Call for papers Anarchist Studies Conference Loughborough, 12-14 September 2018

The fight against domination and destruction continues under heavy clouds. A global wave of resistance has once again been met with reaction, as elites turn to barefaced nationalism, racism and misogyny. For the world's majority, such oppression is neither surprising nor new, given the enduring legacy of colonialism and by-now-established forms of neo-colonial exploitation. Meanwhile, hegemonic discourses show a frustrating capacity to co-opt and neutralise: converting anti-capitalism into welfare-populism, ecological resistance into green consumption, and militant intersectionality into liberal identity politics. Anarchist literature and organising are not automatically immune to these problems; posing ideas and practices that are radically free from domination requires critical reflection on assumptions and truths, including one’s own. Despite challenges, anarchists have sustained and grown multiple sites of resistance as well as constructive projects, while boldly spearheading the confrontation with the far right. Confident that the tide will turn again, the flame remains kindled.

In these uncertain times, the elaboration of anarchist analysis bridging theory and practice, scholarly rigour and the insights of social movements, is as necessary as ever.

The 5th International Conference of the Anarchist Studies Network will be held at Loughborough University between 12-14 of September 2018. Proposals are welcome for individual papers, as well as for panels drawing together 3-4 papers around a common theme.

Please send abstracts of up to 250 words per paper to the address: asn.conference.5@mail.com

Deadline for abstracts: 28 February 2018

 

ASN conferences aim to breach new frontiers in anarchist scholarship, and encourage cross-pollination between disciplines. Contributions are invited from within and outside the official academic sphere, from any scholarly discipline(s), and on any topic relevant to the study and practice of anarchism as a vital approach to social transformation.

The central theme for this conference is DECOLONISATION, which we hope will inspire many of the presentations and panels. The purpose is twofold: to stimulate discussion of colonialism and racism as forms of oppression that anarchists oppose, but which continue to be felt in anarchist organising; and to welcome individuals, groups and communities who have not previously participated in ASN events. By recognising the legacy of non-western and anti-colonial thought and action in the anarchist tradition, we want to strengthen the ties between contemporary anarchists and decolonial theory and practice in the struggle against oppression, and to use the recognition of racist and Eurocentric practices and mind-frames to open up the event to marginalised groups.

We therefore particularly encourage submissions from the global south and from people of colour, as well as from women, trans and non-binary people, and people with disabilities. We strongly encourage panel organizers to overcome exclusion. For the central theme, we welcome presentations that are concerned with topics such as the following:

- Anarchist engagements with decolonial and race theory

- Anarchist geographies of decolonisation

- Anarchist movements in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Pacific, etc.

- Anarchist resonances of non-western philosophies, religions and traditions

- Anti-nationalism and anti-fascism

- Decolonial critiques of anarchism

- Decolonial critiques of the state

- Histories of anarchist resistance to colonialism

- Intersections between race/colonisation and age, class, dis/ability, gender, sexuality, etc.

- Non-western anarcha-feminism, green anarchism, individualism, etc.

- Non-western and western modes of (anti-)representation and the movement between them

In addition, proposals are welcome on ANY TOPIC related to the study and practice of anarchism.

As well as submissions that bridge the gap between “academic” and other forms of knowledge, we also welcome proposals for workshops, art events/performances and experimental pieces, and are happy to discuss any ideas that you might have.

We welcome proposals for papers and panels in other languages, but please send an abstract in English as well. Translation will be self-organised during the conference on an ad-hoc, volunteer basis.

Loughborough University facilities are fully wheelchair accessible and induction loops are available. We are hoping to have some travel bursaries available for low- or unwaged participants, especially from the global south, as well as co-organised childcare arrangements. Although we cannot guarantee either of these at the present stage, please do get in touch with any specific access needs and we will do our best to meet them: asn.conference.5@mail.com

Enlightened Anarchism: An International Conference at Lapland University

Enlightened Anarchism: An International Conference at Lapland University

Sept 11-14, 2014, Lapin Yliopisto, LS 10

 

Organized by:

Ms. Ali Jones, CIMO Fellow, Cambridge University

Dr. Mika Luoma-aho, Lapland University

Anarchism has recently become a topic of scholarly focus, as social and political movements such as Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring emerge throughout the world. While traditional public opinion tends to view anarchism as juvenile force of negation, violence or gleeful destruction, it is nonetheless possible to examine a far more nuanced discourse, as espoused by the social actors involved. In fact, many such groups are particularly focused upon combatting fascism, perceived state corruption, the effects of neoliberalism or globalization, or to dedicating themselves to fighting for environmental protection, immigrant and refugee rights, or in other arena of social justice. Many of these aims could be interpreted as not only in the public interest, but also to constitute some of the cornerstones of democracy itself. In fact, in 2007 Saul Newman wrote that "the ideological terrain appears to have shifted to such an extent that to be radical these days is precisely to insist on things like the rule of law and protection of civil liberties and human rights." Indeed, despite the traditional perceptions of anarchy predominant in Finnish academia, it is in fact possible to view these social movements as composed of highly engaged, and even faithful, public citizens, which begs the question of why they are ostracized and considered to be so politically threatening. It further causes one to re-examine democracy and Anarchism categorically and philosophically.

The upcoming Enlightened Anarchism conference seeks to initiate this important conversation within the Finnish Academy. It is organized in organized in cooperation with Cambridge University, with financial support from the Lapland Faculty of Social Sciences. This major international event will host 25 speakers from around the world, including two outstanding keynotes: Dr. George Katsiaficas, Wentworth Institute of Technology and Dr. Alexandre Christoyannopoulos, Loughborough University, in addition to Special Guest Speaker Dimitrios Roussopoulous. Biographies of each speaker can be found online, along with the schedule of talks, at http://enlightenedanarchism.wordpress.com/. 

All events are free and open to the public, and we encourage students to attend and participate. Auditors should contact Ms. Ali Jones at ajones@ulapland.fi for registration details. Students seeking credit for participation should contact Dr. Mika Luoma-aho at mika.luoma-aho@ulapland.fi.

Enlightened Anarchism

September 11-14, 2014

Lapland University, in cooperation with Cambridge University

Location: Lapin Yliopisto, Room LS10, Rovaniemi Finland

 

Keynote Speakers:

George Katsiaficas

Alexandre Christoyannopoulos

 

Special Guest Speaker:

Dimitrios Roussopoulos

Friday September 12^th

8:30-9:15                     Registration, Coffee, warm snacks and pastries

9:15-9:30                     Welcoming Remarks, Ali Jones

9:30- 11:00                  Non-Western Anarchisms

Chair: Dimitri Roussopoulos

Tiina Seppälä, University of Lapland - Anarchism, Resistance & Social Movements: Critical Perspectives from South Asia

Enrique Galvan-Alvarez, International University of La Rioja - Revolutionary Mercy? The Western Buddhist Anarchist Tradition

James Jackson, Unaffiliated – Rebel Music

11:00-11:15                Break

11:15 - 13:15               Capitalism and the State

Chair: Julian Reid

Blair Taylor, New School for Social Research- New Spirit of Capitalism, New Spirit of the Left: Neoanarchism from the Alterglobalization Movement to Occupy Wall Street

Nina Rismal, Cambridge University - Critical Theory and the Question of Violence: The 1968 Students Protests

Brandon Wallace, New School for Social Research - Anarchism and the Legitimation of Authority

Joshua Anderson, Saint Louis University – Against the Nation-State: On the normative poverty of statism

13:15-14:00                 Lunch (University Cafeteria)

14:00- 15:30                 Anarchism and International Relations

Chair: Mika Luoma-aho

Michael Kilburn, Endicott College – Anarchism and Human Rights

Jan Hanska, Finnish Defense Research Institute – SERIOUSLY LUDICROUS:

The “ridico-anarchic” nature of the politics of the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army

Guido Verstraeten, Satakunta University of Applied Sciences- Eco-Regionalism, an Alternative for Democratic Anarchistic Refuges.

15:30-16:00                 Break (Coffee and warm snacks provided)

16:00– 18:00               George Katsiaficas Keynote, The Grammar of Insurgency

18:15                            Board Bus at University to Forest Cookout.

(Food will be provided.  Please bring drinks, warm clothes, and rain coats as appropriate)

  

Saturday September 13^th

9:00-9:30                     Coffee, warm snacks and pastries

9:30- 11:00                  Anarchisms in German Thought and Praxis

Chair: George Katsiaficas

 

Anatole Lucet, École normale supérieure de Lyon - Spirit and community: Gustav Landauer’s criticisms of materialism and violence.

Katharina Karcher, University of Warwick and Cambridge University – The Red Zora: Anarchist Feminist Counter-violence in the Federal Republic of Germany 

Ali Jones, Cambridge University – Henri Lefebvre and German Autonomie

11:00-11:15                 Break

 

11:15-13:15                 Freedom, Ethics and the Spirit of Rebellion

Chair: Suvi Alt

 

Aylon Assael Cohen, Oxford University - The Insurrection of Feelings and the Feelings for Insurrection

Mari Kuukkanen, University of Helsinki - Prefigurative politics or counter-conduct?

Victor Castro, Universidad de Granada – Paradox of Ends and Means

Iwona Janicka, Cambridge University – Is There an Anarchist in this Closet? Understanding Contemporary Anarchism with Judith Butler and Peter Sloterdijk

13:15- 14:00                Lunch (University Cafeteria)

14:00- 15:30                Space and the Spatial Turn

Chair: Ali Jones

Mika Luoma-aho, Lapland University - Metaethics of Scale

Rui Coelho, University of Lisbon - Anarcho-Monks: Is Neomonasticism part of the “New Anarchist” wave?

Christian Pfenninger, University of Westminster – Porous Sovereignties

15:30-15:45                 Break

15:45- 17:15                Anarchism and Christian Theology

Chair: Alexandre Christoyannopoulos

Anthony Fiscella, Lund University - Two Christianities: “Communal” and “Imperial” Variations - Responsibilities and Relevancies for Researchers

Lara Apps, University of Alberta, No Gods, No Masters? Anarchic Optimism in Eighteenth-Century French Atheism

Justin Meggitt, Cambridge University - Anarchism and Apocalypse: The historical Jesus and the problem of violence deferred

17:15-18:00                 Break (coffee and warm snacks provided)

18:00- 20:00                Alexandre Christoyannopoulos Keynote, Leo Tolstoy’s Anticlericalism

20:00                           University Sauna.

(Drinks and snacks will be provided. Meals can be ordered).

Sunday September 14^th

Location: University Sauna Meeting Room

10:00-11:00                  Roundtable Discussion (Coffee, snacks, pastries provided)

Dennis Fox, Emeritus, University of Illinois at Springfield - Anarchist Morality and Personal Change

 

11:00-13:00                 Dimitrios Roussopoulos Special Guest Speaker,

Constructive Anarchism – Social Ecology and Democracy

13:00                           Conference Conclusion.

Reading about Christian anarchism

I'm writing this blog post in response to a tweet that reads, "I've been thinking about Christian anarchism what would you suggest I read? Something theological with good praxis". Sometimes the answer is longer than a tweet allows! @NormalSteve

If it's reading about Christian anarchism you're after, I'd recommend starting somewhere else. Start by reading about anarchism and then do your theological thinking from there. Then do some reading on Christian anarchism. 

Start with the classics: Colin Ward's "Anarchy in Action" (which I can't find on hive.co.uk but his more up to date "Talking Anarchy" is likely to be great. But you can get even more classic than that with Emma Goldman's "Anarchy and other Essays" and the essential Peter Kropotkin's "Mutual Aid". Oh yes: and William Morris! 

The original Christian anarchist writer would be Leo Tolstoi; his acerbic "What I Believe" and "The Kingdom of God is Within You" are the foundations of much Christian anarchist thought. 

Online much of the foundational stuff for Christian anarchism is available form Jacques Ellul and Vernard Eller. 

If you want something that gives you an incredibly in depth overview of Christian anarchist thought you can't go wrong with Alexandre Christoyannopoulos's "Christian Anarchism" and if you want something that's both practical and accessible you've got Dave Andrews' "Christi-anarchy" or "Not Religion, But Love". 

And, of course, anything by Dorothy Day but I would warmly recommend her inspiring biography, "The Long Loneliness" which tells the story of a pioneering Catholic Anarchist with honesty that leaves you utterly humbled. 

If you've read this far, I'm sure you won't mind me recommending my own "Seeking Justice: The Radical Compassion of Jesus" which takes principles of Christian anarchist theory, without the language of anarchism, and translates them into genuine experiments in radical compassion. 

Call for papers on Enlightened Anarchism

Enlightened Anarchism

An inter-disciplinary event organized by Lapland University, in cooperation with Cambridge University.

Keynote Speakers:

George Katsiaficas, Wentworth Institute of Technology

Alexandre Christoyannopoulos, Loughborough University

With Special Guest Speaker:

Dimitrios Roussopoulous

Lapland University, Rovaniemi Finland

Sept 12-14, 2014

Please send abstracts of no more than 500 words, including email address and institutional affiliation, to conference organizers Ali Jones at ajones@ulapland.fi and Mika Luoma-aho at mika.luoma-aho@ulapland.fi by June 1, 2014.  

Please also see our website at: http://enlightenedanarchism.wordpress.com/

Anarchism has recently become a topic of scholarly focus, as social and political movements have become increasingly active across Europe and North America. While traditional public opinion tends to view anarchism as juvenile force of negation, violence or gleeful destruction, it is nonetheless possible to examine a far more nuanced discourse, as espoused by the social actors involved. In fact, many such groups are particularly focused upon combatting fascism, perceived state corruption, the effects of neoliberalism or globalization, or to dedicating themselves to fighting for environmental protection, immigrant and refugee rights, or in other arena of social justice. Many of these aims could be interpreted as not only in the public interest, but also to constitute some of the cornerstones of democracy itself.  Indeed, despite the traditionally discussed perceptions of anarchy, it is in fact possible to view these social movements as highly engaged public citizens, which begs the question of why they are ostracized and considered to be so politically threatening. It further causes one to re-examine democracy and anarchy categorically and philosophically.

This reconsideration further raises the debate surrounding the use of political violence for achieving democratic goals. This conference particularly wishes to open dialogue on these discourses, especially the moral, and one could even say spiritual aims of such movements. 

Furthermore, analysis and recent scholarship also asks whether anarchism must be “justified” by such moral categories, or if it should attempt to remove itself from such dominating discourses. As such, both moral and anti-moral interpretations are welcome, as well as those papers interrogating this process of moral justification itself.

Focusing upon this notion of enlightened anarchism, the conference presents a forum for discussing the moral, anti-moral, religious, anti-religious, social justice, democratic and anti-democratic, or purely revolutionary discourses of modern anarchists and social movements.

The conference organizers are particularly interested in placing these contrasting perspectives into fruitful and exciting conversation. Some potential areas of focus include:

-Enlightened anarchism

-Political theology and social movements

-The use of anarchism to achieve the goals of democracy

-The use of anarchy to combat perceived corruption

-The justification of destruction for purposes of social justice

-Discussions of anarchist violence

-The justification of violence for achieving democratic or moral goals

-A re-examination of democracy and anarchism

-Explicitly religious anarchism

-Explicitly anti-religious anarchism

-Anarchism as a non-religious morality

-Anarchism rejecting the category of morality

-Other types of anarchism

- While papers on Marxism will of course be considered, the conference organizers hope that they will relate to anarchism in some way.

Selected papers from the conference will then be compiled into an edited volume, and submitted to Cambridge University Press or another international publisher by the end of 2014.

While travel funding is unfortunately not possible, limited subsidized accommodations are available. Presenters are encouraged to contact conference organizers Ali Jones at ajones@ulapland.fi and Mika Luoma-aho at mika.luoma-aho@ulapland.fi with inquiries.

Keynote Speaker Biographies

George Katsiaficas has been active in social movements since 1969. A target of the FBI's COINTELPRO program, he was classified "Priority 1 ADEX" (meaning in the event of a national emergency, people like him were to be immediately arrested). For 11 years, he worked in Ocean Beach, California as part of a radical countercultural community (described in Andre Gorz's book, Ecology as Politics). He moved to Berlin, after which he wrote two books: one on the global imagination of 1968 and another on European social movements. In these books, he developed the concept of the “eros effect” to name the sudden and synchronous eruption of insurgencies. For years, he was active in the cause of Palestinian rights. Together with Kathleen Cleaver, he co-edited Liberation, Imagination and the Black Panther Party. A graduate of MIT and UCSD (where he studied with Herbert Marcuse), he is currently based at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston and also in Gwangju, South Korea, where he finished a 2-volume book, Asia’s Unknown Uprisings.  His web site is: http://www.eroseffect.com

Alexandre Christoyannopoulos is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Loughborough University, which he joined in 2010.He is the author of Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel, a seminal book which brings together the writings of disparate Christian anarchists, Tolstoy in particular, and presents a comprehensive exegesis arguing that Jesus’ teaching implies anarchism. He has also published a number of articles, chapters and other publications on Tolstoy and on Christian anarchism, and edited Religious Anarchism: New Perspectives. He is currently working on a monograph on Tolstoy’s political thought, and co-editing a new collection of essays on anarchism and religion.A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, he also acts as Treasurer of the Anarchist Studies Network and officer of the International Political Science Association’s research committee on Politics and Religion.His website, which includes a full list of publications (many of which are openly accessible online) and a more extensive biography, can be accessed via http://www.christoyannopoulos.com.

Urgent call for papers for ASN conference and workshop on religion & anarchism

Building on the success of its predecessor, the 3rd International Conference of the Anarchist Studies Network will showcase the best new thinking in the study of anarchism as a political theory and practice – past, present and future. The conference aims to breach new frontiers in anarchist scholarship, and encourage cross-pollination between disciplines and contributions from both within and outside the official academic sphere. Proposals are welcome for sessions and individual papers from any scholarly discipline(s), on any topic relevant to the study of anarchism. Also welcome are proposals for practical workshops, experiential sessions, and other activities.

As at the earlier conferences in 2008 and 2012 there will be a special stream on religious anarchism / the relation anarchism - religion or spirituality.
Hosts will be Paul Cudenec and the undersigned, André de Raaij, independent researchers and writers on relevant subjects. 
 

As the crisis of late capitalism deepens, nominal democracies are increasingly showing their hand: freedom of speech is the freedom to be ignored. Every demand of the last wave of social mobilization has been rejected or side-lined. Instead, governments pursue business-as-usual with obstinacy. The fallout from the global financial crisis has become the pretext for even harsher strategies of inequality management. Devastating storms and a changing climate do nothing to stop the dash for gas. Even dramatic revelations about generalised surveillance and the infiltration of protest movements have done more to normalize these phenomena than to halt or reverse them. Governments will change the story on the move if they have to, or just plug their ears - perhaps unsurprisingly, since the last credible alternative does not include them.

For anarchists, new-found public disillusionment is as much of a challenge as a cause for celebration. Loss of trust in the democratic state can result in despair or reactionary retrenchment as much as it can lead to radicalization. Indeed, anarchists have been the first to offer solidarity to many marginalized groups in their struggles, and their organizational strategies – if not their actual aims – have inspired mass movements the world round. But the mere celebration of anarchist resurgence is no longer sufficient. What is now needed is a redoubled effort towards practical and theoretical innovation, and engagement with mass struggles in content as well as form.

Building on the success of its predecessor, the 3rd International Conference of the Anarchist Studies Network will showcase the best new thinking in the study of anarchism as a political theory and practice – past, present and future. The conference aims to breach new frontiers in anarchist scholarship, and encourage cross-pollination between disciplines and contributions from both within and outside the official academic sphere.

The conference will be held at Loughborough University during the first week of September 2014.

Proposals are welcome for individual papers, sessions, and streams of sessions. We especially encourage proposals for sessions, to include 3-4 papers drawn together around a common theme, although individual paper proposals are of course also welcome, as are proposals for practical workshops, experiential sessions, and other activities.

Contributions can come from any scholarly discipline(s), on any topic relevant to the study of anarchism.

 

Anarchist Studies Network: http://anarchist-studies-network.org.uk/

A letter by Daniel Bemgau

...it is not a bad bet to think that this may be A letter by Daniel Berrigan - the nasty tricks of scanning printed text.
But it looks like all the paper issues of A Pinch Of Salt can be read online now, eighties' issues as well as the recent series, here.
There should be more errors like the above in those, but it cannot be that difficult to reconstruct it.

Anarchist Bookfair London October 19th 2013

Booking stalls, meetings and adverts

We have now stopped taking bookings for meetings. Check out our meetings page on the website for all the meetings and running order. We will be bringing Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin (Anarchism and the Black Revolution) and JoNina Abron-Ervin (Driven by the Movement: Activists of the Black Power Era) from America to speak at this year's bookfair. This is part of a nation-wide speaking tour we are also organising. Check out the “other events” page for speaking dates around the UK. We will be updating this page, as we get more confirmed dates arranged.

The venue

We will be holding the bookfair at Queen Mary’s university on the Mile End Road again. In 2012, there were a few problems with the venue, including some of the meeting rooms being too small, crowding on the main staircase and the lift being out of action for part of the day, which made it difficult for people with mobility problems getting from floor to floor.

We spent the time after the bookfair looking at other possible venues, but we couldn’t find anything that suited the event better than Queen Mary’s. Most didn’t have the space we needed for 110 stalls, 60 meetings, films and three children and youth spaces. Some did, but they were either far too expensive, or had bad connections (i.e. the Excel building runs the arms fayre as well).

So, we stuck with Queen Mary’s but we have been chatting with the venue and have identified some bigger rooms for meetings, and we can use other staircases in the Bancroft building for getting around the building. This should solve a lot of the problems of 2012 – although the problems are of our own making, as the bookfair is just too successful! We are also looking at the situation with the lift so this problem doesn’t happen in 2013.

Anarchism and the bookfair

The bookfair is one of a number of spaces for anarchists around the UK and the world to come together. But, as the Anarchist Bookfair is one of the bigger public events we put on as a movement, we want it to also be a place where those interested in anarchism can find out what we are about.

So, in 2013 we will be looking for thought-provoking and rabble-rousing meetings. It can also be a space where we counter the rubbish talked about anarchism by sections of the media and our opponents. We want to continue to make anarchism a threat again.

We will also need people to help us publicise the event to every nook and cranny in London. If you are new to anarchism, check out the pages websites and bookfairs. There are links to anarchist and campaigning groups around the country and anarchist bookfairs throughout the world.

Access

All the meeting rooms are now wheelchair accessible. If you have any other access requirements, please let us know nearer the time of the bookfair so we can try and meet your needs. If you are Deaf and require BSL interpreting and/or speech-to-text provision, please give us as much notice as possible and we will do our best to organise these. To discuss any specific access needs, please contact us at access at anarchistbookfair.org.uk.

Dogs

To make the bookfair a safe environment for children and adults alike, we ask people do not bring dogs to the event - except guide dogs. Thanks.

Getting to the venue

The venue is Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS.
If you are coming by public transport the following buses stop near the college on Mile End Road: 25; 205; 339. If you are coming by tube the two nearest stations are Mile End (central line / Hammersmith & City line or District line) or Stepney Green (Hammersmith & City line or District line).

See map of the venue and surrounding area. 

Anarchist revelation

An important new book on anarchist thought is now available from Winter Oak Press.

The Anarchist Revelation: Being What We’re Meant to Be is the latest work by activist and writer Paul Cudenec.

Here, he turns his back on contemporary trends of anarchism in a bid to reconnect with the primal force of its root ideology.

Cudenec notes the significance of its refusal of the state and its judicial system, of land ownership and of the need to work for wages in order to live.

But he goes further in suggesting that anarchism represents a whole way of thinking that stands in direct opposition to the blinkered materialism of contemporary society and its soul-stifling positivist dogma.

He writes: “The anarchist does not merely stray outside the framework of acceptable thinking as carefully assembled by the prevalent system – she smashes it to pieces and dances on the wreckage.”

Cudenec explores the fluidity and depth of thinking found in anarchism, in stark contrast to Marxism, and identifies, in particular, a love of apparent paradox that seems to appeal to the anarchist psyche.

He also sees a connection between and anarchism and esoteric forms of religion – such as Sufism, Taoism and hermeticism - whose inner light defies the crushing patriarchal conservatism and hierarchy of the exoteric institutions.

Cudenec provides evidence that anarchism’s roots lie partly in this life-embracing source of inspiration, the bringer of art and poetry as well as of resistance and revolt.

While, he argues, anarchism is incompatible with existing religions, it has the potential to harness its powerful ideology to this universal esoteric current and thus become the religion of the future, the spiritual and political revelation that will save humankind from a grim future of slavery, corruption and destruction.

In making his case, Cudenec draws on the work of anarchists such as Gustav Landauer, Michael Bakunin and Herbert Read. But he also widens the field of enquiry to include the philosophy of René Guénon, Herbert Marcuse and Jean Baudrillard; the existentialism of Karl Jaspers and Colin Wilson; the vision of Carl Jung, Oswald Spengler and Idries Shah, and the environmental insight of Derrick Jensen and Paul Shepard.

With a fusion of scholarly research and inspiring polemic, Cudenec succeeds in forging a coherent and profound 21st century world-view with an appeal that will reach out far beyond those who currently term themselves anarchists.

Confessions of an American anarchist: why I'm not voting in the US presidential election

If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal. –Emma Goldman

I had the t-shirts, the posters, the buttons. I chanted “Yes, We Can” and watched the videos. I believed in his hope. As a brand new Bachelor of History and Political Science, I wanted things to change and believed they were changing. I cast my absentee ballot, and I was there in Grant Park the night he was elected.

But the minute the crowd started chanting, “Yes, we did!” I was uneasy. What did we do? Contribute to his campaign (over $650 million)? Put signs in our front yards or slap stickers on our cars? Check a square, connect an arrow, punch a hole, press a button? Attend a rally? “Yes, we can” was supposed to be the rally cry for all Americans to work together—both parties—after the election on the incredibly difficult issues we faced as a nation. The message “yes, we did” implied that our work was done. Go to it, Mr. President. Fix it for us.

I wasn’t just disheartened by the crowd and the din. Almost a year after the election, I read an in-depth article about predator drones in Pakistan. His administration turned to impersonal, anonymous tactics that killed innocent people. The war wasn’t ending. He was bailing out corporate executives who lined their pockets with Americans’ money at Christmas time.

It started to seep in that this guy couldn’t do it. He could give inspiring speeches about hope and change, but he couldn’t end wars. He couldn’t fix the economy. If it seems like I’m heaping unfair blame upon his head, I’m not. The Republican candidate couldn’t do it either. Third party candidates couldn’t do it.  No man or woman could.

I haven’t voted since 2008, not even in two pretty huge elections in Wisconsin. It’s not political apathy; it’s the opposite. I care too much about the world to leave it in the hands of two squabbling political parties who waste more money and breath on bickering and stalemating and generally ignoring the welfare of all citizens.

But I still believe in “Yes, we can.” In fact, I believe it now more than ever, which is why I’m not voting.

My big breakthrough came with the spring. In 2010 I lived in Chicago. I often angrily stewed that the city neglected my neighborhood because it didn’t contain the right demographic or the larger-than-life attractions that allure downtown visitors. When I walked down my boulevard and spied trash accumulating beneath trees and in gutters, I muttered curses under my breath about the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation.

But one day, it dawned on me. Why am I depending on the city to clean up my neighborhood? My neighborhood. What kind of effort would it really take for me to get up some Saturday morning to stuff a plastic bag with the abandoned rubbish? What would it take to invite a neighbor or two to do it with me? I had given up my power and responsibility for my neighborhood to a corrupt city government.

The biggest, most positive changes we’ve seen in this world result when people organize, mobilize, and work for and demand change. Not politicians, not world leaders, not businessmen/women, not the GOP or Dems. People—of all faiths and creeds and nationalities and genders and races and walks of life. The Labor Movement. The Civil Rights Movement. India’s fight for independence. The end of Apartheid.

Governments in almost every case have been the cause of pain and strife. They have organized hate and crime through wars, promoted racism and prejudice through unjust laws and courts, abused power to reward special interests, institutionalized poverty and created dependency on corporations.

Four years ago I elected someone I thought might stop the cycle. I learned that “electoral success… pacifies.” Suffrage has merely been granted to our forebears to pacify them continuously. Many men who fought in the Revolutionary War were ineligible to vote in the new Republic’s first elections (only property owners had the right). Black men and women built this country for 246 years without ever getting to choose who wrote the laws that enslaved them. Women of all races worked side-by-side with their fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons to build this country and then gave them up to war when asked to do so, but they waited 143 years for the right to choose policy makers. Even after winning suffrage, many black Americans faced prejudice at the polls that prevented their rightful vote. So while I appreciate the people in the past who fought for my suffrage, I also acknowledge how ridiculous it is that anyone ever had to fight for suffrage, to beg for the government to throw them a bone.

Yes, I appreciate the men and women who fought for my right to vote. They fought for a right to choose who ruled because they believed their vote could make a difference. I've learned enough to know that my vote won’t make any difference. My vote instead endorses a system that has allowed obstructions to liberty; a system that gives me only two choices and two parties, neither of which I agree with, neither of which is actually doing anything to promote the well-being of the average American; a government that constantly violates the human rights it helped to craft, around the world and within its own borders; a government that will only continue to covet power, whether run by the left or the right, at mine and my neighbors’ expenses; a government that will continue to wage wars in the name of lofty ideological goals that it constantly contradicts; a government that will always only pay lip service (if any service at all) to correcting and acknowledging the historical evils it has inflicted for the past 236 years.

No, I won’t be voting in 2012, nor will I likely vote in 2014, 2016, 2018…. My time, energy, and money could be spent in such better ways, working for and enacting change that I actually CAN believe in, change that will have a far greater impact than hours spent lined up at the polls. I still believe we can “heal this nation” and “repair this world.” I just know there are better ways to do it than casting a ballot for a politician who will always disappoint. My time spent on November 6 is better spent in my neighborhood, in my community, working with my neighbors to love one another. 

The state as a fear machine

Keith's conclusion from several papers presented at the Anarchist Studies Network Conference given here earlier:

What I took away of most value from all of this was the idea that anarchism is not about freedom at all, since personal autonomy is really an illusion, but rather it is about a particular freedom: freedom from fear.

It is food for thought indeed. The occupation actions of main squares in especially heavily authoritarian states like Tunisia and Egypt were about the conquest of fear. We could witness the millions defying the curfew which had been in place for such a long time in Egypt. This was (and is) the anarchist side of revolution in these countries, and perhaps with most of the following similar actions elsewhere.
As it goes with action, it also had the element of overcoming fear of relating to others you would not have related to without the action. Has it all calmed down now and are we witnessing the quietness of the grave, or the silence just before the outbreak of a new and bigger storm? We shall see.

"The state" was founded on fear. Franz Oppenheimer wrote it in Der Staat: the mechanism we call "state" originates in nomadic tribes vandalizing or threatening to vandalize sedentary farmers. Mob rule, literally. We will protect you from anyone running over your harvest with the hordes on horses but it comes at a price...
It is an interesting thought - the state as a neolithic (probably late neolithic) invention. I presented it in my last examination to become a political scientist - Oppenheimer is a mostly forgotten libertarian socialist who is also the brain behind the original kibbutzim-idea (which must not be associated with the founding of a state).

But reading Debt by David Graeber in between conference hours I hear that the thought is much older than from the early 20th century: Ibn Khaldun - founder of the disciplines of sociology and social anthroplogy, and also a mystic - wrote it earlier, in the 14th century A.D.
I know earlier on Czech sociologist Ernest Gellner stressed the importance of Ibn Khaldun's thought and the anarchist consequences of it.

The state as a mechanism based on fear - fear of "the others" who are coming to destroy your livelihood, fear of "chaos". If the state is based on fear which has to be shielded off at the cost of the fearful themselves then it is really sure: anarchism is about overcoming fear.
A fascinating new look at the old -ism.

Allegiance to the Queen and the Rejection of God

Eddie Izzard: A True British Queen to be proud of? 

I was gently challenged over lunch at the Anarchist conference to share my thoughts on how I can, without crossing my fingers, affirm an oath of allegiance to the Queen, "her heirs and successors" and continue to write, think, and act on anarchist ideas. 

So here goes. 

I first swore allegiance to the Queen on my ordination as deacon in the Church of England. However, every time an Anglican priest is given a new license, in other words appointed to a new role, the oath is renewed. I can only assume that the Queen doesn't think we really mean it. Ahem, perish the thought! 

This evening I'll be licensed as "Pioneer Associate Minister" at St Mark's Mansfield, and as Deanery Adviser on Seeking Justice. At the service at which this formally happens I will renew my oath. 

Before I first did this I was given advice by plenty of lefty Anglican priests: "cross your fingers," "think of a different Queen. Ru Paul? Eddie Izzard?" "Don't take it too seriously". None of these ideas struck me as satisfactory. I need to either not do it, or do it with some sort of theological integrity. 

Turning to the Jewish Tradition
There's plenty in the Old Testament that gives a view or ten on the place of the monarchy. From the hyperbole surrounding Solomon's reign to the brilliant satire against rulers in the book of judges. But the text that I chose that spoke to me most of my dilemma was Samuel's mediation between Israel and God on their desire to have a king "like other nations" (1 Sam. 8-9). 

Until this time the Bible describes Israel more as a confederacy of tribes. Occasionally a military leader, or Judge, will come forward but mostly, as described in the closing words of the book of Judges, "In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes." (Judges 21: 25). 

But as Samuel, the final 'Judge' reaches the end of his life the people get twitchy. A small people-group surrounded by Super-Powers they longed for some political security. 

Samuel Does not Want to Choose a King
Samuel is clear. If the people ask for a King they are, in effect, rejecting God as their King. Choosing Monarch is making a choice for idolatry. Samuel is dismayed at the idea. 

However, God is more easily persuaded. Sometimes it's easier to back down on your own behalf than for someone else, or perhaps it's just that God is an anarchist and refuses to stand in the way of human consensus. 

Give them what they want, says God, and give it them 'good and hard': "Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them." (1 Sam. 8: 9). 

In Britain there is an established Church and a Constitutional monarchy. Both are idols and both represent a rejection of God as King. But God, I believe, is an anarchist, and blesses whatever is offered. For most of us what is offered is done so with the best of intentions and God longs to bless. 

So, following Samuel's example, and listening to God's desire to bless whatever the people of God offer. I will be renewing that hideous oath this evening. I choose to do so and no one is coercing me to do so. I would rather not make the choice and pray for a day when there is no monarchy so vain as to ask for my allegiance, and I'm sure that day will come. 

Meanwhile, we all need pay heed to Samuel's warning: 

‘These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; ¹²and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plough his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. ¹³He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. ¹⁵He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. ¹⁶He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. ¹⁸And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but theLord will not answer you in that day.’

(1 Samuel 8: 11-18).