Anarchism

nomadthethird

nomadthethird

more issues than Time mag
Here's a thread for anarchism discussions.

The following is a question for Padraig, but anyone else who has info, too:

Where can I find some good readings in anarchism (contemporary or historical)?

I've read some Graeber and some Newman, I've read Bakunin, Goldman, and Proudhon. But I know there has to be more out there...Zapata wrote stuff, there's of course Chomsky (who is too humanistical for me), there's Sacco and Lucy Parsons. There are the Italians like Virno.

Anything else? I know I'm missing quite a bit.
 
matt b

matt b

Indexing all opinion
I'd recommend Demanding the Impossible by Peter Marshall, which is a fine introduction to the various strands of anarchist thought.

After that, take your pick.

I'd recommend:

Gerard Winstanley (post English civil war romanticist/agitator- the film about him and the Diggers has just been released on DVD)

Colin Ward ( how to we get to anarchism UK theorist/ activist)

Rudolph Rocker (same, but early 20th C)

Kropotkin (anarchistromanticist)

Then the more USA focussed Parecon

That should keep you occupied for at least a couple of days, Nomad (good to have you back, btw)


Edit: and William Godwin, obv
 
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padraig (u.s.)

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
nomadthethird said:
Where can I find some good readings in anarchism (contemporary or historical)?

Anything else? I know I'm missing quite a bit.
Click to expand...

I hope you don't mind if I just refer you to anti-politics.net, which has a decidely green bent & links to everything I'd probably recommend (as well as I bunch of things which I probably wouldn't, but hey).

it also really depends on what you're looking for - history? theory? I'm guessing you're pretty open to the greener, anti-civ end of things? I'm not sure exactly what you're interested as it's such a broad topic & unlike communism there is no single defined tradition, lexicon, etc. - perhaps PM me?

John Eden might also be a good person to ask?
 
padraig (u.s.)

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
also I should say - I second the recommendations Matt made and I would add to them:

Stuart Christie's excellent history of the Iberian Anarchist Federation; also the biography of Sabate that Christie translated into English

Alfredo Bonnano (insurrectionist Italian) - Armed Joy, The Anarchist Tension & so on - all available online...

there are a bunch of big name magazines heavy on theory - Green Anarchy, Fifth Estate, Anarchy: A Journey of Desire Armed, also Earth First! Journal (which is not explicitly "anarchist") - all of which you can probably find in New York but which obv all also have websites
 
nomadthethird

nomadthethird

more issues than Time mag
All of that's good! I'm interested in anything--the classical theory tends to be easy to find-- but that website looks great.
 
padraig (u.s.)

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
nomadthethird said:
...Zapata wrote stuff
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention this - Zapata didn't actually write anything AFAIK. I'm not sure if he was an "anarchist" strictly speaking (not a criticism, he was a totaly badass) tho he was influenced by anarchist thought, especially Ricardo Flores Magon, who provided the slogan "Tierra y Libertad!". Zapata was also definitely the most radical of any major figure in the Mexican Revolution, by a wide margin. Perhaps similar to Makhno in some ways?

Flores Magon (who wound up dying in Leavenworth Prison) is himself worth reading. He's also still revered by revolutionaries in Mexico, if not to the same degree as Zapata (who is viewed as practically a demigod), one of the Zapatista communities I stayed in had a huge mural of Zapata, Flores Magon & Marcos, kind of the holy trinity of Mexican revoluationaries.

also, another key one I forgot, think I mentioned him in the fascism thread - Fredy Perlman. Against History Against Leviathan especially.
 
padraig (u.s.)

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
john eden said:
I have to confess I haven't read Kropotkin and Bakunin or anything like that
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nothing to be embarrassed about mate - as it happens I've read those two but there's plenty of other "basic" stuff I've never read. it's funny as many times reading your blog I've thought you were considerably more well-read than I am, which I still reckon is almost certainly true.

also that link you knocked up is great.
 
nomadthethird

nomadthethird

more issues than Time mag
Thanks guys...

Zapata didn't write anything? Ah, maybe I'm just thinking of books I've picked up about him at like Barnes and Noble...
 
Z

zhao

there are no accidents
mistadubalina said:
fuck being an armchair anarchist

live that shit!
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malcom mclaren (not that i endorse everything he says) said that the real rebels of today are not in the streets starting fires, they are in libraries.

it is not possible to "live the dream" within the context, at best only a delusional caricature of freedom stitched up with wholly commodified, co-opted, and impotent signifiers.

the real battle ground is inside our heads.
 
M

mistadubalina

Banned
whats a library ? sounds like malcolm is showing his age in a pre web world. the real rebels would by now probably be on laptops with wifi sitting in the town square warpathing to the hilt and rarking up the establishment in places like this

so if dissensus were a state governed by rules and overlorded by dictators. Who among us would be anarchists, pretty much living by their own rules devoid of any seeming sense of morality and not giving 2 fucks whether they offended anybody ?

online you can be the anarchist you wished yourself to be and truly live the virtual dream. in that context i rather enjoy being a delusional caricature

you gotta love the contradictions eh :p

The keyboard is mightier than the flame. Burn hollywood burn!
 
D

droid

Guest
But that's not what anarchism is. It literally means 'without leaders' not 'without order'. In many ways anarchism requires for more social responsibility from its adherents, not less.
 
M

massrock

Well-known member
mistadubalina said:
Who among us would be anarchists, pretty much living by their own rules devoid of any seeming sense of morality and not giving 2 fucks whether they offended anybody ?
Click to expand...
I would say that for an anarchist society to be at all practicable individuals would on the contrary need to have a much more acute sense of how to coexist and co-operate.

At the risk of stating the obvious and boringly earnest. I know that's not what you were asking though.

Cross post with droid
 
Z

zhao

there are no accidents
droid said:
But that's not what anarchism is. It literally means 'without leaders' not 'without order'. In many ways anarchism requires for more social responsibility from its adherents, not less.
Click to expand...

yes.

and "without morals" means not constrained by "society"'s proscribed hypocritical rules, but following a higher, perhaps more individualized, code of ethics.

has always bothered me that pop culture as extension of the order propagates this idea that "beyond good and evil" means doing evil.

and in this line, as with the history of rock music, the healthy destruction of existing order becomes destruction of self.

foucault described 3 types of individuals: one that goes to sleep under the wall, riddled with addictions, another runs headlong into the wall and self destructs, and a third manages to rise above it and fly over the wall... pretty vague i know but i've always liked this.
 
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M

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
'Demanding the Impossible' should be compulsory reading in schools.

nomad, I think you'd like Emma Goldman's biography, Living My Life; she was a key American in anarchism's golden age (until now), the 1910 - 40 time, and is very inspiring and lovely.
 
M

mistadubalina

Banned
did someone just call me socially irresponsible for not giving a shit who i offend, what if it was for the greater good ?

to create something truly beautiful you must destroy what may be quite appealing, including the self and others

to first do without leaders, dont you have to do without order ?

out of chaos comes order ?
 
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