The anarchist companionship is the relationship system of the anarchist movement in Western Europe and a part of the world from the end of the 19th century onwards, encompassing both formal and informal anarchist networks guided by shared values such as hospitality and financial or practical aid to fellow companions. These networks also engaged in supporting other social struggles of the period—even those that were not explicitly anarchist.
This transnational network, lacking a real nerve center or central authority, allowed anarchists of the time to meet, consult, and undertake joint actions while providing them with significant mobility across Europe. The companions shared a set of structuring elements that united them: common values, a shared commitment to the anarchist struggle, and a collective imaginary, particularly shaped by the anarchist press and songs of the period.
