Anarchist Media

Anarchism may be argued to offer a paradigm of radical publishing—not in its popular equation with chaos, but as an approach based on voluntary cooperation. Individual freedom, unfettered by commercial or governmental interference; enterprises run on collective lines; diversity of opinion: These are all anarchist ideals. Anarchism challenges authority, questions its legitimacy, and helps people take control of their own lives and consequently of the societies in which they live. Insofar as it challenges authority, anarchism is against the state and for direct, fully participative democracy. For many alternative publishers, these goals can be realized by writing and publishing.

Anarchist and libertarian media advocates argue that their media (like all radical media) should demonstrate their arguments by practicing “pre-figurative politics,” the attempt to practice socialist principles in the present, not merely to imagine them for the future. Anarchist media should enable a broad range of political and social possibilities to be proposed and discussed.

The history of anarchist media can be viewed from three major perspectives. The first, primarily historical, views anarchist media as mouthpieces of anarchist organizations, publications to present and develop anarchist theory and practice, the products of political groupings that are more or less closed, intellectually based and elitist.

The second, the principal focus here, addresses more recent developments in anarchism, where media lean more toward collective and nonhierarchical models. Problems and tensions in contemporary anarchist media are as evident currently as historically, as will be noted. This perspective may also include media modeled on anarchist principles (whether they explicitly espouse and promote anarchism or not), that are employed to further the aims of collectively organized protest groups, known in the 1990s as the “New Protest.” Internet use is very significant in these recent developments.

A third and final perspective touched upon in conclusion views anarchism through the lens of the personal, where anarchist media become experiments in playful symbolic action.