Myths About Anarchism, Democracy, and Decision-Making

From Radical Theory and History by Zoe Baker

In 2022 I wrote an essay called Anarchism and Democracy which summarised what members of the historical anarchist movement thought about democracy and how they made collective decisions (Baker 2022). This essay was subsequently completely misunderstood by both pro-democracy and anti-democracy anarchists as saying things it does not say and which I have never said. Over the subsequent years these distortions and misinterpretations have taken on a life of their own and altered how people read and remember my essay. In parallel to these developments both old and new myths about historical anarchist views on democracy and collective decision-making have continued to spread. In this essay I shall go through these myths one by one and debunk them. Through doing so I shall expand on topics that my previous essay only briefly touched on.

The Counter-revolution of 1776, the Genocide of 1779 and the “Village Destroyer” Washington

From Black Rose Anarchist Federation by Brendan Maslauskas Dunn

This world is engulfed in a whirlwind of myths. But myths give meaning. Every fourth of July I reflect on the power that myths hold over people and how those people above, those that hold all the power, wield those myths and forge them into cudgels, and weapons to be used to keep all of us subservient. To create feelings of doubt when you veer off the path they created. Those myths, especially those creation myths of how the US became a nation started at a young age.

Subscribe to myths