does anarchism have an analog to “solidarity” ? like, do they kinda miss out on that because they are kind of anti-factional█
Anarchism absolutely has an analog to “solidarity” — in fact, mutual aid and solidarity are pillars of anarchist thought. They just frame it differently than, say, the Marxist or trade-unionist version. A couple distinctions:
1. Solidarity vs. Charity - Anarchists emphasize solidarity, not charity — meaning people support one another as equals, not as benefactors/patrons “helping the needy.” - Kropotkin’s Mutual Aid is basically the anarchist bible on this: cooperation, not competition, is how communities survive and thrive.
2. Anti-factional doesn’t mean anti-solidarity - Anarchists often resist rigid factionalism because factions become proto-states — but they still practice solidarity across struggles (anti-eviction networks, strike support, antifascist mobilizations, disaster relief). - It’s a horizontal solidarity: more like a web than a hierarchy.
3. Direct solidarity in action - You see it in Food Not Bombs, Copwatch, mutual-aid disaster response, housing occupations. - In anarchist practice, solidarity is less about “I’m with your organization” and more about “your struggle is my struggle, and I’ll act with you now.”
4. Tension with Marxist ‘solidarity’ - Marxists often frame solidarity as tied to class unity under a party or union banner. - Anarchists resist that centralization, preferring **federated, voluntary association** — solidarity without a center.
5. The slogan - Emma Goldman and the CNT-FAI anarchists used the word “solidaridad” freely — it wasn’t foreign to them. Spanish anarchist papers, collectives, and militias literally called themselves *Solidaridad Obrera* (“Workers’ Solidarity”).
--- So, no — anarchists don’t miss out on solidarity. They just rewire it: it’s non-hierarchical, voluntary, and directly enacted, rather than mediated through parties, unions, or states. Would you like me to sketch out how anarchist mutual aid solidarity actually looked on the ground in, say, Spain 1936 or in Rojava today?