AnarchistStudies.Blog

On the anniversary of the announcement of the first Coronavirus lockdown in the UK, two activists involved with local mutual aid initiatives look back at the trajectory of autonomous self-help through the Covid-19 pandemic’s shifting dynamics. They provide grounded perspective on its successes and problems, and think ahead to the longer-term propsects for mutual aid groups.

Experiences of Mutual Aid Organising in Glasgow and Brighton

[Part of a series of articles reflecting on anarchist responses to the Covid-19 crisis and lockdown, one year on].

Kronstadt as Revolutionary Utopia, 1921-2021 and Beyond

A transnational convergence to remember history’s repressed revolutionary hopes and explore the “living past” struggle of capitalist authoritarianism vs. human internationalism.

Conference Recordings now available here: https://kronstadt2021.wordpress.com/conference-recordings/

The UK government’s clusterfuckery has resulted in the fourth worst death toll in the world per head of population. Bojo has blood on his hands. But the Tories’ pandemic response has also been marked by its crony ‘chumocracy’, jealous suppression (and co-optation) of mutual aid initiatives, and repressive policing of protest movements. In the first article of a new series on anarchist responses to the Coronavirus pandemic, Jim Donaghey examines the character of the ‘Covid State’, one year on.

Callous Incompetence, Corrupt Cronyism, Jealous Repression: One Year On, What is the Covid State?

[Part of a series of articles reflecting on anarchist responses to the Covid-19 crisis and lockdown, one year on].

Marx rejected the ‘syndicalist path’ in his quarrels with Bakunin during the years of the First International. But, in this article, Mustapha Mond asks whether syndicalism might in fact represent the very essence of Marxian socialism, as a model of ‘the self-government of the commune’ and as a bulwark against despotic ‘red bureaucracy’.

A Brief Question of Syndicalism

Kes Otter Lieffe is a working class, chronically ill, femme, trans woman, and author of a recent trilogy of sci-fi novels that are rich with trans, queer, anarchist, and dystopian themes. In this interview with Jim Donaghey she discusses how the books reflect her own life experiences and identity, the eerie speculative prescience of their near-future crises, and the ways in which these fictional communities echo the dynamics of real world social movements.

‘Survival is an act of resistance’ – an interview with Kes Otter Lieffe

Camille Mayer provides an overview of contemporary French anarchist dramatic production, highlighting the dilemmas faced by artists and producers who are faced with limited opportunities to subvert capitalist norms, and the continued patriarchal limitations placed upon women dramatists.

Contemporary Anarchist Theatre and the Struggle of Representation

Joaquín Rodríguez Álvarez discusses the ‘two faces’ of Artificial Intelligence as either a key tool for our survival, or a crystallization of the current dynamics of oppression. Resisting the fatalistic acceptance of emerging dystopian technologies (facial recognition, GMO, ‘killer robots’), he argues that a socio-ecological approach should underpin future technological development to empower people and liberate humanity.

The Eco-technological transition – fears and hopes in the age of Artificial Intelligence

Buddhism has often been linked with anarchism as a political tradition. In this article Brian Morris offers some critical reflections on the life and writings of the Zen Buddhist and well known poet, Gary Snyder, who has often been described as an eco-anarchist (and who celebrated his 90th birthday this year). It is focussed on three aspects of his work – Zen Buddhism, Native American culture and ecological humanism – and critically discusses Snyder’s seminal ecological manifesto.

Buddhism and Anarchism – reflections on the eco-anarchism of Gary Snyder

Following the publication of his new book The Making of Kropotkin’s Anarchist Thought: Disease, Degeneration, Health and the Bio-political Dimension, Richard Morgan remembers a draft chapter that didn’t make the cut.

Kropotkin’s ‘Social Gardening’ (a chapter remembered)

Concluding our Anarchist Studies Network Conference series, Teresa Xavier Fernandes analyses a Foucauldian ‘political spirituality’, especially as it emerges from Foucault’s writings on Iran and the influence of Sufi Islam.

‘Was the philosopher Michel Foucault an ecstatic? In my view, the answer is yes … Foucault found himself in this mystic and Sufi Iran, where he could check, observe and experiment with his fundamental concept of political spirituality’.

The Ecstatics – Michel Foucault’s Concept of Political Spirituality