Anarchism, from the anarchist view, is a philosophy of fair, democratic and free society which can be obtained by rejecting the state power and any other forms of political organisations. Unlike other ideologies, anarchism has existed in ancient histories and religions in the form of mythology about valuing individuals and life. In fact, anarchy endorses humanity, solidarity and cooperation in order to come up with a classless, supportive and liberated society. Philosophically, anarchy is very much based on emotions and psychology and therefore, seeks to smooth the relation between human beings, governments and the environment. The term “Anarchism” is derived from the Greek word (av: absence of / apxn: hegemony or authority). The simplest definition given to anarchism is the absence of government. Literally, anarchism has various definitions in different dictionaries. For example: “Webster’s Third International Dictionary” describes anarchism as:” A political theory opposed to all forms of government and governmental restraint and advocating voluntary cooperation and free association of individuals and groups in order to satisfy their needs”. The “Britannica Webster” sees it as:” A political theory that holds all government authority to be unnecessary and undesirable and advocates a society based on voluntary cooperation of individuals and groups” and the “New Webster Handy College Dictionary” defines the term as: “a political doctrine that all governments should be abolished”. Arguably, Noam Chomsky stated that: “Anarchism is not a political doctrine, it is a historical tendency of thoughts and actions which has many ways of developing and progressing and which will continue as a permanent strand of human history”.
Later in his” Political Justice/1793”, William Godwin introduced himself as the first anarchist writer who brought in the term “anarchism” to the political literacy. He was then followed by the French Pierre Joseph Proudhon who became a world leading anarchist. Interestingly, anarchism did not only become a rejection of established authority, but a theory opposing ownership of land and property. Anarchism has finally reached a form of a theory by the Russian anarchists Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin who had introduced the term to the general public. On the other hand, Leo Tolstoy came up with the idea of: “Christian Anarchism” which aimed to reject the church’s authority and believe in god. He argued that: “The anarchists are right in the assertion that, without authority, there could not be worse violence than that of authority, under existing conditions”. During the twentieth century, the political field had seen a massive growth of anarchist writers and thoughts which made the term “anarchism” more comprehensive such as: Emma Goldman who introduced the most influential ideas of anarchist feminism and Alexander Berkman who played a major role in defining the word anarchism in his “ABC of Anarchism” where he stated that: “Anarchism means you should be free, that no one should enslave you, boss you, rob you, or impose upon you. It means you should be free to do the things you want to do, and that you should not be compelled to do what you do not want to do”. Even though the word is positively understood by many in its traditional sense, it has often been misused by power controllers as aggression and confusion. According to Woodcock: “Of the more frivolous in the idea that the anarchist is a man who throws bombs and wished wreak society by violence and terror, that is change should be brought against anarchists now, at the time when they are few people who are not throwing bombs or assisting bomb throwers”.
In theory, anarchists are unified by the belief of rejecting political organisations and promoting individual’s freedom. According to anarchists, states are a threat to human being’s liberty and equality as Emma Goldman described them: “The club, the gun, the handcuff or the prison”. Supportively, anarchists adopt Proudhon’s maxim: “To be governed is to be watched over, inspected, spied on, directed… all by creatures that have neither the right, nor the wisdom, nor the virtue”. It has been frequently argued that anarchism is not a unified ideology itself because it has been influenced by socialist and liberal ideas. However, as in any ideology, anarchists differ among themselves in issues such as economic freedom and the way of achieving a solid anarchist society. Consequently, the two movements which showed significance within anarchism are: Collectivists who are associated with socialists and individuals who share an ideological view with classical liberals.