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From Void Network April 24, 2026

What would an anarchist federation society actually look like in practice? Well for a start it would look far more organised than its critics usually imagine, and far less like chaos that the present order actually is.

Its basic structure would begin from the principle that coordination should arise from below, from people where they actually live and work, rather than being imposed from a distant centre. Local assemblies, workplace councils, tenant unions, cooperatives, care networks, and voluntary associations would form the living substance of society. These would not be symbolic forums with no real power, they would be the places where decisions are made, resources are allocated, disputes are addressed, and priorities are debated.

 

 

Wider levels of coordination, regional, interregional, even international, would still exist, but they would exist as federations of these bodies, built through delegation rather than rule. Delegates would carry specific mandates, remain recallable, and function as messengers and coordinators rather than a political class.

 

 

Technically, such a society would depend on a much more advanced and explicit infrastructure of democratic coordination than anything most twentieth century anarchist movements had access to. That is one of the central facts many people still fail to grasp. Modern communications systems, distributed databases, cryptographic verification, open accounting tools, and transparent public ledgers make it far more plausible to coordinate complex societies without a state bureaucracy standing above everyone.

An anarchist federation would not mean every person voting on every trivial matter every day, that would be absurd. It would mean clear layers of decision making, with most matters handled locally, and only genuinely large scale questions routed upward through federated structures. Energy use, transport, supply chains, ecological planning, healthcare capacity, production targets, and emergency coordination could all be made publicly legible through shared systems. Power, or the exercise of power would be made more visible, not less. The point is not to abolish organisation, it is to abolish unaccountable organisation.

 

 

Socially, daily life would likely feel more participatory, more reciprocal, and probably more demanding in some ways than people raised under passive liberal citizenship are used to. People would be expected to take some meaningful part in communal life, not as unpaid martyrdom, but because society would no longer be arranged around spectatorship and delegation upward. Much of what is now handled through market coercion or bureaucratic compulsion would instead be handled through norms of mutual obligation, negotiated responsibility, and communal expectation. Care work would be recognised as socially central rather than treated as invisible background labour. Education would be less about producing obedient labour for employers, and more about cultivating technically capable, socially conscious, self governing human beings. The average person would need a higher level of civic literacy, because freedom at scale requires competence, not just sentiment.

 

Economically, an anarchist federation society would most likely be plural in form but unified by certain boundaries. Natural resources, infrastructure, and the basic conditions of collective life would need to be held in common or under strong communal stewardship, because allowing these to become private power centres would simply recreate class rule in another costume. Beyond that, production could be organised through cooperatives, municipal associations, trade federations, and distributed manufacturing networks. The decisive question would be whether productive activity remains socially accountable. In practical terms that means workplaces governed by workers and communities, transparent procurement, open standards, interoperable systems, and planning tools that allow coordination without requiring a central state ministry dictating everything from above. In a technologically advanced society this could become far more dynamic than old arguments between market and plan usually allow. The real issue is whether coordination serves collective need, or whether it serves accumulation and domination.

 

 

Culturally, an anarchist federation would have to produce a different type of person from the one capitalism and the state currently produce. Today people are trained into competitive isolation, political cynicism, and learned dependence on systems they do not control. A free federation would need a culture of confidence, seriousness, and mutual respect. That does not mean moral perfection, human beings would still be flawed, contradictory, ambitious, and difficult. What changes is the surrounding structure that shapes those traits. Prestige would ideally shift away from wealth, command, and spectacle, and toward contribution, skill, reliability, imagination, and public trust. Art, science, engineering, and philosophy would likely take on a more common and public role, because they would no longer be so tightly subordinated to state strategy or private profit. A society like this would need culture to do real work, it would need stories, rituals, education, and symbols that teach people how to live as free equals in a complex world.

 

 

The reason this vision matters is because too much of the left still speaks as though the horizon of politics is either reforming the administrative state or capturing it. That leaves the imagination trapped inside the architecture of domination. An anarchist federation offers a more direct answer, it says society can be highly organised without becoming authoritarian, technically sophisticated without becoming centralised, and socially coherent without requiring a ruling class.

The challenge is not whether such a society can be imagined, it already can. The challenge is building the institutions, habits, and technical systems that make it materially credible. That is where anarchism now has to become more concrete, less purely oppositional, and more capable of presenting itself as a real civilisational design.

___

Written and illustrated by Ash Carr

Comments

Wayne Price@ (not verified) Fri, 05/15/2026 - 16:12

I find this to be a very good statement. However the last sentence seems a bit ambivalent: "anarchism now has to become more concrete, less purely oppositional."

If you mean that anarchism should not be only ("purely") in opposition to the existing system, but also be positive, presenting a vision of freedom, self-management, and equality--then I fully agree.

If you mean that anarchism should be less opposed ("oppositional") to the ruling class, capitalism, and its state, instead focusing on building co-ops and communes in the here-and-now--then I strongly disagree. It is in the struggle against the existing institutions that people develop their independence and self-organization. Think of the militant demonstrations in Minneapolis against ICE this winter. This is what revolutionary anarchist-socialists should be oriented toward.

GO3 Sat, 05/16/2026 - 15:04

In reply to by Wayne Price@ (not verified)

It sounds like they're talking about scale and therein lies the problem. If we inventory all the small projects anarchists have created we might be able to determine which ones will scale. Sadly I can't think of any large anarchist projects in the United States but that's not my focus. I think anarchists are products of society and the current mode of production and form a solidarity network inside a hostile ecosystem. My question is what do anarchists do when they're not protesting? How do they live? I think that's where the rest of the equation lies. That's also the part that seems to have been abandoned and no one wants to talk about anymore. I'm talking about land projects, collective houses, squats, info shops, warehouses, travelers etc. Are we just militant demonstrators who go our separate ways at the end of the day?

GO3 Sat, 05/16/2026 - 16:34

In reply to by GO3

This reads like speculative fiction which is good food for thought. How to scale up to a mega project? I think focus on production in the existing ad hoc network. What can you produce? Comments? Anti-police aggro? Shanty towns and wild camps? Culture and couture? We have to become anarchy factories, then when you link up with other nodes you can leverage your production and make something bigger. It has to be fun and practical though or it won't be sustainable.

GO3 Sun, 05/17/2026 - 12:20

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

How are you going to feed the masses? The products won't be commodities because they will be rationed and given away freely according to people's needs and their availability. We will democratically decide what to produce. This will require factories and technology otherwise we're going to be an agrarian society with low technology. This means no more Tacos Bell or precision bearings. :(

anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/18/2026 - 21:25

In reply to by GO3

Riding horses was fine btw. Unlike the bike fetish and the much worse car fetish, you can create a relationship with an actual living being in the process. And yet, precolombian natives have been doing fine without horses for thousands of years...

No one needs fast food chains and ball bearings. The masses? I won't suffer for them. U normie clown.

anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/19/2026 - 08:33

In reply to by GO3

boo hoo. what has happened to anarchy?
it seems like these people are fine with just about every aspect of civilization except some details of organization (which they want more "democratically" run). the AI "illustrations" are just laughable. i would not hang out with anyone in them. i want to add some anarchists and outlaws and freaks and rebels into the pics pick-pocketing their allotted tokens to spend frivolously at the bar, breaking things, and clogging up their ergo dynamic shitters.

i guess this is what happens when you have stupid politics churned in the echo-chamber of a blissed-out techno-wastland and too many years at electronic music festivals.

anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/19/2026 - 16:25

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

I think Void Network must have been recruiting a different type of normies lately. Even back in 2016 when I was there, they were taking Eramus students as well as NGO kids, so just imagine how *awesooome* they got these days.

anonymous (not verified) Fri, 05/15/2026 - 21:21

This sounds like it will still be based on market relations. Hard pass, although they do get some credit for at least tangling with the question of what a society after the failing one we endure at present might look like.

anonymous (not verified) Sat, 05/16/2026 - 03:04

These descriptions always fall far short of the mark and inevitably end up preserving aspects of the system we want to abolish. We usually respond that it is impossible to predict what future societies will be like, and that only the insurrectionary process creates the subjectivities capable of dreaming a new world. But perhaps repeating these truths is insufficient, and we should insist on imagining future possibilities, so as not to leave such exercise in the hands of moderates.

Robin (not verified) Sat, 05/16/2026 - 10:18

Holy screeching technocrats, Batman!

jz (not verified) Sat, 05/16/2026 - 13:50

hiyo
void network Greece stuffing AI art down anews pipes? anarchists using ai art? what the heck is going on?

who cares about the article, I can't even be bothered to read it without my eyes bleeding and the images aren't even on anews but just knowing they're there does it.

the secret is to never use ai art. 🎨 🌎 🫟

anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/19/2026 - 00:08

In reply to by jz (not verified)

Half of these pics (especially the self-managed drone factory one) would pass as funny satire on the pipedreams of workerist normie ancoms... if this text wasn't written by workerist normie ancoms themselves, but doing it... seriously?

Sorry, this HAS gotta be a joke.

still makes this "anarchist society" still authoritarian:

"These would not be symbolic forums with no real power, they would be the places where decisions are made, resources are allocated, disputes are addressed, and priorities are debated."

a bureaucratic "allocation of resources" cannot be anarchist, and an "anarchist society" which allocates resources through counsels would only be different in name from immigration administration that already exists. It would certainly create an underclass and an upper class.

I don't think conflict mediation is always authoritarian, but also, "disputes are addressed" would imply some sort of buffer against the powerless to protect more powerful "anarchists". The essay in its current form reads like the Manual For Revolutionary Leaders almost exactly...

Anarcho (not verified) Sun, 05/17/2026 - 01:38

In reply to by CalvinSmith

I fail to see how the word "bureaucratic" can be added to "allocation of resources" given that the forums in question are explicitly described as workplaces, communities, and so on. Any individual and grouping of individuals will make decisions on what to do with resources -- if it is not the people affected, then it is bureaucratic and what is being described is a functional system.

I also note that no alternative approach is provided -- I would be interested to see what this critic thinks would be a better system.

CalvinSmith Sun, 05/17/2026 - 16:32

In reply to by Anarcho (not verified)

what a joke! Why have an organization at all if: "Any individual and grouping of individuals will make decisions on what to do with resources -- if it is not the people affected, then it is bureaucratic and what is being described is a functional system." You're just trying to re-arrange modern government and capitalism with "anarchist" labeling, that shit doesn't work at all. Everyone will just walk away.

"I also note that no alternative approach is provided -- I would be interested to see what this critic thinks would be a better system."

i'm not much of a system builder...but you have convinced me that you're not presenting anything viable for me to grapple with anymore.

Anarcho (not verified) Sun, 05/17/2026 - 23:38

In reply to by CalvinSmith

No, sorry, I'm not the person who write the essay above. And you are you are clearly not thinking about any of the issues a possible free society would face. Instead we get radical sounding (but actually non-revolutionary) rejectionism which leads nowhere. Decision making becomes "modern government and capitalism" and to discuss how thing could work becomes being "a system builder" -- "what a joke", indeed!

Please, present the world with something viable for us to grapple with...but I doubt you can. Prove me wrong

Wildyfist (not verified) Mon, 05/18/2026 - 08:23

In reply to by Anarcho (not verified)

Boi... not the commenter you're replying to, but you're clearly on a wrong path.

"Any individual and grouping of individuals will make decisions on what to do with resources"

Yes, and people are egoistic. Groups, especially, are. Starting with your own crowd of ancom liberals, who've been only securing and other resources for their own crowds of YUPPIES, thus reproducing private property way beyond what the capitalist states could hope for.

"Decision making becomes "modern government and capitalism" "

Yes it does, as that's the very purpose of any politics. To be making decisions on how to manage the resources and people you have access to, and for being to take such decisions, you gotta be in a position to do so. And a position you WILL be seeking to protect, as "coz the cops", even if that'll often pipeline to "coz they're filthy homeless poors and they crazy n shit". So here's something viable for yous to grapple with: if you want your anarchist utopia, then quit managing and controlling yourself. Or find a kind of social relation where control becomes vain and pointless.

"And you are you are clearly not thinking about any of the issues a possible free society would face. "

Ever tried "creative masturbation"? That's about, instead of using spectacle like pron or live people as objects of stimulation, using dream-like mental porn movies for stimulation (or mental porn movies harassing your libido).

This is what that "would" makes me think of. This is a non-being, or non-lieu. Uuuuuuu are the one who's being anti-pragmatic!

anonymous (not verified) Sun, 05/17/2026 - 07:58

Idealism is cancer to anarchy. If you want an an anarchist society start building it in the now. Pursuing some utopia made up in your mind will only make

Void Network... there is one thing you don't seem to know, yet. Delusion and psychosis is just sane behavior within a gang or collective of people (apparently) sharing the views. You're only "crazy" when you're a loner or a "folie à deux", to the least. Ergo, the collective works as a kind of hypocritical cover for the same mental issues people get individually. In other words, "insanity" is a pseudo-scientific scapegoating of the individual. Normies are insane, including your crowd.

Lebou (not verified) Sun, 05/17/2026 - 09:48

Employment and educational institutions would cease to exist and cocaine, cannabis and opioids would be available in their unprocessed form. Chewing coka leaves will replace cafeine as the breakfast tonic for strenuous days.

anonymous (not verified) Sun, 05/17/2026 - 09:54

Having once been an adolescent in the United States -- and the older I get -- the more the hang-ups about authority take on an adolescent in the United States vibe. The burning question of vast numbers of people housing, feeding, educating and making decisions in a transparent, egalitarian, anti-heirarchical and wholly functional manner is going to inevitably have its flaws and imperfections, but as Orwell notes at the opening of 'Homage to Catalonia' it will still be a state of affairs well worth fighting for -- and it will beat the alternative, which is what we endure now.

The underlying social content of what a new society looks like has to be addressed head on. Most of this piece is good and useful, but aspects of it veer into what might be called "Wetzelism." A long-time advocate of syndicalism in the United States, Tom Wetzel, who is I think politically close to Wayne Price, wrote a book titled 'Overcoming Capitalism' whose main practical step for overcoming capitalism is to move the goalposts on how to define capitalism. Wetzel's supposed post-capitalist society still has capitalist social relations, but this gets papered over with an abundance of democratic verbiage. If a large complex non-heirarchical society free of all forms of buying and selling is difficult to imagine then people should start trying to imagine it now, to avoid massively self-defeating mistakes like those made in Spain in 1936.

Lebou (not verified) Sun, 05/17/2026 - 21:13

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

Sometimes Wetzel misses a more nuanced characteristic of the capitalist profit-motive such as the planned obsolescence built into their production processes. If this ceased, factories would only run 1 day a week, and workers would do a 12 hr shift per week. If they're bored they can spend their free time weeding the communal market gardens and weeding it. No insecticides or fertlizer required, green energy assisted, industrial agriculture phased out and redistribution of populations away from corporatist concentration camps called cities. Just my 2 cents ;)

anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/18/2026 - 21:31

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

Oof! Introducing some reformist garbage theory, on an anarchist website, and presenting it as some kind of arcane wisdom...

anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/18/2026 - 08:35

This sounds and looks like total fucking hell and I fail to see this as anything remotely anarchist. So many unquestioned assumptions made here. Try and construct this monstrosity and we will burn it down!

anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/19/2026 - 11:59

In reply to by GO3

"The flattest freest society you can think of with liberty and justice for all."

Well I hate to break it to u... but that yuppie pipedream above will only bring harsher inequity for the poor and enslavement to consumerism, work and endless assemblies that only the power-hungry and the sociopaths will care about. Ergo, just reinventing the same wheel.

km (not verified) Mon, 05/18/2026 - 10:59

as someone else already said what things will look like ATR will only be known ATR. (with "after" "the" & "revolution" all requiring unpacking).

a bit of planning is not unwarranted but this is like planning to move from one prison into another self-managed prison, imo.

like, why are we here? to make widgets, for capitalists (or for self-managed co-ops)? or is life for something else? or not for a purpose other than life being lived?

GO3 Mon, 05/18/2026 - 14:50

In reply to by km (not verified)

You sound like a retro grouch because you don't want to make widgets. Do you not like widgets? If anarchist ideas caught on in the world and we decided to cut off the head and self manage the productive forces democratically we would still retain an army of technicians and bureaucrats but the elites and the ruling class would be eliminated. In its place would be a decentralized distributed system for directing the productive forces. Perhaps we would vote on everything with apps and kiosks and you don't have to vote if you don't want to but you always could. This type of system will retain a relatively high level of technology.

km (not verified) Mon, 05/18/2026 - 22:38

In reply to by GO3

gotta say GO3 everything after your "if" is the most bleh fantasy to my way of thinking.

i need food, a place to be warm and dry, clothing and to be in conversation with other beings. i, in my version of the worker's paradise, would do these tasks/actions. what need have i of production for the sake of production only?

GO3 Wed, 05/20/2026 - 06:37

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

We need to look at three overlapping spheres of influence in this literary genre.

Suburbia Bohemia and Academia.

The three main threads in these spheres are primitivism, realism and futurism.

Then there are two basic types of anarchist projects, small scale and large scale. You don't have to reject one for the other you can dabble in both.

km (not verified) Wed, 05/20/2026 - 10:25

In reply to by GO3

to my mind the large scale projects that might coexist with anarchy are few and far between, maybe communication.

mostly what i think is missing from these types of scenarios is discussion of and reckoning with global climate disruption.
the effects from the extraction of oil, minerals etc from the earth has yet to be fully played out. we are short lived creatures and our past large-scale projects still have effects, and will continue to for a long time. i'm not a primitivist though i do think stopping making messes is the course of (non)action that makes the most sense.

GO3 Thu, 05/21/2026 - 10:53

In reply to by km (not verified)

By large scale anarchist projects I mean specifically organizations and federations and even land projects. We could look back in history and mention the Spanish revolution, Zapatistas, and Rojava for example. I don't think these are analogous to large-scale industrial capitalist projects which have had so much impact on the environment. I'm with you on climate change and I think ending fossil fuel dependency and switching to renewables and perhaps scaling down production is the solution. Ecosocialism perhaps.

CalvinSmith Mon, 05/18/2026 - 15:39

So each of the areas illustrated in those photographs STILL requires specialization:

-farming for the vegetables

-chefs for serving people food in those "free areas"

-architecture to design those high-tech futuristic buildings

-construction to actually get the things built

-and those wtf worthless robot arms that look like they were designed for some amazon factory?

you haven't even come close to describing how those society functions would be coordinated. Capitalism already answers the question: it only coordinates some things, other things it leaves up to "individual choice".

"Socially, daily life would likely feel more participatory, more reciprocal, and probably more demanding in some ways than people raised under passive liberal citizenship are used to."

So in other words, work minus the leisure, an accelerationist version of liberalism...the whole sleep aspect of life is just completely removed instead of being mediated partially through television and other forms of entertainment and drugs. Individuals are surgically exercised, it's now a cooperationist fantasy on hyper-drive. Michael Velli would be proud.

anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/21/2026 - 10:20

I didn't know Void Network and CrimeSTINK were hostile enough to actual anarchists, in Greece and beyond, to be pulling such a sick joke on the waning anarchist movements in the current context of crumbling anarchist infrastructure in the lower parts of Europe... Are they really *that* desperate to be antagonized for the upcoming bookfairs? You know your tablers can be easily handled... and even more easily their tables, right?

But since that's also a situation where very little people still care about whatever's going on in the anarchist non-scenes, I guess they're enjoying the relative sense of security provided by crickets...

Coming up next: anarcho-syndicalist nursery homes!

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