Two Cheers For Anarchism Analysis
Essay 3 Extra Credit
Sarah Lachman
In Two Cheers for Anarchism, James Scott describes a way of looking at the world through something called an “anarchist squint.” An anarchist is a person who believes in or tries to bring about disorder. Scott states that if you put on anarchist glasses and look at the history of popular movements, revolutions, ordinary politics, and the state from that angle, certain insights will appear that are obscured from almost any other angle. Throughout his book, Scott also uses sociological imagination. Sociological imagination describe the ability to “think yourself away from the familiar routines of everyday life” and look at them from an entirely new perspective.
Scott’s anarchist squint involves a defense of politics, conflict, and debate, and the perpetual uncertainty and learning they entail. This means that he rejects the major stream of utopian scientism that dominated much of anarchist thought around the turn of the twentieth century. Throughout the book it becomes apparent that anarchist principles are active in …show more content…
Sociological ideas could help support and strengthen anarchist theory and the anarchist movement. For example, anarchists could benefit from an understanding of how people learn, adopt, and maintain their commitments through socialization. Since anarchists want to help people find pathways to a more independent and free future, dealing with all the practices that discourage a better social relation is going to be necessary. Knowing what socialization is and how norms work will help anarchists think more critically about their self-education strategies and also appreciate how really hard long-lasting social change is to achieve. The commendation of these two ways of thinking could light the way towards practical solutions for overcoming all the hierarchical crap that keeps people from taking control of their lives and
Sarah Lachman
In Two Cheers for Anarchism, James Scott describes a way of looking at the world through something called an “anarchist squint.” An anarchist is a person who believes in or tries to bring about disorder. Scott states that if you put on anarchist glasses and look at the history of popular movements, revolutions, ordinary politics, and the state from that angle, certain insights will appear that are obscured from almost any other angle. Throughout his book, Scott also uses sociological imagination. Sociological imagination describe the ability to “think yourself away from the familiar routines of everyday life” and look at them from an entirely new perspective.
Scott’s anarchist squint involves a defense of politics, conflict, and debate, and the perpetual uncertainty and learning they entail. This means that he rejects the major stream of utopian scientism that dominated much of anarchist thought around the turn of the twentieth century. Throughout the book it becomes apparent that anarchist principles are active in …show more content…
Sociological ideas could help support and strengthen anarchist theory and the anarchist movement. For example, anarchists could benefit from an understanding of how people learn, adopt, and maintain their commitments through socialization. Since anarchists want to help people find pathways to a more independent and free future, dealing with all the practices that discourage a better social relation is going to be necessary. Knowing what socialization is and how norms work will help anarchists think more critically about their self-education strategies and also appreciate how really hard long-lasting social change is to achieve. The commendation of these two ways of thinking could light the way towards practical solutions for overcoming all the hierarchical crap that keeps people from taking control of their lives and