Anarchy is What Anarchists Make of it: Reclaiming the Concept of Agency in IR and Security Studies

This article posits a point of entry for anarchist interventions in critical theories of international relations and security studies. It explores potential for an approach which begins with grass-roots direct action as a means to reforming dominant ontologies of agency. The article discusses the potential in a resistance which engages in perpetual struggle between a direct action rooted in positive constructions of alternative agencies, and a direct action which commits to an ongoing resistance to the imposition of order and control. This potential is explored through a sustained engagement with Simon Critchley and Gustav Landauer, arguing that the tensions between their positions might offer productive routes for anarchism to make an intervention in the field. This argument is taken forward through a case study of the ‘Raytheon 9’, an anti-arms trade group who offer powerful perspectives on the broader discussion here.