July 2022 – Empty Hands History

Living Communism: Theory & Practice of Autonomy & Attack

I just published an article in Perspectives on Anarchist Theory called “Living Communism: Theory & Practice of Autonomy & Attack.”

This article combines historical insights from the Autonomen with theoretical interventions from the Invisible Committee in order to make several related arguments. First, the commune form creates alternative worlds in which liberalism is combatted and collective struggle against alienation takes place. Second, communes operate according to a unique spatial logic that ruptures capitalist geography, promotes new spatial practices, and establishes non-alienated inhabitation of territory.

Third, the Autonomen and the Invisible Committee theorize and act upon a new conception of communism as a collective practice of living the “good life” in revolutionary struggle rather than as solely a (future) economic system. Fourth, alternative infrastructure provides the means to practice this in daily life. Finally, revolutionary practice entails networks of autonomous communes seceding from the capitalist system to form liberated territories that function as bases from which to attack capitalist state power.

You can read the article for free online at Perspectives on Anarchist Theory!

American Anarchism Syllabus

A few years ago, I taught my first class: a first-year writing seminar called “American Anarchism.” Here is the syllabus, which may be useful to folks looking for a grounding in the history of anarchism in the United States!

“Anarchism, then, really stands for the liberation of the human mind from the dominion of religion; the liberation of the human body from the dominion of property; liberation from the shackles and restraint of government. Anarchism stands for a social order based on the free grouping of individuals…”

-Emma Goldman

“If it is the future you seek, then I tell you that you must come to it with empty hands… You cannot buy the Revolution. You cannot make the Revolution. You can only be the Revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.”

-Ursula K. Le Guin

Course description:

Anarchists are notorious for bomb-throwing “propaganda of the deed,” but they have historically been far more likely to reach for a pen than a stick of dynamite. What do anarchists have to offer us as writers? This course explores the history of American anarchism through historical analysis paired with literature and manifestos. We will study the rebellious writing of anarchists like Emma Goldman, David Graeber, and CrimethInc in order to refine our own techniques. Students will write historical essays, artistic and literary analysis, a persuasive political essay, and a manifesto. We will take inspiration from Ursula Le Guin’s affirmation that “writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight.”

Course Schedule

Unit 1: Introduction to American Anarchism

Week 1: A Beginning

Tue., Jan. 21: Introduction to Class
Thu., Jan. 23: “Are You An Anarchist?”

David Graeber, “Are You An Anarchist? The Answer May Surprise You!” (2000) (4 pages)
David Graeber, “What is Anarchism?” excerpt from Direct Action: An Ethnography (2008) (p. 211-216)

Week 2: Classical Anarchism
Tue., Jan. 28: Anarchist Communism

Peter Kropotkin, “Anarchist Communism: Its Basis and Principles” (1891)

Thu., Jan. 30: Anarchy in the US

Emma Goldman, “Anarchism: What It Really Stands For” (1911)
Paul and Karen Avrich, “Prologue,” to Sasha and Emma: The Anarchist Odyssey of Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman (2012)
Andrew Cornell, excerpt from “Introduction” in Unruly Equality: U.S. Anarchism in the 20^th Century (2016) (page 1-13)

Week 3: Settler Colonialism, Slavery, and Resistance
Tue., Feb. 4: Settler Colonialism and Resistance

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, excerpts from An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (2014) (introduction and short section on indigenous governance, p 1-14 and 25-27)

Thu., Feb. 6: Slavery and Resistance

Russell Maroon Shoatz, excerpts from “Autonomous Resistance to Slavery and Colonization: Two Essays” (unknown date) (essay one “The Real Resistance to Slavery in North America” p 4-24, plus suggested conclusion and section on “Mosaic” in essay 2)

Unit 2: Classical American Anarchism (late 19^th/early 20^th century)

Week 4: Early American Anarchism
Tue., Feb. 11: Utopian Socialism and Individualist Mutualism

Eunice Minette Schuster, excerpts from Native American Anarchism: A Study of Left-Wing American Individualism (1932) (27 pages, skim the Thoreau section from page 46 to 51)
Robert Owen, excerpts from “A New View of Society” (1813) and “Manifesto” (1840) (6 pages total)
Benjamin Tucker, excerpt from “State Socialism and Anarchism: How Far They Agree, and Wherein They Differ” (1888) (4 pages)

Thu., Feb. 13: Immigrant Anarchism and Haymarket

Kenyon Zimmer, “Introduction” to Immigrants Against the State: Yiddish and Italian Anarchism in America (2015) (page 1-13)
Peter Linebaugh, excerpt from “The Incomplete, True, Authentic and Wonderful History of May Day” (2016)

Week 5: Anarchist Apogee and Decline

Tue., Feb. 18: Syndicalism and the Anarchist Apogee

Andrew Cornell, excerpt from “Anarchist Apogee, 1916” in Unruly Equality (2016)
IWW Manifesto and Preamble to the IWW Constitution
Lucy Parsons Speech to the IWW founding convention (1905)

Thurs., Feb. 20: Propaganda of the Deed and Insurrectionism

Lucy Parsons “A Word to Tramps”
Luigi Galleani, excerpt from “Propaganda of the Deed,” from The End of Anarchism? (1925)
Andrew Cornell, short excerpts from “The Red and Black Scare, 1917-1924” and “A Movement of Defense, of Emergency, 1920-1929,” in Unruly Equality (2016)

Week 6: From the Depression to the 1950s
Tue., Feb. 25: February Break, No Class

Thu., Feb. 27: Depression, Spanish Revolution, and WWII

Andrew Cornell, excerpts from “The Unpopular Front, 1930-1939” and “Anarchism and Revolutionary Nonviolence, 1940-1948” from Unruly Equality (2016)

Unit 3: Anarchism in the Long 1960s

Week 7: Long 1960s Part 1: From Civil Rights to the New Left
Tue., Mar. 3: The Avant-Garde and the Civil Rights Movement

Andrew Cornell, excerpts from “Anarchism and the Avant-Garde, 1942-1956” and “Anarchism and the Black Freedom Movement, 1955-1964,” from Unruly Equality

Thu., Mar. 5: Anarchism and the New Left

Andrew Cornell, excerpts from “The New Left and Countercultural Anarchism, 1960-1972,” from Unruly Equality (2016) (240-279)
Murray Bookchin, “Post-Scarcity Anarchism” (1967/68)

Week 8: Long 1960s Part 2: Counterculture and the Rebirth of Anarchism
Tue., Mar. 10: Counterculture

Black Mask & Up Against the Wall Motherfucker, “Flower Power Won’t Stop Fascist Power: The Story of a Small, Underground 1960s Revolutionary Group in New York City”

Thu., Mar. 12: Anarchism “Reborn”

Andrew Cornell, excerpt from “The New Left and Countercultural Anarchism, 1960-1972,” from Unruly Equality (2016) (269-279)
David Graeber, “The Rebirth of Anarchism in North America, 1957-2007” (2010)

Unit 4: New Anarchisms: Anarcha-Feminism, Black Anarchism, and Environmentalism

Week 9: Anarcha-Feminism and Black Feminism
Tue., Mar. 17: Anarcha-Feminism

Julia Tanenbaum, “To Destroy Domination in All Forms: Anarcha-Feminist Theory, Organization and Action 1970-1978” (2016)
Red Rosa and Black Maria, Black Rose Anarcho-Feminists, “Anarcha-Feminism: Two Statements,” in Quiet Rumors (1971)

Thu., Mar. 19: Black Feminism and Anarchism

Hilary Lazar, “Until All Are Free: Black Feminism, Anarchism, and Interlocking Oppression” (2016)

Week 10: Black/New Afrikan Anarchism and Radical Environmentalism
Tue., Mar. 24: Black/New Afrikan Anarchism

Kuwasi Balagoon, “Anarchy Can’t Fight Alone” (unknown date; late 70s/early 80s)
Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin, excerpt from “Anarchism and the Black Revolution” (1993)

Thu., Mar. 26: Ecology, Primitivism, Earth Liberation

Murray Bookchin, “What is Social Ecology?” (2007)
Judi Bari, “Revolutionary Ecology” (1995)

Week 11: Spring Break
Tue., Mar. 31: No Class (Spring Break)
Thu., Apr. 2: No Class (Spring Break)

Unit 5: Punk and Anarchism

Week 12: Punk, Anarchism, and Manifestos
Tue., Apr. 7: Punk and Manifestos

Joel Olson, “A New Punk Manifesto” (1992)
CrimethInc. “Music as a Weapon: The Contentious Symbiosis of Punk Rock and Anarchism” (2018)

Thu., Apr. 9: Riot Grrrl and Zines

Riot Grrrl Manifesto (1991)
Chloe Arnold, “A Brief History of Zines” (2016)
The Punk Singer (Documentary) (2013)

Week 13: Love & Rage, T.A.Z., and the Infoshop Movement

Tue., Apr. 14: Love & Rage (Revolutionary Anarchist Federation)

“The Political Pre-History of Love & Rage: Anarchist Struggle in the 1980s and 1990s”

Thu., Apr. 16: Temporary and Permanent Autonomous Zones

Hakim Bey, excerpt from T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone (1991)
Justin Gorman, “Infoshops in North America”, from (Dis)Connection #1 (1994)
Joel Olson, “Between Infoshops and Insurrection: US Anarchism, Movement Building, and the Racial Order” (2009)

Unit 6: Contemporary Anarchism

Week 14: Anti-Globalization Movement

Tue., Apr. 21: Anti-Globalization/Global Justice Movement

Opening pages of David Graeber, Direct Action: An Ethnography (2008)
Ben Trott, “Global Justice Movement and Resistance” (2009)
CrimethInc., “The Power is Running: A Memoir of N30” (2006/2019)

Thu., Apr. 23: 21^st Century Anarchism, Earth & Animal Liberation, and the Green Scare

Andrej Grubačić and David Graeber, “Anarchism, Or the Revolutionary Movement of the Twenty-First Century” (2004)
“Veganarchy: Anti-Speciesist Warfare & Direct Action” (2014)

Week 15: Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter
Tue., Apr. 28: Occupy Wall Street

Mark Bray, excerpt from Translating Anarchy: The Anarchism of Occupy Wall Street (2013)

Thu., Apr. 30: Anarchist People of Color and Black Lives Matter

Anarchist People of Color, “Anarchy in the Town: An Intro for People of Color” (2015)
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, excerpt from From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation (2016)

***Friday, May 1: Mayday, International Workers Day***

Week 16: Endings and new beginnings
Tue., May. 5: Whither Anarchism?

Margaret Killjoy, “I Was a Teenage Anarchist and Now I’m a Mid-Thirties Anarchist” (2017)
CrimethInc., “Anarchists in the Trump Era: Scorecard, Year One” (2018)
Mark Bray, excerpt from Antifa: The Antifascist Handbook (2017)

Bowling for Anarchy: The Revolutionary Anarchist Bowling League

In the late 1980s, the Minneapolis-based Revolutionary Anarchist Bowling League (RABL) theorized and practiced what they called “revolutionary anarchism” and helped build an organized anarchist movement across North America. In “Bowling for Beginners: An Anarchist Primer,” RABL offers an initial definition of anarchism:

Anarchy is not chaos. Anarchy is the absence of imposed authority. Anarchy is a society that is built on the principles of respect, cooperation and solidarity. Anarchy is wimmin controlling their own bodies, workers controlling their own workplaces, youth controlling their own education and the celebration of cultural difference.
reprinted in Love and Rage, Aug 1990

RABL gives a short history of anarchism from the 1886 Haymarket Affair to contemporary squatters movements in order to demonstrate that successful movements all share a common thread of people taking power into their own hands and collectively struggling for a new world. RABL rejected the need for a revolutionary vanguard, arguing that “only the masses, completely involved and in absolute control, can make a real revolution.” In the end, “anarchism is about people empowering themselves to take control and to lead their own lives.”

But since those in power will not give it up without a fight, revolution is necessary. The basic point of unity for RABL was an agreement on the necessity of revolutionary action to reach a classless, stateless society. RABL brought together the most pro-organization and anti-imperialist anarchists in the Twin Cities—and eventually across the US—to advocate a combination of direct action and revolutionary organization.

True to their name, the Revolutionary Anarchist Bowling League crew began referring to “going bowling” as a code for direct action, which could be anything from nighttime sabotage (gluing locks, spray painting, etc.) to acting as a militant bloc at a street demonstration. Many anarchists at the time practiced this sort of small-scale militancy, which could be organized in small affinity groups of friends. RABL’s intervention was to pair this individual and small-group direct action with a vision for a broad anarchist federation.

Anarchism could continue to exist forever on the margins of society in small groups, but if anarchists wanted to actually change the world, they needed to get organized and help build militant mass movements.

Despite their roots in a relatively small city, the Revolutionary Anarchist Bowling League played an outsized role in transforming US anarchism and organizing a national movement at the end of the 20th century…

This is the latest in my new series Fragments of an Anarchist Dissertation. Check out the last post here: RAGE! Anarchism in the Late 1980s

RAGE! Anarchism in the Late 1980s

“We have reached a breaking point” -Nikolas S., Rage! October 1988

“We must still know to direct our anger towards revolution.” -Revolutionary Anarchist Bowling League, 1990

“Bowl a strike, not a spare—Revolution everywhere!” Members of the Revolutionary Anarchist Bowling League (RABL) chanted bowling-themed slogans as they marched against President Reagan’s threat to invade Nicaragua in 1988. RABL, acting in a broad progressive coalition, helped shut down major sections of downtown Minneapolis for three days in an outpouring of rebellion against the Reagan administration’s covert wars in Central America. They built barricades in the streets and occupied major intersections in the business district. Events reached a dramatic climax when a masked protester threw a bowling ball through the window of a military recruitment office. The crash of the broken glass marked the beginning of a new era of anarchist militancy in the United States. The rage of a generation of young people raised in Reagan’s America was threatening to explode.

Reflecting this mood, the first iteration of what became the Love and Rage newspaper was called simply RAGE! It reflected a growing anger at the Reagan administration’s wars at home and abroad. Promised a “new morning in America,” a generation of disaffected young people found themselves shut out from political life and raised in the alienation of the suburbs. Many of their parents lost their unionized factory jobs to neoliberal outsourcing or were kicked off welfare. They grappled with the reality of skyrocketing inequality, precarious jobs, and violent policing. The hopes of social democracy—not to mention the liberatory movements of the 1960s—were dead, and the mainstream world offered little of value to save. Young dissidents in the US found a new form of politics in punk mosh pits and street fights against fascists and police. Anarchism provided a political home and a strategic program for dissidents of the new generation.

This is the first in what will be an ongoing series of posts consisting of fragments from the dissertation writing process...