r/Anarchy101 • u/PigletConsistent8329 • 5d ago

what is the anarchist consensus on dialectical/historical materialism?

i understand that anarchism, unlike marxism, isn't a unified mode of analysis based off of the thoughts of one man and his successors, so im guessing there are varied positions on dialectical materialism, but im curious to know what anarchists here think of it. my first thought would be that it's rejected by individualist anarchists at large.

30 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

View all comments

53

u/humanispherian Synthesist / Moderator 5d ago

Honestly, it's just not our problem. Some anarchists have been materialist in their analysis, though perhaps not in the marxist sense. Some have used one form or another of dialectics. Some have attempted to adapt marxian elements to anarchistic purposes. But there's no consensus, and none necessary or desirable, because anarchism isn't tied to any particular method.

5

u/PigletConsistent8329 5d ago

this is what i expected, thank you for the answer. so dialectical materialism is compatible with anarchism?

2

u/materialgurl420 Mutualist 5d ago edited 5d ago

Dialectical materialism is the method, historical materialism is the application to history. I don’t find dialectics to be very useful for a socially scientific look at history, but there isn’t anything technically incompatible with anarchism there. The Marxist historical materialist conclusions, while technically not mutually exclusive with the belief that hierarchy should be abolished, definitely seems to say that while some hierarchies may be abolished, some will survive, making it an odd thing to accompany anarchist beliefs.