About these notes. This is the sub-topic lookup version. For the narrative scrollytelling lesson with the strand, dimension, sub-tradition and core-idea figures, use the Walk-through. For active recall, use the MCQ Quiz. For comparison practice, use the Strand comparison exercise. The cards below open one at a time and cover everything Paper 2 Q5 expects you to know on anarchism: the two strands, the four sub-traditions, the five named thinkers, the five spec core ideas and the exam method.
Likely exam angles. The 24-mark question lands on a dimension (human nature, the state, society, the economy) or on a spec core idea (rejection of the state, liberty, anarchy is order, economic freedom, utopian). The 2019 Q5a on the economy is the standard anarchism question. Each angle is covered in the cards below.
Anarchism is the ideology built around the rejection of the state. The 9PL0 spec is blunt: the state is "immoral as it rules by physical coercion and deceit, unjust in its defence of economic inequality and must be rejected due to its impact on human nature". All anarchists agree the state has to go - there is no anarchist version of a small or reformed state.
The communal strand. The 9PL0 spec: committed to common ownership to nurture rational, altruistic and cooperative human nature, through anarcho-communism, mutualism and anarcho-syndicalism. Named thinkers: Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin and Goldman.
The egoist strand. The 9PL0 spec: committed to freedom where rational, autonomous, competitive and self-interested individuals can make judgements in their own best interests, through anarcho-capitalism and egoism. Named thinker: Max Stirner.
| Sub-tradition | Umbrella | Ownership and method |
|---|---|---|
| Anarcho-communism | Collectivist | Common ownership of the means of production; distribution by need; revolution against state and property together. Kropotkin (with Goldman: revolution not reform). The strongest "anarchy is order" claim. |
| Mutualism | Collectivist | Possession based on use, not property; workers keep the fruits of their labour; built by peaceful means. Proudhon. "Liberty is the mother of order." |
| Egoism | Individualist | The sovereign ego trades on its own terms and opposes capitalism as a system; resistance by insurrection, not collective revolution. Stirner; the Union of Egoists. |
| Anarcho-capitalism | Individualist | Unfettered free market; private property central; private institutions replace the state's residual jobs. No named 9PL0 spec thinker - name it as a tradition; the reasoning travels through the individualist umbrella. |
| Thinker | Strand | What to use them for |
|---|---|---|
| Max Stirner (1806-1856) | Individualist (egoism) | The self-interested rational individual is the centre of the moral universe and the state. The future society is the Union of Egoists, brought about by insurrection, not overthrow of the state. |
| Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865) | Collectivist (mutualism) | Opposition to private property and to collectivism alike - property limits liberty and should be replaced by mutualism. The state should be overthrown by peaceful means. |
| Mikhail Bakunin (1814-1876) | Collectivist | Propaganda by the deed - a revolutionary act to spark wider revolution; the state is oppressive and must be abolished. Strong belief in human sociability; abolish private property and replace it with collectivisation. |
| Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) | Collectivist (anarcho-communism) | The scientific basis for mutual aid - cooperation allows human nature to flourish. Revolution to abolish the state and private property; a utopian vision where anarchy is order. |
| Emma Goldman (1869-1940) | Collectivist | The state is "a cold monster" and should be rejected as immoral. All political participation in the state and society is corrupting and futile - so revolution, not reform, is the only option. |
| Core idea | What it means | Where the strands split |
|---|---|---|
| Rejection of the state | The state is immoral, unjust and incompatible with human nature, and must be abolished. | Both reject it. Collectivist: it defends inequality (Bakunin, Kropotkin). Individualist: it crushes the ego (Stirner). Same conclusion, different ground. |
| Liberty | Liberty is incompatible with political authority and is critical to human nature. | Positive liberty through cooperative community (collectivist) versus negative liberty - freedom from all authority including the collective (individualist). |
| Anarchy is order | Social order emerges naturally and spontaneously without a state. | Both agree. Communes self-organise through mutual aid (Kropotkin) versus the Union of Egoists or market exchange (Stirner, anarcho-capitalism). |
| Economic freedom | The economy is a space where free individuals manage their own affairs without state ownership or regulation. | The sharpest split. Common ownership and abolition of private property (collectivist) versus a free market with private property (individualist). |
| Utopian | An idealised future society used to critique the present and answer the charge that anarchism is unachievable. | Collectivist embraces a positive future-society vision (Kropotkin's communes); individualist is less invested, focusing on the moral primacy of the individual now (Stirner). |
Agreement: both strands treat the state as oppressive to human nature, so the state must go; without it, human nature can flourish. Disagreement: cooperative and altruistic (Kropotkin) versus rational and self-sovereign (Stirner) - the deepest anarchist split. The spec flags "differing views of liberty and human nature within anarchism".
Agreement: both reject the state utterly - the deepest area of agreement in the ideology. Disagreement: the ground differs - economic inequality (Bakunin, Kropotkin) versus crushing of individual liberty (Stirner).
Agreement: both believe spontaneous order is possible without a state - anarchy is order. Disagreement: communal solidarity and federated communes versus the Union of Egoists, a voluntary association of self-sovereign individuals.
Agreement: both reject state ownership and regulation of the economy. Disagreement: the sharpest area - common ownership and abolition of private property (Proudhon, Kropotkin) versus a free market with private property (Stirner, anarcho-capitalism).