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Libertarian socialism is ananti-authoritarian andanti-capitalist political current that emphasisesself-governance andworkers' self-management. It is contrasted from other forms ofsocialism by its rejection ofstate ownership and from other forms oflibertarianism by its rejection ofprivate property. Broadly defined, it includes schools of bothanarchism andMarxism, as well as other tendencies that oppose thestate andcapitalism.
With its roots in theAge of Enlightenment, libertarian socialism was first constituted as a tendency by the anti-authoritarian faction of theInternational Workingmen's Association (IWA), during their conflict with theMarxist faction. Libertarian socialism quickly spread throughout Europe and the American continent, reaching its height during the early stages of theRussian Revolution of 1917 and particularly during theSpanish Revolution of 1936. Its defeat during these revolutions led to its brief decline, before its principles were resurrected by theNew Left andnew social movements of the late 20th century.
While its key principles ofdecentralisation,workers' control, andmutual aid are generally shared across the many schools of libertarian socialism, differences have emerged over the questions ofrevolutionary spontaneity,reformism, and whether to prioritise the abolition of the state or of capitalism.
Libertarian socialism strives for afree andequal society,[1] aiming to transformwork andeveryday life.[2] Broadly defined, libertarian socialism encapsulates anypolitical ideology that favoursworkers' control of themeans of production and the replacement ofcapitalism with a system ofcooperative economics,[3][4] orcommon ownership.[5] Libertarian socialists tend to see theworking class as agents ofsocial revolution, rejectrepresentative democracy andelectoralism, and advocate forself-organisation anddirect action as means to engage inclass conflict.[6]
Libertarian socialism has agrassroots anddirect democratic[7] approach tosocialism, rejectingparliamentarism andbureaucracy.[8] Libertarian socialists advocate theempowerment of individuals to control their own lives and encourage them to voluntarily cooperate with each other, rather than allow themselves to be controlled by a state. Libertarian socialists therefore upholdcivil liberties such asfreedom of choice,freedom of expression andfreedom of thought.[9]
In contrast toauthoritarian forms of socialism, libertarian socialism rejectsstate ownership andcentralisation. Instead it upholds adecentralised model ofself-governance, envisioningfree association based onco-operative orparticipatory economics. Some libertarian socialists see such systems as complementary tostatism, while others hold them to be an alternative to thestate.[9]
Libertarian socialists tend to reject the view that political institutions such as the state represent aninherently good, or even neutral, power.[10] Some libertarian socialists, such asPeter Kropotkin, consider the state to be an inherent instrument oflandlordism and capitalism, therefore opposing the state with equal intensity as they oppose capitalism.[11]
Libertarian socialism views corporate power as aninstitutional problem, rather than as a result of the influence of certainimmoral individuals.[12][13] It thus opposescapitalism, which it sees as an economic system that upholdsgreed, theexploitation of labour andcoercion, and calls for its overthrow in asocial revolution.[14]
Libertarian socialists rejectprivate property, as they consider capitalist property relations to be incompatible withfreedom.[15][9] Instead, libertarian socialism upholds individualself-ownership, as well as thecollective ownership of themeans of production.[16] In the place of capitalism, libertarian socialists favour an economic system based onworkers' control of production, advocating for a system ofcooperative economics,[3][4] orcommon ownership.[5] They also advocate forworkers' self-management, as they consider workers able to cooperate productively withoutsupervisors, whether appointed by employers or by the state.[14]
They also tend to seefree trade as inevitably resulting in theredistribution of income and wealth from workers to their corporate employers.[17] They advocate for the elimination ofsocial andeconomic inequality through the coerciveexpropriation of property from the wealthy.[18]
The roots of libertarian socialism extend back to theclassical radicalism of theearly modern period,[19] claiming the EnglishLevellers and the FrenchEncyclopédistes as their intellectual forerunners, and admiring figures of theAge of Enlightenment such asThomas Jefferson andThomas Paine.[20] According toMikhail Bakunin andFerdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, while authoritarian socialism had its origins inGermany, libertarian socialism was born inFrance.[21] The modern foundations of libertarian socialism lay in theutopian socialism expounded byCharles Fourier,Robert Owen andHenri de Saint-Simon, who envisioned ademocratic socialism guided bycommunitarianism,moralism andfeminism.[22]
Libertarian socialism first emerged from theanti-authoritarian faction of theInternational Workingmen's Association (IWA), after it was expelled from the organisation by theMarxist faction at theHague Congress of 1872.[23] The libertarian socialistMikhail Bakunin had rejectedKarl Marx's calls for a "dictatorship of the proletariat", as he predicted it would only create anew ruling class, composed of a privileged minority, which would use the state to oppress the working classes. He concluded that: "nodictatorship can have any other aim than to perpetuate itself, and it can only give rise to and instill slavery in the people that tolerates it."[24] Marxists responded to this by insisting on the eventual "withering away of the state", in which society would transition fromdictatorship toanarchy, in an apparent attempt to synthesise authoritarian and libertarian forms of socialism.[25]
This put libertarian socialists into directcompetition withsocial democrats andcommunists for influence overleft-wing politics, in a contest which lasted for over fifty years.[23] Libertarian socialism proved attractive to British writers such asEdward Carpenter,[26][27][28]Oscar Wilde,[29] andWilliam Morris, the latter of whom developed a kind of libertarian socialism based in a strongcritique ofcivilisation, which he aimed to overthrow and replace with what he called a "beautiful society".[30] Morris drove the development ofimpossibilism, which became increasingly concerned with thebureaucratisation andmoderation of the socialist movement, leading to the establishment of theSocialist Party of Great Britain.[31]
By the early 20th century, libertarian socialists had gained a leading influence over the left-wing in theNetherlands,France andItaly and went on to play major roles in theMexican andRussian Revolutions.[23] In India, the libertarian socialist tradition was represented in the early twentieth century anti-colonial movement byBhagat Singh.[32]
Russian libertarian socialists, includinganarchists,populists andleft socialist-revolutionaries, led the opposition to theTsarist autocracy throughout the late-19th century.[33] They created a network of both clandestine and legal organisations throughout Russia, with the aim of overthrowing theRussian nobility and bringing land under thecommon ownership of themir. Their agitation forland reform in the Russian countryside culminated with the establishment of ruralsoviets during the1905 Revolution.[34]
Anarchists also organised among the urbanproletariat, forming clandestinefactory committees that proved more attractive to revolution-minded workers than the morereformisttrade unions favoured by theBolsheviks. During the1917 Revolution, in which libertarian socialists played a leading role, the Bolsheviks changed tack and adopted elements of the libertarian socialist programme in their appeals to the workers. But by 1919, the new Bolshevik government had come to view the libertarian socialists as a threat to their power and moved to eliminate their influence. Libertarian socialist organisations were banned and many of their members were arrested, deported toSiberia or executed by theCheka.[35]
TheRevolutions of 1917–1923 ended in defeat for the libertarian socialists, with either the social democrats, the Bolsheviks ornationalists rising to power. Libertarian socialists responded by reevaluating their positions, emphasising mass organisation overintellectualvanguardism andrevolutionary spontaneity oversubstitutionism.[36] They also came to conceive the "dictatorship of the proletariat" as a form of class power, rather than as the dictatorship of a political party. Many Marxists of the period were attracted to this position, includingRosa Luxemburg in Germany,Antonie Pannekoek in the Netherlands,Sylvia Pankhurst in Britain,György Lukács in Hungary andAntonio Gramsci in Italy.[37]
Libertarian socialism reached its apex of popularity with theSpanish Revolution of 1936, during which libertarian socialists led "the largest and most successful revolution against capitalism to ever take place in anyindustrial economy".[23]
In Spain, traditional forms ofself-management andcommon ownership dated back to the 15th century. TheLevante, where collective self-management of irrigation was commonplace, became the hotbed of anarchist collectivisation.[38] Building on this traditionalcollectivism, from 1876, the Spanish libertarian socialist movement grew through sustained agitation and the establishment of alternative institutions that culminated in the Spanish Revolution.[39] During this period, a series of workers' congresses, first convoked by theSpanish Regional Federation of the IWA, debated and refined proposals for the construction of a libertarian socialist society. Over several decades, resolutions from these congresses formed the basis of a specific program on a range of issues, from the structure of communes and the post-revolutionary economy to libertarian cultural and artistic initiatives.[40] These proposals were published in the pages of widely distributed libertarian socialist periodicals, such asSolidaridad Obrera andTierra y Libertad, which each circulated tens of thousands of copies. By the outbreak of the revolution, the anarcho-syndicalistConfederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) enjoyed widespread popularity, counting 1.5 million members within its ranks.[41]
During the revolution, themeans of production were brought underworkers' control andworker cooperatives formed the basis for the new economy.[42] According toGaston Leval, the CNT established an agrarian federation in the Levante that encompassed 78% of Spain's mostarable land. The regional federation was populated by 1,650,000 people, 40% of whom lived on the region's 900 agrarian collectives, which were self-organised by peasant unions.[43]
Although industrial and agricultural production was at its highest in the anarchist-controlled areas of the Spanish Republic, and theanarchist militias displayed the strongest military discipline, liberals and communists alike blamed the "sectarian" libertarian socialists for the defeat of the Republic in theSpanish Civil War. These charges have been disputed by contemporary libertarian socialists, such asRobin Hahnel andNoam Chomsky, who have accused such claims of lacking substantial evidence.[44]
Following the defeat of theRepublicans in theSpanish Civil War, libertarian socialism fell into decline.[45]Left-wing politics throughout the world came to be dominated either bysocial democracy orMarxism-Leninism, which attained power in a number of countries and thus had the means to support their ideological allies. In contrast, Hahnel argues, libertarian socialists were not able to gain influence within the labour movement. At a time when reformist trade unions were consistently winning concessions, the libertarian socialists' anti-reformist message gained little traction. Their platform of workers' self-management also failed to appeal to industrial workers.[46] Until the 1960s, libertarian socialists were limited mostly to making critiques ofauthoritarian socialism andcapitalism, although Hahnel asserts that these arguments were largely overshadowed by those fromneoconservatives andMarxists respectively.[47]
Libertarian socialist themes received a revival during the 1960s, when it was reconstituted as part of the nascentNew Left.[48] This revival occurred largely unconsciously, as new leftists were often unaware of their libertarian socialist predecessors. The concepts ofgrassroots democracy,workers' control,solidarity andautonomy were thus reinvented by the new generation.[49] They also picked up the principles ofdecentralisation,participatory democracy andmutual aid.[50] These libertarian socialist themes drove the growth of the New Left, which by this point was disillusioned by the mainstream social democratic and Marxist-Leninist political groupings, due to the capitalistic tendencies of the former and the rigid authoritarianism of the latter.[48]
SociologistC. Wright Mills, who displayed strong libertarian socialist tendencies in his appeals to the New Left, reformulated Marxism for the modern age in his work onThe Power Elite (1956).Wilhelm Reich'sFreudo-Marxist theses on theauthoritarian personality were also rediscovered by the New Left, who developed his programme for individualself-governance into alibertarian system of education used by theSummerhill School.[51] Drawing on the Freudo-Marxist conception ofcivilisation as "organised domination",Herbert Marcuse developed a critique ofalienation in modern Western societies, concluding thatcreativity andpolitical dissent had been undermined by socialrepression. Meanwhile,Lewis Mumford published denunciations of themilitary-industrial complex andPaul Goodman advocated for decentralisation.[50] In the process, the new generation of Marxists gravitated towards libertarian tendencies, sometimes closely resembling anarchism. Following on from Marcuse,Daniel Cohn-Bendit,E. P. Thompson,Raymond Williams andStuart Hall all adopted forms of "libertarian Marxism", opposed to the bureaucracy and parliamentarism of statist tendencies.[52]
A specific and explicit libertarian socialist tendency also began to emerge. While some more libertarian Marxists adopted the term in order to distinguish themselves from authoritarian socialists,[53] anarchists began calling themselves "libertarian socialist" in order to avoid the negative connotations associated with anarchism.[54] The libertarian socialistDaniel Guérin specifically attempted to synthesise anarchism and Marxism into a single tendency, which inspired the growth of the French libertarian communist movement.[55] For a time, even the Americananarcho-capitalist theoristMurray Rothbard attempted to make common cause with libertarian socialists, but later shifted away from socialism and towardsright-wing populism.[56]
Many libertarian socialists of this period were particularly influenced by the analysis ofCornelius Castoriadis[57][58] and his groupSocialisme ou Barbarie.[59] This new generation included the non-vanguardist Marxist organisationFacing Reality,[60] the British libertarian socialist groupSolidarity,[61][62] and the Australian councilists of the Self-Management Group.[63] Some of this new generation of libertarian socialists also joined theIndustrial Workers of the World (IWW), swelling the old union's numbers, organising agricultural workers and launching a new journal,The Rebel Worker.[60] This libertarian socialist milieu, with their criticisms ofdemocratic centralism andtrade unionism, and their advocacy ofworkers' self-management andcouncil democracy, went on to inspire the Frenchsituationists and Italianautonomists.[64]
Of the figures in the New Left, the American linguistNoam Chomsky became the most prominent spokesperson for libertarian socialism.[19] Inspired by thehumanism ofBertrand Russell, theindividualism ofWilhelm von Humboldt and thesyndicalism ofRudolf Rocker, Chomsky championed a libertarian socialism that upheld individualliberty andself-ownership.[65] Chomsky has been outspoken advocate ofanti-authoritarianism, opposing limits on individual freedoms by the state.[66] He has also focused much of his libertarian socialist critique onmass media in the United States, due to its role in the military-industrial complex.[67]
While most sections of the New Left expressed a form of libertarian socialism, others were instead being inspired by theCuban andChinese Communist Revolutions to embrace forms ofauthoritarian socialism such asMaoism–Third Worldism.[68] As such, according to Hahnel, the New Left failed to form a coherent ideological program or establish lasting support to carry forward the momentum of the late 1960s, resulting in many dropping out ofactivism altogether.[69]
A minority from the New Left continued their radical activism within thenew social movements of the 1970s and 1980s, becoming involved insecond-wave feminism, thegay liberation movement,environmental movement and eventually theanti-globalization movement.[69] In this period, many libertarian socialists, such asMurray Bookchin, Cornelius Castoriadis,André Gorz,Ivan Illich, E.P. Thompson andRaymond Williams, were committed to " in rethinking what socialism might come to mean in an age of ecological limit".[70]
According to Robin Hahnel, new social movements continued the New Left's tendency of failing to develop a "comprehensive libertarian socialist theory and practice". Libertarian socialist activism became focused on achieving practical reforms and theoretical developments centred around common "core values" such aseconomic democracy,economic justice andsustainable development, without building a coherent critique of capitalism.[71] Activists from the 1970s and 1980s influenced by libertarian socialism did not advance coherent alternatives to markets and central planning, and had no reformist campaign. Eventually, Hahnel argues, they turned to traditionalsingle-issue campaigns and abandoned their "big picture" libertarian socialist approach.[72]
These movements were somewhat successful in achieving their goals: the movements for gay andwomen's rights changed societal outlook ongender oppression; theanti-racist movement proved it necessary to tackle the social aspects ofracialisation; theanti-imperialist movement reconceived of anti-imperialism outside of economic terms; and theenvironmentalist movement launched a wave of ecological defense and restoration. Together, Hahnel argues, they broke from theclass reductionism prevalent in traditional forms of libertarian socialism, proving intersectional oppressions other than class also demanded attention.[73] Through the new social movements, libertarian socialism developed an awareness of different aspects of oppression, beyond class analysis.[74]
Libertarian socialism again received a revival of interest in the wake of thefall of communism and concurrent rise ofneoliberalism.[45] It proved particularly attractive to people from the formerEastern Bloc, who saw it as an alternative both to western capitalism and Marxism-Leninism.[75] Since the end of theCold War, there have been two major experiments in libertarian socialism: theZapatista uprising inMexico and theRojava Revolution inSyria.[76]
In reaction against the implementation of theNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and theprivatisation ofindigenous lands by the Mexican state, in 1994, theZapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) rose up against the government,[77] enabling the formation of aself-governingautonomous territory in the Mexican state ofChiapas.[76][77][78] The Zapatistas have roundly rejectedpolitical sectarianism andideological doctrine, including thestate socialist model of seizing state power, with spokesmanSubcomandante Marcos famously declaring "I shit on all the revolutionary vanguards of this planet."[76] As such, they have commonly been characterised as libertarian socialist,[76][78] or inspired by libertarian socialism.[77][79] They have in turn become a source of inspiration for libertarian socialists, including theautonomist MarxistsHarry Cleaver andJohn Holloway, as well as some anarchists.[76]
In 2012, theRojava Revolution established theAutonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES; or "Rojava") to put "libertarian socialist ideas ... into practice",[80] and whosecantons present themselves as a "libertarian socialist alternative to the colonially established state boundaries in the Middle East."[76] Various sources have drawn parallels between the Rojava Revolution and the Zapatista uprising of 1994[81] or theSpanish Revolution of 1936,[82] and noted the influence of libertarian socialist Murray Bookchin, specifically his concept oflibertarian municipalism, on the revolution.[83][82]
Libertarian socialist ideas have influenced some currents of theanti-austerity andnew municipalist movements, such asAda Colau'sBarcelona en Comú party, in which they ally withdemocratic socialists.[84]
InChile, there have been several libertarian socialist movements active since the 2010s in groups includingLibertarian Left and theBroad Front (FA).[85]Gabriel Boric foundedSocial Convergence in 2018, bringing together theAutonomist Movement,Libertarian Left and other libertarian socialist groups.[86] Boric, who describes himself as libertarian socialist, waselected president in 2021.[87][88][89]
Libertarian socialism encompasses both the libertarian wing ofsocialism and the socialist wing oflibertarianism,[90] including many different schools of thought under its banner.[91] The most commonly cited tendencies of libertarian socialism areanarchist communism,anarcho-syndicalism, andcouncil communism.[92] Other Marxist strands of libertarian socialism includeWestern Marxism,Bordigism andimpossibilism.[93] Additionally,utopian socialism,guild socialism,socialist feminism andsocial ecology,[94] as well as various strands of theNew Left,new social movements andcontemporary anarchism, have been listed among the other wings of libertarian socialism.[3]
The currents ofclassical anarchism that developed in the 19th century were committed to autonomy and freedom, decentralization, opposing hierarchy, and opposing thevanguardism ofauthoritarian socialism.
In the 20th century,social anarchism emerged as a significant current of anarchism and explicitly identified as libertarian socialist. Anarcho-syndicalistGaston Leval explained: "We therefore foresee a Society in which all activities will be coordinated, a structure that has, at the same time, sufficient flexibility to permit the greatest possible autonomy for social life, or for the life of each enterprise, and enough cohesiveness to prevent all disorder. [...] In a well-organised society, all of these things must be systematically accomplished by means of parallel federations, vertically united at the highest levels, constituting one vast organism in which all economic functions will be performed in solidarity with all others and that will permanently preserve the necessary cohesion".[95]
Significant thinkers in the anarchist tradition who are described as libertarian socialist includeColin Ward andDavid Graeber.[96][97]
A broad scope of economic and political philosophies that draw on the anti-authoritarian aspects ofMarxism have been described as "libertarian Marxism",[98] a tendency which emphasisesautonomy,federalism anddirect democracy.[98] Wayne Price identified it most closely with the tendency ofautonomist Marxism and identified libertarian characteristics withincouncil communism, theJohnson–Forest Tendency, theSocialisme ou Barbarie group and theSituationist International, contrasting them withorthodox Marxism,social democracy, andMarxism–Leninism.[99]Michael Löwy andOlivier Besancenot have identifiedRosa Luxemburg,Walter Benjamin,André Breton andDaniel Guérin as prominent figures of libertarian Marxism.[98] Ojeili identifiesWilliam Morris,Daniel De Leon, theSocialist Party of Great Britain, Rosa Luxemburg,Karl Korsch,Anton Pannekoek,Roland Holst,Hermann Gorter,Sylvia Pankhurst,Antonio Gramsci,György Lukács, Socialisme ou Barbarie,Henri Simon,Échanges et mouvement andPaul Mattick as significant Marxian libertarian socialists.[100]
There was a strong left-libertarian current in the British labour movement[101] and the term "libertarian socialist" has been applied to a number ofdemocratic socialists, including some prominent members of theBritish Labour Party.[102] TheSocialist League was formed in 1885 byWilliam Morris and others critical of the authoritarian socialism of theSocial Democratic Federation.[30] It was involved in thenew unionism, the rank-and-file union militancy of the 1880s–1890s, which anticipated syndicalism in some key ways (Tom Mann, a New Unionist leader, was one of the first British syndicalists). The Socialist League was dominated by anarchists by the 1890s.[103]
TheCommon Wealth Party was inspired byChristian socialism as well as libertarian socialism.[104][105] Others in the tradition of the ILP and described as libertarian socialists includedG. D. H. Cole (the founder ofguild socialism and influenced by Morris),[106][101][107][108]George Orwell,[109][110]Michael Foot,[111][112]Raymond Williams,[70] andTony Benn.[113] Another is former Labour Party ministerPeter Hain,[114][115][116] who has written in support of libertarian socialism,[107] identifying an axis involving a "bottom-up vision of socialism, with anarchists at therevolutionary end and democratic socialists [such as himself] at itsreformist end" as opposed to the axis ofstate socialism with Marxist–Leninists at the revolutionary end and social democrats at the reformist end.[117][118] Another mainstream Labour politician who has been described as a libertarian socialist isRobin Cook.[119]
American economistRobin Hahnel claimed that libertarian socialists "were by far the worst underachievers among 20th centuryanti-capitalists."[120] He contrasted libertarian socialist failings with those ofsocial democracy, arguing that while the latter had abandoned their principles ofeconomic democracy andjustice in favour ofreformism, the former had proved incapable of sustaining anti-capitalist uprisings and largely ignored the importance of political andeconomic reform.[121] Hahnel consequently suggested that, in the 21st century, libertarian socialists should work together with other anti-capitalist social movements, organize for reform without abandoning anti-capitalist principles and strive to build grassroots institutions ofself-management, even if those projects are "imperfect".[23]
While most libertarian socialists consider it necessary to combat botheconomic and political power in tandem, regarding each as fundamental to the survival of the other, some consider it a priority to combat one or the other first.[122] Some, such as Mikhail Bakunin andAlexander Berkman, considered capitalism to rely on the support and protection of the state. They thus concluded that if the state were to be abolished, capitalism would naturally dissolve in its wake.[123] But others, includingNoam Chomsky, believe that the state is only inherently oppressive because of its control by aplutocratic class and that "society is governed by those who own it". Chomsky holds that government, while not benign, can at least be held accountable, while corporate power is neither benign nor accountable.[124] Though he holds the abolition of the state to be desirable, Chomsky considers the abolition of capitalism to be of greater urgency.[125]
Libertarian socialism has faced criticism from some scholars who argue that its core principles contain internal contradictions. Economist Robin Hahnel notes that while libertarian socialists advocate for decentralized, anti-authoritarian models of organization, historical attempts to implement such systems—such as during the Spanish Revolution—often struggled with practical challenges like coordinating defense against external threats or maintaining economic efficiency without centralized structures. Hahnel suggests these difficulties stem from tensions between the ideology's emphasis on radical autonomy and the pragmatic requirements of sustaining large-scale social movements, calling it a "self-limiting" theory that inadvertently undermines its own goals.[126] Similarly, political theorist Noam Chomsky has acknowledged that libertarian socialist ideals, while morally compelling, face inherent logistical hurdles in balancing collective self-management with functional governance, observing that "the gap between doctrine and reality" often reveals unresolved theoretical gaps.[125]
The libertarian socialistcooperative movement was one of the two forms of socialist responses to the rise of capitalism and the concentration of private ownership in the middle of the 19th century." "Proudhon's left libertarian socialism promotes thedecentralisation of power and publicsovereignty ... through the formation of locally managed mutual and cooperative organisations ....
I show that reciprocal libertarianism can be realised in a framework of individual ownership of external resources or in a socialist scheme of common ownership (libertarian socialism).
Direct democracy is what today is referred to as libertarian socialism including anarchism. The very idea upon which libertarian socialism is founded is that every person in the community represents themselves and votes directly with the community on matters related to its governance.
However, there is another more fundamental issue with the response, namely the assumption that tyranny is an acceptable form of human interaction. To say that your option is either tolerate this boss or seek out another (hopefully more liberal) one suggests an utter lack of understanding what freedom is. Freedom is not the opportunity to pick a master, it is to be have autonomy over yourself. What capitalist ideology has achieved is to confuse having the ability to pick a master with freedom, that consent equates to liberty — regardless of the objective circumstances shaping the choices being made or the nature of the social relationships such choices produce.
Private property is in many ways like a private form of state. The owner determines what goes on within the area he or she "owns," and therefore exercises a monopoly of power over it. When power is exercised over one's self, it is a source of freedom, but under capitalism it is a source of coercive authority.
Receiving his political inheritance from the broad libertarian socialist tradition, Castoriadis continues to challenge the domination of state and capital and to insist on the liberatory possibilities of direct democracy.
a heterodox array of egalitarian anti-austerity forces re-emerged across Europe and the USA, including "new municipalist" currents (Russell, 2019; Thompson, 2020). These currents... have been influenced mainly by network-theoretical ideas linked to Anarchist,Altermondialiste and libertarian socialist traditions, in which solidarity is anchored by affinity (Day, 2005)... These themes have continued to influence struggles for the past 20 years, including anti-austerity movements and new municipalisms in which anarchist and libertarian socialist traditions ally uneasily with institutionalist and state-friendly variants of democratic socialism (Taylor, 2013; Barcelona en Comú, 2019).
WHEN GABRIEL BORIC, who is 36 and calls himself a "libertarian socialist", is sworn in as Chile's president on March 11th it will mark the most radical reshaping of his country's politics in more than 30 years.
Yo provengo de la tradición socialista libertaria americanista chilena.
Boric, who considers himself a libertarian-socialist
In his conversion to socialism as Morris had described it, Cole entered the socialist movement on the libertarian wing.[p.11]... Guild Socialism was an important restatement of the libertarian features of British socialism.[p.45]... [Cole] occasionally called himself a Marxist, within this humanistic, empiricist interpretation. Cole could accept this kind of Marxism because Marx's philosophy of history contains basic insights reached independently by libertarian British socialists from their own experience. The Marxism he set forth inThe Meaning of Marxism was really the common sense of the British Labour movement.[p.227
Henderson [formerly in the Socialist League and later in the ILP] was a libertarian socialist and was also closed to a number of anarchists, includingFred Charles andCharles Mowbray who were also active in the Norwich socialist movement.[p.12]...Russell was pluralist in his politics but can best be described as a libertarian socialist and pacifist, conviction he retained throughout his life.[p.17]...Pankhurst adopted anantiparliamentary position and collaborated with other libertarians including her partner, the Italian anarchist,Sylvio [sic] Corio.[p.23]...Beyond The Fragment [adopted] a pluralist libertarian socialist approach...[p.59]
Its programme of common ownership echoed that of the Labour Party but stemmed from a more idealistic perspective, later termed "libertarian socialist". It came to reject the State-dominated form of socialism adopted by Labour under the influence ofSidney and Beatrice Webb, increasingly aligning itself instead with co-operative, syndicalist and guild socialist traditions.
During the 1940s, the radical tradition was pushed to the margins... The spirit of libertarian socialism opposed to the statism of Labour was very apparent in this strain of politics, especially in the public utterances of SirRichard Acland, and the new Common Wealth party.[pp.249-50]
ole continued to identify himself as a Guild Socialist: that is, he was a socialist pluralist, or libertarian socialist, and, perhaps surprisingly, sympathetic to anarchism.
[George] Orwell appeared on the platform withHerbert Read,Fenner Brockway and a few other leaders of the libertarian Left.[p.18]...Julian Symons was substantially correct when he said, in hisLondon Magazine article, that Orwell retained his faith in libertarian socialism until his death, but that in the end this belief 'was expressed for him more sympathetically in the personalities of unpractical Anarchists than in the slide rule Socialists who made up the bulk of the BritishParliamentary Labor Party'.[p.27]... Orwell's affinities were...with William Morris, another libertarian Socialist who distrusted doctrinaires.[p.83]
Foot also was a distinctly libertarian socialist
Michael Foot is well recognised as a libertarian socialist.
Interested in the history ofethical socialism, having been sympathetic to the wartimeCommon Wealth party in his youth, Benn became interested in a more libertarian socialist approach, supporting the syndicalistInstitute for Workers Control and theUpper Clyde Shipbuilders workers cooperative of 1975 and advocatingindustrial democracy.
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