Anarchy as Order: The History and Future of Civic Humanity (World Social Change)

251 Pages·2009·1.1 MB·English

by  Mohammed A. Bamyeh

Anarchy as Order
WORLD SOCIAL CHANGE
Series Editor: Mark Selden
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Edited by John Torpey
Anarchy as Order
The History and Future
of Civic Humanity
Mohammed A. Bamyeh
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
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Copyright © 2009 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
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of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bamyeh, Mohammed A.
Anarchy as order : the history and future of civic humanity / Mohammed
Bamyeh.
p. cm. — (World social change)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-5673-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-7425-5673-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-6662-0 (electronic)
ISBN-10: 0-7425-6662-5 (electronic)
1. Anarchism. 2. Civil society. I. Title.
HX833.B3193 2009
335'.83—dc22
2009000698
Printed in the United States of America
(cid:2) ™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Part I: The Idea
1 Anarchy as a Science of Humanity 3
2 What Is Anarchy? 27
Anarchy and Humanity; Anarchy and the Critique of the State;
The Times of Anarchy
Part II: Around the Idea
3 Civil Society and the State 71
State Reason; The State as Civil Society?; The Responses of Civil
Society; The Tax State and the Politics of Alliance; Civil Society,
Effectiveness, and Humanity; Informed Publics
4 Trust and the Politics of Alliance 119
Suspicion; Conflict; Alliance
5 Freedom and Commitment 143
Types of Will; Three-dimensional Man; Anarchy and Personality;
Freedom as a Historical Experience; Alienation as Choice and Error;
Common Good; The Common Good and Governmental Rationality;
The Common Good and the Common Person
v
vi Contents
6 Anarchy as a Destination 191
Living Philosophy and Living History; Persuasion and Uncertainty;
Ethics on the Way to Anarchy; Transitions: Administration,
Markets, and Spaces of Anarchy
Bibliography 223
Index 233
About the Author 241
Acknowledgments
This book took shape over many years and was written in at least five cities.
As it evolved I benefited from conversations, critique, and learning oppor-
tunities from more sources than I can count. Overall, I benefited most from
those who were suspicious of this work and doubted its argument. But the
real encouragement came from my students at various institutions, long
before I set finger to keyboard. They always and unfailingly asked me to say
more when I mentioned anarchy in passing in connection to civic histories,
democracy, or global processes. They helped me realize that the answers I
wanted to give, or at least explore, were not available in any modern text.
Older texts of anarchy seemed to require much updating and revamping, I
thought, before the anarchist tradition may become useful again. And the
argument for anarchy had to be straightforward and simple yet compre-
hensive and rationally defensible on all grounds. So it is my students who
deserve most credit for motivating this project into light.
An early conversation with James Scott helped me see what was at stake.
A definite note of gratitude goes to Mark Selden, whose questioning of the
dialectic of freedom and community gave stronger shape to my exploration
of those critical concepts. Thanks also go to the anonymous reviewer, who
saw clearly the merits of the book and also saw much to disagree with,
while delivering an exemplary scholarly judgment. I also thank my col-
league John Markoff for his insights and for suggesting the main title after
it became clear that the original title had to be changed.
As always, much is owed to Randall Halle, who exposed this project to
his discernment and approached it with healthy skepticism, and in doing
so helped make it better. I have incorporated much of his critique, which
was especially crucial for clarifying the distinction between Anarchism and
vii
viii Acknowledgments
Marxism, for better engaging the anarchist tradition itself, and for helping
me think of anarchy as science. I am grateful to him for learning that is as
dialectical and mutual as is the hopeful life we aspire to lead in pessopti-
mistic times.
An important part of the credit for this work goes to nonacademics, spe-
cifically those friends who had little explicit affinity to anarchy and rarely
got lost in doctrinal debates, but sought to practice their life as free and
committed individuals. My work with my friends at Mizna in Minnesota
helped me see possibilities I had long despaired of seeing, and also to
overcome the cocoon of academism and relearn the original purpose of all
learning; that is, learning as a way of calling forth the dynamic nature of
life, rather than as a tool of power or a game of doctrine. The above applies
entirely to Munir Fasheh, whom I met only after this book was finished but
who struck me as a living embodiment of the noble disposition I wanted
to depict out of anarchy.
Finally, I should acknowledge Amina, who has grown but was conscious
enough to notice her undue absence from the acknowledgments in my pre-
vious book; Victor Abbas, who is exploring new worlds; Talal, for constant
intellectual engagement and probing where I was going; and the infinitely
curious Omar. And certainly my mother and the spirit of my father, who ex-
perienced the modern world in the form of much chaos and little anarchy.
I
THE IDEA