What do anarchists want? It seems easier to classify them by what they don't want, namely, the organizations of the State, and to identify them with rioting and protest rather than with any coherent ideology. But with demonstrations like those against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund being blamed on anarchists, it is clear that an explanation of what they do stand for is long overdue. Colin Ward provides answers to these questions by considering anarchism from a variety of perspectives: theoretical, historical, and international, and by exploring key anarchist thinkers, from Kropotkin to Chomsky. He looks critically at anarchism by evaluating key ideas within it, such as its blanket opposition to incarceration, and policy of "no compromise" with the apparatus of political decision-making. Can anarchy ever function effectively as a political force? Is it more "organized" and "reasonable" than is currently perceived? Whatever the politics of the reader, Ward's argument ensures that anarchism will be much better understood after experiencing this book.

无政府主义者想要什么？用他们不想要的东西，即国家组织，来对他们进行分类似乎更容易，并将他们与骚乱和抗议，而不是与任何连贯的意识形态相联系。但是，随着像那些反对世界银行和国际货币基金组织的示威活动被归咎于无政府主义者，很明显，早就应该对他们所代表的东西作出解释了。科林-沃德通过从理论、历史和国际等不同角度考虑无政府主义，并通过探索从克鲁泡特金到乔姆斯基的主要无政府主义思想家，为这些问题提供答案。他通过评估无政府主义中的关键思想来批判性地看待无政府主义，例如它对监禁的全面反对，以及对政治决策机构的 "不妥协 "政策。无政府主义能否作为一种政治力量有效运作？它是否比人们目前认为的更有 "组织 "和 "合理"？无论读者的政治立场如何，沃德的论点确保无政府主义在经历了这本书之后会得到更好的理解。