What are the fundamental differences between autonomous marxism and anarchism?

Answer 1

Philosophically, they remain Marxists while we are not. This is a larger obstacle for some than for others, but it remains an issue because of what texts and commentators Marxists are supposed to be familiar with. Anarchists on the other hand, tend to disagree with each other about what anarchist texts, writers, commentators, and projects we like and identify with.

Analytically, Marxists still assume that the working class (despite many being currently organized in unions, which the Marxists know to be non- or counter-revolutionary) is the revolutionary subject, while many anarchists have their doubts. It's not that anarchists ignore or dismiss class struggle, but we have a tendency not to put too much faith into workers as workers.

Tactically, we all promote an anti-hierarchical form of organization, without a cadre-type division between the smart folks and those who take orders from them. This makes them easy to get along with when not comparing analyses.

Autonomous Marxists tend to be highly literate, very critical, and can (at times) be condescending toward those who do not share their critical analyses. Which doesn't make them too different from some anarchists after all...

Comments

Oh, I forgot to mention that Marxists tend to drink more heavily than anarchists.