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"An Anarchist FAQ" is an Online FAQ written by an international work group of Anarchists who the FAQ says "place themselves firmly in the "social" strand of anarchism" {Link without Title} , connected through the internet. It documents anarchist theory and ideas whilst presenting arguments in favor of anarchism. It also explores debates internal to the anarchist movement, and counters common arguments against anarchism. It has been in constant evolution since 1995, when it was started as a critique of anarcho-capitalism. The FAQ is published under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License ( Copyleft ) and it is dedicated ''"to the millions of anarchists, living and dead, who tried and are trying to create a better world."'' It was officially released on July 19 , 1996 ''"to celebrate the Spanish Revolution Of 1936 and the heroism of the Spanish Anarchist Movement ."''. The most recent update can be found on a geocities site , but the most popular mirror is at Infoshop.org [http://www.infoshop.org/faq/]. CONTENT The editors of the FAQ identify themselves as belonging to the , Individualist Anarchism , Anarcha-feminism , and even some lesser known theories like Platformism and Anarcho-primitivism . It cites references from a great variety of authors from all of these schools, and its bibliography contains well over 500 sources. Given the wide range of anarchist ideas, the authors acknowledge that many anarchists will not agree 100% with everything that the FAQ says. However, they express their confidence that ''"most anarchists will agree with most of what we present and respect those parts with which they do disagree with as genuine expressions of anarchist ideas and ideals."'' The FAQ also tries to explain disputes within anarchist thought, such as where and why social anarchists and individualist anarchists disagree and reject each other. {Link without Title} As social anarchists, the writers also explain their own views on individualist anarchism, arguing that it has contradictions and "many flaws", and stating that it would lead to capitalist society. However, they acknowledge its importance within the anarchist movement. The FAQ does not accept the theory of 's [http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/anarfaq.htm "Anarchism Theory FAQ"] is also presented in the first appendix, because the authors think it distorts anarchism's relationship with anarcho-capitalism. CRITICISMS Anarcho-capitalist David D. Friedman says that the FAQ misrepresents some of his positions on medieval Iceland ( Section F9 ). He accuses the authors of "not car whether what they publish is true" and points to mistakes in the initial version of this section produced in 1996 (some of which were subsequently fixed when the errors were pointed out). [http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Libertarian/My_Posts/Iceland_Anarch_FAQ2_reply.html HISTORY The FAQ was started in 1995 when a group of anarchists got together in order to write an FAQ arguing against Libertarian Capitalist claims of being anarchists. Those who were involved in the project had spent many an hour on-line arguing with these people whether capitalism and anarchism could go together. Eventually, a group of net-activists decided to produce a FAQ explaining their thoughts on why anarchism and capitalism are incompatible, and why anarcho-capitalists are not anarchists. However, after the suggestion of non-anarchist Mike Huben (an Ordoliberal ), it was decided that a pro-Anarchist FAQ would be a better idea than an anti-"anarcho"-capitalist one, and so the Anarchist FAQ was born. The authors acknowledge that ''"it still bears some of the signs of its past-history. For example it gives the likes of Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, and so on, far too much space outside of Section F - they really are not that important."'' CONTRIBUTORS The FAQ was written by many collaborators, but the main contributors are listed as: Iain McKay (main contributor and editor), Gary Elkin , Dave Neal and Ed Boraas , who refer to themselves as "The Anarchist FAQ Editorial Collective." The FAQ thanks the following people for their contributions: Andrew Flood, Mike Ballard, Francois Coquet, Jamal Hannah, Mike Huben , Greg Alt, Chuck Munson , Pauline McCormack, Nestor McNab, ''"and our comrades on the anarchy, oneunion and organise! mailing lists."'' INFLUENCE The FAQ is linked to or mirrored on hundreds of websites. It has been included in every stable , who calls the FAQ a ''" compendium on anarchist history, theory and practice"''. Some, such as Flint Jones, a member of the Black Bloc , think the FAQ is ''"the most comprehensive [anarchist resource available"'' The FAQ has been studied by Joseph M. Reagle Jr. in his essay [http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/reagle/regulation-19990326.html Why the Internet is Good - Community governance that works well ''" an exemplar of the principles [of community governance ."'' Various versions of the FAQ have been translated into 8 languages . The FAQ is scheduled to be published in the UK by AK Press in 2007 . [http://www.akuk.com/alerts.php] Described as ''"very comprehensive,"'' (with sections A.1, A.2 and A.4 being ''"particularly valuable"'') by Paul Graham and John Hoffman (p. 109) in their Introduction to Political Ideologies (Longman, 2006) NOTES REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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