Anarchists and Labor Unions: An Analysis Using New Social Movement Theories

Williams, Dana M.

doi:10.1111/j.1743-4580.2009.00242.x

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…13) Incidentally, Breines (1982) argues that anarchists and pacifists had a substantial influence on the New Left, too, including Murray Bookchin, Paul Goodman, and C. Wright Mills. Also, for more on class differences in modern anarchism, see Williams (2009). Perhaps the most important political opportunity enabling the dramatic mobilization of anarchism in the 1990s was created by the fall of the Soviet Union. This incredible development affected not only Russia, but former Soviet republics and Eastern Europe.…”

Section: International Interaction Was Also Cited As An Opportunity Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Aiming to Overthrow the State (Without Using the State): Political Opportunities for Anarchist Movements

Williams

Lee

2012

Comp Sociol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The anarchist movement utilizes non-statist and anti-statist strategies for radical social transformation, thus indicating the limits of political opportunity theory and its emphasis upon the state. Using historical narratives from present-day anarchist movement literature, we note various events and phenomena in the last two centuries and their relevance to the mobilization and demobilization of anarchist movements throughout the world (Bolivia, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Greece, Japan, Venezuela). Labor movement allies, failing state socialism, and punk subculture have provided conditions conducive to anarchism, while state repression and Bolshevik success in the Soviet Union constrained success. This variation suggests that future work should attend more closely to the role of national context, and the interrelationship of political and non-political factors.

show abstract

Section: International Interaction Was Also Cited As An Opportunity Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Aiming to Overthrow the State (Without Using the State): Political Opportunities for Anarchist Movements

Williams

Lee

2012

Comp Sociol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Veganism has received so much media coverage, for example, that vegan products are experiencing very strong growth and even non-vegans are willing to pay a premium to purchase vegan food (Martinelli & De Canio, 2022). Anarchists receive far less media coverage and such coverage tends to portray them as bomb-throwers, violent nihilists or chaos-creators (Williams, 2009). Greater Openness would therefore be required to join this group.…”

Section: Openness To Experiencementioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of personality traits of two anti‐oppression groups: Vegans and anarchists

Desjardins,

Giroux,

Gamache

2024

Anal Soc Iss & Public Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Veganism and anarchism are burgeoning worldwide, yet very few studies have examined the psychological characteristics of people belonging to these two anti‐oppression groups. The present study investigated whether vegans and anarchists, on the one hand, and activists and non‐activists belonging to these two groups, on the other hand, exhibit distinct personality profiles. To this end, a sample of 180 adults who self‐identify as vegans or anarchists completed an online socio‐demographic questionnaire, the HEXACO Personality Inventory, and the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen. A discriminant function analysis showed that anarchists are more likely than vegans to self‐identify as belonging to a gender other than female or male, or to identify with no gender at all. Further, the proportion of men was larger in the anarchist group than in the vegan group. In terms of personality traits, vegans scored higher on the Conscientiousness, Emotionality, and Honesty–Humility dimensions than anarchists did. Anarchists scored higher than vegans on Openness to Experience and Psychopathy. Activists and non‐activists were not distinguished based on gender or personality traits. While the dynamics of power and oppression toward humans and toward animals share common factors, the present results suggest that veganism and anarchism attract anti‐oppression advocates with distinct personality profiles.

show abstract

“…Avant‐garde and guerrilla theater tactics from the 1960s to the present have been influenced by an antiauthoritarian, ludic, playful approach (Shepard, ) that continues to generate spectacle‐laden “protestivals” (St. John, ). The diversity of these movement tactics is sometimes connected to the ideological subvariants that anarchists prefer; “red” anarchists tend to be more interested in community organizing and activism and tend to prioritize labor strikes, while “green” anarchists tend to favor insurrections, rioting, and property destruction (Williams, , ). Contemporary red and green approaches both reflect the anarchist tradition of insurrections, dual power, and revolutionary class conflict.…”

Section: Defining Anarchism and Anarchistic Movementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contemporary anarchist and anarchistic movements

Williams

2018

Sociology Compass

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although the period of highest activity for anarchist movements peaked in the early 1990s, such movement continues in the present. Contemporary antiauthoritarian movements are a product of the 1950s and New Left, as well as the USSR's demise. Antiauthoritarian movements are either explicitly anarchist or implicitly anarchist (thus, simply “antiauthoritarian,” “autonomist,” or “libertarian‐socialist”). Anarchist identity is diverse, although anchored around an opposition to dominant culture, institutions, and hierarchical norms. The values and goals pursued revolve around a principled adoption of horizontalism, direct action, antiauthoritarianism, decentralization, anticapitalism, and mutual aid. These anarchist movements are unique movements, yet they also run parallel to certain movements—in both the adoption of anarchist strategies and membership overlap—such as antifascist, global justice, and squatter movements. Confrontational and playful street tactics combine with strategies of reclamation of radically egalitarian space, in opposition to hierarchical society. Despite their association with violence, contemporary anarchist movements are fairly nonviolent; however, many anarchists do not disavow the selective use of violence. Thus, massive efforts of social control through police and mass media attempt to moderate, disrupt, and suppress anarchist movements.

show abstract

Anarchists and Labor Unions: An Analysis Using New Social Movement Theories

Cited by 5 publications

References 30 publications

Aiming to Overthrow the State (Without Using the State): Political Opportunities for Anarchist Movements

Aiming to Overthrow the State (Without Using the State): Political Opportunities for Anarchist Movements

Comparison of personality traits of two anti‐oppression groups: Vegans and anarchists

Contemporary anarchist and anarchistic movements

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About