Social anarchism , a left-libertarian (formerly) of the
social anarchist school In its oldest form, "left-libertarianism" was used synonymously with
social anarchism. Although social anarchism and other forms of left-libertarianism share similar roots and concerns, social anarchism has distinguished itself as a distinct ideological tradition, due to its fundamental
rejection of the state. In contrast to
individualist tendencies, social anarchism rejects private property and market relations, which they believe will be eliminated with the abolition of the state. Social anarchism, originally associated with the libertarianism of
Joseph Déjacque, has historically encompassed
collectivist anarchism,
anarchist communism and
anarcho-syndicalism; each of which became influential tendencies in the
Russian and
Spanish Revolutions. The contemporary left-libertarian
Murray Bookchin advocated for the replacement of the state with a libertarian communist
society, which he saw as a
decentralized confederation of
municipalities, in which decisions would be made by
direct democracy. Bookchin was also harshly critical of individualist anarchism, which he held responsible for the failure of left-libertarianism to take a prominent place in public discourse.
New social movements In 1960s Germany, the libertarian left was a dominant current in the extra-parliamentary opposition, "
Außerparlamentarische Opposition" (ApO). The
punk scene provoked an expansion of the libertarian left: "a broader 'libertarian left' influence can be discerned in punk and post-punk's engagement with gender relations, sexuality, consumerism, imperialism and so forth". Northern Europe saw an upsurge in radical left-libertarian activism, squatting and urban unrest at the turn of the 1980s. From this point until the late 2010s, "the main tendency in radical left activism shifted from party-based
Marxism-Leninism to network-based, direct-action activism based on libertarian socialist ideals… shifting [in this period] from direct-action networks that engaged in a variety of political issue—anti-fascism, anti-imperialism, feminism, animal rights, etc.—to more 'conventional' networks of organizations and initiatives through which activists intervened in local politics and neighborhood and workplace conflicts. The same period also saw the [radical left libertarian movements] become less disruptive and violent, in favor of tactical pragmatism and conventional forms of protest".
Free-market anti-capitalism , a left-libertarian of the free-market anti-capitalist school Alongside social anarchists, left-wing proponents of free-market economics have associated themselves with left-libertarianism, also partly influenced by the New Left. This post-classical definition has been used synonymously with the
free-market anti-capitalism ( left-wing market anarchism) advocated by
Kevin Carson,
Gary Chartier, and
Charles W. Johnson, who together formed the
Alliance of the Libertarian Left and the subsequent
Center for a Stateless Society. Drawing from the views of
American individualist anarchists such as
Benjamin Tucker and
Lysander Spooner, left-wing market anarchists defend the use of free markets and private property, which they consider to have an "essential coordinating role" in society. Free-market anti-capitalists hold
market intervention responsible for capitalist control of the
means of production, a situation they believe will be solved by the introduction of free competition. Building on Tucker's ideas, Kevin Carson has also defended the
labor theory of value and
occupancy-and-use land ownership, although not all free-market anti-capitalists agree with these positions. Like social anarchists and unlike many right-libertarians, left-wing market anarchists are opposed to capitalism and other forms of oppression such as
racism and
sexism; they consider this anti-oppression politics to be an integral part of left-libertarianism.
Green politics and left libertarian parties The green movement, especially its more left-wing factions, is often described by political scientists as left-libertarian. In the wake of the new social movements (especially the ecology and anti-nuclear movements) of the 1970s and 1980s, many left libertarian parties (sometimes called
movement parties) were formed, including green parties, which maintained a relationship with these social movements. Political scientists Santos and Mercea argue that, in recent years, "the rise of movement parties across Europe has disrupted traditional notions of party politics and opened up new avenues for citizen engagement and political mobilisation. Movement parties are the reflection of a wider socio-political transformation of increasing interconnection between electoral and non-electoral politics". For them, green/left-libertarian movement parties "embody a generational gap in political participation, as they utilise both electoral and non-electoral engagement to express their post-industrial demands... [Their] voters tend to be younger and more educated and engage more in online political activities." According to
Herbert Kitschelt, left libertarian parties are "post-materialist" in that they reject the primary status of economic issues, and argue that "the predominance of markets and bureaucracies must be rolled back in favor of social solidarity relations and participatory institutions". He posits that the strong commitment to direct participation leads to the weakness (or even absence) of formal structurel, centralized organization, leadership and hierarchy, and "a sometimes chaotic ‘assembly’ organizational style (as best illustrated by the water-balloon attack on Foreign Minister
Joshka Fischer at the 1999 congress of the German Greens)." For example, between 1984 and 1986, ecologists worked together with anarchists and libertarians in Greece's
Green Alternative Movement. while the Dutch
GroenLinks moved from socialism to left libertarianism in the early 1990s. Political scientists see European political parties such as
Ecolo and
Groen in Belgium,
Alliance 90/The Greens in Germany, or the
Green Progressive Accord and
GroenLinks in the Netherlands as coming out of the
New Left and emphasizing spontaneous self-organisation, participatory democracy, decentralization and voluntarism, being contrasted to the bureaucratic or statist approach. Examples of left libertarian parties given by Kitschelt and Hellemans in 1990 were
Agalev and Ecolo; Kittschelt's term was applied to the
Green Party of England and Wales in 2008; examples given by Santos and Mercea more recently are
Denmark's
Alternativet, Germany's Bündis 90/Die Grünen, in
Hungary LMP – Hungary's Green Party and
Dialogue – The Greens' Party, and the UK's Green Party,
Scottish Greens and
Sinn Féin. Typically, there is a tension between the left-libertarian inheritance and demands of pragmatism. For example, Margit Mayer and John Ely describe the German Greens as "remain[ing] connected to the left-libertarian movement milieus in the topics it addresses, its political style, and the omnipresence of movement discourse" while also pursuing practical strategies for party power. A new wave of left libertarian movement parties emerged from the
alterglobalisation and
anti-austerity movements from the late 1990s. In
Portugal, the
Left Bloc emerged in the late 1990s from the anti-austerity movement, and is inspired by the libertarian left. Greece's
Synaspismos and its successor
Syriza came from a similar background. In Turkey,
Ufuk Uras of the
Party of the Greens and the Left Future identifies as a left-libertarian. Ufuk Uras identifies as a left libertarian.
Contemporary left-libertarian philosophy In contrast to right-libertarianism and libertarian socialism, left-libertarianism holds that individuals should have no exclusive right to the
exploitation of natural resources, instead advocating for an equitable distribution of resources, while also insisting on the protection of personal property rights. Contemporary left-libertarian scholars such as
David Ellerman,
Michael Otsuka,
Hillel Steiner,
Peter Vallentyne and
Philippe Van Parijs root an economic egalitarianism in the classical liberal concepts of self-ownership and land appropriation, combined with
geoist or
physiocratic views regarding the ownership of land and natural resources (e.g. those of
Henry George and
John Locke). Their intellectual forebears include
Henry George,
Thomas Paine, and
Herbert Spencer.
Classical economists such as Henry George,
John Stuart Mill, the early writings of Herbert Spencer, among others, "provided the basis for the further development of the left libertarian perspective." Most left-libertarians of this tradition support some form of
economic rent redistribution on the grounds that each individual is entitled to an equal share of natural resources
Views on private property Left-libertarians generally uphold
self-ownership and oppose strong
private property rights; instead, they support the
egalitarian distribution of natural resources. Those left-libertarians who are more lenient towards private property support different property norms and theories, such as
usufruct or under the condition that recompense is offered to the
local or even
global community. For left libertarians of this school, unappropriated natural resources are either unowned or owned in common and private appropriation is only legitimate if everyone can appropriate an equal amount or if private appropriation is taxed to compensate those who are excluded from natural resources. Political scientist
Peter Mclaverty notes it has been argued that socialist values are incompatible with the concept of
self-ownership when this concept is considered "the core feature of libertarianism" and socialism is defined as holding "that we are social beings, that society should be organised, and individuals should act, so as to promote the common good, that we should strive to achieve social equality and promote democracy, community and solidarity." However, political philosopher
Nicholas Vrousalis has also argued that "property rights [...] do not pass judgment as to what rights individuals have to their own person [...] [and] to the external world" and that "the nineteenth-century egalitarian libertarians were not misguided in thinking that a thoroughly libertarian form of communism is possible at the level of principle." Left-libertarians of the
Carson–Long left-libertarianism school typically endorse the labor-based property rights that contemporary left-libertarian philosophers reject, but they hold that implementing such rights would have radical rather than conservative consequences.
Views on economics and the social state These left-libertarians support some form of
income redistribution on the grounds of a claim by each individual to be entitled to an equal share of natural resources. == See also ==