Anti State, Anti Capital, Anti Psychiatry
Anti-psychiatry is the belief that the psychiatric system is a system of social control masquerading behind made-up science. The Marxist anti-psychiatry movement failed because of it's overly intellectual focus and the inability of its key thinkers to put theory into practice. However, with mental health very much on the political agenda, there are lessons that can be learned from the work of R D Laing and David Cooper.
No to the extradition of comrades: the Free5 solidarity campaign
Submitted by Thrasybulus on Nov 25 2015 12:46
A solidarity campaign is underway in Greece to block the extradition to Italy of five students in regards to the events in Milan on the 1st May. This is a case that will have implications for international organising.
Pratt and Smith: the last UK men hanged for sodomy - Frank Ryan
Submitted by Steven. on Nov 5 2015 03:18
A short account of the 1835 execution of two London working men, James Pratt and John Smith, the last to be put to death for homosexuality.
Public inquiry on undercover policing: urgent deadline to register as core participant
Submitted by past tense on Sep 15 2015 22:27
Public pressure has forced the Home Secretary into announcing a Public Inquiry into undercover policing in the UK. If you have, or it's quite likely you have been, involved in a campaign/activist group/movement that was infliltrated by undercover police operatives in the last few decades, now is the time to register as a Core Participant in the Inquiry...
The utopia of rules: on technology, stupidity, and the secret joys of bureaucracy - David Graeber
According to Graeber’s bureaucratic procedures “are invariably ways of managing social situations that are already stupid because they are founded on structural violence.” But what Graeber means by structural violence is a system “that ultimately rests on the threat of force,” whether police officers, drill sergeants, tax auditors, or all the other agents who support a system that spies, cajoles and threatens. This complex of definitions lands Graeber squarely in the anarchist tradition, and though he layers contemporary anthropological theory into his analysis, he serves up a clear and generally jargon-free argument.
Ned Kelly's ghost: the Tottenham IWW and the Tottenham tragedy - John Patten
Submitted by Steven. on Apr 6 2015 19:16
An account of a little-known but tragic episode in the history of the Australian Industrial Workers of the World union. In September 1916, a police constable in Tottenham was murdered. In December, two IWW members were hanged for it. This pamphlet tells their story.
The state and capitalist society - Ralph Miliband
Marxist academic Ralph Miliband's extensive and detailed analysis and critique of the role played by the state in advanced capitalist society. It examines each part of the state, including the government, civil service, legal system and armed forces and their relationships with business, the media, religion and trade unions. Written in 1969, most of the tendencies he points to are even further advanced today, so while there is little mention of race and gender this remains an invaluable text.
The Haywood-Mayer-Pettibone case - Louis Adamic
Submitted by Steven. on Jun 14 2014 18:48
Louis Adamic's excellent history of the trial and acquittal of three leaders of the Western Federation of Miners, Charles Moyer, Bill Haywood and George Pettibone, for the murder of ex-Idaho state governor Frank Steunenberg in 1906.
The Mooney-Billings frame-up - Louis Adamic
Submitted by Steven. on Jun 14 2014 18:29
Louis Adamic's fascinating history of the framing of union organisers Tom Mooney and Warren Billings of the 1916 San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing, and the subsequent campaign for their release, written in 1931.
Anarchists before the military tribunals, 1914-1918
Submitted by Battlescarred on Jun 9 2014 14:39
A short account of the hearings of two anarchists in front of the courts during World War One
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