Freedom Press is the oldest anarchist publisher in the UK and perhaps the world. Based in Angel Alley, Whitechapel, London E1, it was founded in 1886 by Charlotte Wilson and Peter Kropotkin, amongst others. It published the anarchist periodical Freedom on and off for over 120 years until earlier this year when the collective decided to cease regular publication and instead move towards an online presence.
The website is worth looking at for a series of excellent articles. Green Anarchism: Towards the Abolition of Hierarchy is a really good piece that appeared recently and serves as a thoughtful introduction to green anarchism and one I agree with on most points.
Beginning with traditional collectivist or social anarchism, it describes the importance of the abolition of hierarchy and “that particular instances of domination cannot be separated from the broader hierarchical system that they all arise from.”
It then focuses on green anarchism and its critique of how humans interact with the natural world because: “the most consistent struggle for liberation must be total, and not merely oppose those forms of hierarchy that appeal the most to our convenience, but strive instead for the liberation of all forms of life from hierarchical domination.”
Speciesism – the oppression of non-human animals – is one of the most obvious examples of hierarchical domination and the writer concludes that “what species one happens to be a member of is ultimately irrelevant…meaning that anarchist struggles should be broadened to include animal liberation as well.”
Social ecology is a theory that has developed to explain hierarchy which says human domination over nature has its roots in the way humans dominate each other: “social ecology asserts that social issues and ecological issues are inseparable, because social hierarchy is ultimately responsible for our hierarchical attitude towards the non-human world.”
The article concludes with the statement that green anarchism is an “expression of anarchism in its most highly developed and most coherent form” and to combat hierarchy in all its forms we must build “a broad and coherent movement – an ecology of resistance – that is capable of opposing it on all fronts.”
The writer finishes by asking if we can create the most exciting and most revolutionary epoch there has ever been or “remain confined by our prejudices until all hope of survival has rotted into dust.”
Well written and concise though it is, articles like this nothing new – I wrote one myself for Green Anarchist about 30 years ago. The big challenge for anarchists is how we put these theories into practice and I would contend that class struggle is of central importance here. It’s only when the vast majority of ordinary people decide to rise up against the system that we can change it. That’s why there has to be red alongside black and green.
But the importance to that struggle of the ideas of green anarchism and social ecology cannot be overestimated and we need them to ensure that from the revolution there emerges a society where all forms of exploitation and domination have been overthrown and there is freedom and equality for all, regardless of age, race, gender, disability, sexuality and species.
http://freedomnews.org.uk/green-anarchism-towards-the-abolition-of-hierarchy/
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