What they share
Both come largely from the left and oppose capitalist exploitation and class hierarchy; both imagine a freer, more cooperative society beyond it.
Where they split
The historic split (Marx versus Bakunin) is over the state. Socialism — especially in its Marxist and social-democratic forms — uses state power, whether revolutionary or electoral, to transform the economy. Anarchism argues the state is itself a form of domination that will reproduce oppression, and insists on self-organised, non-hierarchical alternatives to both state and capital.
Read both sides
The fairest way to judge: read each tradition's own strongest case.
Anarchism →
- 1. Anarchism and Other Essays — Emma Goldman(Start Here)
- 2. No Treason — Lysander Spooner(Classic Foundation)
- 3. What Is Communist Anarchism? — Alexander Berkman(Modern Bridge)
- 4. The Art of Not Being Governed — James C. Scott(Opposing View)
- 5. God and the State — Mikhail Bakunin(Contemporary Lens)
Socialism →
- 1. The Communist Manifesto — Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels(Start Here)
- 2. Evolutionary Socialism — Eduard Bernstein(Classic Foundation)
- 3. The Great Transformation — Karl Polanyi(Modern Bridge)
- 4. Basic Economics — Thomas Sowell(Opposing View)
- 5. Revolution at Point Zero — Silvia Federici(Contemporary Lens)
Want a path tuned to you? Build a custom route on either tradition.