Anarchy Works

by Peter Gelderloos

This book takes examples from around the world, picking through history and anthropology, showing that people have, in different ways and at different times, demonstrated mutual aid, self-organization, autonomy, horizontal decision making, and so forth the principles that anarchy is founded on regardless of whether they called themselves anarchists or not. Too well documented to be strictly mythology, and too expansive to be strictly anthropology, this is an inspiring answer to the people who say that anarchists are a point-by-point introduction to how anarchy can and has actually worked.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, History, Anarchism, Theory, Unfinished

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Peter Gelderloos is an American anarchist activist and writer.

Reviews

[xDEAD ENDx · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel sort of weird criticizing this because Peter is pretty cool and has made some pretty significant contributions, but this effort seems sort of built for an echo chamber. If I had to pinpoint the audience, it would definitely be the type of person who is already interested in social justice-y type progressive issues and just needs a small little push to be "radicalized." And as recent events have shown us, there seems to be a pretty terrible retention rate with this type of effort.

This is very much the "right" kind of anarchy where people do DIY projects and build bikes and have consensus meetings or something. Actually, the high point of humor was even a description of a "vibes-watcher" at said meetings. How many eye-rolls does that get? I sort of say all of this because my litmus test for these ABCs of anarchy books is whether or not I could give it to my father (or any other family member of his generation or above) and have him take it seriously. After the first few pages I knew there wouldn't be a chance. It's too steeped in wishy-washy activist language and cherry picks all the typical feel-good examples.

Pardon my grouchy pessimism, but there's something about anarchy "working" (I'm not even making a pun, but like, referring to being "successful") that leaves me highly skeptical.

[Kalin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book really misses the mark. Gave up after 60 pages, after reading the simplistic history of revolutionary Spain. Anarchy Works takes all the premises of anarchism for granted and proceeds to search history and anthropology for examples to back up the ideology. But its polemical priorities are all over the place and fails to provide a convincing argument for non-anarchists while providing very little insight to anarchists familiar with the basic historical examples most already know (Spain, Seattle, Zapatistas, Oaxaca, etc.). The descriptions of anarchist practice in these examples are very shallow and have been more thoroughly elsewhere.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent survey of various examples of anarchist theory successfully applied in practice (whether or not the participants of some of said examples explicitly describe themselves as 'anarchist').

It's particularly nice to read someone who doesn't fall into the trap of apologizing for the failings of various (explicitly) anarchist projects, or calling their failures 'inevitable', but who instead takes the approach of considering practices on their own, and finding merit in the examples of communities that succeeded in one or another aspect of anarchist praxis, even if they ultimately failed in some others.

A great argument, with a wealth of empirical examples, against any who claim that mutual aid is impossible.

[Miguel Rodríguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

La anarquía funciona es un libro muy pedagógico que elabora las bases del pensamiento anarquista respondiendo a preguntas sencillas de respuesta compleja, como „¿de qué manera se tomarán las decisiones? ¿Cómo se resuelven los conflictos? Sin salario, ¿cuál es el incentivo para trabajar?“ y un largo etcétera. Aborda desde cuestiones de antropología y biología acerca de la conducta humana hasta cuestiones más prácticas como diferentes modelos económicos o autogestión y resolución de la violencia y la criminalidad.

De una manera muy amena, Gelderloos desmonta el mito de la meritocracia, el „homo homini lupus“ y más propaganda capitalista que nos hace buscar la „seguridad“ aunque sea sinónima de explotación. Una de las mayores virtudes del libro es el estar plagado de ejemplos recientes de sociedades que han funcionado fuera del capitalismo, de manera anarquista o similar, como es el caso del Conflicto magisterial de Oaxaca y el Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, entre muchos otros. En definitiva, es una lectura ligera y muy recomendada para cualquier persona que quiera aprender sobre anarquismo o socialismo en general.

[lala · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed my life and made me a much better organizer. It is my first real contemporary introduction to anarchism. I am left understanding that decentralized, nonhierarchical, communal ways of organizing our material lives and self-defense work; that direct action rather than recuperative electoralism, authoritarian approaches, ect work; and that creating loving, restorative, and nurturing cultures- and creating methods for healing trauma and resolving conflict- while giving people the freedoms to come and go and create and dissolve as needed- are of utmost importance. I learned a lot about power, consensus, and history. I learn ALOT about human capacity & capability, and gained a lot of confidence and skills. I have been better equipped to guide my community in direct action, and to strengthen my mutual aid projects. Importantly, I have felt less alone and inspired.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book consists of many small chapters: the title is a question and the chapter itself is an answer to that question. The good: the questions were really interesting! Some answers were well thought out and I liked them. The bad: many chapters weren't that good.

Chapters can have odd arguments that are not only unbelievable (and provide no sources), but can also be at odds with each other. For example, the chapter about the patriarchy claims that in the far-away past rigid gender roles weren't a big thing. One of the proofs for such a claim is that because prehistoric drawings consist of ambiguous figures and not of obvious male and female persons, gender must have been fluent in these old societies (what? this is cherry-picking at best). However, the chapter about domination claims that some hunter-gatherer societies were so patriarchal that they used gang rape as a punishment method to keep women in control, or that they kept women as property, or that they were dominated by male elders.

There really needs to be more information, more explanation and more sources to make clear how these beliefs about the past came to be, how these opposite things can both be true, and especially about how this relates as an argument to creating a utopia and proving that anarchy would work. For now, the arguments are too simplistic, unclear and often weak.

Also, some answers were downright silly for me. How will I settle a dispute? Hopefully in private, because honestly, if anyone in clown costume comes to my place to ridicule me and the dispute to make me stop arguing, I'm taking the next rocket away from this planet. Also, I won't be baking any cake for people cleaning up garbage, nor will I be enjoying any 'vibe-watchers' in my meetings.

Another thing that concerned me were some suggestions given and especially the things that could be concluded from that, but were left out/not discussed or mentioned. Why are these things not thought through? For example:
- Everything is supposed to be 100% local -but what about travel, moving places, free movement, large-scale trade? There is technology to organize certain things on a bigger scale without destroying the earth, if that improves human lives. I assume not every small community is going to have their own medicine-factory that produces all types of necessary medicine, etc.
- The book suggests that if women have full reproductive rights, forced population control wouldn't be necessary, because women can make wise decisions for themselves about whether to have kids and how many. However, there should still be population control so a local community is not burned out of resources, etc. So, if women fail to comply with this (possibly arbitrary) max. number of population possible, they will be controlled? Is that not what follows from that?
- The book is 100% against GMO's, without any information or arguments, like there is no difference between handling a scientific invention carefully as an individual or a group and a full Monsanto patent takeover.
- There should be full prison abolishment, because there would be less crime and people can be rehabilitated within the society. But what if it doesn't help? The only example the book gives is of a society that tolerates one murder, but murder twice and you'll be murdered yourself. Is this really the best solution anyone can think of? Death penalty by peers?

Would not recommend this text to people just learning about anarchy, some things might be really off-putting and simplistic.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

The weird thoughts of a minor thinker. So anarchy works. Yes. Most of the human history there was no state to control the individuals. But than Gelderloos turns everything in a sincere Marxist twist and he goes against Capitalism and private ownership. A collectivist praising the state, only a state worshiping HIS gods and no other.

[Elsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long before finished, I noticed I was referring to this book a lot. Almost every question I have ever gotten about anarchism is answered with examples showing why anarchism could work if we make it work. This overload of examples convinces, but also makes it difficult to get through. It is worth it though. Even when you read this critically, the arguments given are too persuasive and well substantiated to carelessly cast aside. Anarchism is an ideology, no doubt, but if you are in any way interested in seeing it as more than a set of ideas, this is a fantastic introduction to anarchism in practice.

[Vaggelis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Πολύ καλό ως προς την ιστορική αναδρομή.

Θά προτιμούσα ο συγγραφέας να κατέθετε καποιες καινούργιες ιδέες ή/καί πρακτικές προτάσεις. Αυτά πού αναφέρει τόσο καλογραμμένα, είναι ακριβή, αλλά έχουν συζητηθεί τόσο πολύ πού καταντάει γραφικό νά μιλήσουμε ΠΆΛΙ για π.χ,τόν Ισπανικό εμφύλιο.

Αν δεν έχεις ιδέα επί τού θέματος καί θες νά μάθεις για την ιστορία του Αναρχισμού, τότε το βιβλίο αυτό σού είναι απαραίτητο.

3/5

[Magnus Byrne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool introduction to anarchism, has a lot of historical and present examples of anti-authoritarian societies working, not just limited to anarchist ones, as only a small subset of European-centric anti-authoritarians really use that label most commonly as I've found out from this book.
If you're interested in anarchy, or have heard about it but think it might not work in practice, give this book a shot, it has a lot of further examples for you to delve deeper into specific topics too, the bibliography is massive, and that's really what it's supposed to be I think, a compendium to start looking at how previous and current ant-authoritarian societes work and how to adapt that to ours.

[Teddy Reitman · Rating 4 out of 5]

really exciting title for what is objectively a very reasonable concept

[David Grobgeld]

Not a huge fan of this. The rat-a-tat of examples get in the way of sustained arguments and analysis, and they all feel a little too "just so" with insufficient attention payed to counter-arguments, failure modes, dangers and difficulties.

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

nathan: im a capitalist
andy: my maoist club is based
marriah: why is bombing a country a bad thing?
mfw My nightly bloodlust overflowed into my days and I had to leave Instagram. My mask of sanity was a victim of impending slippage. This was bone season for me and I needed a vacation. I needed to read Gelderloos.

pretty good intro to anarchism with a nice Q&A format for the chapters, so if you there's something specific you wanna know about, it's easy to find an explanation. the book doesn't go into much detail because it's not meant to. if you've already read about the basics of anarchy, it probably won't give you much, except maybe some historical examples of anarchy in practice that you can research further. but orwell's quote stands, "the best books are those that tell you what you know already."

some of the negative reviews hold up. i mean, gelderloos suggests that meetings include a "vibes-watcher." lol. but overall i'd recommend it to someone who wants to learn about anarchism, or anyone who is currently on a capitalist reading binge, or anyone who has a framed photograph of mao in their bedroom, or anyone who has ever uttered the sentence "human rights are being ✨violated✨."

[Tinea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not even halfway done. Whoever the audience for this book is, I am not it. It's a collection of historical anecdotes in which little bits of anarchist theory have been put into practice, demonstrating that there are myriad examples of anarchy working around the world and throughout history. I'm gonna keep it around and keep working on it, but am not expecting to get much farther. It's really boring.

[Amelia Blanca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un excelente libro para aprender de mutualismo, pero no mucho más.
Siento que al intentar convencer al lector de que el anarquismo es algo bueno se vuelve muy idílico en momentos, y hay muchas partes que no cierran, por el ejemplo el hecho de cómo se manejan los asesinatos, que se siente como una manera rápida de decir que hay justicia, pero termina dando una solución paupérrima a un problema de esa magnitud. Siento que está bueno para tener como conceptos clave en tu vida, sobre ayudar a otros, pero no podría aplicarse en el mundo contemporáneo. Retomando lo idílico, son ideas geniales, que en grandes grupos dejan de funcionar, y en la sociedad globalizada en la que vivimos no se pueden aplicar. No quiero desarrollar mi vista política en el asunto, pero es un buen libro… no sobre anarquismo, sino sobre mutualismo.

[Lee the poisonous crater · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it took some time to read but it's so well written I couldn't recommend this enough.

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

anarchy works more like anarchy WERK it girl

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be a really engaging and interesting overview of how non-hierarchical/anarchistic societies have worked throughout history. I really liked that the author, rather than just talking about theory, showed concrete examples of how groups of people have dealt with various problems, and what their forms of social organization have looked like, in various places and times around the world.

My main criticism is that the book leans heavily on the work of anthropologists describing Indigenous and traditional cultures around the world, and I wish the author had sought out and interviewed people from those communities instead.

I also had a few smaller criticisms: for example, that the author mentions overpopulation a few times as a potential problem, which is always a yellow flag for me, because a focus on population has always been so tied up with racism, classism, and control of the bodies of people who can get pregnant.

But overall, I really liked this book, in particular its focus on concrete examples from around the world of how people can organize societies of various sizes without centralized authority. Definitely a must read for anyone wondering, "How would (trash collection/crime prevention/education/food production/etc) work under anarchism?"

[Ines Herćan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes! This book is gold in its purest form! It goes out to every won struggle of the oppressed: everyday revolutionaries, workers, women, indigenous people, anarchists, squatters, the poor against police brutality, dictatorship of the capital, sexism, patriarchy and exploiters of all kinds. It teaches us how to fight any form of hierarchy and how to create horizontal society. Thank you Peter Gelderloos!

[Person · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knowing nothing about anarchism going in, I found this quite a good introduction. The FAQ-style structure of the book is great for a beginner, without being too simplistic either. Gelderloos provides many varied examples of how anarchism has worked historically and what we can learn from these cases. The variety of the examples is definitely a highlight of the book, showing that anarchy is not just a utopian Western ideal, but that many societies around the world have functioned in an anti-authoritarian manner and thrived.

My main issue would be that even though Gelderloos addresses some problems with anarchist societies, he often glosses over them or doesn’t go into enough depth. Regardless, I think this is an informative introduction and provides a lot of food for thought. The recommended reading included at the end of each chapter will be a great resource for further reading on the topic.

[Juan Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This compilation of essays on topics about society and history and the ways we can, and have, organised without hierarchy or oppressive power strictures is a beautiful piece of work.
It is inspiring and earnest and a great road map to anarchist ideas, mutual aid and consent as basis of our relationships and interactions with each other.
It might feel utopian or too idealistic, but for me it's been a breath of fresh air. A reminder that this longing for a more just, more free society is shared. This book makes a compelling case for radical ideas like societies with no prisons or no police forces.
I will definitely return to this one.
Inspiring.

[Taya Sokolova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Я не большой фанат книг по истории. Наверное потому что большинство авторов не чувствуют ее. Не живут ей. Гельдероос стал летописцем анархического движения. Он рассказал о многих антиавторитарных общинах, которые существовали. Не только о наших современниках, но и о древних племенах. Честно описал плюсы и минусы таких сообществ, почему они распадались и что делали те, чьи сообщества оказались устойчивыми.

Интересно будет тем, кто занимается развитием самоорганизующихся сообществ и просто любителям истории.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for answering beginners' questions about anarchism and why it is a practical, non-authoritarian political philosophy. Gelderloos provides many examples of non-statist societies and their cultural dynamics, as well as examples of what happens when a state is arbitrarily imposed upon them. Really an invaluable work for anyone who needs anarchism put into easy-to-read, accessible language.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoughtful introduction to the concept of Anarchism and the questions one might have.

It’s fairly surface level and doesn’t dive deep, but that’s quite honestly not the POINT of the book, and the recommended reading it leaves at the end of every chapter bump it up from a solid 4-star to 5 for me, because those are extremely helpful. Well recommended for anyone approaching the topic.

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little inspiring, a lot educational. the man knows of a lot of anarchist experiments i'll give him that.

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked all the references from anthropology. More recent examples were taken sometimes from Gelderloos's personal experience, which makes this a bit of a primary source about some interesting communes and projects. There are some blitz-analyses of the kibbutzim movement that whet my appetite. A note at the end reflects on the book's weaknesses.

I would like to see Gelderloos return to some of the themes tackled in specific chapters and really stretch out in a series of books that allows him to get more detailed with the examples. I mean book length treatments on topics like economics, crime, revolution... each of which gets one chapter here.

Although Gelderloos is careful to point out that (1) 'we' can't keep taking -- including ideas -- from the indigenous cultures without reparations and returning some favors and (2) that his anthropological examples are meant to show that anarchist structures can work; they are not meant to be blueprints for 'us,' opponents on the "Left" might also point to all the anthropology and repeat the old Marxian claim that anarchists want to return to some imagined primitive past, and I think Gelderloos could have addressed that argument more directly. I would also like to read his responses to the more common arguments from our enemies who claim that cooperation leads to more conflict... the kinds of arguments used to justify apartheid and border walls... because many of the arguments in this book just assume that cooperation leads to peace and understanding without examining why many people don't agree. Sorry to be a downer, but it's a downer world at the moment which is why an optimistic and inspiring book like this one is so nice.

[Finbar · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's some great references throughout to anarchistic groups, events, actions across the world and it was worth reading to find out about those to look into in more detail, but this does feel like a missed opportunity to a degree.

Some good arguments are presented and good points about how we naturally practice anarchy, but it doesn't feel like it succinctly nails all the questions it sets up to answer. Every time a question is set up, the writer begins to answer and then goes off into a list of real-world references without always bringing these points back to a satisfying summary.

The writing style itself is geared towards readers that are already somewhat 'on-side' with the concept of anarchy. It would be much more interesting and probably effective to write the book as if the reader has no prior concept of anarchy or is even antagonistic towards anarchism. That would force the arguments made to be much more eloquent and convincing.

I most enjoyed the first couple of chapters where it's closest to this, and also the moments when the writer involves himself. Particularly the last chapter where he gives a little bit of insight into his own story, it actually helps strengthen the points about how one can practice anarchy in the present.

Overall though still an enjoyable read that's worthwhile to newcomers, but probably not really an essential. Would love to see a revised edition that goes harder.

[SomiadorElegit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gran libro para recomendar a todxs aquellxs que quieren aproximarse a la teoría y práctica anarquista de una manera informal y a través de ejemplos, en lugar de con duros tratados teóricos o filosofía incomprensible.
De hecho, incluso con un lenguaje sencillo y mediante los ejemplos que menciono, se van introduciendo sin forzar y apenas sin percibir multiples ideas y justificaciones históricas, antropológicas, biológicas etc de la viabilidad de un modelo social ácrata.
Es un libro que no va a convencer mágicamente a una persona de mente tradicional y más bien conservadora, pero no obstante es un buen libro para terminar de convencer a todxs aquellxs que se definen usando palabras dentro del vago espectro del progresismo o la izquierda de que el análisis anarquista y completamente antiautoritario es el que abriga la mejor forma de evitar la corrupción de una verdadera revolución social.
Lleva dentro una enorme bibliografía (algo evidentemente lógico debido a que es un libro que básicamente es una enumeración de preguntas contestadas con muchos ejemplos históricos y contemporáneos) de la cual ya he apuntado muchos libros.
En definitiva, muy recomendable.

[Matthew Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a frustrating read interspersed with moments of brilliance. On the one hand, the informal nature of the writing style can be distracting. Gelderloos weaves sundry threads of historical stateless societies and modern anarchist projects into chapters that are, at times, unfocused. His analysis of some cases lacks depth, and his capacity to spotlight key anarchist themes and principles in a meaningful way thus suffers. On the other hand, his sense of conviction that anarchy works can be infectious. He finds a way to address a multitude of crucial questions and concerns that every self-reflective anarchist must consider at some point—from whether humans are inherently selfish to how anarchist cities can work. On the whole, Anarchy Works certainly requires a great deal of focus to absorb the meaning of some chapters. But when the meaning does become clear, it is as powerful as any anarchist polemic with real staying power.

[macintosh2000 · Rating 2 out of 5]

What's interesting about Anarchy Works is that you would think that it exists to convince people who are not anarchists to become anarchists. But, it's not. The more I read it, the more I started to believe that this book is instead trying to convince people who are already anarchists but that may be having doubts to remain anarchists. Instead of reading like theory, it instead comes across as a book full of talking points one could reference in a debate.

I understand that I enjoyed this less because I am not the target audience - and that's fine! The issue I have is that I didn't think I got much substance from reading this. Structure was the main issue - I didn't think that it read in a way that felt like I was trying to be convinced - rather it was like the author was trying to debate me, which didn't make it very fun to read.

I had to stop about 1/3 of the way in because I got bored and annoyed.

Grade: D
Recommended for: People who are already anarchists