Book review: Carl Levy (ed.), Colin Ward: life, times and thought (2013) (original) (raw)
Related papers
This article challenges the assumption that the post-war era was relatively insignificant in the development of anarchist thought. In fact, many of the most important figures within the post-war anarchist milieu in Britain and the US were concerned with questions of theory as well as practice, and their thought comprises a distinct and coherent ideological configuration of anarchism. In adapting anarchism to the post-war political context, this ‘New Anarchism’ revised key concepts of classical anarchism like ‘revolution’ and ‘utopia’, while placing stronger emphasis on concepts like ‘education’ and ‘planning’. The New Anarchists were more ‘practical’ than their predecessors, as Ruth Kinna has noted—they looked for liberatory potential within the status quo, they eschewed sectarianism and they embraced piecemeal change. But the New Anarchists shared more than just practicality—they shared an innovative vision of anarchism with potential relevance to the present day. This article provides an account of the historical context that gave rise to the New Anarchism, develops an outline of the New Anarchism's main features and proposes some reasons as to why the New Anarchism has been neglected.
'Punk and Anarchist Squats in Poland'
Trespass, 2017
Squats are of notable importance in the punk scene in Poland, and these spaces are a key aspect of the relationship between anarchism and punk. However, the overlap of squatting, punk, and anarchism is not without its tensions. This article, drawn from ethnographic research carried out between 2013 and 2014, explores the issues around punk and anarchist squats in Poland, looking at: criticisms levelled at punk squats by 'non-punk' squatting activists (e.g. Przychodnia in Warsaw); instances of squats as a hub for a wide spectrum of anarchist activity (e.g. the 'anarchist Mecca' of Rozbrat in Poznań); and the repression of squatting in Poland through eviction and legalisation (affecting all squats in some form). (Other squats and social centres mentioned here include Elba and ADA Puławska in Warsaw, Wagenburg and CRK in Wrocław, and Od:zysk in Poznań.) Among the various squats, there were tensions around approaches and tactics identified as 'more anarchist' or 'less anarchist' – this speaks to the supposed 'workerist'/'lifestylist' dichotomy within anarchism more widely, but the lived experience of the squatters is shown here to be far too complex to be encompassed in any false binary.
Anarchy & Society: Reflections on Anarchist Sociology
2013
Anarchy and Society explores the many ways in which the discipline of Sociology and the philosophy of anarchism are compatible. The book constructs possible parameters for a future ‘anarchist sociology’, by a sociological exposition of major anarchist thinkers (including Kropotkin, Proudhon, Landauer, Goldman, and Ward), as well as an anarchist interrogation of key sociological concepts (including social norms, inequality, and social movements). Sociology and anarchism share many common interests—although often interpreting each in divergent ways—including community, solidarity, feminism, crime and restorative justice, and social domination. The synthesis proposed by Anarchy and Society is reflexive, critical, and strongly anchored in both traditions.
Anarchism and geography: a brief genealogy of anarchist geographies
Geography Compass, 2013
Anarchism and geography have a long and disjointed history, characterized by towering peaks of intensive intellectual engagement and low troughs of ambivalence and disregard. This paper traces a genealogy of anarchist geographies back to the modern development of anarchism into a distinct political philosophy following the Enlightenment. The initial rise of geographers’ engagement with anarchism occurred at the end of the nineteenth-century, owing to Élisée Reclus and Peter Kropotkin, who developed an emancipatory vision for geography in spite of the discipline’s enchantment with imperialism at that time. The realpolitik of the war years in the first half of the twentieth-century and the subsequent quantitative revolution in geography represent a nadir for anarchist geographies. Yet anarchism was never entirely abandoned by geographical thought and the counterculture movement of the 1970s gave rise to radical geography, which included significant interest in anarchist ideas. Unfortunately another low occurred during the surge of neoliberal politics in the 1980s and early 1990s, but hope springs eternal, and from the late 1990s onward the anti-globalization movement and DIY culture have pushed anarchist geographies into more widespread currency. In reviewing the literature, I hope to alert readers to the ongoing and manifold potential for anarchist geographies to inform both geographical theory and importantly, to give rise to more practice-based imperatives where building solidarities, embracing reciprocity, and engaging in mutual aid with actors and communities beyond the academy speaks to the ‘freedom of geography’ and its latent capacity to shatter its own disciplinary circumscriptions.
Contemporary Anarchist Studies: An Introductory Anthology of Anarchy in the Academy
The link below is to a pdf.... "This volume of collected essays by some of the most prominent academics studying anarchism bridges the gap between anarchist activism on the streets and anarchist theory in the academy. Focusing on anarchist theory, pedagogy, methodologies, praxis, and the future, this edition will strike a chord for anyone interested in radical social change. This interdisciplinary work highlights connections between anarchism and other perspectives such as feminism, queer theory, critical race theory, disability studies, post-modernism and post-structuralism, animal liberation, and environmental justice. Featuring original articles, this volume brings together a wide variety of anarchist voices whilst stressing anarchism's tradition of dissent. This book is a must buy for the critical teacher, student, and activist interested in the state of the art of anarchism studies."
Autonomy-Solidarity-Possibility: Colin Ward Reader (AK Press)
Autonomy, Solidairy Possibility: The Colin Ward Reader A collection of the writings of the British Anarchist and social geographer, Colin Ward. These include writings on Plotlands, anarchism and architecture, schools, social policy, and much more. With an introduction by the editors.
Autonomy-Solidarity-Possibility: The Colin Ward Reader
Autonomy Solidaity Possibility: The Colin Ward Reader, 2011
Widely regarded as Britain's most influential anarchist thinker for over half a century, Colin Ward's work ranges in scope from urban planning to deschooling, from mutualism to geography, from Kropotkin to Buber, and beyond. Drawing inspiration from everyday creativity of ordinary people, Ward chamioned a unique social and environmental politics premised on the possibilities of democratic self-organisation and self-management from below. This book provides a wide-ranging overview of Ward's writings, and includes and introduction from the editors.