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Liberty,Equality ndSolidarity: narchismorHumans,OtherAnimalsand he Earth

JulieJordan& RichardBulmer

ThePromise f AnarchismAnarchism ayhold he mostpromiseor he oundationf the newsociety theonewe mustbuild n heshell f heexistingatastrophe,this ailedproject f civilisation,uined ycompetition,elfishnessndgreed, uledby he most elflsh ndgreedy. henewsociety ill nstead

be nspired ywhatPeterKropotkinalled thebeautifulwords:iberty,EqualityndSolidarity".

ldentifyingierarchynd dominations the source f all social lls,anarchismims to dismantle ocial elationshipsnd structuresfmasteryndcontrol,eplacinghemwithnon-hierarchicalelationshipsfequality nd reedom. hilecapitalismnd he stateare he main argets,anarchistsreconcernedoeliminateierarchynddominationnall tsforms formswhich xist longsideapitalismnd hestate, utcouldexistwithouthem.

Anarchism'srinciplesf liberationnd reedom, ocialequality,voluntaryssociationnd mutual id are shaping trugglesgainst

oppressionverywhere;nd anarchist ethods f organisationhorizontalnd decentralisedower elations,ooperativesndcollectives,ecisionmaking y direct emocracy,he carving ut ofautonomouspaces areappliedncountlessocialmovements.

Despitetsbroad each owever,narchismemainsssentiallyumanist- concernedit heliminatinguman verhuman ominationndbuildingnon-hierarchicalelationshipsmong eople. itile ttentionspaid o hehuman ominationf theearth, ven ess o hedominationf nonhumananimals. heseare seenas the separate rovince f dedicatedenvironmentalistsndan mal iberationists.

Thishuman iashasa longhistoryn anarchism. ,, "Kropotkinrote

extensivelybouthenatural orld, ndof mutual idwithin onhumanand human ommunities,ewassilent bout he human/nonhumanhierarchyf domination. uchater, henMurray ookchinntroducedthehurnan ominationf the natural orld ntoanarchistebate, isenvisionedtopia f social cology asanthropocentricn heextreme,withnonhumannimals unted,aised ssfock, ndenslavedy heirhuman aptorsnsynthetic,ighlymechanisedco-farms.

Today,or the majority f anarchists, onhumannimals nd heenvironmentresecondaryoncernst best. t' sa view hatdiscountsthehugely ppressiveuman nslavement,orture ndmurder f ellowsentienteings,nd heescalatinglundernddevastationf heearth.And t overlookshe common rigins,he connectionsndentanglementsf all orms fdominationndoppression.

Whileheorigins f dominationemainmysterious,here's broadeningviewamonganthropologists,hilosophersnd evolutionarypsychologistshat t' sno tan adaptiverait n humans nd hatourhuntergathererncestorsadevolvedscooperativendegalitarianearlyanarchistserhaps.Hierarchynddominationirst mergednly enthousandears go,when hose ncestorseganosetile nd ormagriculturalocieties,ultivatingropsand domesticatingnimals.competitionorcontrol f ood urpluses,nd hedivisionsf abourhatcamewithagriculture,et n place he irstsocial ierarchies. hedominationfdomesticnimalset hepatternorhuman verhumandomination.ndwith heir ew-foundontrol ver heir ood upplies,thesesettlers, o longer ntegrated ithin he naturalworldandrespectfulf other nimals nd heenvironment,aw hemselvessseparatend ncharge,stablishinghehuman ominator orldvrew.Over he centuries,ierarchynd the habits f dominationndoppressionecame mbeddednourculture,eachingheirultimateextreme anifestationncapitalismnd hestate.

Dominationndoppressionowcontaminatevery acetof society.Evidentotonly n heclass ystem ith ts uling lites,heeconomicimperialismf capitalism,heescalating ilitarism.ot us t n hepowerof employerveremployee,n heauthoritarianontrol ygovernments,police ndsecurityorces.Wesee t n hepersistencef patriarchy,hehierarchiesf race,hecontrol ndconditioningfyoung eoplen heschool nd n he amily.Weare ndoctrinatednpotentdeologiesfoppressionracism, exism, enophobia,omophobia,tc),whichdevalueppressedroups,ultivateiscriminationndprejudice,nddivide ociety.deologieshatarepromotedndperpetuatedy heelitespolitical,conomic,eligious)or heends f power ndprofit.

Onesuch deologys speciesismfounded n the mythof humansuperiority,lacing umannterestsbovehose f allother nimals,justifyingheircontrol, xploitationnd killing t ourwiil.Capitalismpromotespeciesismo egitimiseheobscenerofits f ndustrialisedanimalabuse.

Andspeciesismallswithinhebroaderoctrinef anthropocentrism,whichsituates umanity t the centre f the universe s its most

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importantntity,ustifyingurdominationndcontrol f heentire arthandal lof ife.Againt's ncapitalism'snterestso keep hisperniciousideologylive.

All the ormsof dominationnd oppressionre ntertwined withcommon rigins nd sharedmethods f controlling,imiting nddestroying.hey einforcend eedoffeachother.

Wecan't gnore,orexample,.howhevictimisationndostracisingfoppresseduman roupsmirrors urvictimisationndexclusionf otheranimals.Howoppressedumans redenigratedith anguageabelling

them s'animals'. r how hesexualsubjugationf womensparalleledin heconfinement,outineape ndperpetualregnancyf dairy ows.

No formof dominationan be consideredn isolation. urefforts oeliminatene require n efforto eliminatehem ll,andmust ncludetotal iberationof allanimals nd heearth.

Buildinghe NewSociety

First omes he consciousnessbecomingwareof the pervasivetotality f domination. oticingndquestioningll hehierarchiestheranks nddivisionsf class, ealth, ender,kin olour, ge, ntellectualcapacity,ducation.eeing eyond uman elationshipso hehuman/

nonhumanierarchyfdomination,nd heplight f henatural orld,itself ominatednd oppressed'. e make heconnections,oin hedots.Andbehindtallwesee hecontrol,hecoercionnd theviolenceof hemost owerfulcapitalists,overnmentsndstates.

We also ook nside urselves,uestioningur ownprejudices,urpotentialoleas dominator,omplicitn relationsf exploitationndoppression.nd assertingur moralagency, e confronthe alseideologieshich eek o manipulateur hinking.

We know hatnothingood omes utof dominationthat tdevalues,diminishesnddestroysives,.breedsrejudice,atred ndwar,emptiestheworld f pleasurend oy .We have he maginationoseea better

world ndabove llwehave hedeterminationo build t.

Thisconsciousness,roadly ultivated nd shared,will guideourprefigurationf henew ocietyn hehere ndnow, s we put nplacethenewstructuresnd elationsn heshell f heold.Gustav andaueraw heState s"acertainelationshipmong umanbeings" hich s destroyedby contractingther elationships,ybehaving ifferentlyoward neanother".We canexpandhis o say all

structures f hierarchyand domination re destroyed nd the newsociety s builtby contracting ther elationships,y behaving ifferently- towards ne another, owards theranimals, nd owards he earth.

Behavingifferentlyowards ach thermeansntegratingnto llourrelationshipshe anarchistalues f liberationnd reedom, ocialequality, oluntary ssociationnd mutual id. dentifyingndconfrontingll relationsndstructuresf hierarchynddomination,challengingrejudicend ejectingdeologiesf oppression.oiningtogethern iving s much spossibleeyond apitalism,nd lndingbetter ays oprovideorourneeds,ollow urdesires,eek ruth nd

fulfi lourives.

We behave ifferentlyowards theranimals y acknowledgingheindividuality,ntrinsic orthand undamentalquality f all sentientbeings, ndeliminatinghehuman/nonhumanierarchy. ore hanus tveganism,t' sabout efusingo becomplicitnanykind f exploitation,andbuildingolidarityithal lanimalsn hestruggle gainst ursharedoppressors.

Behavingifferentlyowardsheearthmeans ejectinghe dominatorworldviewhathasbroughtsal lsoclose o catastrophe.espectingandnurturinghe natural orldas hesustainerf all ife. Adoptingsimpler ooperativeaysof iving nda philosophyf enough'.

These ehavioursnd relationshipsre he oundationsf the newsociety,ndal lcanbegin ow in ourday o dayactivities, ursocialinteractions,urpoliticsndorganisation.

As we buildhenewwe must ismantleheold.Theexisting ierarchiesof dominationredeeply ntrenched,daptive nd esilient.heywon'tquietlyadeaway, utmust eactivelyonfronted.

As EmmaGoldmanut t:"Anarchism...standsordirect ction...It equires]ntegrity,elf-reliance,andcourage.n short, t calls or ree, ndependentpiritsand] nlypersistentesistancecan] finallyet us ] ree.Direct ction. is helogical,onsistent ethod fAnarchism."

Abovegroundr underground,egalor illegal.Our choice f actiondepends n our conscience,ur capabilities,ur courage nd ourcreativity.t could esubversion,abotage,ivil isobedience,oycott,strike, quat r occupation.

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our solidarityithother nimals ompels s o takeactionor heirliberationdisrupting,ubvertingnddismanflinghesystems ndstructuresf heir ppressionndmurder. hi smightnvblvepen rcovert escue, abotage,nterferingn hunts, iving anctuaryoescaped r rescued nimals. ny tacticwe are preparedo use,includingheuseof force,maybe ustifiedn hestrugglegainsthesystematiciolencend error eingnflictednour eil-oweings.

A range f acticsmay ikewisee ustifiedn iberatingheearth.

Howdowe ogetherrganisehi snewanarchistociety?

The anarchist alance f the individuarnd communarood straditionallyaintainedybroad articipationn aceto-fac-eecisionqgkino,with everyone'ble o havea direct ay n the hingshataffecthem. his s heorganisationfcollectives,yndicates]co-ops,protest roups. But howwill t work n a societywhich ncludesnonhumannimalsnd heearth?

Direct emocracyemands high evel f ndividualoliticalutonomy* thecapacityo makenformed,n-coercedecisions,nd epresentones wn nterests.eople ave hi sautonomynvaryingegiees, nd

very oung hildren,ome lderly eople ndsomepeople itnanintellectualisability ayhave itfle r none.clearly theianimals ndtheearth reunableo participatend epresentheir wn nterests.

Tosome xtenthe nterestsf hosewith imited r noautonomy il lbe nstilledn hecollectiveonsciousnessnd eflectednsociety,sdecisions.owever,hosewhoar ecapable f representingheir wninterests il l always e at an advantage. new hieraichymaydevelop, ith hosemost ble oargueor heir wn nterests'havingthemostnfluence.

Thesolution us t ie na formof representation,it h hose nabteoeffectivelyarticipaten hedecision-makingrocessepresentedy

dedicateddvocates, homakehemselveshoroughlyamiliar it hthose heyadvocateor and heircircumstances,nd-form eeplyconsiderediews boutheir es t nterests.

Advocatesor nonhumannimalswill attempto discoverhoseanimals' nterestshroughespectfulnteraction,ndsecurehoseinterestsn society'sorums.similarly,dvocatesor heearthwillmake epresentationsn tsbehalf.

Anarchism ayhold hemostpromise,ut t has o bean anarchismwhich onfrontsierarchy,ominationndoppressionf every indincludinguman ve rnonhuman,nd human ver he earth. hebeautifulords f iberty,qualityndsolidarity ust nspire societynwhichevery ndividual,uman nd nonhuman,s liberated.ree odiscoverndpursueheir dea f hegood ife, imited nlybyan equalfreedom f others.Theearthalso iberatedromhuman ontrol nddomination.heequal ntrinsicalue f allbeings, ithout ierarchies,authorities,r arbitraryontrol.A society f solidarity ndcooperation,

witheach ther, it hother nimals,ndwith heearth.A worldn whichhumanitytepsbackdown rom tspedestalo take tsplace n he broadcollective f heearth.

References:PeterKropotkin,The Conquestof Bread; MutualAid:A Factorof EvolulionCindy Mifstein,Anarchismand lts Aspirations.Murray Bookchin,Post-Scarcity narchism.Steven Best, Total Liberation:Revolution or the 2fr Centurv.

DavidNibert, Animal Rights/HumanRights.Gustav Landauer,The Revol tion.Emma Goldman, Emma GoldmanSpeaks.CarolAdams,caroljadams.comPattrice ones,pattricejones.info