As the “do-it-ourselves” revolts and revolutions that recently swept across the globe from Cairo to Madison are proving, self-organization is not only effective in the process of resistance but also the basis for new communities. The ethical practices that anarchists advocate are becoming powerful “everyday” experiences, with people self-managing everything from child care to civic defense to trash collection. Anarchism has always held up the ideal of a free society of free individuals–a world without hierarchy or domination. But what exactly does this look like? Cindy’s talk, based on her book Anarchism and Its Aspirations (AK Press, 2010), will provide an accessible overview of an often-misunderstood political philosophy and living tradition, highlighting its principles, reconstructive vision, and prefigurative praxis.
Cindy is an Institute for Anarchist Studies board member, Station 40 events collective member, and a co-organizer of the Renewing the Anarchist Tradition conference. She has long been involved in community organizing and anarchist projects, including the New World from Below convergence at the U.S. Social Forum, the “Hope from People not Presidents” and “Don’t Just (Not) Vote” efforts, Black Sheep Books collective in Vermont, and the anarchist summer school known as the Institute for Social Ecology. Currently, she’s also collaborating on another book, Paths toward Utopia: Explorations in Everyday Anarchism, with Erik Ruin (PM Press, 2012).
This talk is a fund-raiser for the Institute for Anarchist Studies (donations appreciated, but no one turned away for lack of money)
