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Abstract

In political theory, Marxism and anarchism are generally thought of as similarly radical left-wing, yet mutually exclusive ideologies. However, that is not the complete story. In this paper, I analyze anarchist and Marxist political theory in an era when these radical tendencies were at possibly their most collaborative: the United States from the late 19th century through World War I. Both of these traditions gained popularity among workers and oppressed people to help build grassroots political power to challenge the rule of capital and other systems of domination. In terms of theoretical matters, I compare and contrast Marxist and anarchist conceptions of freedom and the State, as well as working-class power and the revolutionary subject.

I argue that the Marxist and anarchist theory of this era, rather than being mutually exclusive, reveals both traditions to be complementary. Anarchists highlight the urgency of addressing forms of social domination beyond narrow understandings of class to achieve political emancipation, as well as the dangers inherent in the state. However, Marxism offers an understanding of the state that is more politically actionable and does not risk reversion to such small-scale political activity as to effectively legitimate the liberal status quo. Furthermore, their ultimate complementarity is that both traditions emphasize the pursuit of freedom as the key political goal, and maintain that in order to be meaningful, political victories must be won by popular struggle.

I end this piece by applying the lessons of the radical theory and collaborative nature of the period studied to the current day. I put the anarchism and Marxism of the early 1900s in conversation with more contemporary political theory that blends those two tendencies, and which often theorize different revolutionary subjects than the classical industrial proletariat. While I overall evaluate that change in direction positively, I draw from Mike Davis’ concept of the Conjuncture in Old Gods, New Enigmas to make the case that the working class still remains an agent for political change with much potential, in order to effectively build its power, it must operate in support of the subjugated in all social struggles.

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