Neither This, Nor That: Anarcho-existential Anthropology of Violence What sort of social theory would actually be of interest to those who are trying to help bring about a world in which people are free to govern their own affairs? Anarchists presume no inevitable course of history and one can never further the course of freedom by creating new forms of coercion. In fact all forms of systemic violence are (among other things) assaults on the role of the imagination as a political principle. I think it only makes sense to seek out and identify structures of authority, hierarchy, and domination in every aspect of life, and to challenge them; unless a justification for them can be given, they are illegitimate, and should be dismantled, to increase the scope of human freedom. The only way to begin to think about eliminating systematic violence is to recognize that “where there is authority, there is no freedom (Kropotkin)!” Establishing the Object of Inquiry Violence constitutes much more
Writings in Anthropology & Public Health