The Abolition of the State: Anarchist and Marxist Perspectives

Both Anarchists and Marxists believe that  it will be possible to do away with the state.  But what do they mean by that?  What is the state, after all?  What institutions, if any, would be necessary to replace its functions?  Would a transitional “dictatorship of the proletariat” be needed or will it be possible to immediately abolish the state?  Does modern technology require a centralized institution such as the state?  Throughout the history of revolutions, the people have created workplace councils and neighborhood assemblies--how could these replace the state?

Wayne Price is a longtime antiwar, human rights, and union militant.  He has been a member of the Revolutionary Socialist League, the Love and Rage Anarchist Federation, and the Northeastern Federation of Anarchist-Communists.  His writings appear in the Utopian, the Northeastern Anarchist, and in monthly articles on www.Anarkismo.net.