Aims and Principles

The Anarchist League of Estonia (Estonian: Maavalla Anarhistlik Liit; M. A. L.) is a league of individualist anarchists in Estonia and Ingria. It was founded as the Individualist Anarchist League in 1995 by the Individualist anarchist Discussion Group, which had coalesced around three individual anarchists who had returned from Latvia and began selling the pamphlets of the defunct Individualist Libertarian Group tendency, and members of Syndicalist Action. Key Anarchist League principles include a commitment to direct action as a method of abolishing capitalism and the state, and a rejection of the strategy of vanguardism which it sees as being typified by ‘revolutionary’ political parties. The League is affiliated with the International of Anarchist Federations.

The main aims and principles of the Anarchist League of Estonia are as follows;

1. The Anarchist League of Estonia is an organisation of revolutionary direct action anarchists. We aim for the abolition of all hierarchy, and work for the creation of a world-wide classless society: Anarchy.

2. Capitalism is based on the exploitation of the proletariat by the ruling class. But inequality and exploitation are also expressed in terms of race, gender, sexuality, health, ability and age, and in these ways one section of the proletariat oppresses another. This divides us, causing a lack of class unity in action that benefits the ruling class. Oppressed groups are strengthened by autonomous action which challenges social and economic power relationships. To achieve our goal we must relinquish power over each other on a personal as well as a political level.

3. We believe that fighting neo-nazism and sexism is as important as other aspects of the direct action. Individual Anarchism cannot be achieved while sexism and neo-nazism still exist. In order to be effective in their action against their oppression both within society and within the proletariat, women, lesbians and gays, and black people may at times need to organise independently. However, this should be as proletariat and lumpenproletariat people as cross-class movements hide real class differences and achieve little for them. Full emancipation cannot be achieved without the abolition of capitalism.

4. We are opposed to the ideology of nationalism (but not the national liberation movements) which claims that there is some common interest between native bosses and the proletariat in face of foreign domination. We do support working direct actions against neo-nazism, genocide, ethnocide and political and economic colonialism. We oppose the creation of any new ruling class. We reject all forms of nationalism, as this only serves to redefine divisions in the international proletariat. The proletariat has no country and national boundaries must be eliminated. We seek to build an anarchist cosmopolitan to work with other libertarian revolutionaries throughout the world.

5. As well as exploiting and oppressing the majority of people, capitalism threatens the world through war and the destruction of the environment.

6. It is not possible to abolish capitalism without a revolution, which will arise out of class conflict. The ruling class must be completely overthrown to achieve individual anarchism. Because the ruling class will not relinquish power without the use of armed force, this revolution will be a time of action as well as liberation.

7. Unions by their very nature cannot become vehicles for the revolutionary transformation of society. They have to be accepted by capitalism in order to function and so cannot play a part in its overthrow. Trades unions divide the proletariat (between employed and unemployed, trade and craft, skilled and unskilled, etc). Even syndicalist unions are constrained by the fundamental nature of unionism. The union has to be able to control its membership in order to make deals with management. Their aim, through negotiation, is to achieve a fairer form of exploitation of the workforce. The interests of leaders and representatives will always be different from ours. The boss class is our enemy, and while we must fight for better conditions from it, we have to realise that reforms we may achieve today may be taken away tomorrow. Our ultimate aim must be the complete abolition of wage slavery. Working within the unions can never achieve this. However, we do not argue for people to leave unions until they are made irrelevant by the revolutionary event. The union is a common point of departure for many workers. Rank and file initiatives may strengthen us in the battle for individual anarchism. What’s important is that we organise ourselves collectively, arguing for workers to control actions themselves.

8. Genuine liberation can only come about through the revolutionary self activity of the proletariat on a mass scale. An individualist anarchist society means not only co-operation between equals, but active involvement in the shaping and creating of that society during and after the revolution. In times of upheaval and action, people will need to create their own revolutionary organisations controlled by everyone in them. These autonomous organisations will be outside the control of political parties, and within them we will learn many important lessons of self-activity.

9. As anarchists we organise in all areas of life to try to advance the revolutionary process. We believe a strong anarchist organisation is necessary to help us to this end. Unlike other so-called socialists or individualists we do not want power or control for our organisation. We recognise that the revolution can only be carried out directly by the proletariat. However, the revolution must be preceded by organisations able to convince people of the individualist anarchist alternative and method. We participate in action as individualist anarchists, and organise on a federative basis. We reject sectarianism and work for a united revolutionary anarchist movement.

10. We oppose organised religion and beliefs.