Anarchism

Etymology

From Greek anarkhia, “absence of a ruler”: an- (“without”) + arkhos (“ruler, chief”). For centuries “anarchy” simply meant disorder, and the insult sense survives. Nineteenth-century thinkers such as Proudhon reclaimed it as a positive doctrine — Proudhon called himself an anarchist — giving anarchism its meaning as a considered case for a stateless yet ordered society.

noun · /AN-ur-kiz-um/
A political philosophy that regards compulsory state authority as illegitimate and favors voluntary, self-governing forms of cooperation.
What it names
The serious argument — distinct from mere chaos — that societies could organize without a coercive central state, through free association instead.
Example
The pamphlet made an anarchism-minded case that mutual-aid networks, not police, held the neighborhood together after the storm.
Related idea
Libertarianism also distrusts state power but generally keeps a minimal state and private property; most anarchism rejects the coercive state outright.