I am looking for good books that explain the relationship between anarchism and communism, and how they differ in practice. I am not looking for a book that takes a communist angle and calls anarchism merely utopian or a liberal version of communism that has no revolutionary potential, or the liberal anti-communist propaganda that calls itself anarchist or radical and mostly serves to spread the lie that Stalin was actually worse than Hitler.

I have had trouble finding books that do not approach each other from this lens but instead takes you through historical examples where both groups disagreed and why, and when there has been clear unity in the fundamental goal of communism and anti-capitalism

  • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
    17·
    4 天前

    Full transparency, I’m a Marxist-Leninist that used to be an anarchist. My viewpoint on anarchism is as someone who came to the left more generally, then started getting into anarchism, then eventually as I read more Marxist and anarchist works I found myself agreeing more with Marxism. I think it will be very useful if you understand the following:

    Anarchism is primarily about communalization of production. Marxism is primarily about collectivization of production.

    When I say “communalization,” I mean anarchists propose horizontalist, decentralized cells, similar to early humanity’s cooperative production but with more interconnection and modern tech. When I say collectivization, I mean the unification of all of humanity into one system, where production and distribution is planned collectively to satisfy the needs of everyone as best as possible.

    For anarchists, collectivized society still seems to retain the state, as some anarchists conflate administration with the state as it represents a hierarchy. For Marxists, this focus on communalism creates inter-cell class distinctions, as each cell only truly owns their own means of production, giving rise to class distinctions and thus states in the future.

    For Marxists, socialism must have a state, a state can only wither with respect to how far along it has come in collectivizing production and therefore eliminating class. All states are authoritarian, but we cannot get rid of the state without erasing the foundations of the state: class society, and to do so we must collectivize production and distribution globally. Socialist states, where the working class wields its authority against capitalists and fascists, are the means by which this collectivization can actually happen, and are fully in-line with Marx’s beliefs. Communism as a stateless, classless, moneyless society is only possible post-socialism.

    Abolishing the state overnight would not create the kind of society Marxists advocate for advancing towards, and if anything, would result in the resumption of competition and the resurgance of capitalism if Marx and Engels predictions are correct.

    As far as reading is concerned, I would start with Ann Robertson’s The Philosophical Roots of the Marx-Bakunin Conflict to understand more broadly. Following that:

    Marxist POV:

    1. K. Marx - Conspectus of Bakunin’s Statism and Anarchy & Critique of the Gotha Programme

    2. A. Gramsci - The State and Socialism

    3. F. Engels - Socialism: Utopian and Scientific (or better yet, the full Anti-Dühring)

    4. V. I. Lenin - The State and Revolution

    5. J. V. Stalin - Anarchism or Socialism?

    6. Zhenli’s Marxism vs. Anarchism

    Anarchist POV:

    1. An Anarchist FAQ, Section H, Why Do Anarchists Oppose State Socialism?

    2. Bakunin’s Statism and Anarchy

    3. P. Kropotkin - The Conquest of Bread

    4. E. Goldman - Anarchism and Other Essays

    5. A. Lorde - The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master’s House

    For further exploration of Marxism-Leninism, I wrote an introductory reading list.