This is an idea of a society that either once existed or might exist at some time in the future, which is free of all property divisions and where all things are shared in common. Even capitalism can be seen as a system for managing communism (although it is evidently in many ways a profoundly flawed one). Everyday communism then is not a larger regulatory body that co-ordinates all economic activity within a single ‘society,’ but a principle that exists in and to some extent forms the necessary foundation of any society or human relations of any kind. As an expectation of mutual aid, communism in this sense can be seen as the foundation of all human sociality anywhere as a principle of co-operation, it emerges spontaneously in times of crisis as solidarity, it underlies almost all relations of social trust. It also relies on a certain notion of totality: once upon a time there were tribes, some day there will be nations, organized entirely on communistic principles: that is, where ‘society’ - the totality itself - regulates social production and therefore inequalities of property will not exist.Įveryday communism (with a small c) can only be understood in contrast by rejecting such totalizing frameworks and examining everyday practice at every level of human life to see where the classic communistic principle of ‘from each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs’ is actually applied. Mythic Communism (with a capital C) is a theory of history, of a classless society that once existed and will, it is hoped, someday return again.
They might as easily be referred to as ‘ideal’ and ‘empirical’ or even ‘transcendent’ and ‘immanent’ versions of communism. Communism may be divided into two chief varieties, which I will call ‘mythic’ and ‘everyday’ communism.
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