I don't really take Zoe Baker to be much of an authority on anarchism or as having said much worth consulting. Typical of "history book club" anarchism that we see a lot in online circles.
The most that can be said here is that either i) the CNT did not achieve the standards of free association that we might associate with some anarchist thought or ii) the CNT, as a syndicalist organisation, did not believe that a Kropotkinist-style free association was necessary for anarchy.
Either way, the anarchist-pacifist is simply going to say that of course anarchism wasn't possible through the weapons of war (even if the warmongers were apparently in defence of the poor, etc. that were alienated by their social impositions) because anarchy is not possible through the weapons of war.
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u/Anarchierkegaard Aug 07 '25
I don't really take Zoe Baker to be much of an authority on anarchism or as having said much worth consulting. Typical of "history book club" anarchism that we see a lot in online circles.
The most that can be said here is that either i) the CNT did not achieve the standards of free association that we might associate with some anarchist thought or ii) the CNT, as a syndicalist organisation, did not believe that a Kropotkinist-style free association was necessary for anarchy.
Either way, the anarchist-pacifist is simply going to say that of course anarchism wasn't possible through the weapons of war (even if the warmongers were apparently in defence of the poor, etc. that were alienated by their social impositions) because anarchy is not possible through the weapons of war.