Anarchy and Legal Order

This book elaborates and defends the idea of law without the state. Animated by a vision of peaceful, voluntary cooperation as a social ideal and building on a careful account of non-aggression, it features a clear explanation of why the state is illegitimate, dangerous and unnecessary. It proposes an understanding of how law enforcement in a stateless society could be legitimate and what the optimal substance of law without the state might be, suggests ways in which a stateless legal order could foster the growth of a culture of freedom, and situates the project it elaborates in relation to leftist, anti-capitalist and socialist traditions. 'Anarchism's case, against the state and for the viability and desirability of a polycentric legal order, receives its most challenging and detailed articulation in Chartier's book.' Hillel Steiner, FBA, Professor of Political Philosophy, University of Manchester 'Those who defend the legitimacy of the state (even a minimal one) will be forced to reconsider their views by Gary Chartier's clear, sparkling, and trenchant defense of anarchism. This is required reading, not only within the libertarian movement, but by anyone who works in political philosophy.' Fernando R. Teson, Tobias Simon Eminent Scholar and Professor of Law, Florida State University 'Anarchy and Legal Order is one of the most important books of libertarian political theory to be published in the last forty years. Libertarians have long appealed to the natural law tradition, but no one has done so with the depth and sophistication of Gary Chartier. And no one has done a better job of showing how the insights of libertarian natural law theory can help us see the ways in which real-world capitalism has been deeply unjust.' Matt Zwolinski, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of San Diego 'Gary Chartier's book brings together the natural law and anarchist traditions in ways that are illuminating for both. It illustrates the richness of the natural law approach to ethics, using it to make a compelling case for a stateless society. The book is original, insightful and closely argued. It will help to cement Chartier's growing reputation as a leader in natural law and anarchist thought.' Jonathan Crowe, Associate Professor, University of Queensland 'This book is a major contribution to debates on the status of anarchism. It deftly combines moral justification with a concern for institutional practicality and bridges the divide between socialist and libertarian standpoints. One of the very best books on the subject I have ever encountered.' Mark Pennington, Professor of Public Policy and Political Economy, King's College, London 'Chartier takes the insight that there can be law without legislation and develops it into a manifesto, a vision of what socialism could have and should have been: socialism that does not pander to the urge to run other people's lives. Chartier finds kindred spirits across a wide array of traditions, yet the synthesis that emerges is all his own. Anarchist it is, but this is the anarchism of a humanist, not a terrorist, a deeply thoughtful anarchism unlike anything yet seen.' David Schmidtz, Kendrick Professor of Philosophy, joint Professor of Economics (by courtesy), and Director of the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, University of Arizona1. Laying foundations; 2. Rejecting aggression; 3. Safeguarding cooperation; 4. Enforcing law; 5. Rectifying injury; 6. Liberating society; 7. Situating liberation.