Social insertion is one of the two main forms of anarchist

Anarchism

Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...

 activism

Activism

Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...

 championed by the FARJ (Federação Anarquista do Rio de Janeiro) and other South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

n anarchist organizations, the other being especifismo

Especifismo

Especifismo is one of the two main forms of anarchist activism championed by FARJ and other South American anarchist organizations, the other being social insertion...

. Both principles are based on traditional trends within anarchism. While social insertion is described as being rooted in Bakunin’s insistence on social activism, especifismo is considered to be based on Malatesta

Errico Malatesta

Errico Malatesta was an Italian anarcho-communist. He was an insurrectionary anarchist early in his life. He spent much of his life exiled from his homeland of Italy and in total spent more than ten years in prison. He wrote and edited a number of radical newspapers and was also a friend of...

’s focus on anarchist-specific organization.

With the break between anarchism and labor movements in South America in the 1920s, anarchism there lost a connection with social movement

Social movement

Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change....

s. The goal of social insertion is to re-ignite this trend, described as the “social vector” of anarchism.

Some have been suspicious of the term, associating it with entryism

Entryism

Entryism is a political tactic by which an organisation or state encourages its members or agents to infiltrate another organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, or take over entirely...

 as practiced by the old authoritarian left movements. However, proponents of social insertion insist that entryism is essentially using involvement as a Trojan horse

Trojan Horse

The Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside...

for purposes of promotion whereas social insertion is focused on genuine improvement in communities. Social insertion consists simply of building a base for anarchist ideas through involvement at rank and file level over time in workplace and community organizations and struggles.