Are you an anarchist but not a member of an anarchist organisation?

[steeplejack]

Dissensus?

 

[hitmouse]

Oh forgot probably the two major titles in terms of public consumption of the last few years: The Government of No-one by Ruth Kinna as a general trade intro and the full-on 744-page academic tome Handbook of Anarchism by Carl Levy, the latter of which is horrifically expensive but obviously should not under any circumstances be downloaded for free via any sites that rhyme with wibgen.

Fair enough on the Kinna one being a Penguin, but has anyone actually read the Levy one? First I'd heard of it. I sort of suspect that the major title in terms of public consumption has probably been the Conquest of Bread, oddly enough.
Also, suppose the various Invisible Committee texts are probably worth a mention as being fairly significant recent-ish anarchist-ish books?

 

[Pickman's model]

Fair enough on the Kinna one being a Penguin, but has anyone actually read the Levy one? First I'd heard of it. I sort of suspect that the major title in terms of public consumption has probably been the Conquest of Bread, oddly enough.
Also, suppose the various Invisible Committee texts are probably worth a mention as being fairly significant recent-ish anarchist-ish books?

Have we mentioned ward Churchill's attack on pacifism yet?

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

Have we mentioned ward Churchill's attack on pacifism yet?

It's easy attacking pacifists cos they won't fight back.

 

[Pickman's model]

It's easy attacking pacifists cos they won't fight back.

They can bore you to death tho

 

[AmateurAgitator]

I found Anarchy Works by Peter Gelderloos a good read. And ofcourse there's always What is Anarchism?/the ABC of Anarchism by Alexander Berkman. Post-Scarcity Anarchism by Murray Bookchin is supposed to be good, but I struggled with it at the start and haven't bothered it with it since really. Will have to give it another go.

 

[hitmouse]

Have we mentioned ward Churchill's attack on pacifism yet?

Huh, I would've thought of Gelderloos on nonviolence as being more influential/explicitly anarchist than that, I was about to say Gelderloos is a good tip for decent modern anarcho books but see I've now crossposted with CC again.
Oh, and Kristian(sp?) Williams is another.

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

I've found 'Black Flame' by Michael Schmidt and Lucien van der Walt a cracking good read. They conflate anarchism and syndicalism as being one and the same, too much for my liking, but it's well written and very informative about anarchism in North and South America, Asia and even Africa. Schmidt turned out to either be a dodgy character With links to the far right or to have had mental health issues, and AK press ceased all publication and distribution of the book. I got a pdf copy for nowt from the libcom website a few years ago. But leaving all that controversy aside, it's well worth reading, albeit critically.

 

[Pickman's model]

Huh, I would've thought of Gelderloos on nonviolence as being more influential/explicitly anarchist than that, I was about to say Gelderloos is a good tip for decent modern anarcho books but see I've now crossposted with CC again.
Oh, and Kristian(sp?) Williams is another.

Yeh. But wc's book had about 20, 25 years on gelderloos and both ak and pm have published Churchill's effort. I am not sure that gelderloos would have come to write as he did without Churchill's earlier book, which certainly caused a stir when it came out. Anyway isn't there room for two books on the subject? You wouldn't say let's only look at one book on the spanish revolution or the poll tax movement would you?

 

[Pickman's model]

Huh, I would've thought of Gelderloos on nonviolence as being more influential/explicitly anarchist than that, I was about to say Gelderloos is a good tip for decent modern anarcho books but see I've now crossposted with CC again.
Oh, and Kristian(sp?) Williams is another.

Gelderloos said he was inspired by Churchill among others (failure of nonviolence, p. 13)

 

[hitmouse]

I've found 'Black Flame' by Michael Schmidt and Lucien van der Walt a cracking good read. They conflate anarchism and syndicalism as being one and the same, too much for my liking, but it's well written and very informative about anarchism in North and South America, Asia and even Africa. Schmidt turned out to either be a dodgy character With links to the far right or to have had mental health issues, and AK press ceased all publication and distribution of the book. I got a pdf copy for nowt from the libcom website a few years ago. But leaving all that controversy aside, it's well worth reading, albeit critically.

Ah yeah, that was one on my to-read list for a fair while, never got around to it before the "cancellation" though. Shame, the follow-up book, Cartography... also sounded proper interesting about anarchism outside of the classic Ukraine/Barcelona/Paris narratives.

Yeh. But wc's book had about 20, 25 years on gelderloos and both ak and pm have published Churchill's effort. I am not sure that gelderloos would have come to write as he did without Churchill's earlier book, which certainly caused a stir when it came out. Anyway isn't there room for two books on the subject? You wouldn't say let's only look at one book on the spanish revolution or the poll tax movement would you?

I wouldn't know, I've never actually read either of them. Think the longest thing I've read on the poll tax is probably that pamphlet of collected accounts including the one that turned out to be by John Barker/Dines as well.

 

[Pickman's model]

Ah yeah, that was one on my to-read list for a fair while, never got around to it before the "cancellation" though. Shame, the follow-up book, Cartography... also sounded proper interesting about anarchism outside of the classic Ukraine/Barcelona/Paris narratives.

I wouldn't know, I've never actually read either of them. Think the longest thing I've read on the poll tax is probably that pamphlet of collected accounts including the one that turned out to be by John Barker/Dines as well.

you're in for a treat then if you haven't ready danny burns's book or the haringey solidarity group's history of the poll tax struggle in haringey (i should declare an interest - i met danny burns when he researching the book, and was involved with the haringey anti-poll tax union)

 

[Threshers_Flail]

Is the Kinna book any good? The only one of hers I read gave too much space to “anarcho”-capitalism and primitivism at every step, as if they were major contradictions to the current of anarchist thought. I found that quite annoying.

I found it very lightweight and yep, way too much space for anarcho capitalism etc.

 

[hitmouse]

you're in for a treat then if you haven't ready danny burns's book or the haringey solidarity group's history of the poll tax struggle in haringey (i should declare an interest - i met danny burns when he researching the book, and was involved with the haringey anti-poll tax union)

Is the HSG one still in print? Danny Burns and Simon Hannah both sound worth reading, but there's a lot of books out there!

 

[Pickman's model]

Is the HSG one still in print? Danny Burns and Simon Hannah both sound worth reading, but there's a lot of books out there!

the hsg one's only a pamphlet - The poll tax rebellion in Haringey

 

[hitmouse]

Looking through the libcom poll tax tag, I think I've definitely read the BM Blob one, and I think probably the old ACF Beating the Poll Tax at some point as well.

 

[DaphneM]

?

 

[brogdale]

For anyone wanting to connect with their inner armchair anarchist this winter, I can suggest no better tome than this by David Goodway:



It's an impressive wander through Left-libertarian thought expressed by British writers. Gotta say I loved it and it's taken me down some interesting avenues of literature.

 

[CNT36]

If anyone wants a copy of the Kinna book let me know and I'll post it to you. I got two for Christmas!

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

If anyone wants PDF of Black Flame let me know.

 

[teuchter]

That's part of the issue though. Why is most activism/organising done by this particular group of people? If that's actually true and not just a perception. Lots of people don't have the opportunity, comfort or time to play an active role in their local community. Often they are excluded due to various reasons. That's something that needs to be changed.

I think the reason the retired liberal democrat voters get more done is that they don't waste their time having lengthy discussions about which obscure books they have or haven't read. Books that just confirm their already existing ideas or provide opportunities to disagree with people with very similar but slightly different ideas. Look at the last few pages of this thread. These jokers, many of whom are healthy young people, are faffing around on the internet in idle conversation, while the elderly lib dems are out in the community making a difference. Imagine being less effective than the lib dems.

 

[hitmouse]

I think the reason the retired liberal democrat voters get more done is that they don't waste their time having lengthy discussions about which obscure books they have or haven't read. Books that just confirm their already existing ideas or provide opportunities to disagree with people with very similar but slightly different ideas. Look at the last few pages of this thread. These jokers, many of whom are healthy young people, are faffing around on the internet in idle conversation, while the elderly lib dems are out in the community making a difference. Imagine being less effective than the lib dems.

So basically you're saying that Malatesta was right?

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

I think the reason the retired liberal democrat voters get more done is that they don't waste their time having lengthy discussions about which obscure books they have or haven't read. Books that just confirm their already existing ideas or provide opportunities to disagree with people with very similar but slightly different ideas. Look at the last few pages of this thread. These jokers, many of whom are healthy young people, are faffing around on the internet in idle conversation, while the elderly lib dems are out in the community making a difference. Imagine being less effective than the lib dems.

Very true. The Lib Dem's did a very powerful job of propping up the Tory government during the coalition. Bravo!

 

[Dom Traynor]

Joking and snide comments aside I do think on the whole that the kind of solidarity and mutual aid you see everyday from Tory and Libdem voters and church goers and the like (even if not articulated as solidarity) is probably more effective at building strong communities and neighborhood bonds than most explicitly Anarcho groups. But I think most anarchos actually know that and in my experience many of those community groups actually have a former anarchist or lefty at the heart.

 

[teuchter]

So basically you're saying that Malatesta was right?

Right about what? His own description of what he means when he uses a certain term? I don't see any reason to argue with that.

 

[teuchter]

Joking and snide comments aside I do think on the whole that the kind of solidarity and mutual aid you see everyday from Tory and Libdem voters and church goers and the like (even if not articulated as solidarity) is probably more effective at building strong communities and neighborhood bonds than most explicitly Anarcho groups. But I think most anarchos actually know that and in my experience many of those community groups actually have a former anarchist or lefty at the heart.

That's why it's so important to convert all the anarchists and lefties on here into Tories/Libdems/CofE as efficiently and quickly as possible. So they can get out there and start doing something useful.

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

Joking and snide comments aside I do think on the whole that the kind of solidarity and mutual aid you see everyday from Tory and Libdem voters and church goers and the like (even if not articulated as solidarity) is probably more effective at building strong communities and neighborhood bonds than most explicitly Anarcho groups. But I think most anarchos actually know that and in my experience many of those community groups actually have a former anarchist or lefty at the heart.

You're mixing up several categories here. Tory voters and Lib Dem voters come in all shapes and sizes. So too those who profess religious belief. On the other hand, members of the Tory party and Conservative clubs are good at building bonds amongst themselves to the exclusion of all others. Ditto members of religious cults Like the CofE or the RC's or whatever. Unless they hope to convert you.
P.S. I'll ask my local M.P. , the right honourable and totally lovely Geoffrey Cox whether he used to be an anarchist.

 

[Dom Traynor]

You're mixing up several categories here. Tory voters and Lib Dem voters come in all shapes and sizes. So too those who profess religious belief. On the other hand, members of the Tory party and Conservative clubs are good at building bonds amongst themselves to the exclusion of all others. Ditto members of religious cults Like the CofE or the RC's or whatever. Unless they hope to convert you.
P.S. I'll ask my local M.P. , the right honourable and totally lovely Geoffrey Cox whether he used to be an anarchist.

I'm not mixing up any categories my post is quite clear.

 

[Peter Painter]

you're in for a treat then if you haven't ready danny burns's book or the haringey solidarity group's history of the poll tax struggle in haringey (i should declare an interest - i met danny burns when he researching the book, and was involved with the haringey anti-poll tax union)

Yes, the Danny Burns book is good.

I couldn't remember if that was the one I read several years back or not. But I do remember it being the only book about the poll tax that the library had in their collection. I've just checked the catalogue and yes, that's the one.

I also remember reading this:

The Destruction of Toytown UK - BM Blob

A collection of accounts and analysis of the Poll Tax riot, 1990, published by BM Blob.

libcom.org

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

I'm not mixing up any categories my post is quite clear.

Tory and Libdem voters and church goers and the like