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If you pick up some crap book about the history of punk rock, chances are there will be about 90 pages dedicated to Joe Strummer’s jackets but only two sentences about Crass. This is despite them selling millions of records, singlehandedly creating the DIY punk blueprint, and maintaining their hard-line libertarian and anarchy principles even as they reach their mid-60s today.

A lot of you reading this will be aware of their logo and the fact that they were a punk band, but not a lot of people know their actual story. Because it’s so inspirational and so “anti-music” (in the sense that it was a total revolt against the established music industry of the time) we feel that everybody with even a passing interest in punk rock should hear it.

And so we interviewed founding members Penny Rimbaud and Steve Ignorant for a brief history of the group and to procure their ideas surrounding this issue’s theme. During the talks between myself and Penny that preceded this interview I discovered that the unthinkable has happened and that Crass, the most anti-authoritarian, anarchy-endorsing free spirits in the history of punk music, are on the verge of going to Crown Court to ask lawyers and judges to intervene in a huge row over some remastered CDs.

Despite our efforts to include all sides of the story here, a couple of former members of Crass declined to participate.

A few years back, I published a few articles in Freedom on raising the demand for co-operatives in response to the economic crisis. These were ‘Bailouts or co-operatives?’ and ‘Co-operatives and conflicts!’ (although they appeared in Freedom slightly edited). The last was in reply to another article on this subject, which was replied to on-line. Somewhat belatedly, I now respond to the response.

The author, Joseph Kay, stresses “the importance of a comprehensive discussion of a libertarian communist response to the crisis is reaffirmed” and his reply had “the hope of clarifying some of his misunderstandings or misrepresentations of my position and contributing constructively to this necessary debate.”

First, he proclaims that his arguments are not contradictory, as I suggested. He argues that there “is no contradiction here, for two important reasons.” First, he “made clear in my article my objection to a strategy of co-operatives is twofold” as “anarchist demands for co-operatives are impotent, since we’re in no position at present to force them.” However, my point was that his position was contradictory because he argued that anarchists were in “no position to demand” anything yet that did not stop him raising “Communist demands” in the very same article.

There is little doubt today that we are living in apocalyptic times. From mega-selling Christian “end times” novels on the right, to the neoprimitivist nihilism that has captivated so much of the antiauthoritarian left, people across the political spectrum seem to be anticipating the end of the world. Predictions of “peak oil” have inspired important efforts at community-centered renewal, but also encouraged the revival of gun-hoarding survivalism. A 2009 Hollywood disaster epic elaborated the myth, falsely attributed to Mayan peoples, that the world will end in 2012. A cable TV series featured detailed computer animations purporting to show exactly how the world’s most iconic structures would eventually crumble and collapse if people ceased to maintain essential infrastructure. Numerous literary genres have embraced the apocalyptic mood, from Jared Diamond’s detailed histories in Collapse, to Margaret Atwood’s current dystopian trilogy, which began with the darkly satiric biotech nightmare, Oryx and Crake.

The prevalence of apocalyptic images is not at all limited to literature and popular culture. Disaster scenarios stemming from the accelerating global climate crisis look more severe with every new study of the effects of the rising levels of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere. Steadily rising levels of drought, wildfires and floods have been recorded on all the earth’s continents, and people in the tropics and subtropics already face difficulty growing enough food due to increasingly unstable weather patterns. Studies predict mass-scale migrations of people desperate to escape the worst consequences of widespread climate disruptions. And the diplomatic failure of the 2009 UN climate talks in Copenhagen raised the profile of several new studies forecasting the dire consequences of temperature increases that may exceed 15 degrees in the Arctic and in parts of Africa.[1] Bill McKibben’s latest book, Eaarth, elaborates the view that we are now living on a far more turbulent planet, one that is already strikingly different from the one most of us grew up on.

Finalized bookfair schedule

The 2010 Seattle Anarchist Book Fair is set for August 21-22 at our partnered space, the Vera Project (www.theveraproject.org). Public hours will be 10-5 on Saturday the 21st and 11-5 on Sunday the 22nd.

The VERA Project 305 Harrison St, Seattle Wa 98109 is located on the Corner of Warren & Republican Ave N, next to the Key Arena in Seattle Center. (tucked back under the awning.) http://theveraproject.org/contact/

An Anarchist Critique

A review of a new on-line journal of autonomous Marxism. What can anarchists learn from this trend of antistatist Marxism. What are its strengths and its weaknesses?

There has recently appeared a new on-line journal, Insurgent Notes: Journal of Communist Theory and Practice (June 2010). Produced by “less than a dozen [U.S.] intellectuals and militants,” it is committed to what has been called “libertarian” or “autonomous Marxism " This is also often called “libertarian communism” (a term which does not distinguish between libertarian Marxism and anarchist-communism).

Anarchists may see this journal as a sign of the increased interest in this Marxist trend (or rather, set of trends). The majority trend in world Marxism has been Marxist-Leninism (including Trotskyism and Maoism). It has been greatly discredited by the collapse of the Soviet Union and its satellites and by the developments in China. (Social democracy, the other main historical trend of Marxism, had given up its claim to Marxist theory by the 1950s. Its “socialist” or “labor” parties no longer claim to be in favor of a new, noncapitalist, society.)

Anarchist political theory is perhaps one of the most neglected traditions in contemporary political science. In a world created by the existence of the state, this makes sense. Nonetheless, thinking beyond the state paradigm is essential. Here we explore a work by one of the most influential anarchist thinkers, Peter Kropotkin, looking at the argument presented in Anarchism: Its Philosophy and Ideal, in terms of its sweeping rejection of capitalism and state. We examine interpretations of Kropotkin’s argument by notable poststructuralist anarchists—postanarchists, for short—Saul Newman, Todd May, and Uri Gordon. We also consider Ruth Kinna’s attempt to revise Kropotkin, in light of the postanarchist critique, and conclude with a brief commentary on the strengths and weaknesses of Kropotkin’s argument and its interpretations.

Kropotkin and Anarchism
Kropotkin rejects capitalism, and advocates revolution rather than reform. Interestingly, Kropotkin’s grievance is similar to that of Marx—for this reason he has sometimes been referred to as an anarchocommunist. Kropotkin, unlike Marx, also rejects the existence of the state. There are two interrelated reasons for his rejection of the state: first, the consolidation of power by the state exploits the individual; and second, the state facilitates a false division between people. In so arguing, Kropotkin distinguishes the anarchist strategy from that of the communist: because the state is the source of the problem, it is thus incapable of solving it. Thus, in contrast to Marxists, anarchists do not seek to seize state power.

Charity, defined biblically, is an unlimited loving kindness towards others. It’s a virtue, and one that is recognised far beyond the Christian faith. After all, who could argue that giving to those less fortunate is wrong?

Anarchist communism would seem to be precisely the philosophy that encourages charity. The basic mantra of “from each according to his faculties, to each according to his need” gives many this impression. Charity also often goes hand-in-hand with the anarchist principle of mutual aid.

The two things, however, are very different.

After helping out at a relief clinic in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, Molly McClure pondered the difference in concepts for Infoshop;

Over the past months a new translation collective has started based in Berlin. So far there are many texts translated into a fair few languages. The focus so far has been "insurrectionary" texts but not exclusivly. If anyone is interested in translating texts or laying out texts into an imposed pdf format (hint hint) get in touch,

http://translationcollective.wordpress.com

There’s a reason American workers aren’t paying much attention to the new financial regulations.

And no, it isn’t out of “apathy.”

Despite making a combined $18 billion in profits last quarter alone, major banks are still doing all that they can avoid new consumer protection legislation – and, we might add, new legislation hasn’t made it too difficult for them.

Much like the recent CARD Act, banks are quickly finding loopholes in the new legislation to recoup any of their potential losses. A new Bank of America program in Georgia, for example, is now charging customers to simply receive bank statements in the mail.

Amongst other plans in the works, banks may begin raising arbitrary “minimum balance requirements” for consumers, charging people for simply not having enough money in their accounts.

Rocktown Rebel was a bad enough dude to get banned from Wordpress. Undefeated, Rocktown Rebel now lives in the equally horrendous realm of Blogspot.

In his 2003 polemic Anarchism versus Primitivism, Brian Oliver Sheppard makes the case that primitivism is inherently in contradiction with anarchism.

Much can be inferred from his tone, which is openly mocking. He makes references to how “[u]nfortunately for anarchists, plunging into the primitivist miasma has become necessary,” openly condescending to engage the primitivists at all. But his arguments are mired in absurdities: he mocks primitivists as hypocrites for engaging in technological practices while ignoring the fact that nearly every anarchist of any stripe in capitalist and statist society is not living as she or he preaches.

The core of his argument is that primitivism is authoritarian and therefore irreconcilable with anarchism. But the anarchism he promotes is rather clearly a simplistic and “classical” one, a red anarchism that argues for worker control of a stateless society. He argues that primitivists are stuck in an illusory past that cannot be supported by evidence, yet never acknowledges his complicity in the same behavior; here is a man arguing that anarchism has always been about worker control and communistic ideas, completely ignoring the heterogeneous past and present of anarchism. The individualists, the anarchists-without-adjectives, the mutualists… these people simply never existed, if one is to infer from Brian’s1 piece.

A GREEN anarchist group has set up camp in County Tyrone to register its opposition to a multi-million pound road project earmarked between Londonderry and Augnacloy.

Climate Camp Ireland - a group that believes in taking direct action against the local causes of climate change - arrived in Victoria Bridge last Thursday to protest the planned A5 Western Transport Corridor.

The anarchist group - organised without leaders or bosses - is commited to taking direct action against the root causes of climate change.

From notes for a panel discussion at the 2010 Babylonia festival in Athens, Greece, at which a CrimethInc. agent was invited to speak about “The End of Ideology and the Future Events”

While religious fundamentalism is still a powerful force, ideology seems to be on the wane as a motor of secular revolutionary activity. The days are long past when groups like the Communist Party could command millions of adherents worldwide. Should anarchists celebrate this decline, positioning ourselves atop the crashing wave of history? Is ideology itself the problem?

But what would it mean to be against ideology? To get to the bottom of this, we have to understand precisely what we mean by the term.

I stumbled across an old (Dec. 2006) commentary by Wilikeaks’ Julian Assange, from his defunct blog, courtesy of Internet Archive. It’s reproduced on the P2P Foundation Wiki web site: “Non Linear Effects of Leaks on Unjust Systems of Governance.”

“The more secretive or unjust an organization is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership…. This must result in minimization of efficient internal communications mechanisms (an increase in cognitive ’secrecy tax’) and consequent system-wide cognitive decline resulting in decreased ability to hold onto power as the environment demands adaption. Hence in a world where leaking is easy, secretive or unjust systems are nonlinearly hit relative to open, just systems.”

North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference

Toronto, Canada
January 15-16, 2011
Deadline for Proposals: November 1, 2011

The North American Anarchist Studies Network is currently seeking presentations for our second annual conference to be held at the Steel Worker’s Hall in Toronto, Canada. We are seeking submissions from radical academics, independent researchers, community activists, street philosophers and students. We invite those engaged in intellectual work within existing institutions, such as universities, but also those engaged in the production of knowledge beyond institutional walls to share their ongoing work. From the library stacks to the streets, we encourage all those interested in the study of anarchism to submit a proposal.

In keeping with the open and fluid spirit of anarchism, we will not be calling for any specific topics of discussion, but rather are encouraging participants to present on a broad and diverse number of themes- from the historical to the contemporary to the utopian. For inspiration, we have included a number of suggested themes that have been of interest us; we invite you to suggest and submit your own topics, papers, themes, panels and workshops:

Anarchy Works, Ardent Press, 2010, 281pp.

I suspect that over time Anarchy Works will come to be known as one of the finest books ever written about anarchy. Its author, Peter Gelderloos, had been thinking about writing a book about what anarchy would look like, but then, in a slight shift of focus, thought it better to write first about what anarchy has looked like. So he scoured the historical and anthropological literature for examples of lived anarchy. Then he mined these case studies (around ninety altogether he says) for insights about the whole range of theoretical and practical problems facing anarchists, everything from crime to exchange to work. This is a book that is thoroughly grounded in reality, in actually existing anarchy, both past and present. It can be put on the shelf along side Colin Ward’s 1973 classic,
Anarchy in Action, which was also based on existing concrete social practices.

As the title suggests, the book is an attempt (and a successful one) to refute the oft-voiced objection: Anarchy could never work. Peter was on tour promoting this book. He came to Boston in late May, and then headed on up to Vermont, and then to Canada. He gave two talks, on May 25 and 26, both at the Encuentro Five space in Chinatown. In the first talk, which was attended by about thirty-five people, he presented various themes from the book. During the second evening, with about twenty present, he told the story of the squatter’s movement in Barcelona. Lively discussion followed each presentation.

This article summarises how a number of anarchist and anarchistic authors view the relationship between the state and war. Some of the authors discussed below are self-identified anarchists, while others are libertarian or autonomist Marxists who adopt anarchistic ideas. Stereotypically, anarchists are associated with violence, corresponding to the view of states as guarantors of peace. The first stereotype follows from the second: while anarchists disagree on the use of force, they generally view states as highly warlike, and oppose state violence both internationally and against internal ‘enemies’. The Hobbesian view of the state as protector is based partly on an assessment of state behaviour comparable to IR Realism, and partly PM awareness of histories of state-formation and of stateless peoples and movements. In contrast to statists, anarchists generally view society or social relations as separate and distinct from the state (or the state as a special kind of social relation distinct from others).

In response to a common misconception, it is not true that anarchists oppose the state because they are naïve about human nature. Anarchist views about human nature are widely variant. Objections to the state can be convincing based on many different views, such as distrusting people to hold too much power without abusing it. Statists might be said to have a dual conception of human nature: the good people are trusted with excessive power so as to disempower the bad people. Statism is thus associated with hierarchical differentiations of people. Further, the objection is not simply to states as institutions but to state-like ways of relating and acting: in some accounts, the state is a social relation. In anarchist theory, states are viewed as expressions of hierarchical, oppressive social logics. They are forces of decomposition, which tend to attack or break down alternative, horizontal social relations. They are also based on ‘reactive’ emotional forces of suspicion, hatred and aggression which they channel to produce warlike relations among people. They also turn on one another, accumulating wealth by pillaging other states or societies. Against such state violence, anarchist strategies often seek to find or form focal-points for social power which can counterbalance or draw energies away from state power. These focal-points necessarily involve living and acting in non-militarist, non-authoritarian ways.

This is a call for actions of solidarity with Alexi and the Greek resistance all over the United States this December 6, 2010. We encourage you to organize demonstrations or direct actions in your own cities. Two years will have passed, but we must let the world know we will never forget and never forgive. We’ll show our outrage at the countless police murders that have occurred and have a celebration of ongoing and growing resistance. Let’s show no mercy for the tools of the state responsible for enforcing the daily violence of capitalism!

Language teaches us to ‘look at’ the message that is constructed by assembling elements of content (words whose meaning is ‘local’ so they can be used as ‘bricks’ to construct more complex meaning in the manner that bricks are used to build a cathedral). In the metaphor of the construction of a cathedral, the big trees in the grove went to beams in the forest and there is a massive hole in the ground where the clay was extracted for making bricks, and the habitat has necessarily been transformed in conjugate relation to the construction of the cathedral. It has been argued that the same conjugate relation is present in the dynamics of ‘thought and speech’ (e.g. Lev Vygotsky’s ‘Thought and Language’ мышление и реч (’thinking and speech’)). That is, the man who is first to use the word ‘love’ in his dialogue with a woman can transform the commons of thought such that his relationship not only with the woman is transformed, but also with his friends (who were perhaps working towards using that word with her as well) and with her parents and the community in general.