2009/06/01 by Dana M. Williams · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Anarchism and Radical Politics #Labor Movements and Unions #Political Economy and Marxism #Ideology #Hierarchy #Politics #Sociology #Variation (astronomy) #Analytic philosophy #Social science #Environmental ethics #Epistemology #Law #Political science #Contemporary philosophy #Philosophy
paper · doi:10.1080/13569310902925816
openalex publication_date 2009/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Anarchism is a philosophy opposed to hierarchy and authority, and is used as a critical lens to analyze the whole of human society. As with members of all social groupings, anarchists differ from each other in many ways, one of which is their political ideology. At least two visibly distinct ideological variants of anarchism are distinguishable in the US—a red anarchism that emphasizes economic concerns and a green anarchism that focuses upon the environment. American anarchists have long assumed, based upon anecdotal evidence, that there are differences in ideological variant identification between those on the two US coasts. Using survey data, two distinct measures of ideology were formed and respondents were classified into four separate US regions. Although the majority of anarchists do not specify a particular orientation, Northeasterners were associated with red anarchism, while Westerners were associated with green anarchism. These differences may be created and/or reinforced by structural or organizational factors.