Red vs. green: regional variation of anarchist ideology in the United States

Abstract

Anarchism is a philosophy opposed to hierarchy and authority, and is used as a critical lens to analyze the whole of human society. As with members of all social groupings, anarchists differ from each other in many ways, one of which is their political ideology. At least two visibly distinct ideological variants of anarchism are distinguishable in the US-a red anarchism that emphasizes economic concerns and a green anarchism that focuses upon the environment. American anarchists have long assumed, based upon anecdotal evidence, that there are differences in ideological variant identification between those on the two US coasts. Using survey data, two distinct measures of ideology were formed and respondents were classified into four separate US regions. Although the majority of anarchists do not specify a particular orientation, Northeasterners were associated with red anarchism, while Westerners were associated with green anarchism. These differences may be created and/or reinforced by structural or organizational factors.

Contemporary anarchist and anarchistic movements

“…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.…”

“…These conscious anarchists may identify with a variety of ideological subvariants, such as anarcho‐communism, anarcho‐syndicalism, anarcha‐feminism, and eco‐anarchism. Such distinctive subvariants also possess spatial patterns: American anarcho‐communists and anarcho‐syndicalists (so‐called red anarchists) were more likely found in the Northeast, while primitivists and eco‐anarchists (“green anarchists”) on the West coast (Williams, 2009a). Explicit anarchists often include the word “anarchist” in their literature, external discussions, and even their organizational names.…”

Radicaliser l’action collective : portrait de l’option libertaire au Québec

“…L'intérêt de cette étude de cas tient notamment à la nécessité d'actualiser les rares travaux qui se sont intéressés à la question de l'enracinement québécois du phénomène global de résurgence du courant libertaire (Delisle-L'Heureux et Dupuis-Déri, 2007 ;LambertPilotte et al, 2007 ;Gaudet et Sarrasin, 2008). Cette recherche poursuit ainsi la démarche de même nature portant sur l'incarnation récente de l'expérience libertaire en Europe (Della Porta, 2004, Agrikoliansky et al, 2005, aux États-Unis (Epstein, 2001 ;Williams et Lee, 2008 ;Williams, 2009) ou encore en Israël et en Palestine (Gordon, 2008), pour ne nommer que quelques-uns de ces travaux. Même si l'anarchisme est présent dans les luttes sociales au Québec depuis la fin du XIX e siècle (Houle-Courcelles, 2008), on peut en effet convenir que la tradition libertaire y était moins bien implantée qu'en d'autres contrées avant les mobilisations altermondialistes qui ont marqué les décennies 1990 et 2000.…”

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

“…4 4 Such regional variation is also reflected in the types of anarchist organizations (see Williams and Lee 2008) and ideological variation, such as Williams's (2009) study of red and green anarchist variation in the U.S. …”