Anti-authoritarianism is opposition toauthoritarianism. Anti-authoritarians usually believe in fullequality before the law and strongcivil liberties. Sometimes the term is used interchangeably withanarchism, an ideology which entails opposing authority orhierarchical organization in the conduct of human relations, including the state system.[1]
Analytic philosophy positions the reader in a position where they can reject any philosophical argument made by the author, in contrast with other forms of philosophy that require thedeference of the reader to the author.[2] When the analytic reader feels they have a good reason to disagree with an author, they are entitled to regard the author as mistaken, rather than assuming themselves to be mistaken.[3] Analytic philosophy applies this form of anti-authoritarianism to every reader and every author, regardless of their own philosophies or levels of education.[4] Rather than allowing the reader to disagree without reason, analytic philosophy also applies theprinciple of charity, in which the reader reconstructs a philosophical argument to be in its strongest form before engaging in criticism of it. This principle requires that the author is not treated as an authority, as if they were treated as such, their words would not require a charitable interpretation.[5]
Etymologically,anarchism is defined as a belief that society should not be ruled.[6] Thepolitical philosophy of anarchism rejects forms ofauthority andhierarchy, includinggovernment and thestate.[7] According to the American academicJohn C. Clark, anarchism seesliberty as inherent tohuman nature and maintains an anti-authoritarian critique of existinginstitutions, seeking to establish a non-coercive or non-authoritarian society in their place.[8] Anarchists seek toabolish the state and establish astateless society, although they see the state as only one form of unjustifiable authority.[9] Anarchism goes further to view authority as lacking in moral legitimacy, and something that should be overthrown if necessary.[10] Anarchists see anti-authoritarianism as bound together withmoral responsibility andpersonal development and believe that the overthrow of authorities can give way to aspontaneous order.[11]
The French anarchistPierre-Joseph Proudhon summed up therevolutionary goal of anarchism to be "no more authority",[12] whileSébastien Faure claimed everyone who fights against authority to be an anarchist.[13]Fundamentalist definitions of anarchism assert that it is synonymous with anti-authoritarianism,[14] with the Italian anarchistErrico Malatesta defininganarchy as a "society organised without authority".[15] Drawing from the ideas ofPost-Marxism and thepost-structuralism ofMichel Foucault,post-anarchists such asSaul Newman have extended the rejection of authority to the rejection ofrepressive forms ofpower and hierarchy.[16]
Although all anarchists are highly sceptical of authority, many do not outright reject all forms of authority and see some forms as legitimate, albeit still subject to questioning.[17] The Russian anarchistMikhail Bakunin acknowledged that he rejected specific kinds of authority, but insisted that his idea of anarchism was not opposed to all authority.[15] Bakunin and his successorPeter Kropotkin were suspicious of all political authority over society, but accepted themethodological authority ofscience.[18] Bakunin considered science to be the "sole legitimate authority", due to its basis inrationality and its concordance with human freedom.[19] However, he also rejected the authority of individual scientific experts over aspects of social life.[20] According to philosopherRichard T. De George,parental authority is also necessary in cases where parents must make choices that their child is not capable of making, although these choices should ideally not be imposed on the child without theirconsent.[21] Through the anarchist lens, the legitimacy of parental authority is subject to the parents' conduct, the child's incapacity and whether it is necessary to exercise such authority.[22]
Marxist andliberal critiques of anarchism have defined it synonymously with a strict anti-authoritarianism, which calls for the abolition of all forms of authority, and have thus dismissed it as "utopian". In the 1872 essayOn Authority,Friedrich Engels condemned anarchist anti-authoritarianism and presented a justification for the authority of atechnocracy.[23] The American MarxistHal Draper also criticised the anti-authoritarianism ofindividualist anarchism for basing its idea offreedom on asolipsistic idea of asovereign individual, over whom individualist anarchists seek to abolish any higher authority.[24]
Pragmatist anti-authoritarians are motivated to construct a better future for humanity through fraternal cooperation, rather than relying on regulation by an external authority figure.[25] According to pragmatism, anti-authoritarianethics are developed throughcultural inheritance, rather than themorality of a non-human higher power; and an anti-authoritarianepistemology prioritisesintersubjectivity (the development ofcollective consensus throughfree inquiry) over the supposedobjectivity of a higher power.[26]
The American pragmatist philosopherJohn Dewey developed an anti-authoritarian philosophy in reaction against his ownreligious education.[27] Dewey held that humans shouldregulate themselves throughdemocraticcooperation with others, rather than through their desire to act in accordance with the will of some non-human higher power.[28] He saw history as a process of ever-increasingfreedoms and cooperation, and believed thatauthority ought to be replaced withfraternity.[29] Through this lens, Dewey consideredmodern technology andliberal democracy to be two core aspects of movement towards an anti-authoritarian society, as they were both established through fraternal cooperation rather thanpaternalism. To Dewey, pragmatism rejects any authority other than that established byconsensus.[30] Dewey saw anti-authoritarianism as the replacement of a morality formed throughobligation with one formed throughlove.[31]
In theWeimar Republic during the 1920s, German sociologistErich Fromm began investigating the characteristics ofauthoritarian and anti-authoritarian sentiments, conducting a survey of German industrial workers which developed his theory onauthoritarian personalities. By the 1930s, Fromm'sFrankfurt School developed an interest in resistance toauthority; at the time, they considered this through the lens ofrevolutionary politics, but their terminology later began to refer to the subject as anti-authoritarianism.[32]
In the 1950 bookThe Authoritarian Personality,Theodor W. Adorno carried out a study of the characteristics of anti-authoritarians. Adorno and his colleagues found anti-authoritarian "low-scorers" to be opposed tohierarchy,injustice,autocracy andtotalitarianism, and more likely than authoritarian "high-scorers" to resist social authorities who they perceived to uphold injustice. They categorised anti-authoritarians into five broad types: the "genuine liberal", who displayed a strong sense ofautonomy, a capacity forcritical thinking and amoral courage that led them to resist perceived injustice; the "rigid low-scorers", who had adogmatic andsuperficial understanding ofleft-wing politics; the "protesting low-scorers", who rarely took action in accordance with their anti-authoritarian ideas due to their ownpsychological problems; the "impulsive low-scorers", who were unable to maintain a stablepolitical ideology; and the "easygoing low-scorers", who rarely displayed a political ideology and preferred to focus on improving their individual situation rather than participating insocial action.[32]
Following the publication of Adorno's book, the term "anti-authoritarianism" gained more widespread usage among psychologists and sociologists, withBenjamin Spock using it to describe alaissez-faire approach toparenting.[33] A 1972 study by Australian psychologists J. Martin and J. Ray found that agreement with anti-authoritarian statements was negatively correlated with the responders'socioeconomic status and positively correlated with indicators ofneuroticism.[34] A 1991 study by South African psychologist Jose Meloen found: that anti-authoritarians to be nine times more likely than authoritarians to engage inactivism; that the more anti-authoritarian a person or group was, the more likely they were to engage inresistance activities; and that higher levels of education correlated with higher degrees of anti-authoritarianism.[35] Meloen also found that, although authoritarians sometimes engaged in anti-authoritarian behaviour, such behaviour was not consistent and often isolated to individual situations.[36]
AfterWorld War II, there was a strong sense of anti-authoritarianism based onanti-fascism in Europe. This was attributed to the active resistance fromoccupation and to fears arising from the development ofsuperpowers.[37] Anti-authoritarianism has also been associated withcountercultural andbohemian movements. In the 1950s, theBeat Generation were politically radical and to some degree their anti-authoritarian attitudes were taken up by activists in the 1960s.[38]Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War was largely led by anti-authoritarians, who participated in anti-war protests and engaged inconscientious objection.[39]
Following thehandover of Hong Kong in 1997, an anti-authoritarian movement grew in response to the increasing power of thegovernment of China over theregion. The movement culminated in the2019–2020 Hong Kong protests against aproposed extradition bill, which eventually forced the bill to be withdrawn.[40]
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