Posted on September 2nd, 2009 in AK Allies, Spanish
There’s an interesting new online archive devoted to the work of anarchist writer and intellectual Angel Cappelletti.
Born in Buenos Aires in 1927 and spending the second half of his life in Venezuela, Cappelletti taught philosophy at various universities in Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Mexico, and Costa Rica. As a philosopher, he wrote on a wide range of topics—including pre-Socratic, Aristotelian, and medieval philosophy. And he has written a slew of books on the theory and history of anarchism, including:
* El Anarquismo en América Latina (edited with Carlos M. Rama)
* Hechos y figuras del anarquismo hispanoamericano
* El pensamiento de Kropotkin, ciencia ética y Anarquia
* A Ideoloxia Anarquista
* Estado y poder político en el pensamiento moderno
Below is an excerpt from the prologue of Cappelletti’s El Anarquismo en América Latina. The excerpt was posted to the @-infos listserv in 1996 by Luis J. Prat, who I also think did the translation. And, beneath that, I’ve pasted the Archivo Historico Angel Cappelletti’s “About Us” statement, first in Spanish, then my, um, sloppy translation.
Best,
Charles
—–
from Anarchism in Latin America
…Anarchism has an ample history in Latin America, rich in peaceful and violent struggles, in demonstrations of individual and collective heroism, in organizational efforts, in oral, written and practical propaganda, in literary works, in theatrical, pedagogic, cooperative or communitarian experiments, etc. This history has never been totally documented, although there are very good partial studies. Moreover, those who write the social, political, cultural, literary, philosophical history of the subcontinent usually neglect or minimize the importance of the anarchist movement. There is in this as much ignorance as bad faith. Some historians do not know the facts or consider anarchism as a marginal ideology absolutely minoritarian and scornful. Others, on the contrary, know what anarchism means in the history of socialist ideas and understand its attitude towards Marxism well, but precisely because of this they try to forget or belittle it as the fruit of revolutionary immaturity, abstract utopianism, craftsman and petit bourgeois rebelliousness, etc.
…Like all thought originating in Europe, anarchist ideology was for Latin America an imported product. But ideas are not mere products but rather organisms that, as such, must adapt to the new environment and in so doing, change in a lesser or greater measure. To say that anarchism was brought to these shores by European immigrants is to say the obvious. To interpret this fact as a sign of lesser value seems rather like a show of stupidity. (The very idea of “fatherland” and nationalist ideology came from Europe).
But anarchism was not simply the ideology of the working and peasant masses who, newly arrived in the continent, felt cheated of their hopes for a better life and saw the exchange of oppression from the ancient monarchies with the no less weighty oppression from the new republican oligarchies. Soon, it was the outlook on world and society that the native and even indigenous masses adopted, from Mexico (with Zalacosta in Chalco) to Argentina (with Facon Grande in Patagonia). It has seldom been noted that the anarchist doctrine of self-managed collectivism, as applied to the agrarian problem, coincided in fact with the ancient way of life and organization of the indigenous peoples of Mexico and Peru, prior not only to Spanish imperialism but also to Aztec and Inca imperialism. To the degree that anarchists got to approach the natives, they didn’t have to inculcate exotic ideologies, but only to make conscious the peasant ideologies of “calpull” and “ayllu.”
At the same time, a tendency toward liberty and a detachment from all forms of statist structure took root in the Creole population. When it was not channeled into following feudal caudillos, this provided fertile ground for libertarian ideology. Almost no one mentions the existence (in Argentina and Uruguay) of anarchist gauchos, who had their literary expression in the libertarian “payadores.” But even disregarding such phenomena, which will doubtlessly be considered insignificant by academic and Marxist historians, it can be said without doubt that anarchism sank roots among native workers much more deeply and extensively than Marxism (with the only exception, perhaps, of Chile).
Even when, from a theoretical point of view, the Latin American movement has not contributed fundamentally to anarchist thought, it can be said that from the organizational and practical point of view it produced forms unknown in Europe. Thus, the Federacion Obrera Regional Argentina (FORA) was an example of a center that, being majoritarian (to the point of becoming, in many ways, a single center), never made any concessions to syndical bureaucracy, while at the same time adopting an organization as different from the CNT and other European anarcho-syndicalist organizations as from the North American IWW. Another example, typically Latin American, is the existence of the Partido Liberal Mexicano, which a few years after its foundation adopted an ideology that no doubt was anarchist (the work, above all, of Ricardo Flores Magon) and that nevertheless kept its name and continued presenting itself as a political party (which earned it sharp criticism from orthodox Europeans like Jean Grave).
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Posted on August 28th, 2009 in AK Authors!, AK Distribution, Happenings
This past weekend, AK had the pleasure of tabling at the annual SF Zine Fest in Golden Gate Park (in the same building where the Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair is held, actually!).
We had a great time meeting and talking to lots of the people who showed up to check out (as well as sell, trade, etc.) zines, books and crafts. And, while we may have been too busy behind the table to attend any of them, we got to hear about the numerous great workshops geared toward fostering creativity within the DIY community.
We also got to debut some of our newer published titles and distro items, like Direct Action, The Coming Insurrection, and the new edition of perennial favorite Stolen Sharpie Revolution!
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(AK Collective member Suzanne and volunteer/comrade Jose talk up the new titles) |
We were lucky enough not only to share a room with tons of great local and not-so-local friends—including Microcosm Publishing, PM Press, and Paul Barron—but to share a row of tables with the Rad Dad and our close friends and neighbors 1984 Printing.
Also, Lorna picked up this incredible print by artist Sarah Oleksyk:
Because it reminded her of this guy:
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(That’s Under, our unofficial mascot and source of entertainment, moral support, and whining during meetings) |
All in all, it was a fun couple of days, as usual. If you missed it this year, be sure to check back next summer— the Zine Fest rolls around every August! And if you’re looking for more AK event action (who isn’t, really?), be sure to sign up to receive our Bay Area or national events emails.
Posted on August 26th, 2009 in AK Book Excerpts
Last month, we released Shon Meckfessel’s Suffled How It Gush: A North American Anarchist in the Balkans. Equal parts journalism, history, and personal memoir, the book records Shon’s travels throughout ex-Yugoslavia and the greater Balkans region, chronicling the beauty of an area too renowned for its ugliness. As George Katsiaficas, author of The Subversion of Politics, desrcibes it: “Shon Meckfessel bathes in undercurrent discourses and points us to Balkan dynamics contradicting the nationalist loyalties that distort people’s lives. Rather than making ethnic claims or endorsing any hierarchy, he clarifies existing struggles against states and points toward a region free of domination.”
It’s a book of serious political analysis that reads like a novel. We’ve posted a taste below. [When you’re done reading, please visit Free the Hikers and help Shon’s friends—Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd—who were recently arressted while hiking the Iran/Iraq border.]
* * *
On the train through South Serbia, the stretch when I usually feign sleep to avoid conversation, the man sitting across from me offers me a cigarette. He must have noticed me staring at his tattoo—a large peace sign in bold, home-tattoo lines. And, higher on the same arm, another tattoo—the Serbian nationalist symbol, within the handle of a dagger. This time, as I am here to write about neighboring Kosovo, I take a breath and accept his cigarette. His wife maintains her distant gaze through the window as we step into the hallway.
“Znaš, Srbi su pacifisti. You know, Serbs are pacifists,” he begins. I have never before heard this claim for a people who have a tradition of throwing a three-day party when one of their sons joins the army. Only marriage and death are feted to the same extent. “Croats are fascists,” he continues, perhaps noticing from the tag on my bag that I boarded the train in Zagreb. This is the conversation I had hoped to sleep through, particularly as I keep dropping Croatian words throughout my Serbian.
“The state was,” I agree, “but many Croats also fought with the Partisans.”
“No, they were all Ustaše.”
“But Tito himself was half Croat!”
He pauses. “Tito was good. Peace, prosperity, brotherhood and unity…” I decide not to press him further to acknowledge Tito’s heritage, and move on. At the moment, I am here to find out about a subject close to the hearts of Serb nationalists, and tell him I am heading to Kosovo, to write on the situation for minorities.
“You are a writer. Will you write about this conversation?”
I tell him I don’t know yet. “I was in Kosovo.” He points to his shoulder tattoo. “You don’t want to go there, too many Albanians now. Albanians are bad—they rape women, kill children. You know, they are Muslims?” I nod sternly. “Well, Muslims are terrorists.”
“Not all!” He asks for an example, but I hesitate to say Bosnia, the first example in my mind. I fear my very limited Serbian is not up to the task of defending the one and a half billion people of the Umma in one swoop, but I see no way out. “Teroristi su samo u posebnim situacijima.” They’re only terrorists on special occasions.
In the next train car, someone’s radio blasts one of these strange American-sounding pop songs such that I have never heard outside the Balkans. “Everybody has cheated everybody, in the 21st century. Time to make sure, you don’t lose…” I begin to doubt my own sanity. Am I projecting my paranoia in radio waves?
The train enters Niš. He points out the Mahala, the Romani neighborhood, which seems to be going about its business as we pass it. We exchange waves with some kids. I tell him I’ve been studying Romani in America. He tells me he speaks Romani, as well as Russian and, of course, Serbian.
I tell the pacifist how I am worried what will happen to the Roma if Kosovo becomes independent from Serbia. “Kosovo will never become independent,” he states with complete resolve. “It’s the sacred ground of Serbia, as Jerusalem is for Israel.” I follow the simile through in my thoughts, but decide to keep it to myself. “Like, the heart?” I offer. “Yes, the heart of Serbia.”
He offers me another cigarette, but I apologetically explain that I am exhausted from my voyage. Attempting to recline sandwiched between passengers on each side, I squeeze my eyes shut and focus my very awake attention on appearing to nap deeply. After twenty minutes, he shakes my shoulder, not convinced. “Amerikanac!” Realizing I have little choice, I accept a cigarette.
“Ja, Srbin.” I, Serb. I had guessed as much, but respond with a manly nod. “Žene, Albanka.” My wife, Albanian. This I had not expected. I cannot hold back my astounded smile. His face still serious, he shrugs, “Ljubav.” Love. Apologetic, almost embarrassed.
“You see, I am not a nationalist, I am a pacifist.”
Yes, I tell him, I think I am going to write about this conversation.
Posted on August 24th, 2009 in AK Allies, Current Events
Gentle readers, please read, enjoy, and feel free to circulate this manifesto from the Surrealist Movement in the United States! Make the world aware of this impending threat!
NO WAR ON THE MOON!
IN DEFENSE OF THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
“But, for myself, the Earth’s records had taught me to look for widest ruin as the price of highest civilization.”— Edgar Allan Poe, The Colloquy Of Monos And Una (1850)
Twenty years before a powerful syndicate of military-industrial criminals conspired to plant a US flag on the Moon, a similar clique of fiends plotted to fire a nuclear warhead-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile at the lunar face. Code-named “Project A119,” this plan devised by Cold War-era Air Force and weapons manufacturers called for a massive nuclear explosion that would be clearly visible from anywhere on Earth. Researchers struggled in vain to find any pretext, any shred of legitimate scientific value, to glean from this sickening display of militarist impunity. But the sole objective of Project A119 was to terrorize into submission every human on the planet (especially those who had never heard of Hiroshima or Nagasaki) with a demonstration of how the US ruling class was technologically adept and morally bankrupt enough to commit such an unimaginable poetic atrocity.
And now, once again, there are plans to bomb the Moon. This time the unilateral strike is aimed at the Moon’s South Pole and the payload will be delivered by the LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite) spacecraft; the excuse given is that this is an effort to find water deep under lunar surface. The craft was launched in late June and is currently orbiting the Earth until it finds its target; if all goes according to plan, the M-Day bombing will be 8 October 2009.
The plan is this: the LCROSS first shoots off its 2,300-pound spent booster-rocket at the lunar target zone. Four minutes later, in a scheme apparently inspired by fanatical terrorist airline hijackers, the rest of the robotic LCROSS craft slams into the same area. Like crazed kamikaze paparazzi, the craft will snap photos and transmit data on the first strike back to NASA’s mad bombers before immolating itself in a second explosion. This violent hi-tech sci-fi spectacle will cost anywhere up to $600 million, a price tag that is an outrageous insult to the millions of working people unable to feed, house, or medically treat their families. (As Gil Scott-Heron lamented in 1974: “How come there ain’t no money here? Hmm! Whitey’s on the Moon…”)
Of course, there is much more behind this attack than casual scientific curiosity on whether or not there is water on the Moon. First of all, since the long-range accuracy of intercontinental ballistic missiles has never been proven to work, the LCROSS suicide mission serves as a live-fire test exercise for US war strategists with an interest in the precision of orbiting satellite weapons—in other words, the southern hemisphere of the Moon will be turned into a firing range, making this mission one giant leap for the global reach of space warfare. Secondly, LCROSS has been promoted as “the vanguard” for the US military-industrial-entertainment complex’s return to the Moon—according to NASA, finding water is a necessary first step for “building a long-term and sustainable human presence” there. Historically, the purpose of exploration has always been the exploitation of resources and the colonization of territory without regard for ecosystems or indigenous peoples, and clearly the Moon is the next territory coveted by imperialists.
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Posted on August 21st, 2009 in AK News, Spanish
The man, the legend, and one of AK’s most popular books, is now available in Spanish!
* * *
“El legado de las ideas anarquistas, y aun más, de las inspiradoras luchas de los pueblos que han buscado liberarse de la opresión y la dominación, debe ser atesorado y preservado, no como una forma de congelar el pensamiento y las ideas en otro molde más, sino como base para la comprensión de la realidad social y del trabajo que se compromete a cambiarlo. No hay razón para suponer que la historia ha llegado a un final, que las actuales estructuras de autoridad y dominación están esculpidas en piedra. Otro error tremendo sería subestimar el poder de las fuerzas sociales que pelearán para mantener su poder y privilegio.”— Noam Chomsky
Todos conocemos eso a lo que Chomsky se opone. Su mordaz análisis de todo lo que está mal en nuestra sociedad alcanza a un público cada vez más amplio. Sus brillantes críticas del capitalismo, el imperialismo, la represión nacional y la propaganda gubernamental – entre otras cosas –, se han convertido en pequeñas industrias editoriales por sí mismas. Pero, en este torrente de publicación y re-publicación, se dice muy poco acerca de lo que Chomsky propone, su propia perspectiva política, su visión del futuro.
Sobre el Anarquismo muestra otro aspecto de este exitoso autor: los principios anarquistas que lo han guiado desde su adolescencia. Esta compilación de ensayos, charlas y entrevistas – seleccionadas e introducidas por Barry Pateman, Editor Asociado del Emma Goldman Papers de la Universidad de California en Berkeley – incluye trabajos que nunca antes habían sido publicados, entrevistas presentadas por primera vez en inglés, así como materiales que vieron la luz por primera vez en panfletos difíciles de encontrar y periódicos anarquistas. Tomados en conjunto, pintan un renovado cuadro de Chomsky, mostrando su antigua y permanente participación en la comunidad anarquista, su constante compromiso con modelos no-jerárquicos de organización política, y sus esperanzas de un futuro mundo sin dominadores.
Para cualquier persona que se inspire en el penetrante análisis que hace Chomsky de nuestra situación actual, así como para quien busque una discusión inteligente y coherente del anarquismo, Sobre el Anarquismo será una experiencia fascinante y sorprendente.
Noam Chomsky es uno de los principales intelectuales del mundo, padre de la lingüística moderna, franco crítico de los medios y de la política exterior, e incansable activista. Vive en Lexington, Massachusetts.
Posted on August 14th, 2009 in AK Book Excerpts
Long awaited, much anticipated, damn late, and therefore the subject of many impatient phone and email inquiries to AK Press, David Graeber’s Direct Action: An Ethnography is now available!
As project-coordinator and copyeditor for David’s book, I’ve probably read it three times already. And I can honestly say it’s been a great read every time. This made it much more difficult for me to choose an excerpt to post here. David covers so much material and moves through so many great registers and tones, that no single excerpt could capture what he’s done with this project. Should I share one of his funnier moments? A more theoretical section about anarchism, race, the state, or direct action? A page-turning, blow-by-blow demo description?
I decided to take the easy route and post the first few pages of the Introduction. It doesn’t do total justice to the range of this 600-page symphony, but it does hit some of David’s many great notes. And, hey, it’s the door he decided to use to introduce readers to their fantastic voyage.
Enjoy,
Charles
—–
you begin with rage, you move on to silly fantasies…
“So,” Jaggi says. “I have an idea for what Ya Basta! might contribute to the actions in Québec City. The Canadian press keeps framing this as some kind of alien invasion. Thousands of American anarchists are going to be invading Canada to disrupt the Summit. The Québécois press is doing the same thing: it’s the English invasion all over again. So my idea is we play with that. We reenact the battle of Québec.”
Puzzled stares from the Americans at the table.
“That was the battle in 1759 in which the British conquered the city in the first place. They surprised the French garrison by climbing up these cliffs just to the west of the Plains of Abraham, near the old fort. So here’s my idea. You guys can suit up in your Ya Basta! outfits, and climb the exact same cliff, except—no, wait, listen! This part is important—over all the padding and the chemical jumpsuits, you’ll all be wearing Québec Nordiques hockey jerseys.”
“You want us to climb a cliff?” asked Moose.
“Uh huh.”
“And how high exactly is this cliff?”
“Oh, I don’t know, 60 meters. What’s that, about 180 feet?”
“So you want us to climb a 180-foot cliff geared up in gloves and helmets and gas masks and foam rubber padding?”—Moose acting as if Jaggi might actually be serious about this.
“Think of it this way: the helmets and padding would be very helpful if you fall down at all. Which is likely because you have to figure the cliffs will be defended.”
Moose: “Oh, great. So now we’re climbing a 180-foot cliff with riot cops all over the top.”
“Oh come on, you’re probably all going to get arrested immediately just for wearing those suits. You might as well actually do something with them first. And the symbolism would be perfect.”
“I refuse to be so pessimistic,” I say. “Let’s imagine some of us get through. We scale the cliffs. Suddenly we’re inside the security perimeter…”
“Well, actually, no,” says Jaggi, looking down at the map of the city. The map of the city is drawn in felt tip on a large unfolded napkin, on the table of a pastry shop in New York City’s Little Italy, surrounded by various salt shakers and sugar bowls being used to represent imaginary activist and police units, all flanked by empty bottles of beer and a former chocolate cake. Six activists are crowded around the table, three Canadians, three representatives of the New York Ya Basta! Collective—all that are left of what had started as a much larger group. “We’re kind of assuming the fence will actually run around the edge of the cliff as well.”
Jaggi confers briefly with his two Québécois friends, who nod agreement. One, Nicole, adds another line to the map to make this more explicit.
“You mean we get over the cliffs and we still have to go over the wall?” someone asks.
“Oh come on,” says Jaggi. “If you can get up a 180-foot cliff, a 15-foot chainlink fence is going to be a problem?”
“Fine, we’re inside.” I’m insisting on my scenario. “Fifty activists in yellow chemical jumpsuits and—what was it, some Québec team’s hockey jerseys?— make it over the wall. We are inside the security perimeter. We have reversed the British invasion. Now what do we do? Occupy the citadel? Present a petition?”
“Actually, that would be really funny,” says one of the Yabbas. “We fight our way up the cliffs past two thousand riot cops, we go over the wall, and then, when we get there, we just present a petition.”
“To who?”
“Well to Bush, obviously.”
“How do we know where Bush is going to be?” asks someone else.
“He will be staying in the Concord hotel,” says one of the Québécois anarchists.
“It will be easy to find; you can see it from almost anywhere in the city. Especially easy now,” he smiles. “Just look for the building with the surface-to-air missiles on top.”
“Plus about ten thousand snipers and secret service men, presumably, with endless high tech surveillance equipment…”
“…which will, in turn, be disrupted by our vast fleet of remote-controlled model airplanes…”
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Posted on August 12th, 2009 in AK Distribution
We know it’s a rough time for a lot of people financially at the moment—but we also know that you all still need a good book now and then, and we still need your support to keep going. So we’ve especially been on the lookout lately for good books that we can offer to you at better-than-normal prices: that way we all get what we need! This month we’ve had some great successes, getting some really good cheap books. So the first couple of “new” things in our post this month aren’t totally new to us, just newly cheap enough that you really shouldn’t pass them up (because with any luck, they won’t be here for long).
Sale books from Seven Stories Press
We just got a giant pallet of overstock from our friends at Seven Stories, who’ve done some really great books over the years. Now we need your help moving these books, because we really don’t have room in our warehouse for a pallet of overstock! So we’ve priced them (brand new books, mind you!) at $3–$10 in hopes that they’ll fly out the door. Scroll through the list and you’re sure to find something—we’ve discounted titles from Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, Subcomandante Marcos, Paco Ignacio Taibo, and plenty more.
Sale books from Disinformation
Disinformation books have always been popular when we table at events—with titles like You Are Being Lied To and Everything You Know Is Wrong, it’s hard not to pick them up just to see what you might be missing. Some of them are pretty hefty volumes, which means they’ve got a lot in them, but also means you might normally balk at the price. Now we’ve managed to get some slightly damaged copies (we’re talking totally intact books, just with slightly bent corners or cover scuffs that might have made them unsellable in “new” bookstores) and we’re selling them at $2–$10 off the normal list prices.
Black Panther: Intercommunal News Service 1967–1980 edited by David Hilliard
As someone interested in movement art (and a fan of Emory Douglas), I’m particularly excited about the great graphics that are reproduced in this book—but the text is an equally valuable primary source, covering everything from the BPP’s free breakfast program and international solidarity to political prisoners and COINTELPRO. Original pages of the Black Panther Party’s newspaper are reproduced here and put into historical context—and you also get a bonus DVD. This is another ever-so-slightly-damaged item, so we’re able to knock $7 off the normal price and everyone wins!
Sick: A Compilation Zine on Physical Illness edited by Ben Holtzman
Especially in the midst of all the current hubbub about healthcare and the evil machinations of governments and insurance companies, illness (one’s own or someone else’s) is one of those things that should really make us think about the kind of communities we want to create for ourselves. How can people receive and provide support outside of these frameworks of power? What does it mean to be an informed patient when everything seems to be set up against you? Despite the word “zine,” this is actually a small paperback book, packed with reflections on these questions and many others.
Celebrate People’s History Postcard Set #2 edited by Josh MacPhee
The first set of Celebrate People’s History postcards has been a really popular item for us and we’re down to the last of those (I’m going to buy one for myself right now before we run out…I’m serious, and you should too). But I’m also excited to see the second set available now, especially since Muhammad Ali is on the cover and I saw part of a VH1 documentary on him at the gym this morning. Seriously, it does not take much to get me excited about good radical prints, and these are great! The set includes 16 full-color postcard reproductions of Celebrate People’s History posters including Paul Robeson, The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Cochabamba, Haymarket, the Silent Majority, Judi Bari, Mothers of East Los Angeles, and more—all in a pretty letterpress package from Stumptown Printers.
Outsiders: Art by People edited by Steve Lazarides
This one was actually recommended to us by our buyer at St. Mark’s Bookshop in New York (let that be a lesson to all of you: if you hear of something we should have in our catalog but don’t yet, please let us know!). Steve Lazarides is a gallery owner and also Banksy’s manager, so you know he’s got a good eye for street art. I’m not going to pretend I’m cool enough to know all the artists included in this lavish full-color book…but the work ranges from pretty good to really awesome, and since there are twenty-five different artists featured, it’s a good range as well.
Ethereal Shadows: Communications and Power in Contemporary Italy by Franco “Bifo” Berardi
It seems Bifo is all the rage these days, with several of his books finally coming into print in English. This one is new from Autonomedia, and focuses specifically on the Italian media. He looks at the rise and eventual fall of Italian media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, as well as several case studies of the media activism of which Bifo himself was an integral part: Radio Alice (Italy’s first pirate radio station), Rekombinant (an online network), and Orfeo TV (an autonomous street television network). Isn’t it refreshing to read analysis like this by people who were actually involved in on-the-ground struggles? I think so!
This Land: An Environmental Justice Folk Recording by Joshua Marcus
This CD is presumably named in homage to Woody Guthrie, and it’s definitely in his spirit. It isn’t just another folk recording—it’s a collaborative songwriting project, meaning that Joshua Marcus (a Philly folk singer) put a lot of time into working with folks doing environmental justice work to come up with songs that would speak to the conditions people are facing today and the work that needs to be done. And he’s donating the proceeds to the community groups who participated in the project.
A Young People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn and Rebecca Stefoff
This is written specifically for young people, but it’s the same basic idea as the grown-up version of A People’s History of the United States (US history told from the perspectives of people whose voices who probably weren’t included in your textbooks). This first came out two years ago, as two separate hardcover volumes selling for $17–$18 apiece. Then it came out last year as a single-volume hardcover priced at $45. Now, at long last, it’s available as an affordable single-volume paperback!
El precio del fuego: Las luchas por los recursos naturales y los movimientos sociales en Bolivia by Benjamin Dangl
This is the Spanish translation of The Price of Fire, which we published in English a couple years back. It’s an informative look at the many forms that resistance to corporate globalization has taken in Bolivia. We got ahold of a limited number of copies of the new Spanish edition, as part of an arrangement with the Bolivian publisher who put it out. Get them while you can!
Posted on August 8th, 2009 in AK Allies, Happenings
As many of you know, the Southern California Anarchist Conference was held this past weekend, August 1st and 2nd, at the Southern California Library and the UCLA Labor Center, respectively. I’m more than certain that there are several insightful, well-written report backs in the works that will be circulated online within a matter of days (if they haven’t already). With this in mind, I’ve put together a visual report back from AK’s day of tabling during the 2nd day of the conference.
Enjoy,
Victoria
P.S. If you have any report backs from the conference, please share the link in the comments section of this post. Thanks!
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La Feria Libertaria, aka day two of the conference, took place at the UCLA Labor Center across the street from MacArthur Park. |
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At the entrance. |
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It’s the AK table! Complete with many lovely volunteer-friends. |
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A dazzling assortment from Urban Xic. I got myself a new wallet. |
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Southeast L.A. Infoshop. Fuck yeah! I love this crew. They are just starting up, so make sure to show them some love when you see them around town. |
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Nifty cards to keep track of your cycle, courtesy of the SELA Infoshop table. |
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PM Press also traveled down from the Bay Area to partake in the festivities. |
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I’m sorry, I don’t recall the name of this group, but they were so dang friendly (look at those smiles) and had lots of cool, inexpensive, homemade jewelry and art for sale. |
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Posted on August 3rd, 2009 in AK Allies, Happenings
CALL FOR PAPERS, PRESENTATIONS, AND PANELS
The 1st North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference
When: November 21-22, 2009
Where: Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Who: Anarchist Researchers, Scholars of Anarchism & Related Topics, Graduate Students, Activists, and Friends
Dear Friends, Colleagues, Compañero/as, and Compagnon/es:
It gives me considerable pleasure to announce the impending commencement of the North American Anarchist Studies Network (NAASN), which will be celebrated with an inaugural conference on 21 and 22 November 2009 at the Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford, CT.
The NAASN is inspired by, but independent from, the UK-based Anarchist Studies Network. Like the UK-ASN, the NAASN is being founded in response to a burgeoning interest in anarchism currently expressed both inside and outside the academy. One of its key aims is to facilitate and promote the study of anarchist history, theory, and practice across scholarly disciplines by bringing together graduate students, academics, independent scholars, and activists from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Beyond this very general vision, specific details concerning the shape and direction of the NAASN are yet to be determined. Indeed, this is one of the purposes of the inaugural meeting. We are also calling for papers, panels, and presentations for the accompanying conference. Creativity in format and presentation is encouraged, as are submissions from people who may not currently have a university affiliation. Papers, panels, and presentations should focus on work on anarchism or topics of interest to the anarchist milieu. Please note that the NAASN is not only for anarchist researchers but also for scholars of anarchism and related topics such as labor history, etc.
Please send proposals and/or abstracts with a brief bio to the conference organizers: Jesse Cohn, Luis Fernandez, Nathan Jun, Deric Shannon, and Abbey Willis at anarchiststudies@hotmail.com . Please keep descriptions and/or abstracts fewer than 500 words. All proposals and abstracts are due by October 10, 2009.
For more information about the conference, please see the attached CFP or visit our recently-created and soon-to-be-updated website. Please feel free to forward this announcement and the CFP to relevant parties.
(By the way, the conference will include a performance of Howard Zinn’s Emma which may—and we emphasize may—be introduced by Professor Zinn himself! Consult the website for up-to-date information.)
Sincerely,
Jesse Cohn
Co-Organizer, North American Anarchist Studies Network
Associate Professor of English, Purdue University North Central
Posted on July 31st, 2009 in AK Authors!, Happenings
[Leon, Spain] – Spanish newspapers report that the Leon City Council recently authorized the placement of a stone moment honoring Buenaventura Durruti in the Santa Ana Plaza in the Leon neighborhood in which Durruti was born in 1896. Constructed by the artist Diego Segura and financed by the CGT (Confederación General del Trabajo), it will be unveiled on November 20 this year, seventy-three years after Durruti died while fighting the fascists in the “Battle of Madrid.”
Durruti was a hero to millions during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 and remains a symbol of anarchist militancy and insurgency to this day. If you would like to learn about his life, there is no better source than Abel Paz’s Durruti in the Spanish Revolution. If you would like to learn about the Spanish Civil War generally, you have a LOT to choose from in AK’s catalog.
The image to the right is a sketch of the sculpture. Its title is “Hálito Durruti,” which translates as the “breath” or “breeze of Durruti.” The artist has tried to instill the stone sculpture with Durruti’s creative breath by hollowing out the block’s center, which will be lined with polished bronze and illuminated.
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