Notes Toward an Anarchist Theory of Life: Three Animist Ontologies

This article explores affinities between New Materialisms, anarchism, and varieties of Indigenous thought. It is suggested that all three share an animist ontology, a certain pragmatist and “meta-fetishistic" stance, a distrust of vertical thinking, a preference for horizontal arrangements, and even a kind of comedic “theory of life”. Taken together, these set New Materialisms on a firmly antifascist basis, helping to answer the frequent charge that they lack clear political commitments. Having made that argument, I then want to open up for consideration some ethical questions about life so theorised and explore some possible ways forward.