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#REDIRECT [[Mikhail Bakunin#Violence, revolution and invisible dictatorship]] {{R to section}} |
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An '''invisible dictatorship''' was a term coined by [[Mikhail Bakunin]] to describe clandestine revolutionary leadership. Bakunin also used the terms '''invisible legion''' and '''invisible network''' to describe his concept of invisible dictatorship. |
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==Original use of the term== |
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It appears in a letter sent to Albert Richard, a fellow member of the [[International Alliance of Socialist Democracy|Alliance of Social Democracy]] during the turmoil surrounding the [[Paris Commune]]: |
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{{Cquote|[t]here is only one power and one dictatorship whose organisation is salutary and feasible: it is that collective, invisible dictatorship of those who are allied in the name of our principle (...) this dictatorship will be all the more salutary and effective for not being dressed up in any official power or extrinsic character.}} |
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In nineteenth century [[Europe]] the discussion of how a transitional revolutionary government might act took place since the days of [[Gracchus Babeuf]]. In 1828 [[Philippe Buonarroti]] published ''Conspiration pour l'Egalité dite de Babeuf, suivie du procès auquel elle donna lieu'' which proved to be very influential on [[Auguste Blanqui]] and the [[Revolution of 1848|revolutionaries of 1848]], from [[Louis Blanc]] to Bakunin. From this arose the concept of a small band of revolutionaries instituting an ''Educational Dictatorship'' which would raise the consciousness of the masses to the point that [[democracy]] could be introduced. |
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In the [[Revolutions of 1848 in France|February Revolution]], [[Paris]], [[1848]] the provisional government assumed power extralegally, through an announcement before a mass demonstration. Louis Blanc advocated that the provisional government should “regard themselves as dictators appointed by a revolution which had become inevitable and which was under no obligation to seek the sanction of universal suffrage until after having accomplished all the good which the moment required.”<ref>[http://marxmyths.org/hal-draper/article2.htm#n10 The ‘Dictatorship of the Proletariat’ in Marx and Engels]</ref> He also reiterated the idea of the “dictatorship of Paris” over the country. Bakunin, having received funds from Blanc's provisional government, threw himself into the revolutionary movement in [[Bohemia]]. He subsequently described his aim as the establishment of a “government with unlimited dictatorial power,” in which “all will be subjugated to a single dictatorial authority,” through three secret societies based on “strict hierarchy and unconditional discipline.”[[Hal Draper]] claims this was the first appearance of his concept of a “secret dictatorship” exercised by “Invisible Dictators.” Bakunin also saw [[Prague]] playing the role of Paris: "The revolutionary government with unlimited dictatorial power must sit in Prague ... All clubs and journals, all manifestations of garrulous anarchy, will also be destroyed, and all will be subjugated to a single dictatorial authority."<ref>{{cite book |last=Draper |first=Hal |authorlink=Hal Draper |title=Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution |volume=vol. 3 |publisher=Monthly Review Press |location=[[New York]] |date=1986-01-01 |isbn=0-85345-674-7 |page=57}}</ref> Eddie Ford has described this as a '‘dual organisation’' principle, with a secret cadre of controllers manipulating a public front.<ref>[http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/398/bakunin.html Democracy or anarchism] by Eddie Ford, [[Weekly Worker]], September 6, 2001</ref> |
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In 1866 Bakunin abandoned the idea of state or centralised authority<ref>[http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/ANARCHIST_ARCHIVES/worldwidemovements/anarchisminrussia1.html History of Anarchism in Russia] by E. Yaroslavsky</ref>, and his ideas of what a secret society should be changed accordingly: |
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{{Cquote|We are the most pronounced enemies of every sort of ''official power''– even if it is an ultra-revolutionary power. We are the enemies of any sort of publicly declared dictatorship, we are social revolutionary anarchists. But, you will ask, if we are anarchists, by what right do we want to influence the people, and what methods will we use? Denouncing all power, with what sort of power, or rather by what sort of force, shall we direct a people's revolution? ''By a force that is invisible, that no one admits and that is not imposed on anyone, by the collective dictatorship of our organization which will be all the greater the more it remains unseen and undeclared, the more it is deprived of all official rights and significance''...[Secret organizations] would finally have the strength of that close solidarity which binds isolated groups in one organic whole...These groups would not seek anything for themselves...and they would be in a position to direct popular movements...This is what I call ''the collective dictatorship'' of a secret organization.<br> ''Letter to Sergei Nechaev''<ref>[http://home.flash.net/~comvoice/06cBakunin.html Bakuninism– backward politics under the guise of no politics] by Pete Brown (from Communist Voice #6, Jan. 15, 1996)</ref>}} |
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==Variant terms== |
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===Invisible legion=== |
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At the time of writing, various '''legions''' were set up as revolutionary organisations such as the [[International Legion]], [[Mickiewicz's Legion]], the [[German Democratic Legion]] of [[Georg Herwegh]]. |
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===Invisible network=== |
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Some anarchists, for example ''The Anarchism Web Site'', defend the concept of invisible dictatorship claiming that |
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{{quote|rather than promoting a despotic dictatorship over the masses his concept of "invisible dictatorship" is very similar to the "leadership of ideas" concept used by many anarchists."<ref>[http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/anarchism/writers/anarcho/anarchism/bakunindictator.html Bakunin and the Invisible Legions, revisited] form the Anarchism Website accessed September 7, 2006</ref>}} |
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George Woodcock developed the idea of a "pure" anarchism, defining it as "the loose and flexible affinity group which needs no formal organization and carries on anarchist propaganda through an '''invisible network''' of personal contacts and intellectual influences." However he argued that this was incompatible with mass movements like [[anarcho-syndicalism]] as they "make compromises with day-to-day situations" and because they have to "maintain the allegiance of masses of [workers] who are only remotely conscious of the final aim of anarchism."<ref>''Anarchism'', World Publishing, [[Cleveland]], 1962 pp. 273-4</ref> However this viewpoint has been rejected by other anarchists such as [[Sam Dolgoff]], who countered "There is no "pure" anarchism. There is only the application of anarchist principles to the realities of social living."<ref>[http://libcom.org/library/relevance-dolgoff The Relevance of Anarchism to Modern Society] accessed 12th September 2006</ref> |
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==Modern uses of the term== |
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The term has also been used more recently, for instance by the ''Independent Voters Alliance United States of America'' to describe the two party system currently existing in the [[USA]] which they claim makes voting useless as the "choices in every election are limited to candidates financed by the same money sources."<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20050219035426/http://www.geocities.com/dist1oh/usaiva/index9.html Your Active Citizenship] accessed August 26, 2006</ref> Such viewpoints have become more widespread in the USA particularly since the heightened security after [[9/11]]. |
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==See also== |
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*[[Invisible Empire]] |
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*[[Invisible College]] |
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*[[Invisible Theatre]] |
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*[[Dictatorship of the Proletariat]] |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist|2}} |
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==External links== |
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* [http://anarchism.ws/writers/anarcho/anarchism/bakunindictator.html Bakunin and the Invisible Legions, revisited] |
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* [http://www.peacenews.info/issues/2398/pn239815.htm Auto-cracy: an invisible dictatorship by Eduardo Galeano] |
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[[Category:Anarchist theory]] |
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[[Category:Dictatorship]] |
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[[Category:Political philosophy]] |
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[[Category:Positions of authority]] |
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Latest revision as of 10:57, 23 May 2019
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