:-: What’s in it for me? Discover the history of anarchism and its influence on modern society :-:

There’s no doubt you’ve heard of anarchism. Sadly, the term is often used in a negative sense to describe chaos, riots or even societal collapse.

But the true meaning of anarchism is anything but negative. Indeed, it was originally a term used by many key nineteenth-century philosophers to describe their vision of a more egalitarian and just society.

So what is the main goal of anarchism? It seeks to remove all oppressive hierarchies from human life, whether that hierarchy is imposed by the state and its police forces, by patriarchal social systems or even by religious organizations. Once these oppressive elements are removed, anarchists envision societies based on mutual cooperation, direct democracy and communities federalizing with others for the benefit of all.

Although it grew out of the failures of the French Revolution in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, anarchism remains as relevant today as it was back then.

With crises such as increasing inequality and climate change looming ever larger, anarchist theories may represent an unlikely lifeline.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

• how anarchism flourished on a large scale during the Spanish Civil War;
• why anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon said that property is both “theft” and “freedom”;
• how anarchist ideas could help solve the problem of overcrowding in modern prisons.