REVOLT AND CRISIS IN GREECE: BETWEEN A PRESENT YET TO PASS AND A FUTURE STILL TO COME

April 2011 | $18 · €10 · £10 | 378 pages | ISBN: 9780983059714

For more information, or to preorder: http://revoltcrisis.org | http://www.akpress.org

How does a revolt come about and what does it leave behind? What impact does it have on those who participate in it and those who simply watch it? Is the Greek revolt of December 2008 confined to the shores of the Mediterranean, or are there lessons we can bring to bear on social action around the globe?Revolt and Crisis in Greece: Between a Present Yet to Pass and a Future Still to Come is a collective attempt to grapple with these questions. A collaboration between anarchist publishing collectives Occupied London and AK Press, this timely new volume traces Greece’s long moment of transition from the revolt of 2008 to the economic crisis that followed. In its twenty chapters, authors from around the world—including those on the ground in Greece—analyse how December became possible, exploring its legacies and the position of the social antagonist movement in face of the economic crisis and the arrival of the International Monetary Fund.

In the essays collected here, over two dozen writers offer historical analysis of the factors that gave birth to December and the potentialities it has opened up in face of the capitalist crisis. Yet the book also highlights the dilemmas the antagonist movement has been faced with since: the book is an open question and a call to the global antagonist movement, and its allies around the world, to radically rethink and redefine our tactics in a rapidly changing landscape where crises and potentialities are engaged in a fierce battle with an uncertain outcome.

Contributors include Vaso Makrygianni, Haris Tsavdaroglou, Christos Filippidis, Christos Giovanopoulos, TPTG, Metropolitan Sirens, Yannis Kallianos, Hara Kouki, Kirilov, Some of Us, Soula M., Christos Lynteris, Yiannis Kaplanis, David Graeber, Christos Boukalas, Alex Trocchi, Antonis Vradis, Dimitris Dalakoglou and the Occupied London Collective. Art and design by Leandros, Klara Jaya Brekke and Tim Simons. Edited by Antonis Vradis and Dimitris Dalakoglou of Occupied London.

Occupied London is an anarchist collective writing on all things urban. Since 2007, the collective has worked together to publish an irregular journal, offering a platform for discussion within the global social antagonist movement, and featuring contributions by writers and collectives from around the globe, including Nasser Abourahme, Zygmunt Bauman, Franco Berardi, Klara Jaya Brekke, Manuel Castells, Mike Davis, Dimitris Dalakoglou, Christos Filippidis, David Graeber, Richard Pithouse, Marina Sitrin, Antonis Vradis, and many, many more. Since 2008, the collective has maintained a wildly popular blog, “From the Greek Streets,” providing up-to-the-minute coverage of the urban revolt of December 2008 in Greece, and examining the impact and legacies of the revolt and the crisis that followed. (http://www.occupiedlondon.org | http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog)

AK Press is a worker-run, democratically-managed publisher of anarchist and radical literature. Founded in 1990, AK Press is a ten-person collective of committed anarchists, spread between Oakland, Baltimore, and Edinburgh, working hard to publish more than twenty new titles each year, and distributing thousands of other titles from like-minded publishers around the globe. (http://www.akpress.org | http://revolutionbythebook.akpress.org)

We also need your help letting the world know about this exciting new project. If you have a blog, we encourage you to blog about the book. Newspapers, magazines, journals, and zines: please post announcements about the publication on your websites, or in print. Contact us about offering a special discount for your readers or subscribers! And, if you’re interested in writing a review of the book, or running an excerpt from the book, email publicity@akpress.org and we’ll work with you to arrange it. Forward this announcement far and wide. This book is an example of what happens when people collectivize and collaborate, and we need your help to make it a success!

Individual customers, preorder your copy from the AK Press website and get 25% off the US list price. Wholesale customers, we need your help too–and we’re offering a special 50% discount on any copies you preorder through AK Press Distribution (sales@akpress.org). Get your copies today, and please help us spread the word!

This title is distributed to the trade by AK Press Distribution, but like all AK Press books, you can also order Revolt and Crisis from most major wholesalers, from Amazon.com, and from your local independent bookstore! Whatever channel you choose, do get a copy, you won’t regret it. (And, Friends of AK worldwide will receive a copy in an upcoming Friends package!)

If you are in the UK, visit AK Press UK at http://www.akuk.com to order copies for individuals or for trade distribution. In the rest of the world, please order directly from Occupied London, at http://www.revoltcrisis.org.

[Read more →]

It’s Still the Economy, Stupid! No, Seriously. I Mean It.

(Some Thoughts on the HIV Epidemic, Social Problems, and Capital)

Deric Shannon

I picked up a copy of the International Herald Tribune recently on a flight from Madrid to Paris. My friend and co-conspirator, Abbey, and I have been doing a lot of traveling lately and a free copy of an English-language newspaper is a hot commodity for an hour and a half plane ride, particularly this one since I left the “Marx for Beginners” book I was reading at home! I nestled into my seat, prepared for being a little unsettled—what counts for “news” is usually disturbing as all hell, after all. [Read more →]

Radical queer politics and anarchism have much in common. Queer theory argues against traditional identity politics, recognizing the social construction of “sexuality” and identity categories. Anarchism argues against any structured hierarchical arrangement of humanity that allows some members of society to systematically exploit and oppress others. Thus, both projects argue for a need to move beyond hierarchical and naturalized arrangements of socially constructed identities–though, at times, articulating those arguments in different ways. Nevertheless, despite these commonalities, little has been written about the deep connections between anarchism and radical queer politics. This edited volume is an attempt to fill that gap. [Read more →]

At the beginning of January, a court in Berlin, Germany, reaffirmed that the local federation of the Free Workers’ Union (FAU) is prohibited from calling itself a union or a grassroots union. If the FAU Berlin were to dare to do otherwise, it would face a fine of EUR 250,000 (USD 357,000) or a prison sentence.This legal attack on the freedom of unions in Germany is the result of a labor dispute, which the FAU Berlin and cinema workers have been involved in for months with the management of the Babylon Mitte cinema. In the FAU’s opinion, it’s up to the workers to decide what a union is or which union they want and not the courts.

The FAU is intent on defending itself against the de-facto ban of its Berlin federation in a variety of ways. Thus, it was announced that the ban would be taken all they way to the Court of the European Union, if need be. The strongest weapon of the worker is, however, not our trust in the judiciary but our international solidarity and direct action.
Global day of protest…

We call on all union members, friends and comrades to mobilize globally in support of FAU Berlin. For this purpose, a global day of action has been planned for January 29 and 30, 2010. Protests in front of German diplomatic missions and cultural institutes have already been scheduled in many countries for this date.
…and further mobilization

In the coming days, the FAU will post suggestions of different ways to show support at www.fau.org/verbot. Needless to say, a wide-scale dissemination of all information regarding the call to action is very important. Please be sure to refer to our special website, www.fau.org/verbot, in all publications and send messages of solidarity, reports about actions and any further questions to soli-faub@fau.org.

FAU-IWA International working group
English leaflet: http://www.fau.org/verbot/text/fau_01_29_en.pdf

Press release of FAU Berlin concerning the possible EUR 250.000 (USD 375.000) fine or alternatively 6 month of prison for the union secretaries: http://ainfos.ca/en/ainfos23540.html

Special page concerning the verdict against FAU Berlin:
http://www.fau.org/verbot

Blog of cinema Babylon Mitte workers:
http://prekba.blogsport.de <http://prekba.blogsport.de/>

Send e-protest:

http://fau.zsp.net.pl/send-a-protest-to-kino-babylon/emailpage/

Personalized e-protests to bosses:

grossman@babylonberlin.de, hackel@babylonberlin.de, timothygrossman@kinoundkonzerte.de, tgrossman@kinoundkonzerte.de.

07/10/2009 ILGA
From ZACF, Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front
Africa
Anarchism is an ideology that fights against exploitation and all forms of oppression. We fight for a world in which women will be equal to men, a world without racism and class inequality, a world in which LGBTI and queer people are treated with respect. These struggles are part of the anarchist struggle against hierarchy and inequality, for an equal and free world.

Anarchists have been at the forefront in the struggle against LGBTI discrimination

From the beginning of anarchist theory, anarchism has been the first ideology to actively support LGBTI people long before other ideologies. It is believed that one of the key anarchist thinkers, Mikhail Bakunin, was rumoured to have been homosexual and that this was one among many reasons Karl Marx threw him out of the First International, which caused the split between authoritarian communism and anarchism.

Also, Oscar Wilde, who called himself an anarchist, criticised Marx. His famous trial and conviction of sodomy in 1895 prompted anarchists to engage in an examination of the social, moral, and legal place of same-sex desire. The efforts of the famous anarchist and feminist Emma Goldman (the first advocate for homosexual rights in America) and other anarchists on Wilde’s behalf constitute the first articulation of a politics of homosexuality in the United States. After his trial, Wilde became “a totemic figure” for the anarchists, and at a time when the American productions of Wilde’s plays were closed down and forbidden and his books pulled from library shelves, anarchist journals reprinted his texts and poems.

It was thanks to American anarchist writers and propagandists that the defense of homosexuality developed in Europe crossed the Atlantic - at a time when no other political movement or notable public figure in the US dealt with the issue of same-sex eroticism and love. [Read more →]

CALL FOR PAPERS, PRESENTATIONS, AND PANELS
The 1st North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference

When: November 21-22, 2009
Where: Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Who: Anarchist Researchers, Scholars of Anarchism & Related Topics, Graduate Students, Activists, and Friends

Dear Friends, Colleagues, Compañero/as, and Compagnon/es:

It gives me considerable pleasure to announce the impending commencement of the North American Anarchist Studies Network (NAASN), which will be celebrated with an inaugural conference on 21 and 22 November 2009 at the Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford, CT.

The NAASN is inspired by, but independent from, the UK-based Anarchist Studies Network. Like the UK-ASN, the NAASN is being founded in response to a burgeoning interest in anarchism currently expressed both inside and outside the academy. One of its key aims is to facilitate and promote the study of anarchist history, theory, and practice across scholarly disciplines by bringing together graduate students, academics, independent scholars, and activists from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. [Read more →]

Here’s a cross post from the Anarchist Academics Listserv. See end of post for the questionnaire and an abstract of the study.

Hi all!

We’re doing a research about alternative families, LGBTQ, anarchist,
squatters, single parents ….

We will present the results in October in Jjubljana in Slovina.

So please spread our Questionnaire on Mailing-Lists for people, who
could be interested. We need the answers until 30th of August 2009

Thanks a lot!
Utta, Hannes and Mate
[Read more →]

http://twincities.indymedia.org/2009/jul/military-spy-outted-olympia-wa-antiwarsdsiww-groups

Spy for the US Military Exposed: Spent Last Two Years Spying on Activists

(TC-IMC) “John Jacob” was an activist well liked by many in Tacoma and Olympia, WA. He was active in the anti-war and anarchist communities in both towns. He did extensive work with the group Port Militarization Resistance (PMR) which blocks military shipments to and from Iraq and Afghanistan through Northwest ports.

He went to numerous Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) events and actions, was interested in starting a chapter or Movement for a Democratic Society, worked closely with Iraq Veterans Against the War, but spent most of his time with anarchists. Aside from attending meetings, events and actions organized by activists, he spent much personal and leisure time with other anarchists in the area.

[Read more →]

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/22115

The Coming Insurrection, authored by the anonymous “Invisible Committee,” has been the subject of much controversy lately. Originally published in 2007 under the French title, L’insurrection qui vient (La Fabrique), the book has become focus of the “anti-terrorism” trials quoted in the above paragraph. The book is being published in English but its influence has already crossed the Atlantic.

Celebrating the English translation at an “unauthorized” Barnes & Nobel event in New York City last month, activists projected themselves and the Invisible Committee into a visible spotlight complete with photos in the New York Times and special coverage on Fox TV News. The Times reports, “As a bookstore employee announced to the milling crowd that there was no reading scheduled for that night, a man jumped onto a stage and began loudly reciting the opening words of the book’s recent introduction: ‘Everyone agrees. It’s about to explode’” (”Liberating Lipsticks and Lattes,” NYT, June 15). After the police arrived they continued in a similar fashion through other shops including a cosmetic store. Following suit Fox News’ Glen Beck reviewed the book in a near 7 minute verbal tirade assaulting not only the text’s contents but the Left in general while fear mongering to promote his own right-wing agenda. Commentator Nicolas Truong suggests that the text is “poised to become a real best seller” having already sold 27,000 copies (”The New Insurrectional Thinking,” Le Monde diplomatique, July 7). And Micah M. White, a Contributing Editor at Adbusters Magazine, wrote that the text “may become a key manifesto of our generation’s uprising” (”Who are the Tarnac 9?,”Adbusters blog, January 9th). Other reviewers provide much more detail, for example Alberto Toscano’s “The War Against Preterrorism,” (Mute, May 28) but ultimately still overlook the books many blemishes.

[Read more →]

Casting Call

 for Howard Zinn’s “Emma”

–a play about the life of Emma Goldman–

Actors Needed!

What: Audition (script will be provided)

Where: Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford, CT

When: Tuesday, July 21st OR Wednesday, July 29th at 7pm

Why: To build community, have fun together, and to educate the public about the life of a brilliant feminist woman that the world should know about!

Come one, come all!

If you have questions or need special assistance during the auditions please contact Deric at 765-717-4490, Abbey at 860-249-1207 or email abbey.willis@charteroakcenter.org

If you would like to get involved in some other capacity than acting or have questions regarding the production, contact the above. Please include your name, contact information (email and phone), and how you are interested in helping (costumes, props, set design, set building, advertising, other) by July 29th. Participation in the play will require a heavy time commitment in the first two weeks of November.

All positions, acting and non-acting, are volunteer roles. Thank you!

  Charter Oak Cultural Center www.CharterOakCenter.org 860.249.1207

by José Antonio Gutiérrez’
Anarkismo.net
Saturday June 27, 2009

The following is an interview with Ashanti Alston Omowali, an African descent anarchist activist, who started his political militancy back in the ‘60s in the Black Panther Party. He was also a member of the Black Liberation Army, and because of his revolutionary activities spent more than a decade in prison. In prison he moved forward to anarchism and after his release he has participated with numerous libertarian initiatives and publications, and is one of the founders of Anarchist People of Color (APOC), a network that brings together anarchists of colour in the remarkably racist US. Ashanti also participates in a number of initiatives ranging from solidarity with political prisoners in the US to the Institute for Anarchist Studies.

This interview was done on March 9th, 2009, during the time he spent in Ireland when he came as a speaker for the 2009 Dublin Anarchist Bookfair. In the interview we talk about the APOC initiative, the links between exploitation and other forms of oppression, of the need to go beyond Eurocentrism and the place of people of colour and Third World struggles in shaping a really internationalist movement that learns from experiences everywhere. He also reflects on the roots and legacy of the Black Liberation Movement and of his own experiences in it.

1. How and why the idea of Anarchist People of Colour came about? [Read more →]

A new list was created to facilitate relations between LGBTQI people and their friends around the world interested in solidarity with Palestinians by learning, promoting and actualizing the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel.

About The BDS Initiative
The Nakba (1948’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine during the formation of Israel) still occurs for 61+ years to this very day. Millions of Palestinian are living as stateless refugees. Gaza is the world’s largest open prison, forcefully separated even from the West Bank. The West Bank itself is divided into separate segregated areas, sometimes even sole cities - by the apartheid wall, apartheid (Jewish only) roads, and a set of blockades and checkpoints.

[Read more →]

The Boston Anti-Authoritarian Movement’s 23rd Monthly Newsletter is now
available for PDF Download. Hard copies will soon be distributed to
community centers and newspaper boxes.

This month’s issue:
-The American Revolution Failed, pg 2
-Dyke March, pg 3
-Dissent and Repression in Iran, pg 4
-The MTA is Dead, Long live the MTA, p 6
-Protesters Voice Concern for Indigenous Massacre
in Peru, p 8
-Technological Emancipation, p 9

Download PDF HERE:
http://boston.indymedia.org/newswire/display/207899/index.php

See also:
http://BaamBoston.org
http://NeAnarchist.net

Join Mitch M. from the Workers Solidarity Alliance (http://workersolidarity.org/), Skip from NEFAC (http://www.nefac.net/), and Roger from Wrench in the Works Collective (http://www.wrenchintheworks.org/) for a discussion on the purposes and uses of anarchist specific organizations. How can we create a fighting working class movement? What role does the organization play in maintaining that movement?

We’re meeting in the large Gallery (downstairs) at Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford (21 Charter Oak Ave) at 5pm.

See you there!!