A term coined by anarchist Murray Bookchin in his essay "Social Anarchism or
Lifestyle Anarchism: An Unbridgeable Chasm"
Lifestyle anarchism is the attitude of an individual that calls himself an anarchist by being heavily individualistic without giving any thought to class struggle and an end to oppression.
A lifestyle anarchist does not concern himself with anarchist goals such as the destruction of hierarchical society, but instead focuses on changes to his own behavior - these can range from a though out (but still not really anarchist) desire to remove oneself from societal norms in the name of one's will, to a mere stereotypical attempt to look like a tough bloke intent on creating disorder.
The word "lifestylist" can be occasionally seen in punk circles, as a form of insult, due to the pervasiveness of 'punks' that spend their time trying to look radical and pogoing to leftist lyrics while never really caring about politics.
HOWEVER, lifestylism has become an all too common insult among anarchists nowadays that promotes sectarianism, by each different anarchist
school of thought claiming others are merely lifestylists rather than real anarchists.
A justified use of '
lifestyle anarchy ' -
Calling a group of crust punks that squat an abandoned building and fuck it up with grafitti and broken bottles when they could have just as easily made it an inclusive social center or a shelter.
An unjustified use of '
lifestyle anarchy ' -
Anarchocommunist site Libcom slandering the
collective of CrimethInc. as lifestylists because they concern themselves with dropping from society rather than attacking society.
