{{dablink "anarchist" redirects here. for the comic book character, see [[anarchist (comics)]].}} {{toolong}} {{disputed}} {{anarchism}} '''anarchism''' is a [[political philosophy]] or group of philosophies and attitudes which reject any form of compulsory [[government]] ref malatesta, errico, ''towards anarchism''. /ref ([[cf.]] "[[state]]"), and support its elimination, ref name definitions ''anarchism''. encyclop dia britannica. 2006. encyclop dia britannica premium service. [[29 august]] [[2006]] http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9117285 . anarchism is "a cluster of doctrines and attitudes centred on the belief that government is both harmful and unnecessary." /ref ref name definitions2 ''anarchism''. the shorter routledge encyclopedia of philosophy. 2005. p. 14 "anarchism is the view that a society without the state, or government, is both possible and desirable." /ref ref carl slevin "anarchism" the concise oxford dictionary of politics. ed. iain mclean and alistair mcmillan. oxford university press, 2003. /ref most often because of a wider rejection of any form of hierarchical [[authority]]. ref bakunin, mikhail, ''god and the state'', pt. 2.; tucker, benjamin, ''state socialism and anarchism''.; kropotkin, piotr, ''anarchism: its philosophy and ideal''; malatesta, errico, ''towards anarchism''; bookchin, murray, ''anarchism: past and present'', pt. 4; an introduction to anarchism by liz a. highleyman[http://www.spunk.org/texts/intro/sp001550.html] /ref the term "anarchism" [[etymology derives from]] the [[greek language greek]] [[wiktionary: ]] ("without [[archon]]s" or "without rulers"). ref [http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/anarchy anarchy] merriam-webster's online dictionary /ref there are a variety of types and traditions of anarchism with various points of difference. ref kropotkine, petr alekseevich. ''anarchism: a collection of revolutionary writings'', courier dover publications, 2002, p.5 /ref ref {{cite journal author r.b. fowler title the anarchist tradition of political thought year 1972 journal western political quarterly volume 25 issue 4 pages 738-752 doi 10.2307/446800}} /ref however, the varieties are not particularly well characterized and not all of them are mutually exclusive. ref sylvan, richard. anarchism. a companion to contemporary political philosophy, editors goodwin, robert e. and pettit, philip. blackwell publishing, 1995, p.231 /ref other than the description above, "there is no single defining position that all anarchists hold, and those considered anarchists at best share a certain [[family resemblance]]." ref anarchism. the oxford companion to philosophy, oxford university press, 2005, p. 31 /ref different anarchists prefer several different economic systems. most favor some form of [[socialism]], some favor [[mutualism (economic theory) mutualism]], some free-market [[left-libertarianism]], and some [[anarcho-capitalism free market capitalism]]. various anarchists differ from each other fundamentally, supporting anything from extreme [[individualism]] to complete [[collectivism]].