Stateless society describes a society without a
governmentA government is the body within a community, political entity or organization which has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.....
. It is generally the goal of anarchists who believe that government is both unnecessary and also directly harmful in that it infringes on the personal and economic freedoms of people.
Anarchists of
different stripesAnarchism is a political philosophy with many heterogeneous and diverse schools of thought, united by a common opposition to compulsory government. Anarchist schools of thought are characterised by "the belief that government is both harmful and unnecessary", but may differ fundamentally,...
disagree heavily on the exact form of this final society. The basic principle that all agree on is the non-existence of a central
stateA sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state...
in a
non-aggressionThe non-aggression principle is a deontological ethical stance associated with the Anarcho-capitalist school of Libertarianism...
system or
anarchyAnarchy may refer to any of the following:* "No rulership or enforced authority." * "Absence of government; a state of lawlessness due to the absence or inefficiency of the supreme power; political disorder."...
.
Stateless society describes a society without a
governmentA government is the body within a community, political entity or organization which has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.....
. It is generally the goal of anarchists who believe that government is both unnecessary and also directly harmful in that it infringes on the personal and economic freedoms of people.
Anarchists of
different stripesAnarchism is a political philosophy with many heterogeneous and diverse schools of thought, united by a common opposition to compulsory government. Anarchist schools of thought are characterised by "the belief that government is both harmful and unnecessary", but may differ fundamentally,...
disagree heavily on the exact form of this final society. The basic principle that all agree on is the non-existence of a central
stateA sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state...
in a
non-aggressionThe non-aggression principle is a deontological ethical stance associated with the Anarcho-capitalist school of Libertarianism...
system or
anarchyAnarchy may refer to any of the following:* "No rulership or enforced authority." * "Absence of government; a state of lawlessness due to the absence or inefficiency of the supreme power; political disorder."...
. Within this framework, most strands of anarchist thinking propose that a system of
voluntary associationA voluntary association or union is a group of individuals who voluntarily enter into an agreement to form a body to accomplish a purpose.Strictly speaking in many jurisdictions no formalities are necessary to start an association...
of one kind or another can provide the services for which human beings have previously relied on the external coercive institutions of the state. What forms of association are desirable or possible in the absence of government is the subject of much debate within the anarchist community, as expressed in the heated debates between
anarcho-capitalismAnarcho-capitalism is an individualist anarchist political philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state and the elevation of the sovereign individual in a free market...
(which proposes free market solutions to these problems) and various forms of anarcho-socialism (which tend to advocate a system of decentralized voluntary collectives to fulfill the current social obligations of the state).
From 1991 to 2006,
SomaliaSomalia , officially the Republic of Somalia and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is a country located in the Horn of Africa...
was cited as a real-world example of a stateless society, with
kritarchyKritarchy is a form of order springing from judgements made from principles of natural rights. It may have existed in Israel during the period of time described in the Book of Judges and exists in Somalia under the rule of Xeer law....
(
xeerXeer /ħeːr/ is the polycentric legal system of Somalia. Under this system, elders serve as judges and help mediate cases using precedents. It is a good example of how customary law works within a stateless society and is a fair approximation of what is thought of as natural law...
), an informal system of rule by judges, serving in lieu of a centralized government.
Sections of Spain during the
Spanish Civil WarThe Spanish Civil War was a major conflict that devastated Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939. It began after an attempted coup d'état by a group of Spanish Army generals against the government of the Second Spanish Republic, then under the leadership of president Manuel Azaña...
(particularly
CataloniaAnarchist Catalonia was the self-proclaimed stateless territory and anarchist society in part of the territory of modern Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War.-Anarchists enter government:...
and Aragón in 1936) which were organized by anarcho-syndicalists are often referred to as an example of anarchist practice.
See also
- Stateless communism
Stateless communism, also known as pure communism, is the ideal, post-socialist stage of society which Karl Marx predicted would inevitably follow the historical stages of capitalism and socialism...
- Anarchism in Spain
Anarchism has historically gained more support and influence in Spain than anywhere else, especially before Francisco Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939....
- Anarchy in Somalia
Somalia, since 1991, is cited as a real-world example of a stateless society and legal system. Since the fall of Siad Barre's government in January 1991 , there has been no permanent national government in Somalia. Large areas of the country such as Somaliland, Puntland, Awdal and Galmudug are...