Anarchism emerged out of the socialist movement as a distinct politics in the nineteenth century. It asserted that it is necessary and possible to overthrow coercive and exploitative social relationships, and replace them with egalitarian, self-managed, and cooperative social forms. Anarchism thus gave new depth … Read more
Time Under Tension: Lessons in Organizing from a Kettlebell Gym
Strength is a Skill Your spine is straight. You have shifted your weight back so that your knees are above your ankles—this is such an uncomfortable position until you learn to trust the muscles that hold you there—and you check to make sure the bell … Read more
Love & Rage: The Eros Effect and Spontaneous Combustion
“Today the fight for life, the fight for Eros, is the political fight.” (Herbert Marcuse, Eros and Civilization, 1966) “Eros is historically shaped but eternally emergent. Love binds us together, gives us the courage to make history, to stare down our fears . . … Read more
A Response to “Spontaneous Combustion”
Jason Del Gandio and AK Thompson, eds. Spontaneous Combustion: The Eros Effect and Global Revolution (Albany: SUNY Press, 2017) Hillary Lazar and Paul Messersmith-Glavin provide an introductory framing for this discussion here. The publication of Spontaneous Combustion is a significant indication that popular uprisings are … Read more
Like Birds (fiction)
(art by Peter Railand, justseeds artists’ cooperative. ) “The hell?” I asked. Ari followed my gaze upward to the wide mesh enclosing the dome of the “courtyard,” the outdoor exercise area surrounded by 15-foot iron bars. “Oh, yeah. That’s to prevent ‘e-LOPE-ment,’” she said, dragging … Read more
Anarkhos: An Epic for Our Time
(art “Fatal State” – By NO Bonzo) Book I: Stirring The heroes in this passage: Addison Fabulous Addison lifts up their iPhone and snaps a selfie. Blue hair killing it, eyeliner perfect. Jubilant picture. Upload to Instagram, instantly liked by their genderqueer fan base. … Read more
Can We Cancel Cancel Culture?: A Review of We Will Not Cancel Us, And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice, by adrienne maree brown
adrienne maree brown, We Will Not Cancel Us, And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice (Oakland, AK Press, 2020) If the Left is the conscience of society, and feminism is the conscience of the Left, adrienne maree brown is the conscience of feminism. In her latest … Read more
Single Mother
I wish I hadn’t been taught it was a crime being poor, taught not to notice the day the buds arrived on the tips of trees trained to disregard the buds who bring February to its knees, I watch I squint to see those buds … Read more
Envisioning Futures: A Review Essay
A People’s Future of the United States (New York: One World, 2019) by Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? (New York: Orbit, 2018) by N.K. Jemisin Ambiguity Machines and Other Stories (Easthampton, MA: Small Beer Press, 2018) by Vandana Singh A … Read more
The current print issue of Perspectives on Anarchist Theory is on the theme of “Imaginations.” We asked a handful of IAS board members, authors, and contributors to tell us about some of the influences that have inspired their imaginations. Here are a few of their … Read more
