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Title: An Anarchist FAQ: Freedom Interview Author: Anarcho Date: 7th October 2006 Language: en Topics: An Anarchist FAQ, interview, Freedom Press Source: Retrieved on 28th January 2021 from https://anarchism.pageabode.com/?p=147 Notes: Freedom Interview about An Anarchist FAQ
Published in Freedom, 7^(th) October 2006 (vol. 67 no. 19). Freedom is
the leading English-language anarchist newspaper, published fortnightly
in London. Originally founded by Kropotkin in 1886, it is still going
strong 120 years later.
It is a long, but comprehensive, webpage of “Frequently Asked Questions”
about anarchism on the internet (www.anarchistfaq.org) and soon to be a
book by AK Press. It covers most of the obvious questions you would
expect, plus some more obscure ones. It attempts to present anarchism as
a serious political theory and movement to those interested in finding
out about it as well as being a resource for anarchists.
collective behind it?
Lots of people have contributed to it, most of them probably unknowingly
as cut and paste has been applied to good arguments and points made by
anarchists all the time. There is a collective, although numbers
fluctuate as people take breaks and volunteer. I have been there from
the start and am the main contributor and editor as well as doing the
revisions for publication.
Initially, we had a list of what we thought an anarchist FAQ should
contain. People volunteered to do different sections and did the
necessary research and writing. Once the initial framework was there,
additions have been made as they were deemed required. Usually when a
new anarchist book comes out and it contains a good quote, argument or
fact but also when we notice new arguments against anarchism or it looks
like comrades need help with certain subjects. For specific areas (for
example, economics and history) we use the net and libraries to find
qualified sources to bolster our arguments. But as far as anarchism
goes, we consider anarchists to be the relevant experts and base
ourselves on the movement and what its members say and do.
Just your typical anarchists, working class people who believe strongly
in anarchism and seek to convince others of our ideas. We are not
academics – we have real jobs! The collective has seen many
nationalities and we have got contributions from anarchists across the
globe.
of 1,000 pages each!) and how comprehensive do you think it is?
Well, I’ll give some figures. Section A (“What is Anarchism?”) is
slightly over 104,000 words. In total, excluding appendices, it is over
890,000 words. And most of that has not been revised! The length
indicates its comprehensiveness, I would say. It is long because we want
to make it a valuable resource for the anarchist movement and to
convince sympathetic people that our ideas are worth considering. Also,
we have to spend a lot of time refuting frequently asserted nonsense
about anarchism. It always takes up more space to refute a falsehood
than to make it. If Leninists could bother to read a book about
anarchism before spouting off about it, the FAQ would be a lot shorter…
ideas etc that are being considered?
It all dates back to the early 1990s when many anarchists first became
aware of the internet. We logged on to anarchist newsgroups and webpages
and came across self-proclaimed capitalist “anarchists” (unsurprisingly,
Americans). After numerous arguments with these people on how
“anarcho”-capitalism is an obvious oxymoron, a group of us decided that
it would make more sense to produce a FAQ which indicated why anarchism
is, by definition, anti-capitalist (socialist) and just refer to that.
At the suggestion of Mike Huben (maintainer of the “Critiques of
[right-wing] Libertarianism” webpage), we turned it into an Anarchist
FAQ. Since then, the FAQ has expanded and developed. While it still
shows its genesis somewhat, it has become much, much more (if it were to
be started anew “anarcho”-capitalism would be totally consigned to an
appendix).
As for spin-offs, well the AK book will only include the appendix on
“The Symbols of Anarchy”. The appendices on Marxism and the Russian
Revolution could make good pamphlets and books (the account of the
Kronstadt rebellion is definitive, I would say).
produce the book?
The webpage is pretty successful. Most anarchist webpages link to it. It
is mirrored in numerous places (including leading anarchist sites like
www.infoshop.org, www.anarchism.ws and www.libcom.org). It has been
translated. There has been a steady flow of praise. As for producing the
book, its success alerted AK Press that it would be a good idea to print
it. But when I was working on it initially, I thought that it would make
a good book as it was summarising 19^(th) and 20^(th) century anarchism
and so laying a foundation for building the movement for the next
century. However, I’m glad that it has been a decade before publishing
it as it has improved considerably from the early versions. While most
of it has stood the test of time (and just been expanded), a few
sections needed considerable reworking.
(along with elements of the FAQ itself) as a potential ‘official’ source
of information on the subject of anarchism. Would you say this is a
vindication of the book’s purpose, an accurate portrayal?
Totally. I’m lost count of the nonsense I’ve read about anarchism in
academic and Marxist accounts. Basic errors, arguments that have been
answered by anarchist thinkers, including “anarcho”-capitalism as a form
of anarchism, and so on. The list is endless. As for Wikipedia, it is
not that controversial. Anarchists come along and reference it,
“anarcho”-capitalists say that it is “self-published” and is not a valid
source. Which is, of course, simply an excuse to bar it and a new one
will surely be discovered once it is published.
The reason why anarchists want to cite it is because it does reflect
what most anarchists think anarchism is. And that is the same reason why
the “anarcho”-capitalists there seek to exclude it as a valid reference!
Given that the FAQ is the most obvious barrier to their attempts to
redefine anarchism and rewrite our history, I can understand why they do
so – they need to exclude anarchists from defining anarchism otherwise
their pretensions would be exposed!
What have been the best bits of feedback on the website?
My favourite part is seeing how much of it has stood the test of time
(the worse is seeing how badly put some of it is!). So I’ve enjoyed
taking the time to make it better, to clarify issues and to apply what
I’ve learned over the last decade. As for feedback, the best ones are
from people writing to say that we presented what they think anarchism
is. That makes it worthwhile. And people pointing out typos!
It was officially released on the 19^(th) of July, 1996, so over ten
years. It has taken so long simply because it is produced by people
working on it in their spare time. Taking myself, I have to juggle
family life, work and activism as well as revising the FAQ ready for
publication. Plus, new books come out all the time and anarchists say
and get up to new things, and so update it to reflect new developments.
Another issue is that I got sidetracked somewhat on the section on
Marxism. I have wanted to do a comprehensive anarchist critique of
Marxism since I became an anarchist way back in the 1980s. Much of that
work, on the Russian Revolution, is in an appendix now and, while
important, it did delay getting the main sections finished!
No backers. It is a labour of love. As I am a wage slave, I think it
helps make the FAQ more grounded in reality than some academic produced
works on anarchism. But, if any wealthy backers do wish to come forward
I would not object…
paper?
Thanks to the “anti-capitalist” protests a few years back, interest in
anarchism has increased. Luckily the FAQ was already there. This meant
that during the Genoa protests, when the BBC decided to inform its
readers what anarchists wanted they linked to the FAQ. That was great,
knowing that people would be getting an accurate account of anarchism.
But the need to get it in a more accessible format was obvious (reading
things online is not ideal and, of course, excludes those without an
internet connection). Hopefully, people will think our effort is worth
it.