We've ranked the best anarchism books using expert recommendations, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. At Shortform, we know books. Our book guides are the best in the world. Learn why.
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No Logo
Naomi Klein
5.0
With a new Afterword to the 2002 edition, No Logo employs journalistic savvy and personal testament to detail the insidious practices and far-reaching effects of corporate marketing—and the powerful potential of a growing activist sect that will surely alter the course of the 21st century. First published before the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, this is an infuriating, inspiring, and altogether pioneering work of cultural criticism that investigates money, marketing, and the anti-corporate movement.
As global corporations compete for the hearts and wallets of consumers who not only buy their products but willingly advertise them from head to toe—witness today's schoolbooks, superstores, sporting arenas, and brand-name synergy—a new generation has begun to battle consumerism with its own best weapons. In this provocative, well-written study, a front-line report on that battle, we learn how the Nike swoosh has changed from an athletic status-symbol to a metaphor for sweatshop labor, how teenaged McDonald's workers are risking their jobs to join the Teamsters, and how "culture jammers" utilize spray paint, computer-hacking acumen, and anti-propagandist wordplay to undercut the slogans and meanings of billboard ads (as in "Joe Chemo" for "Joe Camel").
No Logo will challenge and enlighten students of sociology, economics, popular culture, international affairs, and marketing.
"This book is not another account of the power of the select group of corporate Goliaths that have gathered to form our de facto global government. Rather, it is an attempt to analyze and document the forces opposing corporate rule, and to lay out the particular set of cultural and economic conditions that made the emergence of that opposition inevitable." —Naomi Klein, from her Introduction
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Recommended by Bogdana Butnar and David Lammy.
Bogdana Butnar
I thought I might put my money where my mouth is. I keep whining that young people are not in touch with some essential books on advertising that have helped me shape the way I practise my trade today, but I never did anything about it. So I am starting here the ultimate books to read list. I will add to it as I get suggestions and as more good books get written. [source]
David Lammy
This is another modern classic worth revisiting. It charts how brands have become tangled up with identity – how they stopped being markers of quality and became symbols of identity and markers of status. Logos have moved from the inside label to being splashed all over products. Having a coffee in Starbucks is an experience not a product. What you wear helps signal your worth. [source]
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No Gods No Masters: An Anthology of Anarchism
Daniel Guerin, Paul Sharkey
5.0
The first English translation of Guérin’s monumental anthology of anarchism, published here in one volume. It details a vast array of unpublished documents, letters, debates, manifestos, reports, impassioned calls-to-arms and reasoned analysis; the history, organization and practice of the movement—its theorists, advocates and activists; the great names and the obscure, towering legends and unsung heroes.
This definitive anthology portrays anarchism as a sophisticated ideology whose nuances and complexities highlight the natural desire for freedom in all of us. The classical texts will re-establish anarchism as both an intellectual and practical force to be reckoned with. Includes writings by Emma Goldman, Kropotkin, Berkman, Bakunin, Proudhon, and Malatesta.
Daniel Guérin was the author of Anarchism: From Theory to Practice.
In Oakland, California on March 24, 2015 a fire destroyed the AK Press warehouse along with several other businesses. Please consider visiting the AK Press website to learn more about the fundraiser to help them and their neighbors.
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Anarchism and Other Essays
Emma Goldman
5.0
In the eighteen-nineties and for years thereafter, America reverberated with the name of the "notorious Anarchist," feminist, revolutionist and agitator, Emma Goldman. A Russian Jewish immigrant at the age of 17, she moved by her own efforts from seamstress in a clothing factory to internationally known radical lecturer, writer, editor and friend of the oppressed. This book is a collection of her remarkably penetrating essays, far in advance of their time, originally published by the Mother Earth press which she founded.
In the first of these essays, Anarchism: What It Really Stands For, she says, "Direct action, having proven effective along economic lines, is equally potent in the environment of the individual." In Minorities Versus Majorities she holds that social and economic well-being will result only through "the non-compromising determination of intelligent minorities, and not through the mass." Other pieces deal with The Hypocrisy of Puritanism; Prisons: A Social Crim and Failure; The Psychology of Political Violence—note the relevence of these themes to our own time; The Drama: A Powerful Disseminator of Radical Thought; Patriotism: A Menace to Liberty; and The Tragedy of Woman's Emancipation. A biographical sketch by Hippolyte Havel precedes the essays.
Anarchism and Other Essays provides a fascinating look into revolutionary issues at the turn of the century, a prophetic view of the social and economic future, much of which we have seen take place, and above all, a glimpse into the mind of an extraordinary woman: brilliant, provocative, dedicated, passionate, and what used to be called "high-minded."
Unabridged republication of the 3rd (1917) edition, with a new Introduction by Richard Drinnon. Frontispiece. xv + 271 pp. 5-3/8 x 8-1/2. Paperbound.
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On Anarchism
Noam Chomsky, Barry Pateman
5.0
We all know what Noam Chomsky is against. His scathing analysis of everything that’s wrong with our society reaches more and more people every day. His brilliant critiques of—among other things—capitalism, imperialism, domestic repression and government propaganda have become mini-publishing industries unto themselves. But, in this flood of publishing and republishing, very little ever gets said about what exactly Chomsky stands for, his own personal politics, his vision of the future.
Not, that is, until Chomsky on Anarchism, a groundbreaking new book that shows a different side of this best-selling author: the anarchist principles that have guided him since he was a teenager. This collection of Chomsky’s essays and inter-views includes numerous pieces that have never been published before, as well as rare material that first saw the light of day in hard-to-find pamphlets and anarchist periodicals. Taken together, they paint a fresh picture of Chomsky, showing his lifelong involvement with the anarchist community, his constant commitment to nonhierarchical models of political organization and his hopes for a future world without rulers.
For anyone who’s been touched by Chomsky’s trenchant analysis of our current situation, as well as anyone looking for an intelligent and coherent discussion of anarchism itself, look no further than Chomsky on Anarchism.
Noam Chomsky is one of the world’s leading intellectuals, the father of modern linguistics, an outspoken media and foreign policy critic and tireless activist. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
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The Anatomy of the State (LvMI)
Murray Rothbard
5.0
In the 20th century Murray Rothbard was known as the state's greatest living enemy, and The Anatomy of the State is his most succinct and powerful statement on the topic, a daring evidence of how he came to wear that designation proudly.
He explains what a state is and what it is not. He shows how it is an institution that purports to hold the right to violate all that we otherwise hold as honest and moral, and how it operates under a false cover now and always. He shows how the state wrecks freedom, destroys civilization, and threatens all lives and property and social well-being.
The essay is seminal in another respect. Here Rothbard binds together the cause of private-property capitalism with anarchist politics — truly the first thinker in the history of the world to fully forge the perspective that later came to be known as anarchocapitalism.
He took all that he had learned from the Misesian tradition and the liberal tradition and the anarchist tradition to put together what is really a new and highly systematic way of thinking about the entire subject of political economy and social thought.
Understanding his point of view has the effect on the reader of putting things together in a way that profoundly changes the way one sees the world.
And Rothbard explains all of this in a very short space — short enough to be read again and again as an inoculation against the creeping disease of statism.
To search for Mises Institute titles, enter a keyword and LvMI (short for Ludwig von Mises Institute); e.g., Depression LvMI
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Against The State: An Anarcho-Capitalist Manifesto
Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.
5.0
Against The State argues the historical failure of the nation-state, and makes a case for a society based on a philosophy of anarcho-capitalism as the only rational alternative to restore liberty and sustainable prosperity to modern society.
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Anarchy, State, and Utopia
Robert Nozick
5.0
In this brilliant and widely acclaimed book, Robert Nozick challenges the most commonly held political and social positions of our age—liberal, socialist, and conservative. It won the 1975 U.S. National Book Award in category Philosophy and Religion, has been translated into 11 languages, and was named one of the "100 most influential books since the war" (1945–1995) by the U.K. Times Literary Supplement.
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Recommended by Jonathan Wolff.
Jonathan Wolff
You can come in and read even just two pages of Nozick and have to face up to the idea that maybe your deep beliefs have been challenged in an incredibly strong way. [source]
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Post-Scarcity Anarchism
Murray Bookchin
5.0
In this series of essays, Murray Bookchin balances his ecological and anarchist vision with the promising opportunities of a “post-scarcity” era. Technological advances during the 20th century have expanded production in the pursuit of corporate profit at the expense of human need and ecological sustainability. New possibilities for human freedom must combine an ecological outlook with the dissolution of hierarchical social relations, capitalism and canonical political orientation. Bookchin’s utopian vision, rooted in the realities of contemporary society, remains refreshingly pragmatic. “Book-chin makes a trenchant analysis of modern society and offers a pointed, provocative discussion of the ecological crisis.”—Library Journal
Murray Bookchin has been an active voice in the ecology and anarchist movements for more than 40 years.
In Oakland, California on March 24, 2015 a fire destroyed the AK Press warehouse along with several other businesses. Please consider visiting the AK Press website to learn more about the fundraiser to help them and their neighbors.
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The Unabomber Manifesto: Industrial Society and Its Future
Theodore Kaczynski
5.0
In 1971 Dr. Theodore Kaczynski rejected modern society and moved to a primitive cabin in the woods of Montana. There, he began building bombs, which he sent to professors and executives to express his disdain for modern society, and to work on his magnum opus, Industrial Society and Its Future, forever known to the world as the Unabomber Manifesto.
Responsible for three deaths and more than twenty casualties over two decades, he was finally identifed and apprehended when his brother recognized his writing style while reading the 'Unabomber Manifesto.' The piece, written under the pseudonym FC (Freedom Club) was published in the New York Times after his promise to cease the bombing if a major publication printed it in its entirety.
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The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia
James C. Scott
4.9
For two thousand years the disparate groups that now reside in Zomia (a mountainous region the size of Europe that consists of portions of seven Asian countries) have fled the projects of the organized state societies that surround them—slavery, conscription, taxes, corvée labor, epidemics, and warfare. This book, essentially an “anarchist history,” is the first-ever examination of the huge literature on state-making whose author evaluates why people would deliberately and reactively remain stateless. Among the strategies employed by the people of Zomia to remain stateless are physical dispersion in rugged terrain; agricultural practices that enhance mobility; pliable ethnic identities; devotion to prophetic, millenarian leaders; and maintenance of a largely oral culture that allows them to reinvent their histories and genealogies as they move between and around states.In accessible language, James Scott, recognized worldwide as an eminent authority in Southeast Asian, peasant, and agrarian studies, tells the story of the peoples of Zomia and their unlikely odyssey in search of self-determination. He redefines our views on Asian politics, history, demographics, and even our fundamental ideas about what constitutes civilization, and challenges us with a radically different approach to history that presents events from the perspective of stateless peoples and redefines state-making as a form of “internal colonialism.” This new perspective requires a radical reevaluation of the civilizational narratives of the lowland states. Scott’s work on Zomia represents a new way to think of area studies that will be applicable to other runaway, fugitive, and marooned communities, be they Gypsies, Cossacks, tribes fleeing slave raiders, Marsh Arabs, or San-Bushmen.
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Recommended by James Palmer.
James Palmer
I love Scott, he’s one of my favourite authors. [source]
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The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey
Michael Huemer
4.9
Modern states commonly deploy coercion in a wide array of circumstances in which the resort to force would clearly be wrong for any private agent. What entitles the state to behave in this manner? And why should citizens obey its commands? This book examines theories of political authority, from the social contract theory, to theories of democratic authorization, to fairness- and consequence-based theories. Ultimately, no theory of authority succeeds, and thus no government has the kind of authority often ascribed to governments.
The author goes on to discuss how voluntary and competitive institutions could provide the central goods for the sake of which the state is often deemed necessary, including law, protection from private criminals, and national security. An orderly and livable society thus does not require acquiescence in the illusion of political authority.
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Anarchy and Christianity
Jacques Ellul
4.9
Jacque Ellul blends politics, theology, history, and exposition in this analysis of the relationship between political anarchy and biblical faith. While he clarifies the views of each and how they can be related, his aim is not to proselytize either anarchists into Christianity or Christians into anarchy. On the one hand, suggests Ellul, anarchists need to understand that much of their criticism of Christianity applies only to the form of religion that developed, not to biblical faith. Christians, on the other hand, need to look at the biblical texts and not reject anarchy as a political option, for it seems closest to biblical thinking. After charting the background of his own interest in the subject, Ellul defines what he means by anarchy: the nonviolent repudiation of authority. He goes on to look at the Bible as the source of anarchy (in the sense of nondomination, not disorder), working through Old Testament history, Jesus' ministry, and finally the early church's view of power as reflected in the New Testament writings. --With the verve and the gift of trenchant simplification to which we have been accustomed, Ellul lays bare the fallacy that Christianity should normally be the ally of civil authority.-- -- John Howard Yoder Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), a French sociologist and lay theologian, was Professor Emeritus of Law and of the History and Sociology of Institutions at the University of Bordeaux. He wrote more than forty books, including 'The Technological Society', 'The Humiliation of the Word', and 'Technological Bluff'.
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The Anarchist Cookbook
William Powell, Peter M Bergman
4.9
Perhaps the most notorius How To manual on the market. This is the most asked for book that we know of. Is it any good? Well, it's now in its 29th printing since 1971, has chapters on home preparation of weapons, electronics, drugs, and explosives. Extensively illustrated, 8.5 x 11, 160 pp., softcover.
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Mutual Aid
P. Kropotkin
4.9
In this cornerstone of modern liberal social theory, Peter Kropotkin states that the most effective human and animal communities are essentially cooperative, rather than competitive. Kropotkin based this classic on his observations of natural phenomena and history, forming a work of stunning and well-reasoned scholarship. Essential to the understanding of human evolution as well as social organization, it offers a powerful counterpoint to the tenets of Social Darwinism. It also cites persuasive evidence of human nature's innate compatibility with anarchist society. "Kropotkin's basic argument is correct," noted evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould. "Struggle does occur in many modes, and some lead to cooperation among members of a species as the best pathway to advantage for individuals." Anthropologist Ashley Montagu declared that "Mutual Aid will never be any more out of date than will the Declaration of Independence. New facts may increasingly become available, but we can already see that they will serve largely to support Kropotkin's conclusion that 'in the ethical progress of man, mutual support—not mutual struggle—has had the leading part.'" Physician and author Alex Comfort asserted that "Kropotkin profoundly influenced human biology by his theory of Mutual Aid. . . . He was one of the first systematic students of animal communities, and may be regarded as the founder of modern social ecology."
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The Conquest of Bread
Peter Kropotkin
4.9
The fourth in AK Press’ Working Classics series, The Conquest of Bread is Peter Kropotkin’s most extensive study of human needs and his outline of the most rational and equi-table means of satisfying them. A combination of detailed historical analysis and far-reaching utopian vision, this is a step-by-step guide to social revolution: the concrete means of achieving it, and the world that humanity’s “constructive genius” is capable of creating. Includes a new introduction that historically situates and discusses the contemporary relevance of Kropotkin’s ideas.
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Global Discontents: Conversations on the Rising Threats to Democracy
NOAM CHOMSKY
4.9
In a compelling new set of interviews, Noam Chomsky identifies the "dry kindling" of discontent around the world that could soon catch fire.
In wide-ranging discussions with David Barsamian, his longtime interlocutor, Noam Chomsky asks us to consider "the world we are leaving to our grandchildren" one imperiled by climate change and the growing potential for nuclear war. If the current system is incapable of dealing with these threats, he argues, it's up to us to radically change it.
These twelve interviews examine the latest developments around the globe: the rise of ISIS, the reach of state surveillance, growing anger over economic inequality, conflicts in the Middle East, and the presidency of Donald Trump. In personal reflections on his Philadelphia childhood, Chomsky also describes his own intellectual journey and the development of his uncompromising stance as America's premier dissident intellectual.
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Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements
Walidah Imarisha
4.9
Whenever we envision a world without war, without prisons, without capitalism, we are producing visionary fiction. Organizers and activists envision, and try to create, such worlds all the time. This book brings twenty of them together in the first anthology of short stories to explore the connections between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change. The visionary tales of Octavia's Brood span genres—sci-fi, fantasy, horror, magical realism—but all are united by an attempt to experiment with new ways of understanding ourselves, the world around us, and all the selves and worlds that could be. The collection is rounded off with essays by Tananarive Due and Mumia Abu-Jamal, and a foreword by Sheree Renée Thomas.
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Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas
Robert Graham
4.9
Volume One of Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas, is a comprehensive and far ranging collection of anarchist writings from the feudal era (300) to 1939. Edited and introduced by noted anarchist scholar Robert Graham, the collection will include the definitive texts from the anarchist tradition of political thought, beginning with some of the earliest writings from China and Europe against feudal servitude and authority.
The collection will then go on to document the best of the anti-authoritarian writings from the English and French Revolutions and the early development of libertarian socialist ideas, including such writers as Gerrard Winstanley, William Godwin, Charles Fourier, Max Stirner, as well as the early anarchist writings of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Michael Bakunin, Peter Kropotkin, Errico Malatesta, Elisee Reclus, Leo Tolstoy, and Emma Goldman.
This incomparable volume deals both with the positive ideas and proposals the anarchists tried to put into practice, and with the anarchist critiques of the authoritarian theories and practices confronting them during these years with their revolutionary upheavals.
Robert Graham has written extensively on the history of anarchist ideas. He is the author of “The Role of Contract in Anarchist Ideology,” in the Routledge publication, For Anarchism, edited by David Goodway, and he wrote the introduction to the 1989 Pluto Press edition of Proudhon’s General Idea of the Revolution in the 19th Century, originally published in 1851. He has been doing research and writing on the historical development of anarchist ideas for over 20 years and is a well respected commentator in the field.
Includes original portraits of the anarchists drawn by Maurice Spira specifically for this book Spira’s imagery is rooted to the political, his subject matter global. Works such as “Battle of Seattle,” “Gulf,” and “Refugees” are the visual equivalent of newspaper headlines.
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Immigrants against the State: Yiddish and Italian Anarchism in America
Kenyon Zimmer
4.9
From the 1880s through the 1940s, tens of thousands of first- and second-generation immigrants embraced the anarchist cause after arriving on American shores. Kenyon Zimmer explores why these migrants turned to anarchism, and how their adoption of its ideology shaped their identities, experiences, and actions.
Zimmer focuses on Italians and Eastern European Jews in San Francisco, New York City, and Paterson, New Jersey. Tracing the movement's changing fortunes from the pre–World War I era through the Spanish Civil War, Zimmer argues that anarchists, opposed to both American and Old World nationalism, severed all attachments to their nations of origin but also resisted assimilation into their host society. Their radical cosmopolitan outlook and identity instead embraced diversity and extended solidarity across national, ethnic, and racial divides. Though ultimately unable to withstand the onslaught of Americanism and other nationalisms, the anarchist movement nonetheless provided a shining example of a transnational collective identity delinked from the nation-state and racial hierarchies.
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Anarchy and the Law: The Political Economy of Choice
Edward P. Stringham
4.9
Private-property anarchism, also known as anarchist libertarianism, individualist anarchism, and anarcho-capitalism, is a political philosophy and set of economic and legal arguments that maintains that, just as the markets and private institutions of civil society provide food, shelter, and other human needs, markets and contracts should provide law and that the rule of law itself can only be understood as a private institution.
To the libertarian, the state and its police powers are not benign societal forces, but a system of conquest, authoritarianism, and occupation. But whereas limited government libertarians argue in favor of political constraints, anarchist libertarians argue that, to check government against abuse, the state itself must be replaced by a social order of self-government based on contracts. Indeed, contemporary history has shown that limited government is untenable, as it is inherently unstable and prone to corruption, being dependent on the interest-group politics of the state's current leadership. Anarchy and the Law presents the most important essays explaining, debating, and examining historical examples of stateless orders.
Section I, "Theory of Private Property Anarchism," presents articles that criticize arguments for government law enforcement and discuss how the private sector can provide law. In Section II, "Debate," limited government libertarians argue with anarchist libertarians about the morality and viability of private-sector law enforcement. Section III, "History of Anarchist Thought," contains a sampling of both classic anarchist works and modern studies of the history of anarchist thought and societies. Section IV, "Historical Case Studies of Non-Government Law Enforcement," shows that the idea that markets can function without state coercion is an entirely viable concept. Anarchy and the Law is a comprehensive reader on anarchist libertarian thought that will be welcomed by students of government, political science, history, philosophy, law, economics, and the broader study of liberty.
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Anarchism Volume Two: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas, Volume Two – The Emergence of a New Anarchism
Robert Graham
4.9
Continuing where Volume One left off,this anthology of anarchist writings, broad in its geographical and intellectual scope, documents both continuity and change in anarchist ideas since the Spanish revolution and civil war. Topics covered include anti-capitalism and global justice movements, opposition to war, ecology and anarchism, the relevance of syndicalism, libertarian communism, anarcha-feminism, personal and sexual liberation, libertarian education, participatory democracy, direct action and affinity groups, technology and freedom, anthropology and anarchy,art and the utopian imagination, bureaucracy, state and empire, resistance and revolution, post-modernism, and philosophical anarchism.
In addition to English language material from England and North America, the book includes translations from Africa, India, China, Latin America, and Europe, much of which has never appeared before in English. Contributors include Noam Chomsky, Murray Bookchin,Emma Goldman, George Woodcock, Marie Louise Berneri, Herbert Read, Alex Comfort, Martin Buber, Paul Goodman, Carole Pateman, Colin Ward, Paul Feyerabend, Pierre Clastres, Chaia Heller, Ivan Illich, Daniel Guerin, Luce Fabbri and many more.
ROBERT GRAHAM has been writing on the history of anarchist ideas and contemporary anarchist theory for over 20 years.In 2005, he published Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas, Volume One: From Anarchy to Anarchism 300CE to 1939(Black Rose Books)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgements
INTRODUCTION: MAKING SENSE OF ANARCHISM by Davide Turcato
CHAPTER 1: ANTI-MILITARISM, WAR & REVOLUTION
1. Herbert Read: The Philosophy of Anarchism (1940) 2. Emma Goldman: The Individual, Society and the State (1940) 3. The Romande Anarchist Federation: Coming to Grips With War (1939) 4. Marie Louise Berneri: Constructive Policy versus Destructive War (1940-43) 5. Jean Sauliere, Voline et. al.: Appeal to All Workers (1943) 6. Italian Anarchist Federation: Act for Yourselves (1945) 7. Bulgarian Anarchist Manifesto (1945) 8. French Anarchist Federation: The Issues of the Day (1945) 9. Korean Anarchist Manifesto (1948) 10. International Anarchist Manifesto (1948) 11. Paul Goodman: Drawing the Line (1945) 12. Alex Comfort: Peace and Disobedience (1946) 13. Dwight Macdonald: The Root Is Man (1946)
CHAPTER 2: THE WILL TO DREAM
14. Ethel Mannin:The Will to Dream (1944) 15. Marie Louis Berneri: Journey Through Utopia (1949) 16. Martin Buber: Paths in Utopia (1949) 17. Paul & Percival Goodman: Communities (1947) 18. Giancarlo de Carlo: Rebuilding Community (1948)
CHAPTER 3: ART AND FREEDOM
19. Herbert Read:The Freedom of the Artist (1943) 20. Alex Comfort: Art and Social Responsibility (1946) 21. Holley Cantine: Art: Play and Its Perversions (1947) 22. Paul-Émile Borduas: Global Refusal (1948) 23. André Breton: The Black Mirror of Anarchism (1952) 24. Julian Beck: Storming the Barricades (1964) 25. Living Theatre Declaration (1970)
CHAPTER 4: RESISTING THE NATION STATE
26. Alex Comfort:Authority and Delinquency (1950) 27. Geoffrey Ostergaard: The Managerial Revolution (1954) 28. Mohamed Saïl: The Kabyle Mind-Set (1951) 29. Maurice Fayolle: From Tunis to Casablanca (1954) 30. André Prudhommeaux: The Libertarians and Politics (1954) 31. Noir et Rouge: Refusing the Nation-State (1957-62) 32. Vinoba Bhave and Jayaprakesh Narayan: From Socialism to Sarvodaya (1957) 33. Vernon Richards: Banning the Bomb (1958-59) 34. Nicolas Walter: Direct Action and the New Pacifism (1962) 35. Paul Goodman: "Getting into Power" (1962)
CHAPTER 5: CREATING A COUNTER-CULTURE
36. Herbert Read:Anarchism and Education (1944-47) 37. Paul Goodman: A Public Dream of Universal Disaster 38. L'Impulso: Resistance or Revolution (1950) 39. David Thoreau Wieck: The Realization of Freedom (1953) 40. David Dellinger: Communalism (1954) 41. A.J. Baker: Anarchism Without Ends (1960) 42: Gary Snyder: Buddhist Anarchism (1961) 43. Nicolas Walter: Anarchism and Religion (1991) 44. C. George Benello: Wasteland Culture (1967) 45. Louis Mercier Vega: Yesterday's Societies and Today's (1970) 46. Joel Spring: Liberating Education (1975)
CHAPTER 6: RESURGENT ANARCHISM
47. Lain Diez:Towards a Systematization of Anarchist Thought (1964) 48. Murray Bookchin: Ecology and Anarchy (1965) 49. Daniel Guérin: Anarchism Reconsidered (1965-66) 50. The Provos: PROVOcation (1966) 51. The Cohn-Bendit Brothers: It Is for Yourself that You Make the Revolution(1968) 52. Jacobo Prince: Fighting for Freedom (1969) 53. Diego Abad de Santillán: Anarchism Without Adjectives (1969) 54. Nicolas Walter: About Anarchism (1969) 55. Noam Chomsky: Notes on Anarchism (1970) 56. Robert Paul Wolff: In Defence of Anarchism (1970) 57. Paul Goodman: Freedom and Autonomy (1972)
CHAPTER 7: FORMS OF FREEDOM
58. Philip Sansom:Syndicalism Restated (1951) 59. Benjamin Péret: The Factory Committee (1952) 60. Comunidad del Sur: The Production of Self-Management (1969) 61. Maurice Joyeaux: Self-Management, Syndicalism and Factory Councils (1973) 62. Murray Bookchin: The Forms of Freedom (1968) 63. Colin Ward: Anarchy as a Theory of Organization (1966-1973)
CHAPTER 8: SOCIETY AGAINST STATE
64. Pierre Clasters:Society Against the State (1974) 65. Michael Taylor: Anarchy, the State and Cooperation (1976) 66. Louis Mercier Vega: The Modern State (1970) 67. Nico Berti: The New Masters (1976) 68. Noam Chomsky: Intellectuals and the State (1977)
CHAPTER 9: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
69. George Woodcock:The Tyranny of the Clock (1944) 70. Paul Goodman: Science and Technology (1960) 71. Paul Feyerabend: Against Method (1975) 72. Richard Kostelanetx: Technoanarchism (1968) 73. Ivan Illich: Political Inversion (1976) 74: Murray Bookchin: Ecotechnology and Ecocommunities (1976-82)
CHAPTER 10: SEXUAL REVOLUTION
75. Marie Louise Berneri: Wilhelm Reich and the Sexual Revolution (1945) 76. Daniel Guérin: Sexual Liberation 77. Paul Goodman: The Politics of Being Queer (1969) 78. Peggy Kornegger: Anarchism: The Feminist Connection (1975) 79. Carol Ehrlich: Anarchism, Feminism and Situationism (1977)
535 pages, bibliography, index
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Against Method
Paul Feyerabend
4.9
Modern philosophy of science has paid great attention to the understanding of scientific "practice, " in contrast to the earlier concentration on scientific "method." Paul Feyerabend's acclaimed work, which has contributed greatly to this new emphasis, shows the deficiencies of some widespread ideas about the nature of knowledge. He argues that the only feasible explanations of scientific successes are historical explanations, and that anarchism must now replace rationalism in the theory of knowledge.
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Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice
Rudolf Rocker, Noam Chomsky, Mike Davis, Nicolas Walter
4.9
In 1937, at the behest of Emma Goldman, Rocker penned this political and philosophical masterpiece as an introduction to the ideals fueling the Spanish social revolution and resistance to capitalism the world over. Within, Rocker offers an introduction to anarchist ideas, a history of the international workers’ movement, and an outline of the syndicalist strategies and tactics embraced at the time (direct action, sabotage and the general strike). Includes a lengthy introduction by Nicholas Walter and a Preface by Noam Chomsky.
“[Rocker’s] approach is far from ‘utopian’; this is not an abstract discourse but a call to action.”—Noam Chomsky
Rudolf Rocker (1873–1958) was a leading figure in the international anarchist movement for over 60 years.
In Oakland, California on March 24, 2015 a fire destroyed the AK Press warehouse along with several other businesses. Please consider visiting the AK Press website to learn more about the fundraiser to help them and their neighbors.
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Markets Not Capitalism: Individualist Anarchism Against Bosses, Inequality, Corporate Power, and Structural Poverty
Gary Chartier and Charles W. Johnson
4.9
'Markets Not Capitalism' explores the gap between radically freed markets and the capitalist-controlled markets that prevail today. The contributors argue that structural poverty can be abolished by liberating market exchange from state capitalist privilege, as well as helping working people to take control of their labour.
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Anarchism Volume Three: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas, Volume Three – The New Anarchism
Robert Graham
4.9
Robert Graham's trilogy ends with The New Anarchism, which deals with the exciting developments in anarchist theory since the reemergence of social movements in the 1960s and 1970s. In his afterword, Graham surveys the many different currents in anarchist thought documented in all three volumes of this outstanding and definitive anthology, discussing the continuity and changes in anarchist ideas as they have evolved in their historical context and the importance of these ideas for the future.
Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas documents various currents in anarchist thought, from eco-anarchism on, as well as the spread of anarchist social movements around the world.
Table of Contents
Preface Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Toward an Anarchist Politics - David Graeber: The New Anarchists (2002) - Madrid Declaration: For a New Libertarianism (2001) - The Gaucho Anarchist Federation: Especifismo (2000) - Alfredo Errandonea: Anarchism in the 21st Century (2001) - Dimitri Roussopoulos: The Politics of Neo-Anarchism (2012)
Chapter 2: Libertarian Democracy - David Graeber: Democracy and Consensus (2004) / 45 - Eduardo Colombo: On Voting / 49 - Amedeo Bertolo: Libertarian Democracy (1999) / 53 - Andrew Flood: Assemblies Are the Revolution (2011) / 61
Chapter 3: Revolutionary Action - Murray Bookchin: From Direct Action to Direct Democracy (1979-82) - Hakim Bey: Temporary Autonomous Zones (1985) - Luc Bonet: Beyond the Revolutionary Model (2005) - Andrea Papi: Violence and Anti-Violence (2004) - Benjamin Franks: The Direct Action Ethic (2003) - A.G. Schwarz: The Revolt in Greece (2010) - CrimethInc: The Egyptian Revolution (2012)
Chapter 4: The State - Harold Barclay: Anarchy and State Formation (2003) / 99 - Alan Ritter: Anarchy, Law and Freedom (1980) / 113 - Alan Carter: The Logic of State Power (2000) / 119 - Jeff Ferrell: Against the Law: Anarchist Criminology (1998) / 130 - Uri Gordon: Israel, Palestine and Anarchist Dilemmas (2007) / 135
Chapter 5: Technology and Power - Campaign Against the Model West Germany: The Nuclear State (1979) / 139 - David Watson: Nuclear Power (1979) / 144 - C. George Benello: Putting the Reins on Technology (1982) / 151 - Brian Tokar: Biotechnology (2003) / 154
Chapter 6: Anarchy and Ecology - Murray Bookchin: Toward an Ecological Society (1974) / 161 - Noam Chomsky: Human Nature and Human Freedom (1975) / 169 - Graham Purchase: Anarchism and Bioregionalism (1997) / 171 - Chaia Heller: Ecology and Desire (1999) / 176 - Peter Marshall: Liberation Ecology (2007) / 180
Chapter 7: Personal Liberation - Alan Mandell: Anti-Psychiatry and the Search for Autonomy (1979) / 186 - Rossella Di Leo: On the Origins of Male Domination (1983) / 192 - Nicole Laurin-Frenette: The State Family/The Family State (1982) / 202 - Ariane Gransac: Women’s Liberation (1984) / 212 - Carole Pateman: The Sexual Contract (1988) / 217 - Jamie Heckert: Erotic Anarchy (2006) / 224
Chapter 8: Anarchy and Culture - Ba Jin: Against the Powers that Be (1984) / 234 - Richard Sonn: Culture and Anarchy (1994) / 238 - Max Blechman: Toward an Anarchist Aesthetic (1994) /239 - Edward S. Herman: The Propaganda Model—A Retrospective (2003)
Chapter 9: Anti-Capitalism - Brian Martin: Capitalism and Violence (2001) / 253 - Normand Baillargeon: Free Market Libertarianism (2001) / 261 - Peter Marshall: Anarchism and Capitalism (1993) / 266 - Interprofessional Workers’ Union: Russian Capitalism (1999) / 270
Chapter 10: Libertarian Alternatives - Graham Purchase: Green Anarcho-Syndicalism (1995) / 283 - Murray Bookchin: Municipal Control (1986) / 289 - Kevin Carson: Mutualism Reconsidered (2007) / 292 - Adam Buick and John Crump: The Alternative to Capitalism (1986) / 297 - Luciano Lanza: Settling Accounts with Economics (2003) / 307
Chapter 11: Beyond the Borders - Sharif Gemie: Beyond the Borders (2003) / 318 - An African Anarchist Manifesto (1981) / 324 - Sam Mbah and I.E. Igariwey: African Anarchism (1997) / 326 - Mok Chiu Yu: An Anarchist in Hong Kong (2001) / 334 - Mihara Yoko: Anarchism in Japan (1993) / 339 - The Cuban Libertarian Syndicalist Association: Anarchism and the - Cuban Revolution (1960/2003) / 343 - Ruben G. Prieto: Anarchism in Uruguay (2001) / 351 - Marina Sitrin: Horizontalidad in Argentina (2003) / 357 - Andrew Flood: What is Different About the Zapatistas (2001) / 362 - CIPO-RFM: Enemies of Injustice / 375 - Colectivo Alas de Xue: Strengthening the Anarcho-Indian Alliance (1997) - Kurdistan: Anarchism and Confederalism (1999-2011) - Bas Umali: Archipelagic Confederation – an Anarchist Alternative for the Philippines (2006) - Ashanti Alston: Black Anarchism (2003) - Harsha Walia: No One is Illegal (2006)
Chapter 12: New Directions in Anarchist Theory - Todd May: Post-Structuralism and Anarchism (1989) - Saul Newman: The Politics of Post-Anarchism (2003) - Jesse Cohn: Anarchism and Essentialism (2003) - Mark Leier: Bakunin, Class and Post-Anarchism (2009) - Schmidt & Van Der Walt: Black Flame (2009) - Daniel Colson: Belief and Modernity (2005) - Richard Day: Groundless Solidarity and Infinite Responsibility (2005)
Afterword Robert Graham: The Anarchist Current: Continuity and Change in Anarchist Thought
Index
530 pages, Bibliography, Index
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A Soldier's Story: Revolutionary Writings by a New Afrikan Anarchist
Kuwasi Balagoon
4.9
Kuwasi Balagoon was a participant in the Black Liberation struggle from the 1960s until his death in prison in 1986. A member of the Black Panther Party and defendant in the infamous Panther 21 case, Balagoon went underground with the Black Liberation Army (BLA). Balagoon was unusual for his time in that he combined anarchism with Black nationalism, broke the rules of sexual and political conformity, took up arms against the white supremacist State—all the while never shying away from critiquing the movements's weaknesses. The first part of this book consists of contributions by those who knew or were touched by Balagoon; the second consists of court statements and essays by Balagoon himself, including several documents which have never been published before. The third section consists of excerpts from letters Balagoon wrote while in prison. A final section includes a historical essay by Akinyele Umoja and an extensive intergenerational roundtable discussion of the significance of Balagoon’s life and thoughts today.
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Facing Toward the Dawn: The Italian Anarchists of New London
Richard Lenzi
4.9
In the early twentieth century, the Italian American radical movement thrived in industrial cities throughout the United States, including New London, Connecticut. Facing toward the Dawn tells the history of the vibrant anarchist movement that existed in New London's Fort Trumbull neighborhood for seventy years. Comprised of immigrants from the Marche region of Italy, especially the city of Fano, the Fort Trumbull anarchists fostered a solidarity subculture based on mutual aid and challenged the reigning forces of capitalism, the state, and organized religion. They began as a circle within the ideological camp of Errico Malatesta and evolved into one of the core groupings within the wing of the movement supporting Luigi Galleani. Their manifold activities ranged from disseminating propaganda to participating in the labor movement; they fought fascists in the streets, held countless social events such as festas, theatrical performances, picnics and dances, and hosted militant speakers, including Emma Goldman. Focusing on rank-and-file militants--carpenters, stonemasons, fishermen, housewives--rather than well-known figures, Richard Lenzi offers a microhistory of an ethnic radical group during the heyday of labor radicalism in the United States. He also places that history in the context of the larger radical movement, the Italian American community, and greater American society, as it moved from the Gilded Age to the New Deal and beyond.
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Now
The Invisible Committee
4.9
A new political critique from the authors of The Coming Insurrection, calling for a “destituent process” of outright refusal and utter indifference to government.
Now is the phantom chapter to the Invisible Committee's previous book, To Our Friends: a new critique from the anonymous collective that establishes their opposition to the world of capital and its law of labor, addresses current anti-terrorist rhetoric and the ferocious repression that comes with it, and clarifies the end of social democracy and the growing rumors of the need for a coming “civil war.” Now emerges at a time when the Invisible Committee's contestation has found echoes throughout the West, with a collapse of trust in the police, an inept weariness on the part of the political system, a growing urgency for opposition, a return of the theme of the Commune, a vanishing distinction between radicals and citizens, and a widespread refusal on the part of the citizen to be governed. As farcical political elections continue to unfold worldwide like a line of tumbling dominoes, and governments increasingly struggle to reclaim a legitimacy that has already slipped out of their grasp, Now clarifies the Invisible Committee's attitude toward all such elections and their outcome: one of utter indifference. Now proposes a “destituent process” that charts out a different path to be taken, a path of outright refusal that simply ignores elections altogether. It is a path that calls for taking over the world and not taking power, for exploring new forms of life and not a new constitution, and for desertion and silence as alternatives to proclamations and crashes. It is also a call for an unprecedented communism—a communism stronger than nation and country.
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As Black As Resistance: Finding the Conditions for Liberation
William C. Anderson
4.9
The Democratic Party and the church—two institutions that rest on their spotty legacies on behalf of the disenfranchised—cannot save us. Arguing that Blacks have always been considered non-citizens in the United States, Samudzi and Anderson make the case for a new program of transformative politics for African Americans, one rooted in an anarchist framework. This is not a feel-good-and-make-peace book. With the passion of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me, the raw truth of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, and the revolutionary fervor of Emma Goldman’s timeless essays, As Black as Resistance shakes us from our slumber and energizes us for the road ahead.
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Demanding The Impossible: A History Of Anarchism
Peter Marshall
4.9
Lively and authoritative, this study of a widely misunderstood subject skillfully navigates the rough waters of anarchistic concepts—from Taoism to Situationism, ranters to punk rockers, individualists to communists, and anarcho-syndicalists to anarcha-feminists. Exploring key anarchist ideas of society and the state, freedom and equality, authority and power, the record investigates the successes and failures of anarchist movements throughout the world. Presenting a balanced and critical survey, the detailed document covers not only classic anarchist thinkers—such as Godwin, Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Reclus, and Emma Goldman—but also other libertarian figures, such as Nietzsche, Camus, Gandhi, Foucault, and Chomsky. Essential reading for anyone wishing to understand what anarchists stand for and what they have achieved, this fascinating account also includes an epilogue that examines the most recent developments, including postanarchism and anarcho-primitivism as well as the anarchist contributions to the peace, green, and global justice movements of the 21st century.
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Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy
Chris Crass
4.9
Organized into four sections, this collection of essays is geared toward activists engaging with the dynamic questions of how to create and support effective movements for visionary systemic change. These essays and interviews present powerful lessons for transformative organizing. It offers a firsthand look at the challenges and the opportunities of antiracist work in white communities, feminist work with men, and bringing women of color feminism into the heart of social movements. Drawing on two decades of personal activist experience and case studies within these areas, Crass’s essays insightfully explore ways of transforming divisions of race, class, and gender into catalysts for powerful vision, strategy, and building movements in the United States today. This collection will inspire and empower anyone who is interested in implementing change through organizing.
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The Revolution of Everyday Life
Raoul Vaneigem
4.9
One of the most important exponents of Situationist ideas, this treatise presents an impassioned critique of modern capitalism and serves as a cornerstone of modern radical thought. Originally published in early 1968, the book both kindled and colored the May 1968 upheavals in France that captured the attention of the world. In the political climate of today, Raoul Vaneigem’s important work of radical anticapitalist thought has struck a new chord with the worldwide Occupy Movement. Naming and defining the alienating features of everyday life in consumer society—survival rather than living in full, the call to sacrifice, the cultivation of false needs, the dictatorship of the commodity, subjection to social roles, and the replacement of God by the economy—the book argues that the countervailing impulses that exist deep within this alienation, such as creativity, spontaneity, and poetry, present an authentic alternative to nihilistic consumerism. This carefully edited new translation marks the first North American publication of this important work and includes a new preface by the author and a translator’s note.
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33
Queering Anarchism: Addressing and Undressing Power and Desire
Deric Shannon, J. Rogue, et al.
4.9
"A much-needed collection that thinks through power, desire, and human liberation. These pieces are sure to raise the level of debate about sexuality, gender, and the ways that they tie in with struggles against our ruling institutions." - Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, "Outlaw Woman"
"Against the austerity of straight politics, "Queering Anarchism "sketches the connections between gender mutiny, queer sexualities, and anti-authoritarian desires. Through embodied histories and incendiary critique, the contributors gathered here show how we must not stop at smashing the state; rather normativity itself is the enemy of all radical possibility." - Eric A. Stanley, "Captive Genders"
What does it mean to "queer" the world around us? How does the radical refusal of the mainstream codification of GLBT identity as a new gender norm come into focus in the context of anarchist theory and practice? How do our notions of orientation inform our politics - and vice versa? "Queering Anarchism "brings together a diverse set of writings ranging from the deeply theoretical to the playfully personal that explore the possibilities of the concept of "queering," turning the dominant, and largely heteronormative, structures of belief and identity entirely inside-out. Ranging in topic from the economy to disability, politics, social structures, sexual practice, interpersonal relationships, and beyond, the authors here suggest that queering might be more than a set of personal preferences - pointing toward the possibility of an entirely new way of viewing the world.
Contributors include Jamie Heckert, Sandra Jeppesen, Ben Shepard, Ryan Conrad, Jerimarie Liesegang, Jason Lydon, Susan Song, Stephanie Grohmann, Liat Ben-Moshe, Anthony J. Nocella, A.J. Withers, and more.
C.B. Daring, J. Rogue, Deric Shannon and Abbey Volcano are anarchists and activists who work in a wide variety of radical, feminist, and queer communities across the United States.
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Two Cheers for Anarchism: Six Easy Pieces on Autonomy, Dignity, and Meaningful Work and Play
James C. Scott
4.9
James Scott taught us what's wrong with seeing like a state. Now, in his most accessible and personal book to date, the acclaimed social scientist makes the case for seeing like an anarchist. Inspired by the core anarchist faith in the possibilities of voluntary cooperation without hierarchy, "Two Cheers for Anarchism" is an engaging, high-spirited, and often very funny defense of an anarchist way of seeing--one that provides a unique and powerful perspective on everything from everyday social and political interactions to mass protests and revolutions. Through a wide-ranging series of memorable anecdotes and examples, the book describes an anarchist sensibility that celebrates the local knowledge, common sense, and creativity of ordinary people. The result is a kind of handbook on constructive anarchism that challenges us to radically reconsider the value of hierarchy in public and private life, from schools and workplaces to retirement homes and government itself.
Beginning with what Scott calls "the law of anarchist calisthenics," an argument for law-breaking inspired by an East German pedestrian crossing, each chapter opens with a story that captures an essential anarchist truth. In the course of telling these stories, Scott touches on a wide variety of subjects: public disorder and riots, desertion, poaching, vernacular knowledge, assembly-line production, globalization, the petty bourgeoisie, school testing, playgrounds, and the practice of historical explanation.
Far from a dogmatic manifesto, "Two Cheers for Anarchism" celebrates the anarchist confidence in the inventiveness and judgment of people who are free to exercise their creative and moral capacities.
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35
The ABC of Anarchism
Alexander Berkman, Emma Goldman, Paul Avrich
4.9
A gifted writer for the anarchist movement, Alexander Berkman left Russia for the United States in 1888 when he was eighteen. Thirty-one years later, after serving a prison term for an attempted assassination, he was expelled to the Soviet Union, a country which he eventually renounced. But before his repudiation of the Soviet system, Berkman attempted to answer some of the charges made against anarchism and to present its case clearly and intelligently. This book, first published in 1929, is the result of those efforts. Thorough and well stated, The ABC of Anarchism is today widely regarded as a classic declaration of the movement's goals and methods. For those who have questions about anarchism, Berkman provides lucid answers. In conversational tones, he discusses society as it existed in the early twentieth century; why in his opinion, anarchy was necessary; the myths surrounding it; and necessary preparations for its successful implementation. Of the book, Emma Goldman said: "People need a primer of Anarchism—an ABC, as it were, that would teach them the rudimentary principles of Anarchism and whet their appetites for something more profound. [The book] was intended to serve this purpose. That it has fulfilled its purpose no one who has read [it] will deny."
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36
Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature, and Other Essays
Murray N. Rothbard
4.9
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Taking Sides: Revolutionary Solidarity and the Poverty of Liberalism
Cindy Milstein
4.9
"Taking Sides is more than a book; it's a politic aimed at the heart of every radical struggling against a racist state." —Luis A. Fernandez, author of Policing Dissent
Taking Sides is a critical response to divisive debates within current movements against police violence and white supremacy, especially since Michael Brown's murder. These sharp interventions ask activists to avoid easy—and safe—answers and take on the hard work of building real grassroots solidarity across racial lines.
Cindy Milstein is author of Anarchism and Its Aspirations. Her essays have appeared Realizing the Impossible, Confronting Capitalism, and Globalize Liberation.
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38
The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century
Scott Miller
4.9
In 1901, as America tallied its gains from a period of unprecedented imperial expansion, an assassin’s bullet shattered the nation’s confidence. The shocking murder of President William McKinley threw into stark relief the emerging new world order of what would come to be known as the American Century. The President and the Assassin is the story of the momentous years leading up to that event, and of the very different paths that brought together two of the most compelling figures of the era: President William McKinley and Leon Czolgosz, the anarchist who murdered him.
The two men seemed to live in eerily parallel Americas. McKinley was to his contemporaries an enigma, a president whose conflicted feelings about imperialism reflected the country’s own. Under its popular Republican commander-in-chief, the United States was undergoing an uneasy transition from a simple agrarian society to an industrial powerhouse spreading its influence overseas by force of arms. Czolgosz was on the losing end of the economic changes taking place—a first-generation Polish immigrant and factory worker sickened by a government that seemed focused solely on making the rich richer. With a deft narrative hand, journalist Scott Miller chronicles how these two men, each pursuing what he considered the right and honorable path, collided in violence at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.
Along the way, readers meet a veritable who’s who of turn-of-the-century America: John Hay, McKinley’s visionary secretary of state, whose diplomatic efforts paved the way for a half century of Western exploitation of China; Emma Goldman, the radical anarchist whose incendiary rhetoric inspired Czolgosz to dare the unthinkable; and Theodore Roosevelt, the vainglorious vice president whose 1898 charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba is but one of many thrilling military adventures recounted here.
Rich with relevance to our own era, The President and the Assassin holds a mirror up to a fascinating period of upheaval when the titans of industry grew fat, speculators sought fortune abroad, and desperate souls turned to terrorism in a vain attempt to thwart the juggernaut of change.
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39
Black Flags and Windmills: Hope, Anarchy, and the Common Ground Collective
scott crow
4.8
When both levees and governments failed in New Orleans in the fall of 2005, scott crow headed into the political storm, cofounding a relief effort called the Common Ground Collective. In the absence of local government, FEMA, and the Red Cross, this unusual volunteer organization, based on “solidarity not charity,“ built medical clinics, set up food and water distribution, and created community gardens. They also resisted home demolitions, white militias, police brutality, and FEMA incompetence side by side with the people of New Orleans. Crow’s vivid memoir maps the intertwining of his radical experience and ideas with Hurricane Katrina’s reality, and community efforts to translate ideals into action. It is a story of resisting indifference, rebuilding hope amid collapse, and struggling against the grain. Black Flags and Windmills invites and challenges all of us to learn from our histories, and dream of better worlds. And gives us some of the tools to do so. The expanded second edition includes up-to-date interviews and discussions between crow and some of today’s most articulate and influential activists and organizers on topics ranging from grassroots disaster relief efforts (both economic and environmental); dealing with infiltration, interrogation, and surveillance from the State; and a new photo section that vividly portrays scott’s experiences as an anarchist, activist, and movement organizer in today’s world.
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40
Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous
Gabriella Coleman
4.8
Here is the ultimate book on the worldwide movement of hackers, pranksters, and activists that operates under the non-name Anonymous, by the writer the Huffington Post says “knows all of Anonymous’ deepest, darkest secrets.”
Half a dozen years ago, anthropologist Gabriella Coleman set out to study the rise of this global phenomenon just as some of its members were turning to political protest and dangerous disruption (before Anonymous shot to fame as a key player in the battles over WikiLeaks, the Arab Spring, and Occupy Wall Street). She ended up becoming so closely connected to Anonymous that the tricky story of her inside–outside status as Anon confidante, interpreter, and erstwhile mouthpiece forms one of the themes of this witty and entirely engrossing book.
The narrative brims with details unearthed from within a notoriously mysterious subculture, whose semi-legendary tricksters—such as Topiary, tflow, Anachaos, and Sabu—emerge as complex, diverse, politically and culturally sophisticated people. Propelled by years of chats and encounters with a multitude of hackers, including imprisoned activist Jeremy Hammond and the double agent who helped put him away, Hector Monsegur, Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy is filled with insights into the meaning of digital activism and little understood facets of culture in the Internet age, including the history of “trolling,” the ethics and metaphysics of hacking, and the origins and manifold meanings of “the lulz.”
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41
The Political Philosophy of Poststructuralist Anarchism
Todd May
4.8
"This tactical reading of Lyotard, Deleuze, and Foucault accomplishes a lot. May provides something most of us did not expect by now-a truly fresh understanding of the energies and ethical concerns of some of the most important thinkers of this century."-Thomas L. Dumm, Amherst College The political writings of the French poststructuralists have eluded articulation in the broader framework of general political philosophy primarily because of the pervasive tendency to define politics along a single parameter: the balance between state power and individual rights in liberalism and the focus on economic justice as a goal in Marxism. What poststructuralists like Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, and Jean-Fran�ois Lyotard offer instead is a political philosophy that can be called tactical: it emphasizes that power emerges from many different sources and operates along many different registers. This approach has roots in traditional anarchist thought, which sees the social and political field as a network of intertwined practices with overlapping political effects. The poststructuralist approach, however, eschews two questionable assumptions of anarchism, that human beings have an (essentially benign) essence and that power is always repressive, never productive. After positioning poststructuralist political thought against the background of Marxism and the traditional anarchism of Bakunin, Kropotkin, and Proudhon, Todd May shows what a tactical political philosophy like anarchism looks like shorn of its humanist commitments-namely, a poststructuralist anarchism. The book concludes with a defense, contra Habermas and Critical Theory, of poststructuralist political thought as having a metaethical structure allowing for positive ethical commitments.
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42
Living My Life
Emma Goldman
4.8
Anarchist, journalist, drama critic, advocate of birth control and free love, Emma Goldman was the most famous—and notorious—woman in the early twentieth century. This abridged version of her two-volume autobiography takes her from her birthplace in czarist Russia to the socialist enclaves of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Against a dramatic backdrop of political argument, show trials, imprisonment, and tempestuous romances, Goldman chronicles the epoch that she helped shape: the reform movements of the Progressive Era, the early years of and later disillusionment with Lenin’s Bolshevik experiment, and more. Sounding a call still heard today, Living My Life is a riveting account of political ferment and ideological turbulence. First time in Penguin Classics
Condensed to half the length of Goldman's original work, this edition is accessible to those interested in the activist and her extraordinary era
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43
To Our Friends
The Invisible Committee
4.8
The Invisible Committee's The Coming Insurrection was a phenomenon, celebrated in some quarters and inveighed against in others, publicized in media that ranged from campus bulletin boards to Fox News. Seven years later, The Invisible Committee follows up their premonitory manifesto with a new book, To Our Friends.
From The Invisible Committee:
In 2007 we published The Coming Insurrection in France. It must be acknowledged that a number of assertions by the Invisible Committee have since been confirmed, starting with the first and most essential: the sensational return of the insurrectionary phenomenon. Who would have bet a kopeck, seven years ago, on the overthrow of Ben Ali or Mubarak through street action, on the revolt of young people in Quebec, on the political awakening of Brazil, on the fires set French-style in the English or Swedish banlieues , on the creation of an insurrectionary commune in the very heart of Istanbul, on a movement of plaza occupations in the United States, or on the rebellion that spread throughout Greece in December of 2008?
During the seven years that separate The Coming Insurrection from To Our Friends , the agents of the Invisible Committee have continued to fight, to organize, to transport themselves to the four corners of the world, to wherever the fires were lit, and to debate with comrades of every tendency and every country. Thus To Our Friends is written at the experiential level, in connection with that general movement. Its words issue from the turmoil and are addressed to those who still believe sufficiently in life to fight as a consequence.
To Our Friends is a report on the state of the world and of the movement, a piece of writing that's essentially strategic and openly partisan. Its political ambition is immodest: to produce a shared understanding of the epoch, in spite of the extreme confusion of the present.
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44
Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel
Alexandre Christoyannopoulos
4.8
Christian anarchism has been around for at least as long as secular anarchism. Leo Tolstoy is its most famous proponent, but there are many others, such as Jacques Ellul, Vernard Eller, Dave Andrews or the people associated with the Catholic Worker movement. They offer a compelling critique of the state, the church and the economy based on the New Testament.."
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The Propaganda Project
Phil M. Williams
4.8
The best slaves think they’re free.
Since birth, human beings are bombarded by propaganda from the media, religion, schooling, government, culture, and even our friends and family. How do we know our thoughts are really our own?
In a world of infinite information and propaganda screaming at us from every angle, the truth is of paramount importance to our mental health, and can be a matter of life and death for every person on this planet. In The Propaganda Project, I expose the tricks of the propagandist—the tricks needed to legitimize the illegitimate, to make us think up is down, black is white. I dig deep into the muck to extract the truth about government, and the financial interests pulling the strings.
I hope you’ll open your mind and journey with me into the belly of the beast. For the rest of you, don’t worry, the best slaves think they’re free.
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The Coming Insurrection
Comité invisible
4.8
A call to arms by a group of French intellectuals that rejects leftist reform and aligns itself with younger, wilder forms of resistance.
Thirty years of “crisis,” mass unemployment, and flagging growth, and they still want us to believe in the economy... We have to see that the economy is itself the crisis. It's not that there's not enough work, it's that there is too much of it. The Coming Insurrection is an eloquent call to arms arising from the recent waves of social contestation in France and Europe. Written by the anonymous Invisible Committee in the vein of Guy Debord—and with comparable elegance—it has been proclaimed a manual for terrorism by the French government (who recently arrested its alleged authors). One of its members more adequately described the group as “the name given to a collective voice bent on denouncing contemporary cynicism and reality.” The Coming Insurrection is a strategic prescription for an emergent war-machine capable of “spreading anarchy and live communism.” Written in the wake of the riots that erupted throughout the Paris suburbs in the fall of 2005 and presaging more recent riots and general strikes in France and Greece, The Coming Insurrection articulates a rejection of the official Left and its reformist agenda, aligning itself instead with the younger, wilder forms of resistance that have emerged in Europe around recent struggles against immigration control and the “war on terror.” Hot-wired to the movement of '77 in Italy, its preferred historical reference point, The Coming Insurrection formulates an ethics that takes as its starting point theft, sabotage, the refusal to work, and the elaboration of collective, self-organized life forms. It is a philosophical statement that addresses the growing number of those—in France, in the United States, and elsewhere—who refuse the idea that theory, politics, and life are separate realms.
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47
Abolishing Carceral Society
Abolition Collective
4.8
Beyond border walls and prison cells--carceral society is everywhere. In a time of mass incarceration, immigrant detention and deportation, rising forms of racialized, gendered, and sexualized violence, and deep ecological and economic crises, abolitionists everywhere seek to understand and radically dismantle the interlocking institutions of oppression and transform the world in which we find ourselves. These oppressions have many different names and histories and so, to make the impossible possible, abolition articulates a range of languages and experiences between (and within) different systems of oppression in society today.
Abolishing Carceral Society presents the bold voices and inspiring visions of today's revolutionary abolitionist movements struggling against capitalism, patriarchy, colonialism, ecological crisis, prisons, and borders.
In the first of a series of publications, the Abolition Collective renews and boldly extends the tradition of "abolition-democracy" espoused by figures like W.E.B. Du Bois, Angela Davis, and Joel Olson. Through study and publishing, the Abolition Collective supports radical scholarly and activist research, recognizing that the most transformative scholarship is happening both in the movements themselves and in the communities with whom they organize.
Abolishing Carceral Society features a range of creative styles and approaches from activists, artists, and scholars to create spaces for collective experimentation with the urgent questions of our time.
Through essays, interviews, visual art, and poetry, each presented in an accessible manner, the work engages with the meaning, practices, and politics of abolitionism in a range of historical and geographical contexts, including: prison and police abolitionism, border abolition, decolonization, slavery abolitionism, antistatism, antiracism, labor organizing, anticapitalism, radical feminism, queer and trans politics, Indigenous people's politics, sex worker organizing, migrant activism, social ecology, animal rights and liberation, and radical pedagogy.
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48
Anarchism in the Chinese Revolution
Arif Dirlik
4.8
Arif Dirlik's latest offering is a revisionist perspective on Chinese radicalism in the twentieth century. He argues that the history of anarchism is indispensable to understanding crucial themes in Chinese radicalism. And anarchism is particularly significant now as a source of democratic ideals within the history of the socialist movement in China.
Dirlik draws on the most recent scholarship and on materials available only in the last decade to compile the first comprehensive history of his subject available in a Western language. He emphasizes the anarchist contribution to revolutionary discourse and elucidates this theme through detailed analysis of both anarchist polemics and social practice. The changing circumstances of the Chinese revolution provide the immediate context, but throughout his writing the author views Chinese anarchism in relation to anarchism worldwide.
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49
An American Anarchist: The Life of Voltairine De Cleyre
Paul Avrich
4.8
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50
Hermione
Peter Gelderloos
4.8
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51
African Anarchism: The History of a Movement
Sam Mbah and Chaz Bufe
4.8
The first book ever written on this subject, African Anarchism traces the origins and development of anarchism in Africa. After dealing with questions such as what anarchism is and isn't, this groundbreaking book covers the topics of anarchism and African traditional societies, the influence of anarchism on African national liberation struggles, the relationship of anarchism to African marxist movements, "Africa's angry young generation", "The 'New World Order' and Africa" whether or not there is a specifically African form of anarchism, drawbacks to anarchism in Africa, and the possible influence of anarchism on Africa's future development.
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52
How to Opt-Out of the Technocratic State
Derrick Broze
4.8
How to Opt-Out of the Technocratic State
By Derrick Broze
Inspired by the work of Samuel E. Konkin III
As humanity enters the second decade of the 21st century, we find ourselves at the precipice of a Technocratic Age where Artificial Intelligence (AI), Smart Technology, and the Internet of Things are becoming a part of everyday life. This technology provides benefits but comes at a cost--corporations, governments, law enforcement, and hackers are all capable of peering into our lives at any moment. Corporations and governments are even learning to use technology in a way that allows them to be the "social engineers" of society. The concept of social credit is also becoming increasingly popular, and the likelihood that citizens will face negative consequences for choosing to speak about controversial topics or criticizing authorities is only going to increase.
In his new book, author Derrick Broze examines the current push towards smart grid technology and explores the concept of Technocracy. Is this obscure political theory from the 20th century the guiding force behind the move towards a digital dystopia? What are the implications for a world that is always plugged in and on "the grid"? How can one maintain privacy and liberty in a society that is based on mass surveillance, technological control, and the loss of individuality?
Broze believes the answers to our problems can be found in the work of political philosopher Samuel E. Konkin, and what he termed, Counter-Economics. Konkin outlined a specific strategy and mentality that encouraged "opting out" of the State's economic system, as well as any other system that does not align with one's values. By understanding the importance of Konkin's ideas it may be possible to adapt them to our digital world and forge a path towards liberty, privacy, and equality.
Do you want to understand the philosophy which guides our digital world? Are you looking for practical solutions to maintain privacy and liberty?
It is time to learn how to opt-out of the Technocratic State.
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53
A People's History of Civilization
John Zerzan
4.8
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54
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist
Alexander Berkman and Taylor Anderson
4.8
In 1892, Alexander Berkman, Russian émigré, anarchist, and lover of Emma Goldman, attempted to assassinate industrialist Henry Clay Frick. The act was intended both as retribution for the massacre of workers in the Homestead strike and as an incitement to revolution. Captured and sentenced to serve a prison term of twenty-two years, Berkman struggled to make sense of the shadowy and brutalized world of the prison—one that hardly conformed to revolutionary expectation.
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55
In Defense of Anarchism
Robert Paul Wolff
4.8
In Defense of Anarchism is a 1970 book by the philosopher Robert Paul Wolff, in which the author defends individualist anarchism. He argues that individual autonomy and state authority are mutually exclusive and that, as individual autonomy is inalienable, the moral legitimacy of the state collapses.
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56
TAZ: The Temporary Autonomous Zone (New Autonomy)
Hakim Bey
4.8
The underground cult bestseller! Essays that redefine the psychogeographical nooks of autonomy. Recipes for poetic terror, anarcho -black magic, post-situ psychotropic surgery, denunciations of spiritual addictions to vapid infotainment cults - this is the bastard classic, the watermark impressed upon our minds. Where conscience informs praxis, and action infects consciousness, T.A.Z. is beginning to worm its way into above-ground culture. This book offers inspired blasts of writing, from slogans to historical essays, on the need to insert revolutionary happiness into everyday life through poetic action, and celebrating the radical optimism present in outlaw cultures. It should appeal to alternative thinkers and punks everywhere, as it celebrates liberation, love and poetic living. The new edition contains the full text of Chaos: The Broadsheets of Ontological Anarchism, the complete communiques and flyers of the Association fo Ontological Anarchy, the long essay 'The Temporary Autonomous Zone, ' and a new preface by the author
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57
New Libertarian Manifesto
Samuel Edward III Konkin
4.8
New Libertarian Manifesto -- The 25th Anniversary Edition, by Samuel Edward Konkin III (1947-2004), brings the groundbreaking work back into print. First published in October, 1980, the Manifesto is the most concise treatise on Counter-Economics and Agorism available to the public. Five chapters encompass Konkin's unique view of libertarianism: I. Statism: Our Condition; II. Agorism: Our Goal; III. Counter-Economics: Our Means; IV. Revolution: Our Strategy; and V. Action: Our Tactics. The 25th Anniversary Edition is the fourth printing of the book, which has been an underground anarchist classic. Also included in this edition are critiques of New Libertarian Manifesto by Murray N. Rothbard, Ph.D., Robert LeFevre, and Erwin S. Strauss, and replies by Samuel Edward Konkin III, which were published in Strategy of the New Libertarian Alliance in 1981 and long out of print until now.
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58
The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy
Murray Bookchin
4.8
“The very notion of the domination of nature by man stems from the very real domination of human by human.” With this succinct formulation, Murray Bookchin launches his most ambitious work, The Ecology of Freedom. An engaging and extremely readable book of breathtaking scope, its inspired synthesis of ecology, anthropology and political theory traces our conflicting legacies of hierarchy and freedom from the first emergence of human culture to today’s globalized capitalism, constantly pointing the way to a sane, sustainable ecological future.
Murray Bookchin, cofounder of the Institute for Social Ecology, has been an active voice in the ecology and anarchist movements for more than 40 years. The author of numerous books and articles, he lives in Burlington, Vermont.
In Oakland, California on March 24, 2015 a fire destroyed the AK Press warehouse along with several other businesses. Please consider visiting the AK Press website to learn more about the fundraiser to help them and their neighbors.
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59
Men Against the State; The Expositors of Individualist Anarchism in America 1827-1908
James Joseph Martin
4.8
2014 Reprint of 1957 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. America was home to the first full-blown movement of individualist anarchists in the 19th and early 20th century. The author of this book on the topic adds the adjective "individualist" to distinguish them from socialists. They were champions of liberty, and, yes, they were as quirky as any movement of this sort might be. But they made mighty contributions to the history of ideas, and this book explains those contributions and the minds behind them. The names are tragically lost to history: Benjamin Tucker, Josiah Warren, Lysander Spooner, J.K. Ingalls, among many others. They were thinkers and activists, not mere protesters or political dissidents. They had a positive agenda centered on the confidence that whatever kind of world would emerge without a state, it would be a better world than the one the state made. The author explains that "the communist anarchists rejected private property, and taught the ideal of the collective autonomous commune. A portion of their number advocated the overthrow of the State by violence. The individualist anarchists held that the collective society in any form was an impossibility without the eventuality of authoritarianism, and ultimately, totalitarianism, and adhered resolutely to the concept of private property insofar as the term could be defined as the total product of a given individual's labor, but not more broadly than this." "They abandoned the idea of an egalitarian utopia, and worked for a world free from arbitrary restrictions on opportunity and legal privilege. No other radical group denounced the prevailing system more vigorously than the spokesmen for individualist anarchism."
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60
American Lightning: Anarchy & Murder in Ragtime America
Howard Blum
4.8
In this piece of narrative history, acclaimed author Howard Blum evokes the original "crime of the century" and an aftermath even more dramatic than the crime itself–a episode in America’s history that would spark national debate and draw into its orbit master sleuth William J. Burns, crusading lawyer Clarence Darrow, and industry-shaping filmmaker D. W. Griffith.
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61
Decolonizing Anarchism: An Antiauthoritarian History of India's Liberation Struggle
Maia Ramnath
4.8
Decolonizing Anarchism looks at the history of South Asian struggles against colonialism and neocolonialism, highlighting lesser-known dissidents as well as iconic figures. This approach reveals an alternate narrative of decolonization, in which achieving a nation-state is not the objective. Maia Ramnath also studies the anarchist vision of alternate society, which closely echoes the concept of total decolonization on the political, economic, social, cultural, and psychological planes. This facilitates not only a reinterpretation of the history of anticolonialism, but insight into the meaning of anarchism itself.
Maia Ramnath teaches at New York University and is a board member of the Institute for Anarchist Studies.
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62
How Nonviolence Protects the State
Peter Gelderloos
4.8
Since the civil rights era, the doctrine of nonviolence has enjoyed near-universal acceptance by the US Left. Today protest is often shaped by cooperation with state authorities-even organizers of rallies against police brutality apply for police permits, and anti-imperialists usually stop short of supporting self-defense and armed resistance. How Nonviolence Protects the State challenges the belief that nonviolence is the only way to fight for a better world. In a call bound to stir controversy and lively debate, Peter Gelderloos invites activists to consider diverse tactics, passionately arguing that exclusive nonviolence often acts to reinforce the same structures of oppression that activists seek to overthrow.
Contemporary movements for social change face plenty of difficult questions, but sometimes matters of strategy and tactics receive low priority. Many North American activists fail to scrutinize the role of nonviolence, never posing essential questions:
• Is nonviolence effective at ending systems of oppression?
• Does nonviolence intersect with white privilege and the dominance of North over South?
• How does pacifism reinforce the same power dynamic as patriarchy?
• Ultimately, does nonviolence protect the state?
Peter Gelderloos is a radical community organizer. He is the author of Consensus: A New Handbook for Grassroots Political, Social, and Environmental Groups and a contributor to Letters From Young Activists. He is the co-facilitator of a workshop on the prison system, and is also involved in independent media, copwatching, anti-oppression work, and anarchist organizing.
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63
The Red Army Faction, a Documentary History: Volume 1: Projectiles for the People (PM Press)
J. Smith
4.8
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64
Direct Action: An Ethnography
David Graeber
4.8
Anthropologist David Graeber undertakes the first detailed ethnographic study of the global justice movement. The case study at the center of Direct Action is the organizing and events that led to the one of the most dramatic and militant mass protests in recent years—against the Summit of the Americas in Québec City. Written in a clear, accessible style (with a minimum of academic jargon), this study brings readers behind the scenes of a movement that has changed the terms of debate about world power relations. From informal conversations in coffee shops to large “spokescouncil” planning meetings and tear gas-drenched street actions, Graeber paints a vivid and fascinating picture.
Along the way, he addresses matters of deep interest to anthropologists: meeting structure and process, language, symbolism and representation, the specific rituals of activist culture, and much more. Starting from the assumption that, when dealing with possibilities of global transformation and emerging political forms, a disinterested, “objective” perspective is impossible, Graeber writes as both scholar and activist. At the same time, his experiment in the application of ethnographic methods to important ongoing political events is a serious and unique contribution to the field of anthropology, as well as an inquiry into anthropology’s political implications.
David Graeber is an anthropologist and activist who teaches at the University of London. Active in numerous direct-action political organizations, he has written for Harper’s Magazine and is the author of Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology, Towards an Anthropological Theory of Value, and Possibilities.
In Oakland, California on March 24, 2015 a fire destroyed the AK Press warehouse along with several other businesses. Please consider visiting the AK Press website to learn more about the fundraiser to help them and their neighbors.
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65
Anarchy
Errico Malatesta
4.8
Many think 'anarchy' means confusion, disorder, and chaos, but Maletesta sets the record staight. Errico Malatesta was a warm-hearted anarchist of widespread reputation and influence, who said that he considered Anarchy the best thing he had ever writter. This now classic work was first published in 1891 and has been in continual demand ever since. Translated from the original Italian and with an introduction by Vernon Richards.
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66
Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction
Colin Ward
4.8
What do anarchists want? It seems easier to classify them by what they don't want, namely, the organizations of the State, and to identify them with rioting and protest rather than with any coherent ideology. But with demonstrations like those against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund being blamed on anarchists, it is clear that an explanation of what they do stand for is long overdue. Colin Ward provides answers to these questions by considering anarchism from a variety of perspectives: theoretical, historical, and international, and by exploring key anarchist thinkers, from Kropotkin to Chomsky. He looks critically at anarchism by evaluating key ideas within it, such as its blanket opposition to incarceration, and policy of "no compromise" with the apparatus of political decision-making. Can anarchy ever function effectively as a political force? Is it more "organized" and "reasonable" than is currently perceived? Whatever the politics of the reader, Ward's argument ensures that anarchism will be much better understood after experiencing this book.
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67
Fields, factories and workshops; or, Industry combined with agriculture and brain work with manual work; (1901)
Pyotr Kropotkin
4.8
Under the name of profits, rent, interest upon capital, surplus value, and the like, economists have eagerly discussed the benefits which the owners of land or capital, or some privileged nations, can derive, either from the under-paid work of the wage-labourer, or from the inferior position of one class of the community towards another class, or from the inferior economical development of one nation towards another nation. These profits being shared in a very unequal proportion between the different individuals, classes and nations engaged in production, considerable pains were taken to study the present apportionment of the benefits, and its economical and moral consequences, as well as the changes in the present economical organisation of society which might bring about a more equitable distribution of a rapidly accumulating wealth. It is upon questions relating to the right to that increment of wealth that the hottest battles are now fought between economists of different schools.
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68
Memoirs of a Revolutionist (The Kropotkin Collection Book 4)
Peter Kropotkin
4.8
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69
Fields, Factories, and Workshops (The Kropotkin Collection Book 3)
Peter Kropotkin
4.8
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70
The Conquest of Bread (Penguin Classics)
Peter Kropotkin
4.8
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71
Anarchist Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader
Francisco Ferrer
4.8
Francisco Ferrer navigated a tempestuous world of anarchist assassins, radical republican conspirators, anticlerical rioters, and freethinking educators to establish the legendary Escuela Moderna and the Modern School movement. Compiling many pieces translated into English for the first time, this collection presents Ferrer's work in conversation with that of his comrades, collaborators, and critics to show the complex truth about the movement's founder and martyr.
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72
Introduction to Civil War
Tiqqun
4.8
Activists explore the possibility that a new practice of communism may emerge from the end of society as we know it.
Society no longer exists, at least in the sense of a differentiated whole. There is only a tangle of norms and mechanisms through which THEY hold together the scattered tatters of the global biopolitical fabric, through which THEY prevent its violent disintegration. Empire is the administrator of this desolation, the supreme manager of a process of listless implosion.—from Introduction to Civil War Society is not in crisis, society is at an end. The things we used to take for granted have all been vaporized. Politics was one of these things, a Greek invention that condenses around an equation: to hold a position means to take sides, and to take sides means to unleash civil war. Civil war, position, sides—these were all one word in the Greek: stasis. If the history of the modern state in all its forms—absolute, liberal, welfare—has been the continuous attempt to ward off this stasis, the great novelty of contemporary imperial power is its embrace of civil war as a technique of governance and disorder as a means of maintaining control. Where the modern state was founded on the institution of the law and its constellation of divisions, exclusions, and repressions, imperial power has replaced them with a network of norms and apparatuses that conspire in the production of the biopolitical citizens of Empire. In their first book available in English, Tiqqun explores the possibility of a new practice of communism, finding a foundation for an ontology of the common in the politics of friendship and the free play of forms-of-life. They see the ruins of society as the ideal setting for the construction of the community to come. In other words: the situation is excellent. Now is not the time to lose courage.
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73
The Forest Passage
Ernst Jünger, Russell A. Berman, Thomas Friese
4.8
Ernst Jünger's The Forest Passage explores the possibility of resistance: how the independent thinker can withstand and oppose the power of the omnipresent state. No matter how extensive the technologies of surveillance become, the forest can shelter the rebel, and the rebel can strike back against tyranny. Jünger's manifesto is a defense of freedom against the pressure to conform to political manipulation and artificial consensus. A response to the European experience under Nazism, Fascism, and Communism, The Forest Passage has lessons equally relevant for today, wherever an imposed uniformity threatens to stifle liberty.
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Recommended by Stephane Grand.
Stephane Grand
This is a book about freedom and materiality, how one can regain his freedom by forsaking material possessions and leave the society of bonded men, like classical Germany’s outlaws would leave home and family to escape retribution in the deep forests. The launch of a business, and more to the point, the transition from being a well-fed corporate agent to being a starving and permanently scared entrepreneur is very close to the one from living in a house with your family to sleeping in the woods and fending off starvation on a daily basis. Realizing that this was not too high a price to pay for my freedom was defining for me. [source]
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74
Individutopia: A Novel Set in a Neoliberal Dystopia
Joss Sheldon
4.8
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SOCIETY
Beloved friend,
The year is 2084, and that famous Margaret Thatcher quote has become a reality: There really is no such thing as society. No one speaks to anyone else. No one looks at anyone else. People don’t collaborate, they only compete.
I hate to admit it, but this has had tragic consequences. Unable to satisfy their social urges, the population has fallen into a pit of depression and anxiety. Suicide has become the norm.
It all sounds rather morbid, does it not? But please don’t despair, there is hope, and it comes in the form of our hero: Renee Ann Blanca. Wishing to fill the society-shaped hole in her life, our Renee does the unthinkable: She goes in search of human company! It’s a radical act and an enormous challenge. But that, I suppose, is why her tale’s worth recounting. It’s as gripping as it is touching, and I think you’re going to love it…
Your trusty narrator,
PP
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75
Work: Capitalism. Economics. Resistance
CrimethInc. Ex-Workers' Collective
4.8
By itself, this is a book about work, but it's also more than that. It is an outline of an analysis of capitalism: what it is, how it works, how we might dis-mantle it. And the book and the analysis are outgrowths of something more a movement of people determined to fight it. So this book isn't just an attempt to describe reality but also a tool with which to change it. If any of the words or illustrations resonate with you, don't leave them trapped on these pages write them on the wall, shout them over the intercom at your former workplace, change them as you see fit and release them into the world.
This project is the combined effort of a group of people who have already spent many years in pitched struggle against capitalism. What qualifies us to write this? Some of us used to be students or pizza deliverers or dishwashers; others still are construction workers or graphic designers or civic-minded criminals. But all of us have lived under capitalism since we were born, and that makes us experts on it. The same goes for you. No one has to have a degree in economics to understand what's happening: it s enough to get a paycheck or a pink slip and pay attention. We re suspicious of the experts who get their credentials from on high, who have incentives to minimize things that are obvious to everyone else.
Like every attempt to construct a scale model of the world, this one is bound to be partial in both senses of the word. To present the whole story, it would have to be as vast as history. There s no way to be unbiased, either: our positions and values inevitably influence what we include and what we leave out. What we offer here is simply one perspective from our side of the counter and our side of the barricades. If it lines up with yours, let's do something about it.
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76
Journey through Utopia: A Critical Examination of Imagined Worlds in Western Literature
Marie Louise Berneri
4.8
Journey through Utopia is a richly detailed and critically compelling examination of utopian literature, beginning with Plato’s Republic and continuing through to Huxley’s Brave New World. Utopias have been penned with diverse intentions: some as pictures of an ideal society, some as blueprints for action, some, especially in times of severe censorship, as covert criticisms of existing conditions. Marie Louise Berneri exposes the dark shadow that lingers above most utopian works by emphasizing the intolerant and authoritarian nature of these visions, warning of the doom that awaits those foolish enough to put their trust in an ordered and regimented world. Journey through Utopia is a necessary companion, and in many cases an antidote, to imagined fictions from antiquity to the present.
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77
Anarchism in Korea: Independence, Transnationalism, and the Question of National Development, 1919-1984
Dongyoun Hwang
4.8
This book provides a history of anarchism in Korea and challenges conventional views of Korean anarchism as merely part of nationalist ideology, situating the study within a wider East Asian regional context. Dongyoun Hwang demonstrates that although the anarchist movement in Korea began as part of its struggle for independence from Japan, connections with anarchists and ideas from China and Japan gave the movement a regional and transnational dimension that transcended its initial nationalistic scope. Following the movement after 1945, Hwang shows how anarchism in Korea was deradicalized and evolved into an idea for both social revolution and alternative national development, with emphasis on organizing and educating peasants and developing rural villages.
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78
The Cybernetic Hypothesis (Semiotext(e) / Intervention Series)
Tiqqun
4.8
An early text from Tiqqun that views cybernetics as a fable of late capitalism, and offers tools for the resistance.
The cybernetician's mission is to combat the general entropy that threatens living beings, machines, societies—that is, to create the experimental conditions for a continuous revitalization, to constantly restore the integrity of the whole.—from The Cybernetic Hypothesis
This early Tiqqun text has lost none of its pertinence. The Cybernetic Hypothesis presents a genealogy of our “technical” present that doesn't point out the political and ethical dilemmas embedded in it as if they were puzzles to be solved, but rather unmasks an enemy force to be engaged and defeated. Cybernetics in this context is the teknê of threat reduction, which unfortunately has required the reduction of a disturbing humanity to packets of manageable information. Not so easily done. Not smooth. A matter of civil war, in fact. According to the authors, cybernetics is the latest master fable, welcomed at a certain crisis juncture in late capitalism. And now the interesting question is: Has the guest in the house become the master of the house?
The “cybernetic hypothesis” is strategic. Readers of this little book are not likely to be naive. They may be already looking, at least in their heads, for a weapon, for a counter-strategy. Tiqqun here imagines an unbearable disturbance to a System that can take only so much: only so much desertion, only so much destituent gesture, only so much guerilla attack, only so much wickedness and joy.
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79
Anarcho-Blackness: Notes Toward a Black Anarchism
Marquis Bey
4.8
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80
Introducing Chomsky: A Graphic Guide (Introducing...)
John Maher
4.8
Linguist Noam Chomsky maintains that the human brain has an innate language faculty, and that part of this biological endowment is a 'universal grammar', a theory of principles common to all languages. Thus, all human languages and the ways in which children learn them are remarkably similar.
Chomsky's book Syntactic Structures was a turning-point in 20th-century linguistics, challenging assumptions in many areas such as philosophy, psychology and intellectual history. Heir to the Enlightenment tradition, Chomsky has introduced new perspectives on language, the creative individual and the nature of human freedom in society.
Introducing Chomsky traces Chomsky's understanding of the cognitive realities involved in the use of language, and the technical apparatus needed to represent it. The book also describes Chomsky's radical critique of the institutions of power and the pathways of oppression, and his commitment to freedom and justice.
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81
The Government of No One: The Theory and Practice of Anarchism
Ruth Kinna
4.8
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82
Occult Features of Anarchism: With Attention to the Conspiracy of Kings and the Conspiracy of the Peoples
Erica Lagalisse and Barbara Ehrenreich
4.8
In the 19th century anarchists were accused of conspiracy by governments afraid of revolution, but in the current century, various “conspiracy theories” suggest that anarchists are controlled by government itself. The Illuminati were a network of intellectuals who argued for self-government and against private property, yet the public is now often told that they were (and are) the very group that controls governments around the world. Intervening in such misinformation, Lagalisse works with primary and secondary sources to set straight the history of the Left and illustrate the actual relationship between revolutionism, pantheistic occult philosophy, and the clandestine fraternity. Exploring hidden correspondences between anarchism, Renaissance magic, and New Age movements, Lagalisse also advances critical scholarship regarding leftist attachments to secular politics and the influence clandestine masculine spheres continue to have on contemporary anarchist understandings of power and politics as oppressively male.
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83
Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and Its Influence on Modern Morals and Happiness
William Godwin
4.8
'To a rational being there can be but one rule of conduct, justice, and one mode of ascertaining that rule, the exercise of his understanding.'
Godwin's Political Justice is the founding text of philosophical anarchism. Written in the immediate aftermath of the French Revolution, it exemplifies the political optimism felt by many writers and intellectuals. Godwin drew on enlightenment ideas and his background in religious dissent for the principles of justice, utility, and the sanctity of individual judgement that drove his powerful critique of all forms of secular and religious authority. He predicts the triumph of justice and equality over injustice, and of mind over matter, and the eventual vanquishing of human frailty and mortality. He also foresees the gradual elimination of practices governing property, punishment, law, and marriage and the displacement of politics by an expanded personal morality resulting from reasoned argument and candid discussion. Political Justice raises deep philosophical questions about the nature of our duty to others that remain central to modern debates on ethics and politics.
This edition reprints the first-edition text of 1793, and examines Godwin's evolving philosophy in the context of his life and work.
About the Series For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
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84
An Agorist Primer
Samuel Edward III Konkin
4.7
In the new paperback edition of AN AGORIST PRIMER, Samuel Edward Konkin III -- the creator and premier activist and theoretician of Agorism -- introduces the most powerful means to free yourself, protect and increase your wealth, and liberate the whole of human society in the process! Agorism is applied Counter-Economics -- the philosophy of engaging in free-market activities in defiance of government control. An evolution of libertarianism, Agorism embraces all non-coercive human action and opposes all force- or fraud-based attempts to stifle innovation, trade, thought, and wealth. If you have ever suspected that government, academia, and other entities are trying to pull the wool over your eyes in order to control your money, your morality, and your life, you'll find answers and remedies in AN AGORIST PRIMER. In one concise volume, Samuel Edward Konkin III explains the theory, principles, and -- most important of all -- the practice of Agorism. If you think that consistency between means and ends matters, this is the book for you! From the preface: Agorism is a way of thinking about the world around you, a method of understanding why things work the way they do, how they do, and how they can be dealt with -- how you can deal with them. Samuel Edward Konkin III is the author of the seminal work on libertarianism and Agorism: New Libertarian Manifesto. Over the course of thirty years, he wrote, edited, and published newsletters and magazines such as Laissez Faire, New Libertarian Notes, and 101 issues of the longest-running publication of its kind, New Libertarian Weekly. Known to his friends as SEK3, Mr. Konkin graduated cum laude from the University of Alberta, serving as head of the Young Social Credit League there. He received his Masters in Theoretical Chemistry at New York University, but left NYU without submitting his Ph.D. dissertation in Quantum Mechanics to pursue his lifelong efforts to promote Counter-Economics and Agorism. He founded the New Libertarian Alliance, the Movement of the Libertarian Left, and the outreach organization The Agorist Institute. His body of work is available from KoPubCo. PRAISE FOR AN AGORIST PRIMER: A lot of us have waited two decades for the release of this slender tome... Clocking in at just over 100 pages, An Agorist Primer offers not only a simple-but-thorough explanation of what agorism is, it also builds a rock-solid case for it... But trust me, Konkin's well-structured argument for a free society of the open marketplace (as near to untainted by theft, assault, and fraud as can be humanly attained) is compelling. And he shows convincingly that such a society is absolutely achievable and sustainable. Sam's book truly is a primer; he strips down heavy-duty economic theory and libertarian philosophy without diminishing either of them. An Agorist Primer may be a quick walk through the basics, but it never shortchanges the reader. And best of all, it's awfully entertaining. --Wally Conger, Out of Step
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85
Writings of Emma Goldman: Essays on Anarchism, Feminism, Socialism, and Communism
Emma Goldman
4.7
A collection of essays by America's most prominent anarchist, feminist, and critic of both capitalism and communism, who was imprisoned and deported for opposing the First World War. Includes "Anarchy Defended by Anarchists," "The Tragedy of Women's Emancipation," "Anarchism: What It Really Stands For," "The Psychology of Political Violence," "Patriotism: A Menace to Liberty," "Speech Against Conscription And War," "There Is No Communism In Russia," and "The Individual, Society, And The State."
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86
Direct Action in Montevideo: Uruguayan Anarchism, 1927–1937
Fernando O'Neill Cuesta
4.7
Direct Action in Montevideo is the astonishing tale of anarchists willing to use extraordinary methods to achieve their goals. Seen as mere criminals by the legal system, the author met many of them in prison, where he was serving his own sentence. Politicized by his experiences, he went on to eventually write their story, which was also the story of a culture of solidarity and resistance in the face of oppression. These men were rebels who violated the norms of a social order they considered unjust, often responding to the violence of exploitation and immiseration with a violence of their own, robbing banks to fund revolutionary activities, planting bombs, fighting strikebreakers, aiding fugitives, and attacking, even assassinating, bosses and political figures.
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87
Selected Writings from Mikhail Bakunin: Essays on Anarchism
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Bakunin
4.7
A collection of writings from the champion of Anarchism, Mikhail Bakunin. Includes "God and the State," "Marxism, Freedom and the State," "The Policy of the International," and "The Paris Commune and the Idea of the State." Preface gives a brief biography.
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88
Resist Everything Except Temptation: The Anarchist Philosophy of Oscar Wilde
Kristian Williams
4.7
A book that penetrates the surface of the Oscar Wilde mythos to uncover the radical politics that propelled his art.
Oscar Wilde is remembered as a wit and a dandy, as a gay martyr, and as a brilliant writer, but his philosophical depth and political radicalism are often forgotten. Resist Everything Except Temptation locates Wilde in the tradition of left-wing anarchism, and argues that only when we take his politics seriously can we begin to understand the man, his life, and his work. Drawing from literary, historical, and biographical evidence, including archival research, the book outlines the philosophical influences and political implications of Wilde's ideas on art, sex, morality, violence, and above all, individualism. Williams raises questions about the relationships between culture and politics, between utopian aspirations and practical programs, and between individualism, group identity, and class struggle. The resulting volume represents, not merely a historical curiosity, but a contribution to current debates within political theory and a salvo in the broader culture wars.
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89
The Ethics of Anarcho-Capitalism
Kristopher A Borer and Milos Ckonjovic
4.7
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90
The Anarchist Cookbook
Keith McHenry
4.7
From the cofounder of Food Not Bombs, an action-oriented guide to anarchism, social change, and vegan cooking
Unlike the original Anarchist Cookbook, which contained instructions for the manufacture of explosives, this version is both a cookbook in the literal sense and also a “cookbook” of recipes for social and political change. The coffee-table–sized book is divided into three sections: a theoretical section explaining what anarchism is and what it isn’t; information on organizational principles and tactics for social and political change; and finally, numerous tasty vegan recipes from one of the cofounders of the international Food Not Bombs movement.
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91
Anarchism: A Conceptual Approach
Benjamin Franks, Nathan Jun, et al.
4.7
Anarchism is by far the least broadly understood ideology and the least studied academically. Though highly influential, both historically and in terms of recent social movements, anarchism is regularly dismissed. Anarchism: A Conceptual Approach is a welcome addition to this growing field, which is widely debated but poorly understood.
Occupying a distinctive position in the study of anarchist ideology, this volume - authored by a handpicked group of established and rising scholars - investigates how anarchists often seek to sharpen their message and struggle to determine what ideas and actions are central to their identity. Moving beyond defining anarchism as simply an ideology or political theory, this book examines the meanings of its key concepts, which have been divided into three categories: Core, Adjacent, and Peripheral concepts. Each chapter focuses on one important concept, shows how anarchists have understood the concept, and highlights its relationships to other concepts.
Although anarchism is often thought of as a political topic, the interdisciplinary nature of Anarchism: A Conceptual Approach makes it of interest to students and scholars across the social sciences, liberal arts, and the humanities.
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Recommended by Bogdana Butnar and David Lammy.
