There is No Justice, Just Us: New Developments in the Political Philosophy of Anarchism

Application summary

In this project, we bring classical anarchism into dialogue with contemporary political philosophy. Anarchism is a less studied but established branch of antiauthoritarian, socialist political movement that provides a plentiful, underused and under researched source of political ideas, concepts and methodologies. The aim of this project is to provide new perspectives on social justice and the most central social institutions, such as the state, democracy, the organizations of civil society, and educational institutions. To reach this aim, we cross-pollinate anarchist insights with the theories of three main figures of political philosophy: John Rawls, Iris Young, and Alasdair MacIntyre. The background of this project is in the revived interest in limiting wealth accumulation, socialist thought, utopia, and political imagination, that has followed the doubt that the current capitalist economy is able to tackle global issues of climate change, biodiversity loss, and growing inequality. Supporting the principles of radical equality, voluntary association, mutual aid, solidarity, direct action, agile organizing, and ethical coherence between ends and means, anarchist philosophies can help to renew the old and imagine and create new institutions as we are heading towards politically and environmentally turbulent times. The research hypothesis is that by comparing theories that may seem incompatible, we can deliver a richer understanding about social justice and some of the most crucial social institutions for justice. Anarchists see the concentration of power as the ultimate evil. According to anarchist tenets, our central moral, social and political principles must also be founded anew in every novel historical situation. By combining the views of the three thinkers with anarchist tradition, we aim to build a positive, more robust theory of human organization, that is based on self-sufficient and just social institutions that practice inclusive democracy