Atlas / Comparisons / Anarcho-Communism vs Classical Liberalism
Anarcho-Communism and Classical Liberalism
Measured distance across six axes
Opposed programmes with little shared ground. They agree within three points on AU. They diverge by eight points or more on EC, CH.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Kropotkin | Manchester School | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | −09 | +09 | 18 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | −07 | −02 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| AU · Organisation of power | −10 | −07 | 3 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| SC · Scale of decision | −10 | −03 | 7 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| ID · Rule of membership | −08 | −03 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +06 | −04 | 10 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →
The evidence behind the widest gaps
A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.
Kropotkin · EC −09
Abolition of private property in the means of production and of money and wages together.
- Programme textKropotkin's Conquest of Bread argues for distribution according to need with no wage system at all.
Manchester School · EC +09
Coded +9: free exchange as the organising principle of policy.
- Documented act or statuteThe Anti-Corn Law League secured repeal in 1846, the defining victory of the school.
Kropotkin · CH +06
Coded positive: the tradition accepted insurrection while dividing sharply on individual violence.
- ScholarshipThe propaganda-of-the-deed period of the 1890s was repudiated by Kropotkin and by the syndicalist current.
Manchester School · CH −04
Coded −4: reform by legislation and franchise extension.
- Documented act or statuteThe 1832, 1867 and 1884 Reform Acts were pursued through parliament rather than around it.
What this comparison does not establish
Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.
Anarcho-Communism
1872– · Russia, Europe
Abolish the state and private property simultaneously; distribution according to need through voluntary federation.
Classical Liberalism
1776–1900 · Britain, Europe
Individual liberty, free trade, freedom of contract, religious toleration, constitutional and limited government.
Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.
Open in the atlas