This is the second post in an effort to think through the political experiences of the libertarian left in the last ten years. Like the other posts, it is highly subjective and more an attempt to make sense of my own perspective than anything else. It focuses on the anarchist tendency to privilege action over political argument in the light of the institutional turn. In making these points, I am aware that I conflate tendencies associated with the ‘new anarchists’ and anarchism more broadly. All the same, I think that on this score the conflation is justified, and I include a couple of examples of ‘old’ anarchists operating along these lines. At the same time, the motivation for writing this post is to reflect on my own thinking and priorities of the last ten years, which shared what I now see as the drawbacks of this approach.
Just do it?
Just do it?
Just do it?
This is the second post in an effort to think through the political experiences of the libertarian left in the last ten years. Like the other posts, it is highly subjective and more an attempt to make sense of my own perspective than anything else. It focuses on the anarchist tendency to privilege action over political argument in the light of the institutional turn. In making these points, I am aware that I conflate tendencies associated with the ‘new anarchists’ and anarchism more broadly. All the same, I think that on this score the conflation is justified, and I include a couple of examples of ‘old’ anarchists operating along these lines. At the same time, the motivation for writing this post is to reflect on my own thinking and priorities of the last ten years, which shared what I now see as the drawbacks of this approach.