This book presents an argument for egalitarian anarchism (understood as a moral theory) and sheds light on numerous debates in political philosophy. It argues that social anarchism is a coherent philosophical position that follows from a more plausible principle that constrains which moral theories are acceptable.

This book provides an analytical defence of egalitarian anarchism, arguing that there is a libertarian path to socialist conclusions.

This Handbook offers an authoritative, up-to-date introduction to the rich scholarly conversation about anarchy—about the possibility, dynamics, and appeal of social order without the state. Drawing on resources from philosophy, economics, law, history, politics, and religious studies, it is designed to deepen understanding of anarchy and the development of anarchist ideas at a time when those ideas have attracted increasing attention. The popular identification of anarchy with chaos makes sophisticated interpretations—which recognize anarchy as a kind of social order rather than an alternative to it—especially interesting. Strong, centralized governments have struggled to quell popular frustration even as doubts have continued to percolate about their legitimacy and long-term financial stability. Since the emergence of the modern state, concerns like these have driven scholars to wonder whether societies could flourish while abandoning monopolistic governance entirely. Standard treatments of political philosophy frequently assume the justifiability and desirability of states, focusing on such questions as, What is the best kind of state? and What laws and policies should states adopt?, without considering whether it is just or prudent for states to do anything at all. This Handbook encourages engagement with a provocative alternative that casts more conventional views in stark relief. Its 30 chapters, written specifically for this volume by an international team of leading scholars, are organized into four main parts: I. Concept and Significance II. Figures and Traditions III. Legitimacy and Order IV. Critique and Alternatives In addition, a comprehensive index makes the volume easy to navigate and an annotated bibliography points readers to the most promising avenues of future research.

Robert Nozicka s Anarchy, State, and Utopia is a powerful, philosophical challenge to the most widely held political and social positions of our age ---- liberal, socialist and conservative.

Although there have been a few historical accounts of the anarchist school movement, there has been no systematic work on the philosophical underpinnings of anarchist educational ideas - until now. Anarchism and Education offers a philosophical account of the neglected tradition of anarchist thought on education. Although few anarchist thinkers wrote systematically on education, this analysis is based largely on a reconstruction of the educational thought of anarchist thinkers gleaned from their various ethical, philosophical and popular writings. Primarily drawing on the work of the nineteenth century anarchist theorists such as Bakunin, Kropotkin and Proudhon, the book also covers twentieth century anarchist thinkers such as Noam Chomsky, Paul Goodman, Daniel Guerin and Colin Ward. This original work will interest philosophers of education and educationalist thinkers as well as those with a general interest in anarchism.

This text examines the relationship between anarchism's notion of human nature and its vision of a future stateless society by way of three 19th-century social anarchists: Proudhon, Bakunin and Kropotkin. It demonstrates that social anarchism operates a conception of human nature that assumes the existence of both egoism and sociability, and therefore provides a realistic assessment of human nature. The book concludes by exploring the possibilities for a reconceptualization of the anarchist conception of human nature that would help overcome the problems identified by the author and point the way for future development of anarchist thought.