Anarchist Critique of Radical Democracy: The Impossible Argument, Second Edition

by Markus Lundstrom

In spring of 2013, a wave of urban riots swept across Sweden after police shot an elderly man in his own home. When community residents from his marginalized city-district demanded an official apology, they were ignored. The anti-police insurgences that followed addressed deep problems of the Swedish welfare state, and the official responses revealed glitches built into democracy itself. In this updated edition of Anarchist Critique of Radical The Impossible Argument, sociologist and historian Markus Lundstrom explores the boundaries of Swedish democracy. He probes in-depth interviews with community residents to explain how the 2013 riots intensified a profound, democratic the social divide between the governors and the governed. Resistance to this divide is then traced through the defiance of governance and approaches to democracy in the history of anarchist thought. This book offers an original introduction to anarchism. It relates the diversity of anarchist thought to anti-police riots and the radicalization of democracy.

118 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 26, 2023

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The name I'm most often called when I express my anarchist views and opinions with normies is “naïve.” It makes sense because the world I envision is radical and even though people have experienced bits and pieces here and there, they really have to stretch their imagination to see it being feasible on a large scale. Honestly, so do I. I don't think a world like this will ever exist, outside of small pockets, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop fighting for it, and acting as if it already exists (because it kind of does). People who believe their outlandish goals are possible tend to justify not so great actions they take by saying the ends justifies the means, when in reality the means are the end.

Anarchist Critique of Radical Democracy is broken down into three main parts. First Lundstrom talks about an uprising that took place in Sweden; he dissects the the governors-governed antagonism and the different beliefs and goals residents had while fighting the police. He then, in the second part, discusses the history of anarchist critiques of democracy. From those that believe that we need more of a direct democracy where everyone has a chance to have their voices heard about everything, to those that think any kind of democracy takes away from people's individuality, to those that think a more direct democracy is ok but only if it's on the path to total anarchy. Finally he talks about the impossible argument, which is the section that I understood the least.

I didn't find much new information in this book, in fact there were parts that left me more confused than I was before I started, but at 64 pages it was a quick read and overall I feel good that I read it. Most of all, I don't feel so alone in my so-called naivety.