side by side ... with free experimentation and practical testing out of new methods”, in the mid-term

• Building solidarity towards rejecting and overturning all patriarchal structures including the state, in the long-term

If you're interested in researching these concerns further and pursuing female Anarchist analysis, I recommend the excellent book Free Women of Spain by Martha A. Ackelsberg. For additional critiques of the state from a female Anarchist perspective, refer also to Louise Michel, Voltairine de Cleyre, and Lucy Parsons.