Introduction

Here is a list of all the new additions to the FAQ between 2004 and 2007. An list of older changes can found here.

The version number of the FAQ changes as follows. A major change results in then the version number is increased by one (from version 10.2 to version 11, for example). If a minor change is being made then the current version is increased by 0.1 (for example, from version 10.2 to 10.3).

Introduction

Here is a list of all the new additions to the FAQ between 2004 and 2007. An list of older changes can found here.

As far as new anarchist and libertarian links are concerned, we will add them when we get enough to make an update worthwhile. These updates have no effect on the FAQ version number as we don’t want to inflate it higher than the content deserves.

We hope that this makes it clear to visitors!

What’s New in the FAQ?

Version	Date	What’s New
11.10	01-MAY-2007	Section E Major revision of section E ("What do anarchists think causes ecological problems?"). Massively expanded and improved, with many new sub-sections and arguments. Section C.12 Major revision of section C.12. Think Hong Kong is an example of "free market" capitalism? Think again… This is part of the process of getting the FAQ ready for being published by AK Press.
11.9	01-MAR-2007	Section D Major revision of section D ("How does statism and capitalism affect society?") to fix typos and expand and improve some of the sections. Section D.1.4 New sub-section on why laissez-faire capitalism is not without state intervention. Section D.1.5 New sub-section on whether anarchists support state intervention or not. Section D.11 New section discussing if politics and economics can be separated from each other, using the example of Pinochet’s Chile. The original section D.11 has now become a sub-section of section D.9. Section C.10 Major revision of section C.10, including new subsections on neo-liberalism, growth, labour’s share in nation income and lots more. Section C.11 Major revision of section C.11, including new subsections. Find out the true failure of the first experiment in neo-liberalism, Pinochet’s Chile. This is part of the process of getting the FAQ ready for being published by AK Press.
11.8	11-NOV-2006	Section C.3 Revision of section C.3 Section C.4 Revision of section C.4 Section C.5 Revision of section C.5 Section C.6 Revision of section C.6 Section A Slight changes to section A, fixing typos and making a few slight additions here and there (e.g., some new additions on Tolstoy’s religious anarchism). Section B Slight changes to section B, fixing typos and making a few slight additions here and there (mostly to section B.1). Section C Slight changes to the introduction, C.1 and C.2, fixing typos and making a few slight additions here and there. Appendix 2 Slight addition to the appendix on the symbols of Anarchy. This is part of the process of getting the FAQ ready for being published by AK Press.
11.7	19-JUL-2006	Tenth Anniversary of An Anarchist FAQ! Section C Revised introduction to Section C Section C.1 Totally revised and expanded revision of section C.1, now entitled "What is wrong with Economics?". Explains why mainstream economics is not a science and not value free as well as how it presents a radically false picture of capitalism. Section C.2 Totally revised and expanded revision of section C.2, now entitled " Why is capitalism exploitative?". Explains why anarchists, like other socialists, think capitalism is exploitative. It also critiques many of the standard mainstream economics defences of profit, interest and rent (such as marginal productivity theory, waiting, risk and innovation). Section C.9.1 Addition to the section on "Would cutting wages reduce unemployment?" to note that there is no theoretical or empirical reason to support the standard economic assertion of an upward sloping supply curve for labour and so its arguments on what causes unemployment (i.e. wages being too high). This is part of the process of getting the FAQ ready for being published by AK Press.
11.6	13-MAY-2006	Section F New, smaller, section on "anarcho"-capitalism is not anarchism. This is an edited version of the original section F (which has been put into an appendix). Appendix — Is "anarcho"-capitalism a type of anarchism? The old section F (with some very slight changes here and there). This is part of the process of getting the FAQ ready for being published by AK Press. Not only does this change mean that the AK Press proof-readers have less to look at, it puts "anarcho"-capitalism more into context. If it were not for some academics taking their claims at face value, this section would not even be needed.
11.5	22-APR-2006	Section F.7 New section on the history of "anarcho"-capitalism and how it always (rightly) rejected the term "anarchist." Discusses how a "right-wing anarchism" is impossible (it would just be rule by the rich). Section F.11 The old section F.7 (on "Natural Law") Section F.9 Yet more evidence on why Viking Iceland was not an "anarcho"-capitalist system. As far as it was anarchic, it was not capitalist. As it became capitalistic, it became statist. Section F.1 A rewrite of the first section to summarise the rest of the section F to show how "anarcho"-capitalism’s own definition of the state refutes its claim to be anarchist. Section F.1.4 Some of what was originally in section F.1, plus some new bits and pieces on how individualist anarchism is not really related to "anarcho"-capitalism. Section F.2.6 A few changes on right "libertarian" support for voluntary slavery and how its exposes its contradictions. Section F –Introduction Slight change to the introduction to Section F Section F.1.3 A few additions on the non-scientific nature of most kinds of right-wing libertarianism and how it produces authoritarian politics. This is part of the process of getting the FAQ ready for being published by AK Press. The next stage will be moving section F into an appendix and replacing it with a much more edited version. This because "anarcho"-capitalism is not important and it takes up too much space in an FAQ about anarchism.
11.4	15-FEB-2006	Appendix — The symbols of Anarchy Revision of the appendix on the symbols of anarchy to fix typos and improve it. This is part of the process of getting the FAQ ready for being published by AK Press.
11.3	31-JAN-2006	Section A Minor changes to section A to change the references for Murray Bookchin’s "The Ecology of Freedom" to the most recent edition, including new works by Voltairine de Cleyre and Lucy Parsons, and make a few minor additions here and there (mostly to sections A.2, A.2.1, A.2.18, A.3, A.3.1, A.3.5, A.3.8, A.4, A.5.2, and A.5.5).
11.2	19-JUL-2005	Section B Major revision of section B to fix typos and improve some of the sections. This is part of the process of getting the FAQ ready for being published by AK Press. Section B.1.6 New sub-section on how hierarchy can be overcome. Section B.2.6 New sub-section on how the state can be an independent power within society Section B.3.5 New sub-section on why state owned property is basically the same as private property. Section B.7.2 New sub-section on social mobility in capitalism and why it does not make class or inequality irrelevant. The rest of section B.7 has been reorganised to take the new section into account. Section A Slight changes to section A to change the references for Murray Bookchin’s "Post-Scarcity Anarchism" and Martha A. Ackelsberg’s "Free Women of Spain" to the most recent edition and make a few minor additions here and there (mostly to section A.4).
11.1	10-JAN-2005	Section A Slight changes to section A to fix a few typos, change the references for Rudolf Rocker’s "Anarcho-Syndicalism" to the most recent edition and make a few minor additions here and there (mostly to section A.1).
11.0	03-OCT-2004	Section A Revision of section A to fix typos and improve some of the sections. This is part of the process of getting the FAQ ready for being published by AK Press. Section A.2.20 New section on why most anarchists are atheists. Discusses the anti-anarchist nature of religion as well as its social role in aiding the powerful and making the oppressed accept their lot in life. Section A.3.9 New section on "anarcho-primitivism," explaining what it stands for and why most anarchists reject it. Section A.4.1 Section A.4.2 Section A.4.3 Section A.4.4 New sub-sections on thinkers who are close to anarchism but are not, in fact, anarchists. They include liberals, socialists and marxists as well as others not so easily categorised. Section H.3.15 New section on why the Leninist argument that "objective factors" rather than Bolshevik ideology caused the failure of the Russian revolution. Section H.3.16 New section which summarises the impact of Bolshevik ideology on the outcome of the Russian revolution. Appendix: The Symbols of Anarchy Slight additions to the history of the Black Flag. Appendix: The Russian Revolution New appendix for the various sub-sections of section H which discuss the Russian Revolution (namely sections H.6 to 11).

Introduction

Introduction

What’s New in the FAQ?

Tenth Anniversary of An Anarchist FAQ!