anti-authoritarianism
Against concentrated control
Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to concentrated power and the systems that enforce it.
The stance rejects hierarchies that demand obedience—whether governmental, religious, or institutional—and questions whether authority figures deserve their power.
It spans a spectrum from skepticism of unchecked leadership to active resistance against tyranny: Her anti-authoritarianism made her suspicious of any politician promising order.
Independent management of affairs
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
- self-managementGoverning oneself independently
- decentralizationDistributing power from center
- federationUnion of semi-autonomous states
commune · cooperative · assembly · consensus · bottom-up · horizontality · leaderlessness · collective
Philosophy rejecting state authority
- libertarianismMinimal-government political philosophy
- egalitarianismPhilosophy of universal equality
- mutualismTwo-way biological benefit
- syndicalismUnion-led worker ownership theory
collectivism · anti-fascism · decentralism · communalism · abolitionism · Chomsky
Public expression of disapproval
- dissentDisagreement with authority
- defianceOpen resistance to authority
- disobedienceRefusal to follow orders
- activismDirect effort for reform
demonstration · boycott · sit-in · strike · opposition · contestation · insubordination · refusal
Defiance of established power
- revoltOrganized resistance to power
- insurrectionViolent uprising against authority
- insurgencyArmed uprising against authority
- revolutionViolent governmental overthrow
mutiny · overthrow · coup · riot · unrest · barricade · guerrilla · Haymarket
Raw, fast rock genre
- anarcho-punkAntiauthoritarian subculture with distortion
- bohemianismArtistic rejection of convention
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
- subversiveSeeking to undermine authority
zine · squatting · freegan · DIY · commune · freethinker · iconoclast · dropout
self-governance
Independent management of affairs
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
- self-managementGoverning oneself independently
- decentralizationDistributing power from center
federation · commune · cooperative · assembly · consensus · bottom-up · horizontality · leaderlessness · collective · autonomy
anarchism
Philosophy rejecting state authority
- libertarianismMinimal-government political philosophy
- egalitarianismPhilosophy of universal equality
- mutualismTwo-way biological benefit
syndicalism · collectivism · anti-fascism · decentralism · communalism · abolitionism · Chomsky
protest
Public expression of disapproval
- dissentDisagreement with authority
- defianceOpen resistance to authority
- disobedienceRefusal to follow orders
activism · demonstration · boycott · sit-in · strike · opposition · contestation · insubordination · refusal · noncompliance
rebellion
Defiance of established power
- revoltOrganized resistance to power
- insurrectionViolent uprising against authority
- insurgencyArmed uprising against authority
revolution · mutiny · overthrow · coup · riot · unrest · barricade · guerrilla · Haymarket · Zapatista
punk
Raw, fast rock genre
- anarcho-punkAntiauthoritarian subculture with distortion
- bohemianismArtistic rejection of convention
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
subversive · zine · squatting · freegan · DIY · commune · freethinker · iconoclast · dropout · alternative
- nonconformismnonconformity, iconoclasm, counterculture, bohemianism, freethinking
- Russian Nihilismnihilism, Turgenev, negation
anti-authoritarianismauthoritarianism
Concentrated, unchecked governmental power
totalitarianism · fascism · despotism · autocracy · dictatorship
anti-authoritarianismauthoritarianism
Concentrated, unchecked governmental power
conformism · obedience · submissiveness · blind obedience · submission
author, authority, authorize, authorized, authorities, unauthorized, authoritative, authorization, authorizing