Conference paper
Overcoming the cosmopolitan/communitarian divide through anarchism: La Via Campesina and the principles of anarchism
Rethinking anarchy: Anarchism and world politics, pp.1-46
Research on Anarchism Forum, 2010 (Bristol, United Kingdom, 17-Jun-2010 - 18-Jun-2010)
University of Bristol
2010
Abstract
The cosmopolitan and communitarian dualism has long been a dividing line in the field of IR theory. On the one hand, cosmopolitan arguments are beset by charges of domination under an unswerving universalism that is said to be washed over human plurality and diversity. On the other hand, communitarianism is consumed under the contradiction of a parochialism that seeks to reduce community and ethics to the local sphere alone. This false dualism, a necessary corollary of the dominant discourse of the "anarchy problematique‟ in IR theory, is an unwelcome distraction that corners the debate of human emancipation within definitional obscurity and the abstraction of an alleged perpetual antagonism between the universal and the local. In this article, it is argued that IR theory could circumvent this impasse by taking into account the key principles of anarchist philosophy ; mutualism and global confederalism without executive power. In support of this argument, the paper explores the contemporary social movement La Via Campesina and suggests that it uniquely reflects certain anarchistic modes of social organization Through such a form of organization the oppressed of the world can be united in their unique differences and joint desire for emancipation.
Details
- Title
- Overcoming the cosmopolitan/communitarian divide through anarchism: La Via Campesina and the principles of anarchism
- Authors
- Shannon Brincat (Author)Leah Aylward (Author)
- Publication details
- Rethinking anarchy: Anarchism and world politics, pp.1-46
- Conference details
- Research on Anarchism Forum, 2010 (Bristol, United Kingdom, 17-Jun-2010 - 18-Jun-2010)
- Publisher
- University of Bristol
- Organisation Unit
- Forest Research Institute; Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Centre; Tropical Forests & People Research Centre
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99971197602621
- Output Type
- Conference paper