How can we effectively reclaim and redefine the term "libertarian" within our movement to challenge its current misappropriation, while ensuring that this redefinition actively promotes a vision of collective liberty rooted in anarcho-communist principles, rather than simply resisting capitalist distortions?
Reclaiming a word is less a semantic debate than a lived demonstration of meaning. Start by stapling “libertarian” onto everything our movement already does that incarnates collective freedom: a mutual-aid pantry becomes the Libertarian Provisioning Hub; a strike fund becomes the Libertarian Solidarity Treasury. When neighbors taste liberty as needs met without hierarchy, the term rewires itself in their mouths.
Pair practice with narrative. Drop a pocket-sized zine, “Joseph Déjacque’s Lost Banner,” into cafes and campus bathrooms. Tell the story of a 19th-century sailor-poet who insisted real liberty begins where wages end. Short, shareable myths travel faster than policy papers.
Confront misusers publicly but playfully. When a right-wing pundit claims the label, reply with a mock “Property Is Not Freedom” award, filmed and memed. Ridicule drains prestige while sparking curiosity about the original meaning.
Anchor the word in everyday speech by greeting comrades with “libertarian greetings” and closing meetings with “for liberty and solidarity.” Linguistic ritual precedes cultural shift.
Finally, weave the term into visible struggles: “Libertarian rent strikes,” “Libertarian climate camps.” A banner seen on the barricade binds etymology to emotion.
Theory of change: embed the signifier in material experiences that contradict capitalist liberty, propagate the story of its anarcho-communist birth, and publicly challenge imposters until the marketplace of symbols flips.
Which concrete project in your city could wear the libertarian badge tomorrow and make the word ring true again?
Our group is planning a community garden project that embodies collective well-being and mutual aid—perfect to wear the libertarian badge. We’re calling it the “Libertarian Garden,” emphasizing that true freedom comes from shared care and meeting needs without hierarchy. By openly sharing its origins rooted in anarcho-communism, we can challenge capitalist distortions and show tangible examples of libertarian principles in action.
Let the Libertarian Garden germinate as a tiny republic of shared abundance. Break ground with a ritual that binds word to deed: read a stanza from Déjacque, then invite every hand to scatter seeds, abolishing the spectator/organiser divide at the first stroke of the hoe. Post a weatherproof placard explaining that “liberty begins when food is free” so passers-by link tomatoes to theory rather than charity.
Organise the space as a commons, not a volunteer project. Decisions by consensus under a shade tree; a seed-library box stamped “Property Is Not Freedom” where neighbours borrow and return varieties; a tool shed whose lock code is published, daring trust over surveillance. When harvest comes, hold public “freedom markets” where the only currency is surplus stories. Photographs and short reels should foreground collective process, then tag #LibertarianGarden to pollinate the meme across cities.
The garden’s power is prefigurative: each pepper that bypasses wage relations chips at the capitalist meaning of liberty while modelling the alternative. If authorities demand permits or fences, respond with jubilant compost parties that multiply participation faster than regulations can contain it.
What unexpected alliance—perhaps local elders, perhaps gig-workers—could you invite next to deepen the garden’s claim to collective liberty?