Many people are put off by the very idea or mention of anarchism. Some subscribers to The R-Word may be such people. So if you’re one of these, please don’t run away. When I speak of anarchism, or post things about anarchism, I’m not meaning to constrain and contain The R-Word, but to expand the scope of consideration of ideas.
In my view, the lineage of thought found in anarchist discourse offers important insights into what I call non-state modes of political engagement. And non-state modes of political engagement are, I think, going to be increasingly important as governments and intergovernmental organizations (e.g., the United Nations and its climate COPs) reveal themselves as increasingly unlikely to effectively address the climate and ecological crisis. We need not be anti-statist anarchists to benefit from rummaging through the ideas and history of anarchism for non-statist political ideas and praxes. For example, prefigurative politics was basically an anarchist innovation.
One need not be an anarchist, per se, to make good use of non-state political practices and theories. Even the politics of the state now clearly requires non-state political engagement in order to open up otherwise foreclosed possibilities for a less centralized and authoritarian economic, social and political life. Indeed, as political discourse tends to be constrained, it’s difficult for most people to even imagine what non-state politics could even mean! So if you are reading here and find this concept utterly boggling, feel free to ask, and I’ll do my best to provide a succinct explanation.
Here’s the video:
‘Anarchy – A Graphic Guide’ (1987) – A Book in Five Minutes, no.21 - YouTube
Ramblinactivist’s Videos, 2022/37, 17th November 2022. Published thirty-five years ago, this book is a simple, comprehensive, diverse, and more importantly, fun!, exploration of anarchism. Based on many different anarchist texts, it’s one of the best introductions to the history and theory and anarchism I’ve found. It avoids the often dry, academic prose of other guides for an involving narrative and attractive graphics. What it seeks to demonstrate is not so much what anarchism ‘is’, but the broad field of anarchist ideas that have existed for centuries. I think this book is one of the most effective introductions to the history of anarchist ideas because – literally – it paints pictures rather than making arguments. It allows people to find their place in the pantheon of anarchist thought, rather than telling them what to think. For the referenced text and an audio podcast of this post, go to: http://www.fraw.org.uk/blog/reviews/0... You can find more of these reviews in ‘A Book in Five Minutes’ here: http://www.fraw.org.uk/blog/reviews/i... Finally, it would really help to promote this work if you could follow, subscribe, or like my social media presence – which can be accessed from the link above. In today’s digital analytics popularity contest, all that button-pressing means something in this messed-up world. Chapters: 00:00 Opening titles. 00:32 Book review. 06:07 A note about the new ‘Afterword’ section. 07:07 Afterword on the book. 12:02 Closing credits.