The issue of violence is closely related to the idea of change – how slowly should anarchism move towards a society without a state? Can a society transform gradually? Gradualists such as Godwin argued that it would take a long time for people to be educated enough to accept anarchist systems. 

Many anarchists recognise that violence creates a serious conflict between goals and methods. The Russian anarchist and writer Leo Tolstoy rejected all violence, whether from revolutions or governments, asking what the difference was between killing a revolutionary or a policeman. He compared it to preferring one type of waste over another. Influenced by Tolstoy, Gandhi also advocated for strong non-violence. However,  some anarchists are open to violence, believing that a perfect society might come from a single, massive uprising. This idea can fuel what Bakunin called the “poetry of destruction ”and ''The urge for destruction is also a creative urge!”

Some anarchists argue that voting may be worse than using violence. If political processes are seen as tied to oppressive systems, then the only choices left might be tyranny or violence.

Anarchists tend to reject representative democracy and direct democracy. Robert Michels coined the term the ‘iron law of oligarchy’. In his 1911 Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy, he argued that democratic movements are tragically fated to produce new hierarchies once they acquire power. As if guided by an iron law, democratic movements first depose ruling elites with claims of popular self-government to subsequently create new elites and concentrate power in their hands. Since democracy is a form of violence and repression this justifies violence by those who wish for a better society.

Violence can also be justified as a means of 'educating' the oppressed masses.  After the Paris Commune was defeated in 1871, many anarchists turned to “propaganda by deed,” which led to acts of terror aimed at waking people from their apathy. This echoes radical youth in South Africa in the 1980s, who shouted, “liberation before education,” a sentiment that can be traced back to Garibaldi and Proudhon's followers in the 1870s. The belief that anything not “legal” is justified can lead to violence, framed as a response to injustices, instilling fear in enemies, and exposing the state’s wrongdoings.

 Kropotkin supported the views of anarcho-syndicalist Georges Sorel, arguing that violence can awaken “sluggish hearts.”Sorel believed that the victory of the proletariat in class struggle could be achieved only through  a general strike.