A core principle of anarchism is rejection of nationalism. The view is derived from the principle that nationalism is a false ideology that divides the working classes or suppresses individual expression. But it is easier to levy critiques of dominant nations than oppressed ones. This question is not as irrelevant as many assume: it is dismissed as “it isn’t the 60s anymore” and “irrelevant for anarchists.” Palestine, Ireland, North American Land Back, Euskadi, and other movements for liberation continue. Palestine is obviously the most prominent and anarchists cannot afford to ignore it, whether from a revolutionary practice or a purely analytical perspective. But despite that, anarchists cannot just “go along” with the popular ideas of the times and must think for themselves. How can we engage in these struggles while also being honest about the logical outcome of nationalism, i.e. new states?
I am reminded of a conversation I had with a friend, while discussing anarchist involvement in the Ukrainian defense against Russian invasion, who argued that Makhno was a national liberationist-anarchist. I disagreed. The anarchist struggle in Ukraine wasn’t truly a national liberation movement, but an anarchist one, where the removal of foreign AND domestic tyrants were the goal. German Mennonite landowners (later German war imperialists), Tsarist Russian (later Bolshevik and White army invaders) political and cultural domination AND Ukrainian nationalist bourgeoisie were enemies of Makhno and the Black Army.
The Ukrainian domestic situation is clear to anarchists: oppose the state and economic exploitation. In regards to the fight with foreign powers, the Russians and Germans, it was this accepted anarchist struggle plus the ability to maintain cultural and social independence. To speak Ukrainian as one wished or to maintain other cultural-social elements. For example, projects such as “Little Russia” and “Greater Russia” are both historic and contemporary attempts to erase Ukrainian culture, bringing them under a Russian or Pan-Slavic (with Russian dominant!) identity. Makhno was in opposition to these. Makhno, meeting Lenin, met this sort of colonial attitude. Makhno writes in his “My Visit to the Kremlin”: Lenin: “So, comrade, you’re from the South of Russia?” Makhno: “Yes, I’m from the Ukraine.” South of Russia was a continuation of a dismissal of the Ukrainian cultural identity. Makhno rejected it by affirming the name of Ukraine. To hammer this, he later recounted, “’But I must tell you, comrade Lenin, that your assertion that the anarchists don’t understand ‘the present’ realistically, that they have no real connection with it and so forth, is fundamentally mistaken. The anarchist-communists in the Ukraine (or the ‘South of Russia’ to you communist-bolsheviks who try to avoid the word Ukraine)…’” He also called attention to the Ukrainian peasant efforts against the Austro-German occupation and the nationalist government, the Central Rada.
The translator of the text I am quoting from also points to the fact that Makhno defended the Ukrainian identity from a political perspective, not a nationalist one one.
Moving on from the history lesson and to my main argument: a nation is an artificial concept. Perlman correctly notes that nation-states create national identities, they are not born from them. A nation is a flattening of cultural experience. Look to England before modernity: a wide expanse of linguistic, cultural, political expression. With the rise of England as a state, one needed to create a nation to justify itself: a standardized English via printing press and policy, uniform political expression, etc. So, it may be better said anarchists should encourage and support cultural autonomy (language, ritual, etc) and not national autonomy, as a national identity is a tool for statecraft. Take the United States for an example: Anarchists’ view of personal and group autonomy should (in the mind of this author) include respect for Indigenous cultures seeking the ability to express their cultures, especially without “permission” from the US government. This is not the same as advocating some sort of Indigenous state.
I will quote from Alfredo M. Bonanno who said “The anarchist programme concerning the national liberation struggle is therefore clear: it must not go towards constituting an “intermediate stage” towards the social revolution through the formation of new national States. Anarchists refuse to participate in national liberation fronts; they participate in class fronts which may or may not be involved in national liberation struggles. The struggle must spread to establish economic, political and social structures in the liberated territories, based on federalist and libertarian organisations.”
PS: Wayne, I am not advocating anarchists join the Ukrainian military, don't take this as supporting your silly ideas!:)
Questions:
1a. What (if any) ongoing movements, presented as national liberation, can anarchists engage in with little fear of perceived contradiction?
1b. What ones exist that make this more difficult?
2. What local cultural movements (Indigenous religious expression, for example) are you involved it and does it feel connected to your anarchist beliefs?
3. How do you differentiate cultural identity from national identity?
Comments
“If the nation were only a…
anonymous (not verified) Sun, 11/30/2025 - 09:24
“If the nation were only a spiritual and cultural fact, the most one could ask of the forces available for a national liberation struggle in Sicily would be that of fighting for a better and more recent and complete edition of the best Sicilian-Italian dictionary available.”
Some very common theoretical errors, by Alfredo M. Bonanno (1982)
We must always keep in mind…
anonymous (not verified) Sun, 11/30/2025 - 22:05
We must always keep in mind that behind all nation States and hierarchy there is a psycho-political theatre dominated by narcissistic personalities and their minions. The 3 dominant narcissistic politicians sowing chaos and pain are Trump, Putin and Netanyahu. Narcissists lack empathy and believe they are never wrong, and are devoid of self-awareness.
shrinks out of anarchy
anonymous (not verified) Mon, 12/01/2025 - 18:55
In reply to We must always keep in mind… by anonymous (not verified)
shut up with ur brain policing psych prison therapyspeak
kinda tired of how even anarchists engage in this shit
No we must not feed the rank…
anonymous (not verified) Tue, 12/02/2025 - 14:12
In reply to shrinks out of anarchy by anonymous (not verified)
No we must not feed the rank and self-esteem of these thirsty politicized power hungry monsters. This is humane-speak, not control-speak you BAMS (bitter angry mom-obsessive syndrome) afflicted person.
You're critique is so…
anonymous (not verified) Thu, 12/04/2025 - 19:37
In reply to shrinks out of anarchy by anonymous (not verified)
You're critique is so superficial, like, Trump pardoning the drug cartel boss, For narcissists like Trump, IT'S ALL ABOUT TRIGGERING the Other, they FEED OFF division and DRAMA. That is their whole MO, and it flows down through the entire social network.
When have you seen a…
anonymous (not verified) Mon, 12/01/2025 - 20:05
In reply to We must always keep in mind… by anonymous (not verified)
When have you seen a bureaucrat or even an elect politician acknowledging they're in the wrong about anything? You likely haven't, coz in their own systems, bureaucrats are never wrong. Because the "people" they represent, the mandates they got, can't be. The guilt is always thrown at the Other, that are not in office. Putin? Trump? Bibi? They're just exacerbations of this pattern... which historically results in the creation of monarchies and empires. Bureaucrats are all Little Eichmanns by default. They gotta be... or else they lose credibility.
Tens, maybe hundreds of thousands have died in nursery homes due to managerial sociopaths of the healthcare system during the Covid crisis, for instance. They did it for the subsidies cash grab. Looking only at the big bad guys currently in charge of superpowers drives our attention away from the pettier despots that are at our arm's reach.
The Greek definition for a "hierarch" is what? The leader of the rituals... ergo those managing the spectacle. These are still the people "in charge". Even Debord was one, at least for a time.
Jim Jones was a narcissist…
anonymous (not verified) Sat, 12/06/2025 - 02:56
In reply to We must always keep in mind… by anonymous (not verified)
Jim Jones was a narcissist and so yes, they can make people die for the continuation of their power and ego just like dictators.
sighs.. when will you fools ever, ever learn?
GEF (not verified) Sat, 12/06/2025 - 08:06
In reply to Jim Jones was a narcissist… by anonymous (not verified)
Hierarchy is a *social relationship*; not about individual narcissists. There's narcissist sociopaths all over the place; some go high up the social ladder and others end up sleep under the overpass. Coz the former usually had the leadership from mom & dad, one that's suited for more or less specific cultures.
But more importantly there's no shepherd without sheep; you need gullible/docile/clueless people in order for a narcissist to take power and rule over them. And they need to let themselves bow down into this relation, where they listen to and follow them... no questions asked, ideally. But the more clever gurus will on the contrary feed off the questions asked. So the best way to deal with authoritarians is just to fucking quit feeding them, quit being at their mercy and leave them on their own to think of their behavior (if they ever will).
*social relationships* are passé, it's media propaganda now.
anonymous (not verified) Sat, 12/06/2025 - 13:56
In reply to sighs.. when will you fools ever, ever learn? by GEF (not verified)
*takes deep breath and exhales* Yes, but individual narcissists initiated the formation and organizational energy to create the *social relationships(now media influencing propaganda)* which perpetuate and magnify hierarchy into structured organisations which become political parties, thus, "fools" is now those duped into believing "individual narcissists" are passé. (see Trump)
Trump is a made-up leader…
anonymous (not verified) Sat, 12/06/2025 - 20:01
In reply to *social relationships* are passé, it's media propaganda now. by anonymous (not verified)
Trump is a made-up leader and bogeyman. The Trump from 20, 30 years ago was a joke and a media figure. Yes, he's a narcissist giga-asshole, but that doesn't mean he isn't a stand-in figure for an equally made-up political movement... A simulacra does not only comprise whoever is its leader figure, when there's one.
But "stand-in figure" is the…
anonymous (not verified) Sun, 12/07/2025 - 05:52
In reply to Trump is a made-up leader… by anonymous (not verified)
But "stand-in figure" is the exact methodology of the narcissist. They take on a different persona to suit the occasion to gain popularity. Like, before he even considered being President, he quipped about going for the presidency after a moronic supporter yelled out to him " Hey Donny baby, why don't you go for the presidency?" All political parties are made-up movements which wax and wane according to its influencing power, its "Charisma" which the dumb populists worship, and who have the most insidious and manipulative charisma in the whole world? WEALTHY NARCISSISTS!!!
"moronic supporter yelled…
anonymous (not verified) Sun, 12/07/2025 - 08:07
In reply to But "stand-in figure" is the… by anonymous (not verified)
"moronic supporter yelled out to him " Hey Donny baby, why don't you go for the presidency?"
Because even that idiot was part of the set up. This is all staged. You haven't seen the footage of Trump cosplaying as US President, a few years before the first term?
Also, Hitler and Stalin were…
anonymous (not verified) Sun, 12/07/2025 - 06:35
In reply to Trump is a made-up leader… by anonymous (not verified)
Also, Hitler and Stalin were narcissists, and Machiavelli, Churchill, Mao,,,,should I continue, hmmm?
Anarchs should go out into…
Le Way, (not verified) Mon, 12/01/2025 - 16:00
Anarchs should go out into the woods and wildernesses occassionally to cleanse themselves of the cultural and political constructs which disconnect them from their quintessential anarch spirit and will.
in last weeks totw i argued…
13:32 (not verified) Wed, 12/03/2025 - 10:58
in last weeks totw i argued for looking at theory other than strictly @ . i should have added quantum theory to that list as well. anarchist fear of perceived contradiction just might be our Achilles heel. anarchy is a negative, (a without rulers, without all the bad things), so that makes it hard to say what anarchy is in any inherent way. we seem to only be able to say what it isn't.
all to say this, to some nation means culture, but to others it means the State. i think we strive for flexibility in understanding what another means by using a particular term rather than merely tossing aside some line of thought because a bad word has been uttered.
we do, very much so, need to keep in mind and understand the difference between nation as culture and nation as state, but also keep in mind that contradictory things can be true at the same time.
it is my understanding that "nation" as in "First Nations", is not just humans and their language & customs, but the more-than-human beings as well, the place of beings, the terroir, the land, water, plants of place. and to my mind that is the preferable direction to wander into in terms of how humans and our anarchy fit in to Earth and its anarchy.
Ironically, anarchism is…
anonymous (not verified) Thu, 12/04/2025 - 23:15
In reply to in last weeks totw i argued… by 13:32 (not verified)
Ironically, anarchism is absorbed with the aesthetics of morality and committment to achieve a non-hierarchical and autonomous lifestyle free of authority, and fun also.
i'm not sure what you mean…
13:32 (not verified) Fri, 12/05/2025 - 08:11
In reply to Ironically, anarchism is… by anonymous (not verified)
i'm not sure what you mean by "absorbed with." i read it as "obsessed with" and that is not my experience, at least in what anarchists say about their practice. unless "aesthetics" is meant as a dig ?? it is hard to parse words when there is no body attached to them.
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