Editing Individualism (section)

== Economic individualism ==
The [[doctrine]] of economic individualism holds that each individual should be allowed [[autonomy]] in making their own economic decisions as opposed to those decisions being made by the community, the corporation or the state for him or her.

=== Classical liberalism ===
{{main|Classical liberalism}}
Liberalism is a political ideology that developed in the 19th century in the Americas, England, France and Western Europe. It followed earlier forms of liberalism in its commitment to personal freedom and popular government, but differed from earlier forms of liberalism in its commitment to [[classical economics]] and [[free market]]s.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sq-1z8VMhDEC&pg=PA37|title=Modern Political Philosophy|first=Richard|last=Hudelson|year= 1999|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0765600219|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Notable liberals in the 19th century include [[Jean-Baptiste Say]], [[Thomas Malthus]] and [[David Ricardo]]. Classical liberalism, sometimes also used as a label to refer to all forms of liberalism before the 20th century, was revived in the 20th century by [[Ludwig von Mises]] and [[Friedrich Hayek]] and further developed by [[Milton Friedman]], [[Robert Nozick]], [[Loren Lomasky]] and [[Jan Narveson]].<ref>[[David Conway (academic)|David Conway]]. ''Classical Liberalism: The Unvanquished Ideal.'' Palgrave Macmillan. 1998. {{ISBN|978-0-312-21932-1}} p. 8</ref>

=== Libertarianism ===
{{main|Libertarianism}}
{{libertarianism sidebar|concepts}}

Libertarianism upholds [[liberty]] as a core principle.<ref name="Boaz">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Libertarianism|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/339321/libertarianism|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|author=Boaz, David|author-link=David Boaz|date=30 January 2009|access-date=21 February 2017|quote=[L]ibertarianism, political philosophy that takes individual liberty to be the primary political value.}}</ref> Libertarians seek to maximize [[autonomy]] and [[political freedom]], emphasizing [[Free association (Marxism and anarchism)|free association]], [[freedom of choice]], individualism and [[voluntary association]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Woodcock|first=George|title=Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements|orig-date=1962|year=2004|publisher=Broadview Press|location=Peterborough|isbn=978-1551116297|page=16|quote=[F]or the very nature of the libertarian attitude{{snd}}its rejection of dogma, its deliberate avoidance of rigidly systematic theory, and, above all, its stress on extreme freedom of choice and on the primacy of the individual judgement {{sic}}.|title-link=Anarchism (Woodcock book)}}</ref> Libertarianism shares a skepticism of [[Political authority|authority]] and [[State (polity)|state]] power, but libertarians diverge on the scope of their opposition to existing [[Economic system|economic]] and [[political system]]s. Various schools of libertarian thought offer a range of views regarding the legitimate functions of state and private [[Power (social and political)|power]], often calling for the restriction or dissolution of coercive [[social institutions]]. Different categorizations have been used to distinguish various forms of libertarianism.<ref>Long, Joseph. W (1996). "Toward a Libertarian Theory of Class". ''Social Philosophy and Policy''. '''15''' (2): 310. "When I speak of 'libertarianism' [...] I mean all three of these very different movements. It might be protested that LibCap [libertarian capitalism], LibSoc [libertarian socialism] and LibPop [libertarian populism] are too different from one another to be treated as aspects of a single point of view. But they do share a common{{snd}}or at least an overlapping{{snd}}intellectual ancestry."</ref><ref>Carlson, Jennifer D. (2012). "Libertarianism". In Miller, Wilburn R., ed. ''The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America''. London: Sage Publications. p. 1006. {{ISBN|978-1412988766}}. "There exist three major camps in libertarian thought: right-libertarianism, socialist libertariaism, and left-lbertarianism; the extent to which these represent distinct ideologies as opposed to variations on a theme is contrasted by scholars. Regardless, these factions differ most pronouncedly with respect to private property."</ref> This is done to distinguish libertarian views on the nature of [[Property rights (economics)|property]] and [[Capital (economics)|capital]], usually along [[Left-wing politics|left]]–[[Right-wing politics|right]] or [[socialist]]–[[capitalist]] lines.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Francis|first1=Mark|title=Human Rights and Libertarians|journal=[[Australian Journal of Politics & History]]|volume=29|issue=3|pages=462–472|date=December 1983|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8497.1983.tb00212.x|issn=0004-9522}}</ref>

==== Left-libertarianism ====
{{main|Left-libertarianism}}
Left-libertarianism represents several related yet distinct approaches to politics, society, culture and political and social theory which stress both individual and [[political freedom]] alongside [[social justice]]. Unlike right-libertarians, left-libertarians believe that neither claiming nor [[Labor theory of property|mixing one's labor]] with [[natural resources]] is enough to generate full [[private property]] rights,<ref name="WhyNotIncoherent">{{cite journal|last1=Vallentyne |first1=Peter |last2=Steiner |first2=Hillel |last3=Otsuka |first3=Michael |title=Why Left-Libertarianism Is Not Incoherent, Indeterminate, or Irrelevant: A Reply to Fried |journal=Philosophy and Public Affairs |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=201–215 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing, Inc. |year=2005 |url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctymio/leftlibP&PA.pdf |access-date=2013-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103160534/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctymio/leftlibP%26PA.pdf |archive-date=2012-11-03 |doi=10.1111/j.1088-4963.2005.00030.x }}</ref><ref name="encyclolib">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Narveson |first1= Jan|last2=Trenchard |first2= David |title= Left Libertarianism|author-link1= Jan Narveson|editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Hamowy |editor-link=Ronald Hamowy |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC |year=2008 |publisher= [[SAGE Publishing|Sage]]; [[Cato Institute]] |location= Thousand Oaks, CA |doi=10.4135/9781412965811.n174 |isbn= 978-1412965804 |oclc=750831024| lccn = 2008009151 |pages=288–289 }}</ref> and maintain that natural resources (land, oil, gold, trees) ought to be held in some [[egalitarian]] manner, either unowned or [[owned collectively]].<ref name="encyclolib"/> Those left-libertarians who support property do so under different property norms<ref>Schnack, William (13 November 2015). [https://c4ss.org/content/41572 "Panarchy Flourishes Under Geo-Mutualism"]. Center for a Stateless Society. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810111658/https://c4ss.org/content/41572|date=10 August 2018}}. Retrieved 10 August 2018.</ref><ref>Byas, Jason Lee (25 November 2015). [https://c4ss.org/content/41583 "The Moral Irrelevance of Rent"]. Center for a Stateless Society. Retrieved 21 March 2020.</ref><ref>Carson, Kevin (8 November 2015). [https://c4ss.org/content/40929 "Are We All Mutualists?"] Center for a Stateless Society. Retrieved 21 March 2020.</ref><ref>Gillis, William (29 November 2015). [https://c4ss.org/content/41653 "The Organic Emergence of Property from Reputation"]. Center for a Stateless Society. Retrieved 8 April 2020.</ref> and theories,<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Bylund|first=Per|year=2005|url=http://www.perbylund.com/academics_polsci_msc.pdf|title=Man and Matter: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Justification of Ownership in Land from the Basis of Self-Ownership|type=master's thesis|work=LUP Student Papers|publisher=Lund University|access-date=12 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Land-locked: A Critique of Carson on Property Rights|last=Long|first=Roderick T.|author-link=Roderick T. Long|volume=20|issue=1|year=2006|pages=87–95|journal=[[Journal of Libertarian Studies]]|url=https://mises.org/journals/jls/20_1/20_1_6.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Verhaegh|first=Marcus|year=2006|title=Rothbard as a Political Philosopher|url=https://mises.org/journals/jls/20_4/20_4_1.pdf|journal=Journal of Libertarian Studies|volume=20|issue=4|page=3}}</ref> or under the condition that recompense is offered to the [[Local community|local]] or [[global community]].<ref name="encyclolib"/>

Related terms include ''[[egalitarian libertarianism]]'',<ref>Sundstrom, William A. (16 May 2002). [http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/sundstrom/Sundstrommanifesto.pdf "An Egalitarian-Libertarian Manifesto"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029212045/http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/sundstrom/Sundstrommanifesto.pdf|date=29 October 2013}}.</ref><ref>Sullivan, Mark A. (July 2003). "Why the Georgist Movement Has Not Succeeded: A Personal Response to the Question Raised by Warren J. Samuels". ''[[American Journal of Economics and Sociology]]''. '''62''' (3): 612.</ref> ''[[left-wing libertarianism]]'',<ref name="Spitz">{{cite journal|url=https://www.cairn-int.info/article-E_RAI_023_0023--left-wing-libertarianism-equality-based.htm|title=Left-wing libertarianism: equality based on self-ownership|last=Spitz|first=Jean-Fabien|journal=Raisons Politiques|date=March 2006|volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=23–46 |doi=10.3917/rai.023.0023 |access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref> ''[[libertarianism]]'',<ref>Bookchin, Murray (January 1986). [https://social-ecology.org/wp/1986/01/the-greening-of-politics-toward-a-new-kind-of-political-practice/ "The Greening of Politics: Toward a New Kind of Political Practice"]. ''Green Perspectives: Newsletter of the Green Program Project'' (1).</ref> ''[[libertarian socialism]]'',<ref name="Bookchin & Biehl 1997 p. 170">Bookchin, Murray; Biehl, Janet (1997). ''The Murray Bookchin Reader''. New York: Cassell. p. 170.</ref><ref name="Long 2012 p. 223">Long, Roderick T. (2012). "The Rise of Social Anarchism". In Gaus, Gerald F.; D'Agostino, Fred, eds. ''The Routledge Companion to Social and Political Philosophy''. p. 223.</ref> ''[[social libertarianism]]''<ref>Grunberg, Gérard; Schweisguth, Etienne; Boy, Daniel; [[Nonna Mayer|Mayer, Nonna]], eds. (1993). ''The French Voter Decides''. "Social Libertarianism and Economic Liberalism". University of Michigan Press. [https://books.google.com/books?id=IB2siz9e8AUC&dq=social+libertarianism&pg=PA45 p. 45]. {{ISBN|978-0-472-10438-3}}</ref> and ''[[socialist libertarianism]]''.<ref name="Carlson 2012 pp. 1006–1007">Carlson, Jennifer D. (2012). "Libertarianism". In Miller, Wilbur R. ''The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia''. Sage Publications. pp. 1006–1007.</ref> Left-libertarianism can refer generally to these related and overlapping schools of thought:
* [[Anti-authoritarian]] varieties of [[left-wing politics]], in particular within the [[socialist movement]], usually known as libertarian socialism.<ref name="Bookchin & Biehl 1997 p. 170"/><ref name="Long 2012 p. 223"/>
* [[Geolibertarianism]], an American synthesis of [[Libertarianism in the United States|libertarianism]] and [[Georgism]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Foldvart|first=Fred E.|url=http://www.progress.org/archive/fold251.htm|url-status=dead|title=Geoism and Libertarianism|work=The Progress Report|publisher=Progress.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104040047/http://www.progress.org/archive/fold251.htm|archive-date=4 November 2012|access-date=26 March 2013}}</ref><ref>DeCoster, Karen (19 April 2006). [http://archive.lewrockwell.com/decoster/henry-george-tariff.html "Henry George and the Tariff Question"]. [[LewRockwell.com]]. Retrieved 23 September 2020.</ref>
* [[Left-wing market anarchism]], stressing the socially transformative potential of non-aggression and [[anti-capitalist]] freed markets.<ref>Sheldon Richman (3 February 2011). [http://www.theamericanconservative.com/blog/libertarian-left/ "Libertarian Left: Free-market anti-capitalism, the unknown ideal"]. ''The American Conservative''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190610075037/https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/libertarian-left/|date=10 June 2019}}. Retrieved 5 March 2012.</ref><ref>Chartier, Gary; Johnson, Charles W. (2011). ''Markets Not Capitalism: Individualist Anarchism Against Bosses, Inequality, Corporate Power, and Structural Poverty''. Brooklyn: Minor Compositions/Autonomedia. pp. 1–11. {{ISBN|978-1570272424}}.</ref>
* [[Steiner–Vallentyne school]], named after [[Hillel Steiner]] and [[Peter Vallentyne]], whose proponents draw conclusions from classical liberal or market liberal premises.<ref>{{cite book|author=Will Kymlicka |chapter=libertarianism, left-|editor=Ted Honderich |title=The Oxford Companion to Philosophy |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=New York |year=2005 }}</ref>

==== Right-libertarianism ====
{{main|Right-libertarianism}}
Right-libertarianism represents either non-[[Collectivism and individualism|collectivist]] forms of libertarianism<ref>Olsaretti, Serena (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=NZmGrPKu8BMC ''Liberty, Desert and the Market: A Philosophical Study'']. Cambridge University Press. pp. 14, 88, 100.</ref> or a variety of different libertarian views that scholars label to the right of libertarianism<ref>{{cite book|last1=Graham|first1=Paul|last2=Hoffman|first2=John|year= 2003|title=An Introduction to Political Theory|publisher=Routledge|page=93|isbn=978-1-3178-6342-7|quote=A distinction is made between right libertarianism and left libertarianism. Self-ownership is the starting point for all libertarians, but right and left libertarians divide over the implications for the ownership of external things from the self-ownership premise.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Vallentyne|first=Peter|year=2007|chapter=Libertarianism and the State|editor-last1=Frankel Paul|editor-first1=Ellen|editor-last2=Miller|editor-first2=Fred Jr.|editor-last3=Paul|editor-first3=Jeffrey|title=Liberalism: Old and New|volume=24|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=187–205|isbn=978-0-521-70305-5|quote=The best known form of libertarianism{{snd}}right-libertarianism{{snd}}is a version of classical liberalism, but there is also a form of libertarianism{{snd}}left-libertarianism{{snd}}that combines classical liberalism's concern for individual liberty with contemporary liberalism's robust concern for material equality.}}</ref> such as [[libertarian conservatism]].<ref>Heywood, Andrew (2015). ''Key Concepts in Politics and International Relations: Palgrave Key Concepts''. Macmillan International Higher Education. p. 37. {{ISBN|978-1-1374-9477-1}}.</ref> Related terms include ''[[conservative libertarianism]]'',<ref>Graber, Mark A. (1991). ''Transforming Free Speech: The Ambiguous Legacy of Civil Libertarianism''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 18. {{ISBN|978-0520913134}}.</ref><ref>Narveson, Jan (2001). ''The Libertarian Idea'' (revised ed.). Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press. p. 8. {{ISBN|978-1551114217}}.</ref><ref>Passavent, Paul (2003). ''No Escape: Freedom of Speech and the Paradox of Rights''. New York: New York University Press. p. 49. {{ISBN|978-0814766965}}.</ref> ''[[libertarian capitalism]]''<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Fallacy of Libertarian Capitalism|last=Reiman|first=Jeffrey H.|year=2005|journal=Ethics|volume=10|issue=1|pages=85–95|doi=10.1086/292300|jstor=2380706|s2cid=170927490}}</ref> and ''[[right-wing libertarianism]]''.<ref name="Carlson 2012 pp. 1006–1007"/><ref>Goodway, David (2006). ''[[Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow: Left-Libertarian Thought and British Writers from William Morris to Colin Ward]]''. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Fgya85u7S-4C&dq=anarcho-capitalism+right+libertarian&pg=PA4 p. 4]. "'Libertarian' and 'libertarianism' are frequently employed by anarchists as synonyms for 'anarchist' and 'anarchism', largely as an attempt to distance themselves from the negative connotations of 'anarchy' and its derivatives. The situation has been vastly complicated in recent decades with the rise of anarcho-capitalism, 'minimal statism' and an extreme right-wing laissez-faire philosophy advocated by such theorists as Rothbard and Nozick and their adoption of the words 'libertarian' and 'libertarianism'. It has therefore now become necessary to distinguish between their right libertarianism and the left libertarianism of the anarchist tradition".</ref><ref>Marshall, Peter (2008). ''[[Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism]]''. London: Harper Perennial. p. 565. "The problem with the term 'libertarian' is that it is now also used by the Right. [...] In its moderate form, right libertarianism embraces ''laissez-faire'' liberals like Robert Nozick who call for a minimal State, and in its extreme form, anarcho-capitalists like Murray Rothbard and David Friedman who entirely repudiate the role of the State and look to the market as a means of ensuring social order".</ref> In the mid-20th century, right-libertarian ideologies such as [[anarcho-capitalism]] and [[minarchism]] co-opted<ref>Fernandez, Frank (2001). ''Cuban Anarchism. The History of a Movement''. Sharp Press. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130610014449/http://books.google.com/books?id=jKdztbIaHegC p. 9]. "Thus, in the United States, the once exceedingly useful term 'libertarian' has been hijacked by egotists who are in fact enemies of liberty in the full sense of the word."</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Rothbard|first1=Murray|url=https://cdn.mises.org/The%20Betrayal%20of%20the%20American%20Right_2.pdf|title=The Betrayal of the American Right|orig-date=2007|year=2009|publisher=Mises Institute|isbn=978-1610165013|page=83|quote=One gratifying aspect of our rise to some prominence is that, for the first time in my memory, we, 'our side,' had captured a crucial word from the enemy. 'Libertarians' had long been simply a polite word for left-wing anarchists, that is for anti-private property anarchists, either of the communist or syndicalist variety. But now we had taken it over.}}</ref> the term ''libertarian'' to advocate ''[[laissez-faire]]'' [[capitalism]] and strong [[private property rights]] such as in land, infrastructure and natural resources.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hussain|first=Syed B.|title=Encyclopedia of Capitalism, Volume 2|year=2004|publisher=Facts on File Inc|location=New York|isbn=0816052247|page=492|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FbVZAAAAYAAJ|quote=In the modern world, political ideologies are largely defined by their attitude towards capitalism. Marxists want to overthrow it, liberals to curtail it extensively, conservatives to curtail it moderately. Those who maintain that capitalism is an excellent economic system, unfairly maligned, with little or no need for corrective government policy, are generally known as libertarians.}}</ref> The latter is the dominant form of [[libertarianism in the United States]],<ref name="Carlson 2012 pp. 1006–1007"/> where it advocates [[civil liberties]],<ref>Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971). [https://mises.org/library/left-and-right-within-libertarianism "The Left and Right Within Libertarianism"]. ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. '''7''' (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.</ref> [[natural law]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.libertarianism.org/encyclopedia/natural-law|title=Natural Law|last=Miller|first=Fred|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism|date=15 August 2008|access-date=31 July 2019}}</ref> [[free-market capitalism]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/key-concepts-libertarianism|title=Key Concepts of Libertarianism|last=Boaz|first=David|date=12 April 2019|publisher=Cato Institute|access-date=20 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://theihs.org/who-we-are/what-is-libertarian/|title=What Is Libertarian|publisher=Institute for Humane Studies|access-date=20 December 2019}}</ref> and a major reversal of the modern [[welfare state]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Political Ideologies|last=Baradat|first=Leon P.|publisher=Routledge|year=2015|page=31|isbn=978-1317345558}}</ref>

=== Socialism ===
[[File:Emilearmand01.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Influential [[French individualist anarchist]] [[Émile Armand]]]]

With regard to economic questions within [[individualist socialist]] schools such as [[individualist anarchism]], there are adherents to [[Mutualism (economic theory)|mutualism]] ([[Pierre Joseph Proudhon]], [[Émile Armand]] and early [[Benjamin Tucker]]); [[natural rights]] positions (early Benjamin Tucker, [[Lysander Spooner]] and [[Josiah Warren]]); and egoistic disrespect for "ghosts" such as private property and markets (Max Stirner, [[John Henry Mackay]], [[Lev Chernyi]], later Benjamin Tucker, [[Renzo Novatore]] and [[illegalism]]). Contemporary individualist anarchist [[Kevin Carson]] characterizes American individualist anarchism saying that "[u]nlike the rest of the socialist movement, the individualist anarchists believed that the natural wage of labor in a free market was its product, and that economic exploitation could only take place when capitalists and landlords harnessed the power of the state in their interests. Thus, individualist anarchism was an alternative both to the increasing statism of the mainstream socialist movement, and to a classical liberal movement that was moving toward a mere apologetic for the power of big business."<ref>Kevin Carson. ''Organization Theory: A Libertarian Perspective''. Booksurge. 2008. p. 1</ref>

==== Libertarian socialism ====
{{main|Libertarian socialism}}
{{libertarian socialism sidebar}}

Libertarian socialism, sometimes dubbed left-libertarianism<ref>Bookchin, Murray and Janet Biehl. ''The Murray Bookchin Reader''. Cassell, 1997. p. 170 {{ISBN|0-304-33873-7}}</ref><ref>Hicks, Steven V. and Daniel E. Shannon. ''The American journal of economics and sociology''. Blackwell Pub, 2003. p. 612</ref> and socialist libertarianism,<ref>Miller, Wilbur R. (2012). ''The social history of crime and punishment in America. An encyclopedia.'' 5 vols. London: Sage Publications. p. 1007. {{ISBN|1412988764}}. "There exist three major camps in libertarian thought: right-libertarianism, socialist libertarianism, and ..."</ref> is an [[anti-authoritarian]], [[anti-statist]] and [[libertarian]]<ref>"It implies a classless and anti-authoritarian (i.e. libertarian) society in which people manage their own affairs" [http://www.infoshop.org/AnarchistFAQSectionI1#sthash.40vnyElp.dpuf I.1 Isn't libertarian socialism an oxymoron?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116212712/http://www.infoshop.org/AnarchistFAQSectionI1#sthash.40vnyElp.dpuf|date=2017-11-16}} at An Anarchist FAQ</ref> tradition within the [[socialist movement]] that rejects the [[state socialist]] conception of [[socialism]] as a [[statist]] form where the [[State (polity)|state]] retains [[centralized]] [[State ownership|control of the economy]].<ref>"unlike other socialists, they tend to see (to various different degrees, depending on the thinker) to be skeptical of centralized state intervention as the solution to capitalist exploitation..." Roderick T. Long. "Toward a libertarian theory of class." ''Social Philosophy and Policy''. Volume 15. Issue 02. Summer 1998. p. 305</ref><ref name=":0">"So, libertarian socialism rejects the idea of state ownership and control of the economy, along with the state as such. Through workers' self-management it proposes to bring an end to authority, exploitation, and hierarchy in production." [http://www.infoshop.org/AnarchistFAQSectionI1 "I1. Isn't libertarian socialism an oxymoron" in] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116212712/http://www.infoshop.org/AnarchistFAQSectionI1|date=2017-11-16}} An Anarchist FAQ</ref> Libertarian socialists criticize [[wage slavery]] relationships within the [[workplace]],<ref>"Therefore, rather than being an oxymoron, "libertarian socialism" indicates that true socialism must be libertarian and that a libertarian who is not a socialist is a phoney. As true socialists oppose wage labour, they must also oppose the state for the same reasons. Similarly, libertarians must oppose wage labour for the same reasons they must oppose the state." [http://www.infoshop.org/AnarchistFAQSectionI1 "I1. Isn't libertarian socialism an oxymoron" in] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116212712/http://www.infoshop.org/AnarchistFAQSectionI1|date=2017-11-16}} An Anarchist FAQ</ref> emphasizing [[workers' self-management]] of the workplace<ref name=":0" /> and [[Libertarian socialist decentralization|decentralized]] structures of political organization.<ref>"Their analysis treats libertarian socialism as a form of anti-parliamentary, democratic, antibureaucratic grass roots socialist organisation, strongly linked to working class activism." Alex Prichard, Ruth Kinna, Saku Pinta and Dave Berry (eds) Libertarian Socialism: Politics in Black and Red. Palgrave Macmillan, December 2012. p. 13</ref><ref>" ...preferringa system of popular self governance via networks of decentralized, local voluntary, participatory, cooperative associations. Roderick T. Long. "Toward a libertarian theory of class." ''Social Philosophy and Policy''. Volume 15. Issue 02. Summer 1998. p. 305</ref><ref>"What is of particular interest here, however, is the appeal to a form of emancipation grounded in decentralized, cooperative and democratic forms of political and economic governance which most libertarian socialist visions, including Cole's, tend to share." Charles Masquelier. ''Critical theory and libertarian socialism: Realizing the political potential of critical social theory.'' [[Bloomsbury Publishing]]. New York and London. 2014. p. 189</ref>

Libertarian socialism asserts that a society based on freedom and justice can be achieved through abolishing [[authoritarian]] institutions that control certain [[means of production]] and subordinate the majority to an owning class or political and economic [[elite]].<ref>Mendes, Silva. ''Socialismo Libertário ou Anarchismo'' Vol. 1 (1896): "Society should be free through mankind's spontaneous federative affiliation to life, based on the community of land and tools of the trade; meaning: Anarchy will be equality by abolition of [[private property]] (while retaining respect for [[personal property]]) and [[liberty]] by abolition of [[authority]]".</ref> Libertarian socialists advocate for [[Decentralization#Libertarian socialist decentralization|decentralized]] structures based on [[direct democracy]] and [[Federalism#Federalism as the anarchist and libertarian socialist mode of political organization|federal]] or [[Confederation|confederal]] associations such as [[libertarian municipalism]], [[citizens' assemblies]], [[trade union]]s and [[workers' council]]s.<ref>"...preferring a system of popular self governance via networks of decentralized, local, voluntary, participatory, cooperative associations-sometimes as a complement to and check on state power..."</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Rocker | first=Rudolf | title=Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice | page=65 | year=2004 | publisher=[[AK Press]] | isbn=978-1-902593-92-0 }}</ref>

All of this is generally done within a general call for [[Liberty#Socialism|liberty]]<ref>"LibSoc share with LibCap an aversion to any interference to freedom of thought, expression or choice of lifestyle." Roderick T. Long. "Toward a libertarian theory of class." ''Social Philosophy and Policy''. Volume 15. Issue 02. Summer 1998. pp 305</ref><ref>"...what categorizes libertarian socialism is a focus on forms of social organization to further the freedom of the individual combined with an advocacy of non-state means for achieving this." Matt Dawson. ''Late modernity, individualization and socialism: An Associational Critique of Neoliberalism.'' Palgrave MacMillan. 2013. p. 64</ref> and [[Free association (Marxism and anarchism)|free association]]<ref>"What is implied by the term 'libertarian socialism'?: The idea that socialism is first and foremost about freedom and therefore about overcoming the domination, repression, and alienation that block the free flow of human creativity, thought, and action...An approach to socialism that incorporates cultural revolution, women's and children's liberation, and the critique and transformation of daily life, as well as the more traditional concerns of socialist politics. A politics that is completely revolutionary because it seeks to transform all of reality. We do not think that capturing the economy and the state lead automatically to the transformation of the rest of social being, nor do we equate liberation with changing our life-styles and our heads. Capitalism is a total system that invades all areas of life: socialism must be the overcoming of capitalist reality in its entirety, or it is nothing." "What is Libertarian Socialism?" by Ulli Diemer. Volume 2, Number 1 (Summer 1997 issue) of ''The Red Menace''.</ref> through the identification, criticism and practical dismantling of illegitimate authority in all aspects of human life.<ref name="iaf-ifa.org">"The [[International of Anarchist Federations|IAF–IFA]] fights for : the abolition of all forms of authority whether economical, political, social, religious, cultural or sexual."[http://www.iaf-ifa.org/principles/english.html "Principles of The International of Anarchist Federations"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105095946/http://www.iaf-ifa.org/principles/english.html|date=January 5, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Ward 1966">{{cite web |url=http://www.panarchy.org/ward/organization.1966.html|last=Ward|first=Colin|year=1966|title=Anarchism as a Theory of Organization|access-date=1 March 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100325081119/http://www.panarchy.org/ward/organization.1966.html| archive-date= 25 March 2010<!--Added by DASHBot-->}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = The Soviet Union Versus Socialism|url = http://chomsky.info/1986____/|website = chomsky.info|access-date = 2015-11-22|quote = Libertarian socialism, furthermore, does not limit its aims to democratic control by producers over production, but seeks to abolish all forms of domination and hierarchy in every aspect of social and personal life, an unending struggle, since progress in achieving a more just society will lead to new insight and understanding of forms of oppression that may be concealed in traditional practice and consciousness.}}</ref><ref>"Authority is defined in terms of the right to exercise social control (as explored in the "sociology of power") and the correlative duty to obey (as explred in the "philosophy of practical reason"). Anarchism is distinguished, philosophically, by its scepticism towards such moral relations – by its questioning of the claims made for such normative power – and, practically, by its challenge to those "authoritative" powers which cannot justify their claims and which are therefore deemed illegitimate or without moral foundation."[https://books.google.com/books?id=kkj5i3CeGbQC ''Anarchism and Authority: A Philosophical Introduction to Classical Anarchism'' by Paul McLaughlin. AshGate. 2007. p. 1]</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">"Anarchism, then, really stands for the liberation of the human mind from the dominion of religion; the liberation of the human body from the dominion of property; liberation from the shackles and restraint of government. Anarchism stands for a social order based on the free grouping of individuals for the purpose of producing real social wealth; an order that will guarantee to every human being free access to the earth and full enjoyment of the necessities of life, according to individual desires, tastes, and inclinations." [[Emma Goldman]]. "What it Really Stands for Anarchy" in ''[[Anarchism and Other Essays]]''.</ref><ref>Individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker defined anarchism as opposition to authority as follows "They found that they must turn either to the right or to the left, – follow either the path of Authority or the path of Liberty. Marx went one way; Warren and Proudhon the other. Thus were born State Socialism and Anarchism...Authority, takes many shapes, but, broadly speaking, her enemies divide themselves into three classes: first, those who abhor her both as a means and as an end of progress, opposing her openly, avowedly, sincerely, consistently, universally; second, those who profess to believe in her as a means of progress, but who accept her only so far as they think she will subserve their own selfish interests, denying her and her blessings to the rest of the world; third, those who distrust her as a means of progress, believing in her only as an end to be obtained by first trampling upon, violating, and outraging her. These three phases of opposition to Liberty are met in almost every sphere of thought and human activity. Good representatives of the first are seen in the Catholic Church and the Russian autocracy; of the second, in the Protestant Church and the Manchester school of politics and political economy; of the third, in the atheism of Gambetta and the socialism of Karl Marx." [[Benjamin Tucker]]. [http://www.revoltlib.com/?id=2803 ''Individual Liberty.'']</ref><ref>Anarchist historian [[George Woodcock]] report of [[Mikhail Bakunin]]'s anti-authoritarianism and shows opposition to both state and non-state forms of authority as follows: "All anarchists deny authority; many of them fight against it." (p. 9)...Bakunin did not convert the League's central committee to his full program, but he did persuade them to accept a remarkably radical recommendation to the Berne Congress of September 1868, demanding economic equality and implicitly attacking authority in both Church and State."</ref><ref name="Brown 2002 106">{{cite book |last=Brown |first=L. Susan |chapter=Anarchism as a Political Philosophy of Existential Individualism: Implications for Feminism |title=The Politics of Individualism: Liberalism, Liberal Feminism and Anarchism |publisher=Black Rose Books Ltd. Publishing |year= 2002 |page=106}}</ref> Within the larger socialist movement, libertarian socialism seeks to distinguish itself from [[Leninism]] and [[social democracy]].<ref>"It is forgotten that the early defenders of commercial society like [[Adam Smith|(Adam) Smith]] were as much concerned with criticising the associational blocks to mobile labour represented by [[guilds]] as they were to the activities of the state. The [[History of socialism|history of socialist thought]] includes a long associational and anti-statist tradition prior to the political victory of the [[Bolshevism]] in the east and varieties of [[Fabianism]] in the west. John O'Neil." ''The Market: Ethics, knowledge and politics''. Routledge. 1998. p. 3</ref><ref>"In some ways, it is perhaps fair to say that if Left communism is an intellectual- political formation, it is so, first and foremost, negatively – as opposed to other socialist traditions. I have labelled this negative pole 'socialist orthodoxy', composed of both Leninists and social democrats...What I suggested was that these Left communist thinkers differentiated their own understandings of communism from a strand of socialism that came to follow a largely electoral road in the West, pursuing a kind of social capitalism, and a path to socialism that predominated in the peripheral and semi- peripheral countries, which sought revolutionary conquest of power and led to something like state capitalism. Generally, the Left communist thinkers were to find these paths locked within the horizons of capitalism (the law of value, money, private property, class, the state), and they were to characterize these solutions as statist, substitutionist and authoritarian." Chamsy el- Ojeili. ''Beyond post-socialism. Dialogues with the far-left.'' Palgrave Macmillan. 2015. p. 8</ref>

Past and present currents and movements commonly described as libertarian socialist include [[anarchism]] (especially [[anarchist schools of thought]] such as [[anarcho-communism]], [[anarcho-syndicalism]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Sims|first=Franwa|title=The Anacostia Diaries As It Is|publisher=Lulu Press|year=2006|page=160}}</ref> [[collectivist anarchism]], [[green anarchism]], [[individualist anarchism]],<ref>''An Anarchist FAQ''. "[[Benjamin Tucker|(Benjamin) Tucker]] referred to himself many times as a socialist and considered his philosophy to be "Anarchistic socialism."</ref><ref>[[Émile Armand|Armand, Émile]] (1907). [http://www.spaz.org/~dan/individualist-anarchist/library/emile-armand/life-activity.html "Anarchist Individualism as a Life and Activity"]. French individualist anarchist Émile Armand shows clearly opposition to capitalism and centralized economies when he said that the individualist anarchist "inwardly he remains refractory – fatally refractory – morally, intellectually, economically (The capitalist economy and the directed economy, the speculators and the fabricators of single are equally repugnant to him.)"</ref><ref>Sabatini, Peter (1994–1995). [http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Peter_Sabatini__Libertarianism__Bogus_Anarchy.html "Libertarianism: Bogus Anarchy"]. Anarchist Peter Sabatini reports that in the United States "of early to mid-19th century, there appeared an array of communal and "utopian" counterculture groups (including the so-called free love movement). William Godwin's anarchism exerted an ideological influence on some of this, but more so the socialism of Robert Owen and Charles Fourier. After success of his British venture, Owen himself established a cooperative community within the United States at New Harmony, Indiana during 1825. One member of this commune was Josiah Warren (1798–1874), considered to be the first individualist anarchist."</ref><ref>Chartier, Gary; Johnson, Charles W. (2011). ''Markets Not Capitalism: Individualist Anarchism Against Bosses, Inequality, Corporate Power, and Structural Poverty''. Brooklyn: Minor Compositions/Autonomedia. Back cover. "It introduces an eye-opening approach to radical social thought, rooted equally in libertarian socialism and market anarchism."</ref> [[Mutualism (economic theory)|mutualism]],<ref>[http://www.mutualist.org/id32.html "A Mutualist FAQ: A.4. Are Mutualists Socialists?"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609075437/http://www.mutualist.org/id32.html|date=9 June 2009}}.</ref> and [[social anarchism]]) as well as [[Communalism (Bookchin)|communalism]], some forms of [[democratic socialism]], [[guild socialism]],<ref>Masquelier, Charles (2014). ''Critical Theory and Libertarian Socialism: Realizing the Political Potential of Critical Social Theory''. New York and London: [[Bloomsbury Publishing]]. p. 190. "It is by meeting such a twofold requirement that the libertarian socialism of G.D.H. Cole could be said to offer timely and sustainable avenues for the institutionalization of the liberal value of autonomy [...]."</ref> libertarian Marxism<ref>Prichard, Alex; Kinna, Ruth; Pinta, Saku; Berry, Dave, eds. (December 2012). ''Libertarian Socialism: Politics in Black and Red''. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 13. "Locating libertarian socialism in a grey area between anarchist and Marxist extremes, they argue that the multiple experiences of historical convergence remain inspirational and that, through these examples, the hope of socialist transformation survives."</ref> ([[autonomism]], [[council communism]],<ref>Boraman, Toby (December 2012). "Carnival and Class: Anarchism and Councilism in Australasia during the 1970s". In Prichard, Alex; Kinna, Ruth; Pinta, Saku; Berry, Dave, eds. ''Libertarian Socialism: Politics in Black and Red''. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 268. "Councilism and anarchism loosely merged into 'libertarian socialism', offering a non-dogmatic path by which both council communism and anarchism could be updated for the changed conditions of the time, and for the new forms of proletarian resistance to these new conditions."</ref> [[left communism]], and [[Luxemburgism]], among others),<ref name="Bookchin 1992">Bookchin, Murray (1992). [https://www.connexions.org/CxLibrary/Docs/CX6988-BookchinGhost.htm "The Ghost of Anarcho-Syndicalism"].</ref><ref name="Graham 2005">[[Robert Graham (historian)|Graham, Robert]]. [https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/robert-graham-the-general-idea-of-proudhon-s-revolution "The General Idea of Proudhon's Revolution"].</ref> participism, [[revolutionary syndicalism]] and some versions of [[utopian socialism]].<ref name="Bromley 1906">Bromley, Kent (1906). "Preface". In Kropotkin, Peter. ''The Conquest of Bread''. London and New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.</ref>

==== Mutualism ====
{{main|Mutualism (economic theory)}}

Mutualism is an [[anarchist school of thought]] which can be traced to the writings of [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]], who envisioned a socialist society where each person possess a [[means of production]], either individually or collectively, with trade representing equivalent amounts of labor in the [[free market]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mutualist.org/|title=Mutualist.Org: Free Market Anti-Capitalism|website=www.mutualist.org}}</ref> Integral to the scheme was the establishment of a mutual-credit bank which would lend to producers at a minimal interest rate only high enough to cover the costs of administration.<ref>Miller, David. 1987. "Mutualism." The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Thought. Blackwell Publishing. p. 11</ref> Mutualism is based on a [[labor theory of value]] which holds that when labor or its product is sold, it ought to receive goods or services in exchange embodying "the amount of labor necessary to produce an article of exactly similar and equal utility" and that receiving anything less would be considered exploitation, theft of labor, or [[usury]].<ref>Tandy, Francis D., 1896, ''[[Voluntary Socialism]]'', chapter 6, paragraph 15.</ref>