Left-libertarianism (or left-wing libertarianism) names several related but distinct approaches to politics, society, culture, and political and social theory, which stress equally both individual freedom and social justice.[1] The original school of left-libertarianism is libertarian socialism.[citation needed]
Left-libertarianism can refer generally to three related and overlapping schools of thought:
Libertarian socialism (sometimes called social anarchism[6][7] or left-libertarianism)[8][9] is a group of political philosophies that promote a non-hierarchical, non-bureaucratic society without private property in the means of production. Libertarian socialists believe in converting present-day private productive property into common or public goods, while retaining respect for personal property.[10] Libertarian socialism is opposed to coercive forms of social organization. It promotes free association in place of government and opposes the social relations of capitalism, such as wage labor.[11] The term libertarian socialism is used by some socialists to differentiate their philosophy from state socialism,[12][13] and by some as a synonym for left anarchism.[6][7][14]
Adherents of libertarian socialism assert that a society based on freedom and equality 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.[15] Libertarian socialism also constitutes a tendency of thought that promotes the identification, criticism, and practical dismantling of illegitimate authority in all aspects of life.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22]
Accordingly, libertarian socialists believe that "the exercise of power in any institutionalized formwhether economic, political, religious, or sexualbrutalizes both the wielder of power and the one over whom it is exercised".[23] Libertarian socialists generally place their hopes in decentralized means of direct democracy such as libertarian municipalism, citizens' assemblies, trade unions, and workers' councils.[24]
Political philosophies commonly described as libertarian socialist include most varieties of anarchism (especially anarchist communism, anarchist collectivism, anarcho-syndicalism,[25] and mutualism[26]) as well as autonomism, Communalism, participism, libertarian Marxist philosophies such as council communism and Luxemburgism,[27] and some versions of "utopian socialism"[28] and individualist anarchism.[29][30][31]
Mutualism emerged from early nineteenth-century socialism in the work of writers and activists such as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in France and William B. Greene and Dyer Lum in the United States. It is generally considered a market-oriented strand within the libertarian socialist tradition. Mutualists typically accept both individual and co-operative ownership of land and means of production, with trade of products representing equivalent amounts of labor in the free market.[32] Mutualists typically connected their proposals with the establishment of a mutual-credit bank that would lend to producers at a minimal interest rate, just high enough to cover administration.[33] and with ownership of land limited to usufruct, or to personal use and occupation.[34] Drawing from a labor theory of value, mutualist economic writing argued that, in a market freed from privileges to capital, when labor or its product is sold it should receive goods or services embodying "the amount of labor necessary to produce an article of exactly similar and equal utility".[35] Thus mutualists argued that wealth deriving solely from the ownership of land or capital, rather than from labor, would be replaced by reciprocal trade between laborers. Thus, though Proudhon opposed individuals receiving an income through loans, investments and rent, he wrote that he never intended "...to forbid or suppress, by sovereign decree, ground rent and interest on capital. I think that all these manifestations of human activity should remain free and voluntary for all: I ask for them no modifications, restrictions or suppressions, other than those which result naturally and of necessity from the universalization of the principle of reciprocity which I propose."[36]
The primary aspects of mutualism are free association, mutualist credit, contract (or federation/confederation), and gradualism (or dual-power). Mutualism is often described by its proponents as advocating an "anti-capitalist free market," and mutualist economic writing was heavily influential in the development of American individualist anarchism[37] and the development of contemporary left-wing market anarchism.[38]
Mutualists argue that most of the economic problems associated with capitalism each amount to a violation of the cost principle, or as Josiah Warren interchangeably said, "Cost the limit of price." It was inspired by the labor theory of value, which was popularized, though not invented, by Adam Smith in 1776 (Proudhon mentioned Smith as an inspiration). The labor theory of value holds that the actual price of a thing (or the "true cost") is the amount of labor that was undertaken to produce it. In Warren's terms, cost should be the "limit of price," with "cost" referring to the amount of labor required to produce a good or service. Anyone who sells goods should charge no more than the cost to himself of acquiring these goods. Proudhon also held that the "real value of products was determined by labour time, and that all kinds of labour should be regarded as equally effective in the value-creating process, and he advocated therefore equality of wages and salaries."[39]
Anarchist communism (also known as libertarian communism) is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, private property, and capitalism in favour of common ownership of the means of production,[40][41]direct democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations and workers' councils with production and consumption based on the guiding principle: "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need".[42][43]
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