Ruth Kenna | |
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Born | Ruth Ellen Kinna March 1961 |
Occupation | Professor of political philosophy |
Academic background | |
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Academic work | |
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Institutions | Loughborough University (1992–present) |
Ruth Ellen Kinna (born March 1961) is a professor of political philosophy at Loughborough University,working in the Department of Politics,History and International Relations. Since 2007 she has been the editor of the journal Anarchist Studies . [1]
Kinna holds a BA in history and politics from Queen Mary University of London and a D.Phil in politics from the University of Oxford. [2] She began working at Loughborough University in 1992. [2] Her subsequent work focused on the socialist thought of William Morris (1834–1896). [3] She is the author of the book Anarchism - A Beginners Guide,an in depth study into the political concept of anarchy. [4]
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy,typically including nation-states,and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state with stateless societies and voluntary free associations. As a historically left-wing movement,this reading of anarchism is placed on the farthest left of the political spectrum,usually described as the libertarian wing of the socialist movement.
Anarcho-capitalism is an anti-statist,libertarian political philosophy and economic theory that seeks to abolish centralized states in favor of stateless societies with systems of private property enforced by private agencies,the non-aggression principle,free markets and self-ownership,which extends the concept to include control of private property as part of the self. In the absence of statute,anarcho-capitalists hold that society tends to contractually self-regulate and civilize through participation in the free market,which they describe as a voluntary society involving the voluntary exchange of goods and services. In a theoretical anarcho-capitalist society,the system of private property would still exist and be enforced by private defense agencies and/or insurance companies selected by customers,which would operate competitively in a market and fulfill the roles of courts and the police.
Individualism is the moral stance,political philosophy,ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote realizing one's goals and desires,valuing independence and self-reliance,and advocating that the interests of the individual should gain precedence over the state or a social group,while opposing external interference upon one's own interests by society or institutions such as the government. Individualism makes the individual its focus,and so starts "with the fundamental premise that the human individual is of primary importance in the struggle for liberation".
Libertarian socialism is an anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist political current that emphasises self-governance and workers' self-management. It is contrasted from other forms of socialism by its rejection of state ownership and from other forms of libertarianism by its rejection of private property. Broadly defined,it includes schools of both anarchism and Marxism,as well as other tendencies that oppose the state and capitalism.
George Woodcock was a Canadian writer of political biography and history,an anarchist thinker,a philosopher,an essayist and literary critic. He was also a poet and published several volumes of travel writing. In 1959 he was the founding editor of the journal Canadian Literature which was the first academic journal specifically dedicated to Canadian writing. He is most commonly known outside Canada for his book Anarchism:A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements (1962).
Anarcha-feminism,also known as anarchist feminism or anarcho-feminism,is a system of analysis which combines the principles and power analysis of anarchist theory with feminism. It closely resembles intersectional feminism. Anarcha-feminism generally posits that patriarchy and traditional gender roles as manifestations of involuntary coercive hierarchy should be replaced by decentralized free association. Anarcha-feminists believe that the struggle against patriarchy is an essential part of class conflict and the anarchist struggle against the state and capitalism. In essence,the philosophy sees anarchist struggle as a necessary component of feminist struggle and vice versa. L. Susan Brown claims that "as anarchism is a political philosophy that opposes all relationships of power,it is inherently feminist".
Lucy E. Parsons was an American social anarchist and later anarcho-communist. Her early life is shrouded in mystery:she herself said she was of mixed Mexican and Native American ancestry;historians believe she was born to an African American slave,possibly in Virginia,then married a black freedman in Texas. In addition to Parsons,she went by different surnames during her life including Carter,Diaz,Gonzalez and Hull. She met Albert Parsons in Waco,Texas,and claimed to have married him although no records have been found. They moved to Chicago together around 1873 and Parsons' politics were shaped by the harsh repression of the Chicago railroad strike of 1877. She argued for labor organization and class struggle,writing polemical texts and speaking publicly at events. She joined the International Workingmen's Association and later the Knights of Labor,and she set up the Chicago Working Women's Union with her friend Lizzie Swank and other women.
The history of anarchism is ambiguous,primarily due to the ambiguity of anarchism itself. Scholars find it hard to define or agree on what anarchism means,which makes outlining its history difficult. There is a range of views on anarchism and its history. Some feel anarchism is a distinct,well-defined 19th and 20th century movement while others identify anarchist traits long before first civilisations existed.
Charlotte Mary Wilson was an English Fabian and anarchist who co-founded Freedom newspaper in 1886 with Peter Kropotkin,and edited,published,and largely financed it during its first decade. She remained editor of Freedom until 1895.
Communization theory refers to a tendency on the ultra-left that understands communism as a process that,in a social revolution,immediately begins to replace all capitalist social relations with communist ones. Thus it rejects the role of the dictatorship of the proletariat,which it sees as reproducing capitalism. There exist two broad trends within communization theory:a ‘Marxist’one and an ‘anarchist’one.
David Goodway is a British historian and a respected international authority on Chartism and on anarchism and libertarian socialism.
Anarchist Studies is a biannual academic journal on anarchism. It takes an interdisciplinary approach,examining the history,culture,and theory of anarchism. The journal was established in 1993 and is edited by Ruth Kinna and published by Lawrence and Wishart.
Contemporary anarchism within the history of anarchism is the period of the anarchist movement continuing from the end of World War II and into the present. Since the last third of the 20th century,anarchists have been involved in anti-globalisation,peace,squatter and student protest movements. Anarchists have participated in armed revolutions such as in those that created the Makhnovshchina and Revolutionary Catalonia,and anarchist political organizations such as the International Workers' Association and the Industrial Workers of the World have existed since the 20th century. Within contemporary anarchism,the anti-capitalism of classical anarchism has remained prominent.
John A. Rapp is an American political science professor teaching at Beloit College,USA since 1986. He primarily specialises in "Chinese politics,Communist and post-Communist systems,comparative democracies and electoral systems,and Chinese and comparative political thought."
The term classless society refers to a society in which no one is born into a social class. Distinctions of wealth,income,education,culture,or social network might arise and would only be determined by individual experience and achievement in such a society. Thus,the concept posits not the absence of a social hierarchy but the uninheritability of class status. Helen Codere defines social class as a segment of the community,the members of which show a common social position in a hierarchical ranking. Codere suggest that a true class-organized society is one in which the hierarchy of prestige and social status is divisible into groups. Each group with its own social,economic,attitudinal and cultural characteristics,and each having differential degrees of power in community decision.
Carl Levy is professor of politics at Goldsmiths College,University of London. He is a specialist in the history of modern Italy and the theory and history of anarchism.
Rebel Alliances:The Means and Ends of Contemporary British Anarchisms is a book-length study of philosophy applied to contemporary British class-struggle anarchism. Philosopher Benjamin Franks compares this tradition with competing political groups such as autonomist Marxism and describes a consistent,"ideal" anarchism.
Anarchist archives preserve records from the international anarchist movement in personal and institutional collections around the world. This primary source documentation is made available for researchers to learn directly from movement anarchists,both their ideas and lives.
Anarchism and libertarianism,as broad political ideologies with manifold historical and contemporary meanings,have contested definitions. Their adherents have a pluralistic and overlapping tradition that makes precise definition of the political ideology difficult or impossible,compounded by a lack of common features,differing priorities of subgroups,lack of academic acceptance,and contentious historical usage.