CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:

INTERVIEW WITH LARRY GAMBONE:

Larry Gambone of the Porkupine Blog and Red Lion Publishing has been an anarchist activist and historian for many decades now. He has recently been interviewed about two of his new books, 'The View From Anarchist Mountain' and 'The Impossibilists' (along with other subjects) on Radio CHLY in Nanaimo BC. You can catch the interview at this link. Great stuff and highly recommended by the Winnipeg cat (guess who ?).

ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS:

PM PRESS HITS THE 100 MARK:

The anarchist publisher PM Press has soared above the 100 titles mark. Here's their announcement and their request to help them to the next 100.

@P@P@P@P@P
CELEBRATING 100 PM PRESS RELEASES IN JUST OVER 2 YEARS
Time Today at 9:00pm - December 31 at 12:00am

------------------------------

Location wherever you read, listen, or view

----------------------------

Created By PM Press

----------------------------

More Info In July we celebrated our 100th PM Press release, and we are inviting you to join the Friends of PM to help us usher in the next 100 releases.

We launched PM Press as a means to impact, amplify, and revitalize the discourse and actions of radical writers, filmmakers, and artists. The Friends of PM program provides us with a stable foundation from which we can build upon our early successes and provides a much-needed subsidy for the materials that can't necessarily pay their own way. You can help make that happen -- and receive every new title automatically delivered to your door once a month-by joining as a Friend of PM Press.

Check out the link below for tons more info and photos:
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs053/1102455632475/archive/1103551843100.html

ANARCHIST LITERATURE:

NEW FROM RED LION PRESS:

Hot off the presses from Larry Gambone of Red Lion Press. New titles to grace your library. Here's the info from Larry's Porkupine Blog.

@@@@@@@@@@

The View From Anarchist Mountain


It has been a busy year for me, publishing wise. First The Impossibilists, with my own Red Lion Press, then Nature of Human Brainwork was brought out by PM Press. Now I have two more to offer.
The View From Anarchist Mountain, 199 pages, $16.00 is a collection of my writings over the past 20 years on anarchism, society and history. It is available from AK Press. (For Canadians, order from me at redlionpress@hotmail.com )


Bill Pritchard – Revolutionary Socialist is a 36 page pamphlet that goes for $4.00. Pritchard is best known for being jailed under a bogus conspiracy charge in the aftermath of the Winnipeg General Strike. He was also a militant of the Socialist Party of Canada, the editor of its newspaper, The Western Clarion, and a founder of the OBU. After the demise of the SPC, he was an early member of the CCF and was Reeve of Burnaby for a number of years. Later in life, he returned to the “Impossibilist” socialism of his roots.

“Bill Pritchard – Revolutionary Socialist” - was taken from a talk he gave in 1973. It describes his adventures - and often hilarious misadventures – as a pioneer Socialist on speaking tours of Western Canada more than 90 years ago. He reminisces about a host of fascinating characters and also gives crucial eye-witness evidence about the murder of Ginger Goodwin. It is available so far, only from me.

LOCAL EVENTS WINNIPEG:

BOOK LAUNCH 'CONTEMPORARY ANARCHIST STUDIES':

Coming up at the end of the month, Sept. 29, at the Mondragon Winnipeg's Infoshop...book launch of 'Contemporary Anarchist Studies' with editor Randall Amster. Here's the promo.>>>

@@@@@@@@@@

Contemporary Anarchist Studies Book Launch

Time September 29 · 7:30pm - 9:30pm

---------------------
Location Mondragon Bookstore & Coffee House
91 Albert St
Winnipeg, MB
--------------------
Created By Viva Mondragon
-------------------
More Info Join us for an evening with author & activist Randall Amster.
The discussion will explore the implications for nonviolent change presented in the recent volume of collected essays, Contemporary Anarchist Studies, which “seeks to bridge the gap between anarchy in the streets and anarchism in the academy.” Focusing on theory, pedagogy, methodologies, praxis, and the future, this interdisciplinary work highlights connections between anarchism and other perspectives such as feminism, queer theory, critical race theory, peace studies, post-modernism and post-structuralism, animal liberation, and environmental justice. The book brings together a wide variety of anarchist voices while stressing anarchism’s tradition of innovation and dissent. This interactive session will discuss the process, substance, and utility of the book – the first academic anthology of anarchism meant for a wide readership to be released in decades – and will apply shared understandings of anarchism to current issues ranging from homelessness and climate change to globalization and social movements.

ANARCHIST BOOKFAIRS:
TWIN CITIES ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR:



They're popping up here, there and everywhere; far too many to keep track of. Anarchist Bookfairs have become a favoured method of gathering and exchange between the ever expanding anarchist communities. Here's a new one ( at least I think it's their first ), the 'Twin Cities Anarchist Bookfair' being held on September 11 and 12 in Minneapolis, MN.



Minneapolis is not that far from Winnipeg, 621 km to be exact. The internet says that is 7 hours, 4 minutes driving time. Leadfoot Molly would bet she could make it in 6 easy. The twin cities are actually the closest real city to the dreaded 'Peg'. The even more dreaded Regina is 572 km away, but it takes a certain masochistic impulse to go to Regina for any reason. So, if you're interested Peg People this might actually be a somewhat legitimate excuse to visit Minneapolis and St. Paul. Here's the schedule for the event. Check the website for other details.
@@@@@@@@@@
Schedule/Locations
The bookfair will take place at the Powderhorn Park building located at 34th st and 15th ave s., Minneapolis.


Saturday 9/11: Noon-6pm
First Workshop Block: 1-2pm

-EXCO and Anarchist Education

http://www.excotc.org/

Featured Speaker: 2-4pm- Diana Block

Diana Block has been a social justice/feminist activist for forty years. She was a founder of San Francisco Women Against Rape and of the anti-imperialist group Prairie Fire Organizing Committee in the seventies. She spent thirteen years underground in connection with her solidarity activities with the Puerto Rican independence and Black liberation movements, including two years living in Minneapolis. After returning to public life in 1995, she was a founding member of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, the Jericho Movement and the San Francisco 8 Defense Committee and continues to be active in prison abolitionist work focused on women and transgender prisoners. In 2009 she published her memoir, *Arm the Spirit – A Woman’s Journey Underground and Back.* She lives in San Francisco with her partner, Claude Marks, and has two children.

She will read excerpts from her book and reflect on her experiences.

Featured Speaker: 4-6pm- Cindy Milstein

Cindy Milstein is a board member of the Institute for Anarchist Studies, and a former teacher at the Institute for Social Ecology. She does grassroots political work at home and public speaking anywhere else, and has long been involved in anarchist projects and social movements. She recently released a book on AK Press, “Anarchism and its Aspirations.”

Other Events:
1pm- Anti-War Committee “End the War on Terror” Protest (Hennepin Ave and Lagoon Ave)

7pm- Diana Block at the Friends Meeting House in St. Paul

Sunday 9/12: 2:30- 8pm
First Workshop Block: 3-4pm

-Anarchism and Fiction

-Money: Where do we go from here? Presented by Tony Hunnicut

A full schedule of workshops and speakers will be posted soon.

Other Events:
2pm- Really Really Free Market- Powderhorn Park (by stage)

ANARCHIST BOOKS:
ANARCHISM AND SOCIALISM BY WAYNE PRICE:



There's an interesting new book now out from the good folks at Thought Crime Ink in Edmonton. 'Anarchism and Socialism: Reformism or Revolution' is a fresh perspective on anarchist organizing in the 21st century. Here's the promo.>>>
@@@@@@@@@@


New Book:
Anarchism & Socialism: Reformism or Revolution?
by Wayne Price

From the Forward by Andrew Flood (Workers Solidarity Movement--Ireland):

"This collection of essays by Wayne Price…will hopefully play a significant part in helping us build the movement we need…..This volume represents a good foundation to this process. It revisits many of the essential basic questions and lays down a coherent position in regard to them. Wayne's insights are important to us because they are based not just on a theoretical study of revolution but on five decades of practical experience in the North American left and the anarchist movement".


In these essays grouped around common themes, Wayne Price draws on decades of extensive practical experience in antiwar and student movements, marxist tendency groups and affinity-based anarchist organizations, to make an insightful case for "pro-organizational," class-struggle anarchism.

In refreshingly accessible, non-polemical prose, Price distills the best of late 20th century marxist economic thought and anti-authoritarian organizing. This informs his coherent takes on such issues as the relation between class and non-class oppressions, productive engagement with reformist movements, technology and primitivism, and the worldwide economic crash of 2008-2009. Price's recurrent theme is how revolution can possibly be made out of our collective struggles as workers and other marginalized peoples— and how such revolution can avoid the "successes" of Leninist revolutions of China, Cuba and the Soviet Union.

Finally, Price's engagement with the trends of anti-authoritarian marxist and anarchist thought serve as a critical introduction to dozens of other essential writers in these traditions, such as Cornelius Castoradis, Ellen Wood, Hal Draper and Paul Goodman.

Contents

Part I: What is Revolutionary, Class Struggle, Anarchist-Communism?

What is Class Struggle Anarchism?
The Relationship Between the Working Class and Nonclass Oppression
Anarchist Organization, Not Leninist Vanguardism
What is Anarchist-Communism?
Industrial Capitalism and Civilization

Part II: Reformism or Revolution

Confronting the Question of Power
Our Program is the Anarchist Revolution!
Elements of a Program for Labor
Paul Goodman’s Anarchism
Hal Draper and Socialism-from-Below
The Crisis of Capitalism

Part III: The Nature of the “Communist” Countries & the Russian Revolution

What Do We Mean by Anti-Capitalism?
The Bureaucratic Ruling Class
State Capitalism
The Degeneration of the Russian Revolution

Can be ordered from the publisher for $17.50 at http://www.thoughtcrimeink.com/books/detail/anarchism_s...tion/

Note: The Abolition of the State, Anarchist & Marxist Perspectives, Price's first book, can still be ordered from www.AuthorHouse.com . A Spanish translation has been made but is not yet published.

ANARCHIST LITERATURE:

BOOKS FOR YOUR READING GROUP:

One of the traditions of the anarchist movement is the 'reading group', and the good folks at AK Press are going to make it easier for your group to get the materials needed. Here's their offer from the AK Blog.

@L@L@L@L@L
New Discount for Reading Groups!

There has been a lot of interest lately in using AK Press books for reading groups. We’ve had requests for Uses of a Whirlwind, Come Hell or High Water, Sparking a Worldwide Energy Revolution, and Black Flame just to name a few. Given the interest, and to encourage others to do the same, we decided to offer a special discount for folks who want to order multiple copies of our books.

We’re offering a 30% discount off any of the titles we carry, as long as you order at least three copies of the same item (and you prepay for the order).

So if you and your friends decide that you’d like to start a Book Club or a discussion group or whatever you might call it and you’re interested in using some of the titles we carry here at AK Press please get in touch! We’ve set up a special email just for reading group orders. It’s readinggroup@akpress.org . And we’d be happy to suggest titles if you’re having a hard time deciding where to start.
We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
ISLANDS OF RESISTANCE:





There's a great new book being launched soon. 'Islands of Resistance' is about the history and practice of "pirate radio" in Canada. So tune in your dials to the following book launches.
@@@@@@@@@@


The anthology, Islands of Resistance: Pirate Radio in Canada, hits the street this May 2010!
Stay tuned for upcoming launch parties in May & June!
Launch parties:

◘Montreal – Wednesday, May 26th, 5-7pm, in conjunction with the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair, Insoumise Librarie Anarchiste, 2033 St Laurent, Montreal
◘Nanaimo – Friday, June 11, 7.30pm, at the Corner Lounge, 121 Bastion St, Nanaimo. Radio Theatre – Desire & Machines: Auralizing Community AND Live Music – Tongue and Groove
◘Victoria – Saturday, June 12, 7.30pm at Camas Books, 2590 Quadra St, Victoria
◘Vancouver – Thursday, June 24, 7:30pm, at Spartacus Bookstore, 684 Hastings St East, Vancouver
◘Vancouver – Friday, June 25, 7pm, at Pulp Fiction, 2422 Main Street, Vancouver
◘Denman Island – Saturday, July 3, 7.30pm, at the Back Hall, Denman Island
Editors: Andrea Langlois, Ron Sakolsky & Marian van der Zon

Publisher: New Star Books

ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS/CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:

MAKHNO MEMOIRS VOLUME TWO:

Black Cat Press of Edmonton has brought out Volume Two of a three volume series of the memoirs of Nestor Makhno, the famous anarchist commander in the Russian Revolution. This is the first time the series has appeared in English. Here's the promo and how to order.

@@@@@@@@@@

"Under the Blows of the Counterrevolution" by Nestor Makhno

"Under the Blows of the Counterrevolution" is the second volume of Nestor Makhno's memoirs which describes Makhno's odyssey through revolutionary Russia in the spring of 1918. It is the first English translation of this book.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Under the Blows of the Counterrevolution

by Nestor Ivanovich Makhno

Nestor Makhno (1888-1934) was a peasant anarcho-communist who organized an experiment in anarchist values in practice in southeast Ukraine during the Russian Revolution and Civil War.
This is the second volume of his memoirs, originally published in France in 1936 and published in English here for the first time.

"Under the Blows of the Counterrevolution describes Makhno's odyssey through revolutionary Russia in the spring of 1918. Driven from his Ukrainian village by a German invasion, he wandered through a nation torn by civil war, encountered various remarkable personalities, and survived hair-raising adventures.

This volume has interested historians mainly because of Makhno's account of his interview with Lenin, but it also contains much valuable eye-witness information about a period of Soviet history which was later almost completely rewritten in officially sanctioned accounts.

The book (214 pp.) includes the original preface and notes by Makno's sometime colleague Vsevolod Volin together with photos, maps, glossary, explanatory notes, appendix, etc. English translation and editing by Malcolm Archibald..

ISBN 978-0-9737827-5-2

$22.00 Can or US

Price does not include tax or shipping. Publications may be ordered from:

Black Cat Press, 4508 118 Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T5W 1A9 Canada

Order by email from orders@blackcatpress.ca

(we can send you an estimate of the cost of your order)

We accept Visa and Mastercard. Inquiries from bookstores/distributors welcome.



Related Link: http://www.blackcatpress.ca

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-ONTARIO:

BLACK FLAME BOOK TOUR:

Molly has previously mentioned the book tour of Ontario and Quebec by author Michael Schmidt to promote his book 'Black Flame:The Revolutionary Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism'. The tour is sponsored by the Ontario platformist organization Common Cause. Here's an update on the stops during the tour.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
“Black Flame” Ontario Book Tour - March 15-21 kicks off tonight!‏
March 15, 2010 3:01:51 PM
South African writer and activist Michael Schmidt, co-author of “Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism” will be in several Ontario cities between March 15 and March 21 to promote and discuss this important new book on the global history of anarchist movements and ideas. The tour, organized by Common Cause with support from AK Press and several local sponsors, is scheduled to pass through the following cities listed below.

To promote the tour Common Cause has also produced a short video which can be seen here and set up a Facebook page. Copies of "Black Flame" will be available for purchase at each tour stop.
March 15

- Waterloo,

4PM to 6PM

School of Business and Economics,

Room 2260

Wilfrid Laurier University

75 University Avenue West
Sponsored the Communication Studies and Global Studies departments.
London - March 16,
2pm to 4pm
Sommerville House Rm. 2348
University of Western Ontario Campus
7pm

Tonda Room, Central Library

251 Dundas St.
March 17 - Hamilton

McMaster University,

12-2pm

MUSC Rooms 311 and 313

1280 Main St. West

Limited seating.

Please RSVP at commoncauseontario@gmail.com
Sponsored by the LIUNA-Mancinelli Professorship in Global Labour Issues and the School of Labour Studies.
Sky Dragon Centre,

7-9pm

27 King William Street

Hamilton, ON

Organized by Common Cause Hamilton

commoncausehamilton@gmail.com
March 18 - Montreal

6:30pm

DIRA

2035 St-Laurent
Organized by Common Cause Ontario, the Union Communiste Libertaire (UCL) with support from AK Press.
March 19 - Ottawa

two separate times/venues
3:00pm

Desmarais Building room 3120 (DMS),

University of Ottawa

(the newer building at 'Laurier Station' on the Transitway)
7:00pm

Exile Infoshop,

256 Bank St 2nd floor (at corner of Cooper)
Ottawa stops co-sponsored by Common Cause Ottawa, Exile Infoshop, OPIRG/GRIPO-Ottawa and PIDSSA (Univ of Ottawa)
March 20 - Toronto

3:00p.m. - 5:00p.m.

Bahen Centre,

Room 1220,

40 St. George Street(University of Toronto)
Co-sponsored by the Pan African Solidarity Network, CUPE 3902 & 3907, IWW Toronto GMB, and the Work and Labour Studies Program, York University.
For more information contact commoncauseontario@gmail.com and check www.linchpin.ca for updates.
About the book from AK Press:
“Black Flame (Counter-Power, Volume 1) is the first of a two-volume set examining the democratic class politics of the worldwide anarchist movement, its vision of a decentralized planned economy, and its impact on popular struggles on five continents over the course of the past 150 years. From anarchism's first glimmers as a nineteenth-century ideology to today's anticapitalist struggles, Black Flame traces anarchism's lineage and contemporary relevance, outlining the movement's insights into questions of race, gender, class, and imperialism. With Black Flame, Michael Schmidt and Lucien van der Walt, both writers and activists in South Africa, have begun what promises to be the definitive synthetic account of the international anarchist tradition. Nearly exhaustive in scope, and rigorous in its scholarly detail, this first volume significantly reframes the work of previous historians and, especially, examines coherent alternatives to Marxist and nationalist approaches to revolutionary theory and practice. An indispensable conceptual roadmap to the history and continuing relevance of anarchist praxis”
Reviews:
“In recent years, there has been an upsurge in class struggle anarchism or social anarchism. In these circumstances, there is a need for a clear and more forceful theoretical statement of principles, and Black Flame serves as an excellent opening statement of the relevance of class struggles anarchism in a twenty-first century context...this book is an impressive introduction to the history of anarchist theory and anarchist movements.” Sean Benjamin, Upping the Anti no. 9, November 2009.

"This highly worthwhile book represents the fruit of considerable scholarship and deep reflection. The authors have done a remarkable job in drawing together a vast international body of literature. They show convincingly that anarchism and syndicalism were far more significant political forces in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century world than historians have generally given them credit for. They provide excellent accounts of the movement's global political reach, supported by an impressive knowledge of disparate literatures. Schmidt and van der Walt also make a powerful and lucidly written case for anarchism as a serious and coherent political philosophy." —Jonathan Hyslop, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
"This book fulfills a daunting task. Covering anarchism in all parts of the world and emphatically tying it to class struggle, the authors present a highly original and challenging account of the movement, its actions and ideas. This work is a must for everybody interested in non-authoritarian social movements." —Bert Altena, Rotterdam University

"A well-thought out and nuanced study of the intellectual, political, and social history of anarchism." —Steven Hirsch, University of Pittsburgh
About the authors:
Michael Schmidt is a Johannesburg-based investigative journalist and journalism trainer, with more than twenty years experience in the field as a reporter for South Africa's leading newspapers including the Sunday Times and This Day, and as a co-editor of the anarchist news and analysis website anarkismo.net. A seasoned activist, his work has taken him to Chiapas, to Guatemala during the civil war, to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Rwanda, Darfur, Lebanon, and beyond.

Lucien van der Walt is based at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where he teaches in development, economic sociology, and labor studies. His recently completed PhD on the history of anarchism and syndicalism in early twentieth-century South Africa was awarded the prestigious Labor History international prize for the best doctoral thesis of 2007. He has written and lectured widely on contemporary working-class struggles and the relationship between race and class, and, together with Steven Hirsch, he is the editor of the forthcoming volume, Anarchism in the Colonial and Postcolonial World, 1880-1940 (Brill 2009).

-- Common Cause

P.O. Box 347,

Station E

772 Dovercourt Rd.

Toronto, ON,

Canada,

M6H 4E3

Email:

commoncauseontario@gmail.com

Web:

http://linchpin.ca

Online Forum:

http://anarchistblackcat.org/viewforum.php?f=61

MOUVEMENT ANARCHISTE DU CANADA/CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-MONTRÉAL:
MICHAEL SCHMIDT TOUR-CONFÉRENCE EN MONTRÉAL/MICHAEL SCHMIDT TOUR MEETING IN MONTRÉAL:
Molly a été mentionné précédemment la tournée livre pour promouvoir > en Ontario. Il y aura également une réunion à Montréal. Voici nouvelles du le blog Voix De Faits.
Molly has previously mentioned the book tour to promote 'Black Flame' in Ontario. There will also be a meeting in Montréal. Here's the news from the Voix De Faits blog.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

De la visite sud-africaine à Montréal
Pour les gens de Montréal, une activité qui risque fort d'être intéressante (tiré du blogue La Commune).
Black Flame tour-Conférence montréalaise avec l'auteur Michael Schmidt.
L'UCL-Montréal vous convie à une conférence de l'auteur sud-africain Michael Schmidt qui présentera son livre Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism. La tournée ontarienne organisée par nos camarades de Common Cause s'arrêtera pour une seule conférence au Québec. La conférence montréalaise organisée par l'UCL aura lieu vendredi le 19 mars. Nous aurons plus de détails à vous fournir dans les prochains jours. Inscrivez donc cette soirée dès maintenant à votre agenda...
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

The South African Visit to Montréal
For the people in Montreal, an activity that is likely to be interesting (from the La Commune blog).
Black Flame Montreal conference tour with author Michael Schmidt.
The UCL-Montréal invites you to a conference with the South African writer Michael Schmidt, who will present his book Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism. The Ontario tour organized by our comrades of Common Cause will stop for a single conference in Québec. The Montreal conference organized by the UCL will be held Friday, March 19. We'll have more details for you in the coming days. Mark this evening now on your calendar ...

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT - SOUTH AFRICA:

BLACK FLAME: CAPE TOWN LAUNCH:

This is one book that is sure to become immensely influential in the international anarchist movement in years to come. What it may be styled as is something of a manifesto of international class struggle anarchism in opposition to many of the the distortions of anarchism that have been promulgated by both its opponents and some who claim to be "anarchists", particularly in the USA. I can't say that I agree with everything the authors say, especially as I am a rather convinced gradualist who sees the benefit in the cooperative model of mutualism (one thing that the authors attempt to "read out" of the mainstream of anarchism, with at least some justification). Still, I find it interesting that the anti-social wing of those who like to call themselves anarchist have yet to launch one of their usual vituperative attacks. Maybe I am missing something as I am not a member of the cult and don't follow the cult writings very closely.

Still, what the authors have done is impressive, whether I agree with all of it or not. To put forward a rational basis for the international anarchist movement based on the actual struggles of real people and showing how this has manifested itself across the world is a great achievement. Personally I am still in the process of reading the book. One of the authors, Michael Schmidt, is presently engaged in a book promotion tour of Ontario and Quebec, as has been mentioned previously on this blog.The book has been launched before in numerous countries across the world, including in the authors' native country of South Africa.

Here's an announcement of yet another book launch in South Africa, this time in the city of Cape Town. From the Anarkismo website:

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Cape Town Launch of 'Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism'
The Book Lounge presents the Cape Town launch of 'BLACK FLAME: revolutionary class politics of anarchism and syndicalism' by Lucien Van Der Walt & Michael Schmidt

'Black Flame' examines the anti-authoritarian class politics of the anarchist/syndicalist movement, and its 150 years of popular struggle on 5 continents. An indispensable conceptual and historical road map, with close attention to Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America, looking at its:
* Opposition to hierarchy, capitalism and the state

* Strategy: building revolutionary counter-power

* History: labour, community, anti-imperialism

* Agenda: participatory, cooperative economics

* Revolutions: Mexico, Spain, Ukraine, Korea

* Revival: today's struggles

This groundbreaking volume has been praised by reviewers as "deeply impressive", "fascinating, revealing and often startling", "a grand work of synthesis", "remarkable" "outstanding", "inspired" and "a welcome antidote to Eurocentric accounts".
THURSDAY 11 MARCH 2010 @ 5.30 for 6.00
The Book Lounge, 71 Roeland Street (corner of Buitenkant), Cape Town
ALL WELCOME!
With thanks to Leopard's Leap Wines.Please RSVP to booklounge@gmail.com

021 462 2425.
MORE INFO:

http://black-flame-anarchism.blogspot.com/

The LAUNCH POSTER:

http://www.mediafire.com

Related Link: http://black-flame-anarchism.blogspot.com/

ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS:

THE IMPOSSIBILISTS:

The history of the Socialist Party of Canada and the OBU (One Big Union) in western Canada is an often forgotten chapter of Canadian history. Red Lion Press has now corrected this with a collection of the writings of these two organizations. Here's the promo for this new book.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The Impossibilists‏
Hot off the press, THE IMPOSSIBILISTS is a collection of writings from the Socialist Party of Canada and the One Big Union from 1906 to 1938. There is also an introductory essay which describes the growth of the party in Western Canada and how the OBU developed out of it. Articles were chosen both for contemporary relevance and historical interest. Of interest today is their insistence that socialism be of a libertarian nature and not statism and the holistic philosophy that underlay this view. Of historical interest are the origins of the OBU, the debates on the Russian Revolution and the descriptions of the working conditions and struggles of that period. Included as well are the writings of labour martyr, Ginger Goodwin, back in print after 93 years.

This is a revised and updated version of the 1995 ms., with new material added. 90 pages, $10.00. (add $2.00 postage for US orders.) Will take Pay Pal. Cheques made out to L. Gambone. Available from Red Lion Press, Box 297, Stn A, Nanaimo, BC, V9R 4W7 or redlionpress@hotmail.com

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-ONTARIO:

'BLACK FLAME' AUTHOR ONTARIO TOUR:

The Ontario platformist organization Common Cause, along with other allies are sponsoring an Ontario book tour by the South African author of the new and acclaimed book 'Black Flame'. Here are the details from their website, supplemented with further information from the Ontario section of the Anarchist Black Cat discussion board. There is also a Facebook page for the tour which has a link to a short video and also an excerpt from the book.

Black Flame attempts to place the history and theory of anarchism squarely in the mass movements of class struggle and also gives a wealth of detail about non-European movements that have achieved perhaps as great success as the more commonly known European ones have. Well worth the read. If you live in Ontario try and see this fascinating author.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Common Cause organizes "Black Flame" Ontario book tour:

South African writer and activist Michael Schmidt, co-author of “Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism” will be in several Ontario cities between March 15 and March 21 to promote and discuss this important new book on the global history of anarchist movements and ideas. The tour, organized by Common Cause with support from AK Press and several local sponsors, is scheduled to pass through the following cities listed below. To promote the tour Common Cause has also produced a short video which can be seen here

March 15 - Waterloo,

4PM to 6PM

School of Business and Economics, Room 2260

Wilfrid Laurier University

75 University Avenue West
Sponsored the Communication Studies and Global Studies departments.
March 16 - London
March 17 - Hamilton

1)McMaster University,

12-2pm

MUSC Rooms 311 and 313

1280 Main St. West

Limited seating.

Please RSVP at commoncauseontario@gmail.com

2)Sky Dragon Centre,

7-9pm

27 King William Street

Hamilton, ON

Organized by Common Cause Hamilton

commoncausehamilton@gmail.com

March 18 - Montreal

March 19 - Ottawa

March 20, 21 - Toronto

Full details to follow soon.

Organized by Common Cause Ontario with support from AK Press.

For more information contact

commoncauseontario@gmail.com

and check www.linchpin.ca.

About the book from AK Press:

“Black Flame (Counter-Power, Volume 1) is the first of a two-volume set examining the democratic class politics of the worldwide anarchist movement, its vision of a decentralized planned economy, and its impact on popular struggles on five continents over the course of the past 150 years. From anarchism's first glimmers as a nineteenth-century ideology to today's anticapitalist struggles, Black Flame traces anarchism's lineage and contemporary relevance, outlining the movement's insights into questions of race, gender, class, and imperialism. With Black Flame, Michael Schmidt and Lucien van der Walt, both writers and activists in South Africa, have begun what promises to be the definitive synthetic account of the international anarchist tradition. Nearly exhaustive in scope, and rigorous in its scholarly detail, this first volume significantly reframes the work of previous historians and, especially, examines coherent alternatives to Marxist and nationalist approaches to revolutionary theory and practice. An indispensable conceptual roadmap to the history and continuing relevance of anarchist praxis”

Reviews:

“In recent years, there has been an upsurge in class struggle anarchism or social anarchism. In these circumstances, there is a need for a clear and more forceful theoretical statement of principles, and Black Flame serves as an excellent opening statement of the relevance of class struggles anarchism in a twenty-first century context...this book is an impressive introduction to the history of anarchist theory and anarchist movements.”

-Sean Benjamin,

Upping the Anti no. 9,

November 2009.

"This highly worthwhile book represents the fruit of considerable scholarship and deep reflection. The authors have done a remarkable job in drawing together a vast international body of literature. They show convincingly that anarchism and syndicalism were far more significant political forces in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century world than historians have generally given them credit for. They provide excellent accounts of the movement's global political reach, supported by an impressive knowledge of disparate literatures. Schmidt and van der Walt also make a powerful and lucidly written case for anarchism as a serious and coherent political philosophy."

—Jonathan Hyslop,

University of the Witwatersrand,

Johannesburg

"This book fulfills a daunting task. Covering anarchism in all parts of the world and emphatically tying it to class struggle, the authors present a highly original and challenging account of the movement, its actions and ideas. This work is a must for everybody interested in non-authoritarian social movements."

—Bert Altena,

Rotterdam University

"A well-thought out and nuanced study of the intellectual, political, and social history of anarchism."

—Steven Hirsch,

University of Pittsburgh

About the authors:

Michael Schmidt is a Johannesburg-based investigative journalist and journalism trainer, with more than twenty years experience in the field as a reporter for South Africa's leading newspapers including the Sunday Times and ThisDay, and as a co-editor of the anarchist news and analysis website anarkismo.net. A seasoned activist, his work has taken him to Chiapas, to Guatemala during the civil war, to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Rwanda, Darfur, Lebanon, and beyond.

Lucien van der Walt is based at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where he teaches in development, economic sociology, and labor studies. His recently completed PhD on the history of anarchism and syndicalism in early twentieth-century South Africa was awarded the prestigious Labor History international prize for the best doctoral thesis of 2007. He has written and lectured widely on contemporary working-class struggles and the relationship between race and class, and, together with Steven Hirsch, he is the editor of the forthcoming volume, Anarchism in the Colonial and Postcolonial World, 1880-1940 (Brill 2009).

LOCAL EVENTS-WINNIPEG:

GIANT BOOKSALE AT THE MONDRAGON:

Our local infoshop 'Mondragon' is holding a "giant sale" beginning tomorrow, Thursday, February 11. Hopefully this isn't what it sounds like- a clearance sale. I guess I'll find out tomorrow. Mondragon has been a valued part of Winnipeg for many years now.

@@@@@@@@@@@
Giant Book Sale at Mondragon

All books 10 - 50% off!!!:
Start Time:
Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 6:00pm
End Time:
Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 12:00am
Location:
91 Albert St.

Winnipeg, MB
Description
Everything must go!!! Almost everything!!! Every book is discounted!!! Knowledge!!! Exclamation marks!!!

MOUVEMENT ANARCHISTE DU CANADA/CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:

NOUVEAUTÉS JANVIER À LA PAGE NOIRE/NEW IN JANUARY AT LA PAGE NOIR:
La Page Noire est l'infoshop anarchiste du Québec. Voice certains éléments des nouvelles pour la nouvelle année. Le texte suivant a attiré l'attention de Molly par le site web A-Infos.
@@@@@

La Page Noire is Québec City's anarchist infoshop. Here's some new items for the new year that they have in stock. The following came to Molly's attention via the A-Infos website.
@@@@@@@@@@@@
Québec : Nouveautés janvier - La Page Noire:
Bonjour,
Voici quelques unes des nouveautés du mois de janvier 2010. À noter l'arrivée desderniers numéros de la revue Réfraction, mais surtout d'un grand nombre demagnifiques posters de Celebrate Peoples' History, Beehive Collective et dumanifeste des jeunes féministes (Toujours rebelles). Enfin, nous vous invitons aulancement du livre J'haïs les féministes de Mélissa Blais le vendredi le 5 février.
Bonne année!
Le collectif de la Page noire
*****
Le climat change... et la société ?
Florence Rudolf
Le risque de réchauffement accéléré de la planète n'est plus uniquement une question de sciences, mais également une question sociale majeure. Cet ouvrage propose une approche élargie du changement climatique en lui apportant l'indispensable éclairage des sciences humaines et sociales.


États, experts, médias, organisations écologistes, citoyens et opinions publiques..., il s'agit ici de faire le point sur l'ensemble des acteurs impliqués dans le changement climatique, sur leurs représentations et leurs conceptions de la crise, sur la façon dont ils interagissent, et bien entendu sur leurs moyens d'agir.


Ce livre s'adresse à chacun d'entre nous. Il n'est pas destiné aux experts, mais à tous celles et ceux qui se sentent concernés par le destin de la planète, des êtres vivants et de l'humanité.
Le mandat impératif, de la Révolution française à la Commune
par Jean-Luc Debry
http://www.lemague.net/dyn/spip.php?auteur285
Pierre-Henri Zaidman explore en historien la genèse du mandat impératif et la défaite de ses partisans face aux tenants de la démocratie représentative. Son texte a le grand mérite de resituer le débat dans son contexte historique : 1791 et les Enragés (Jacques Roux, Théophile Leclerc, John Oswald et Jean-François Varlet), 1848 et les fouriéristes, 1871 et la Commune de Paris bien sûr, sans oublier les étonnantes ambiguïtés des blanquistes.
PEEL: The Art of the Sticker
Hardcover, 160 pages, includes 69 stickers
This book includes photo and interview highlights from the first eight issues of PEEL, as well as a brief story of the birth of the zine, some never before published images, and some behind the scenes photos.


From the back of the book: Stickers have long been part of the street-art scene, but PEEL is the first magazine dedicated to this aspect of graffiti. Inspired by the wealth of stickers they saw all over New York City when they traveled there from Indianapolis, Indiana, to help with the Sept. 11 clean-up, Dave and Holly Combs have never been able to look at stickers the same. With every issue of PEEL, the couple feature art, and the community around it. Having evolved from a hand-made zine stuffed into plastic bags to a glossy, internationally distributed magazine, this book documents the development of PEEL and sticker culture, as both are intimately linked.
Dans un village d'Aragon,
dont je ne veux pas rappeler le nom...
Ricardo Vazquez Prada
En juillet 1936, l'arrivée des troupes franquistes dans un petit village d'Aragon précipite dans l'horreur ses habitants, parmi lesquels la famille du menuisier don Pedro. Pour sa femme, dona Maria, et ses deux filles, il s'ensuivra une petite odyssée, tissée de tragédies, d'amours et d'espoirs, au gré des aléas d'une terrible lutte à mort.


Parallèlement, un torero et un étudiant de leurs amis rejoignent la colonne Durruti, au-delà de la ligne de front toute proche.


En toile de fond se profile un affrontement entre deux projets sociaux : celui de fascistes, des grands propriétaires terriens et du clergé réactionnaire, décidés à éliminer les « rouges » jusqu'au dernier ; et celui qui s'incarne dans le nouvelle société égalitaire et communautaire que tentent d'instaurer les colonnes anarcho-syndicalistes.
Arena: On Anarchist Cinema
Eric Jerry (Contributor), Andrew Hedden (Contributor), Dan Georgakas (Contributor), Pietro Ferrua (Contributor), Russell Campbell (Contributor), and Richard Porton (Editor)
In the wake of the end of the Cold War and worldwide protests against corporate globalization, anarchism continues to attract new adherents among both aging leftists and new generations of young radicals. Arena aims to tap into this revived interest in libertarian ideas, culture and practice by providing a dynamic focal point: a journal that brings together good, stimulating and provocative writing and scholarship on libertarian culture of all kinds.


Designed for a general, intelligent, popular readership as well as for scholars and aficionados working in the area, the first issue of Arena focuses on film and video-historical and modern-and future issues will cover the entire spectrum of the arts: film, theatre, and art criticism as well as political theory and practice, reportage, letters, reviews, and unpublished fiction and nonfiction.
Nationalisme et culture
Rudolf Rocker
Né en 1873 à Mayence, une ville séduite par les idéaux de la Révolution française, Rudolf Rocker est d'abord attiré par la social-démocratie avant de s'orienter vers l'anarchisme.


Contraint de quitter l'Allemagne, il se réfugie à Paris puis à Londres, où il exerce sa profession de relieur et fréquente le groupe d'anarchistes juifs qui édite la revue Arbayter Fraynd. Revenu en Allemagne après l'armistice, il participe fin 1922-début août 1923 à la fondation de l'AIT (Association Internationale des Travailleurs), dont il assure le secrétariat. En mars 1933, après l'incendie du Reichstag, il quitte définitivement son pays natal.


Expatrié aux Etats-Unis, il collabore aux activités du cercle d'ouvriers regroupés autour de la Fraye Arbayter Shtime (La Voix du travailleur libre) puis, à partir de juillet 1936, à la campagne en faveur de la révolution espagnole. Mort en 1958, près de New York, il laisse une ouvre importante dans laquelle deux livres brillent d'un éclat tout particulier: ses Mémoires qui, en quelques 1 500 pages, retracent une trajectoire personnelle qui est aussi celle de l'anarcho-syndicalisme de la première partie du XXe siècle, et son grand ouvrage théorique, , que Bertrand Russell salua comme une "importante contribution à la pensée politique", en louant "sa brillante critique du culte de l'Etat [...], la superstition dominante et la plus nocive de notre temps".


Fruit d'un très long travail achevé en 1933, le livre ne sera publié dans sa langue d'origine qu'en 1949, soit bien après les versions en espagnol et en anglais. Il aura fallu beaucoup plus de temps encore pour que ce grand livre soit enfin disponible en langue française. Voici réparée l'injustice dont a été victime en France celui qui fut une des têtes les mieux faites du mouvement anarcho-syndicaliste, et c'est avec grande fierté que nous mettons à la disposition des lecteurs français ce qui est à l'évidence une des oeuvres les plus précieuses de la pensée libertaire du siècle passé, servie par le beau et rigoureux travail de Jacqueline Soubrier-Dumonteil.
About On The Lower Frequencies: A Secret History of The City
http://onthelowerfrequencies.com/about/
Erick Lyle's On the Lower Frequencies is at once a manual, a memoir and a history of creative resistance and fun in a world run rotten with poverty and war. Whether handing out fake starbucks coupons for free coffee, dropping flyers on mall-goer's heads that say "aren't you glad this isn't a bomb?" or having punk shows in laundromats, Lyle (formerly known as Iggy Scam) has shown the world over the years that you can resist consumerism and have fun and have a sense of humor at the same time.
Paper Politics: Socially Engaged Printmaking Today
Paper Politics: Socially Engaged Printmaking Today is a major collection of contemporary politically and socially engaged printmaking. This full color book showcases print art that uses themes of social justice and global equity to engage community members in political conversation. Based on an art exhibition which has traveled to a dozen cities in North America, Paper Politics features artwork by over 200 international artists; an eclectic collection of work by both activist and non-activist printmakers who have felt the need to respond to the monumental trends and events of our times.


Paper Politics presents a breathtaking tour of the many modalities of printing by hand: relief, intaglio, lithography, serigraph, collagraph, monotype, and photography. In addition to these techniques, included are more traditional media used to convey political thought, finely crafted stencils and silk-screens intended for wheat pasting in the street. Artists range from the well established (Sue Coe, Swoon, Carlos Cortez) to the up-and-coming (Favianna Rodriguez, Chris Stain, Nicole Schulman), from street artists (BORF, You Are Beautiful) to rock poster makers(EMEK, Bughouse).
Réfractions N°23 L'entraide, un facteur de révolutions
On vit une époque formidable, c'est-à-dire une époque « à craindre et à redouter », celle du grand bond en arrière, de la vague néolibérale aux relents de XIXe siècle, celle de la loi du plus fort, de la compétition à mort et de l'individualisme de la pire espèce. Aujourd'hui, l'entraide devient un délit : accueillir un sans-papiers est passible de prison, et la gauche institutionnelle contaminée a oublié d'inclure le socialisme dans son programme.


Ce sombre tableau ne serait-il qu'un trompe-l'oeil ? Car l'entraide est toujours là, partout, mais occultée. L'utopie mortifère des dominants n'est pas encore parvenue à détruire la spontanéité naturelle des relations solidaires qui rejaillissent sansfin, en tous lieux, en tous temps. En période de crise, c'est-à-dire de nécessité, les initiatives de solidarité se multiplient : on résiste, on survit quand même, et dans la joie. On redécouvre le troc, le don, la réciprocité, les coups de main, les groupements d'achat, les logiciels libres, les jeux coopératifs, l'économie solidaire, etc., c'est-à-dire l'entraide, celle qui fait si peur au pouvoir parce qu'elle est imprévisible, invisible, omniprésente et puissante.


Cette crise, c'est l'occasion de rouvrir le vieux dossier anarchiste de l'entraide, ou plutôt de L'Entr'aide, comme l'explique Marianne Enckell dans le premier article. Pour les anars, la référence, c'est le titre du livre de Pierre Kropotkine, L'Entraide, un facteur de l'évolution (1902). Mais que retenir aujourd'hui de ce livre ? Est-il toujours d'actualité ? Jean-Christophe Angaut nous met en gardecontre son côté naturaliste, tout en rappelant que ce livre reste encore incontournable. L'animalité, ce n'est pas la loi du plus fort, c'est aussi l'entraide qui navigue naturellement entre nature et politique.
ÉDITORIAL
LES FONDEMENTS DE L'ENTRAIDE
Note sur l'histoire d'un mot, Marianne Enckell
Que faire du naturalisme de L'Entraide ? Jean-Christophe Angaut
Faut-il chercher dans la nature un fondement des valeurs morales ? Annick Stevens
Nature et culture (ou vice versa), Alain Thévenet
Faut-il chercher dans nos gènes un fondement des comportements sociaux ? Jacques van Helden
Qu'a-t-on appris sur l'entraide depuis Kropotkine ? Pablo Servigne
Kropotkine fondateur de la gauche darwinienne, Pierre Jouventin
LES ANARCHISTES ET L'ENTRAIDE
Être anarchiste oblige ! André Bernard
Entretien avec Sylvie Knoerr, une individualiste solidaire
LES EXPÉRIENCES PRATIQUES
Les jardins partagés, un exemple d'entraide libertaire. Entretien avec Laurence Baudelet, Irène Pereira
Luttes sociales et entraide : l'exemple des mutuelles dans les transports, Martial Lepic
TRANSVERSALES
Comment se débarrasser du trotskisme ? Alexander Neumann
L'oeuvre de Claude Lévêque au pavillon français de la biennale de Venise, Bernard Hennequin
CONTRE-SOMMET DE L'OTAN
Choses vues et vécues, Alain Bihr
Contourner un affrontement violent et stérile, Pierre Sommermeyer
Un champ de bataille comme alternative à l'Otan ? Guillaume Gamblin
L'eau tranquille fend la pierre, Wolfgang Hertle
HOMMAGE
Francisco Ferrer, Annick Stevens
LES LIVRES, LES REVUES, ETC.N°22
Le réveil des illégalismes
Le capitalisme tangue. Les dominants s'affolent. La répression s'étend. Les lois d'exception reviennent. Le fichage de la population se veut exhaustif. Le Régime craque, qu'il crève !


La destruction d'un régime inique qui accapare les richesses et distribue la misère est une nécessité pour toute volonté créatrice.


Réfractions, qui veut à sa mesure participer à l'édification d'une société autre de libres et d'égaux, propose avec ces pages de réfléchir sur notre réalité. Ou plutôtde penser au sein de ce couple contrarié que forment nos désirs et notre réalité.


Trois moments s'articulent : la crise du capitalisme, la montée des illégalismes, la nécessité du changement radical de la société.
Sommaire
Présentation
Qu'il crève, le régime !
Les mécanismes de la crise, Pierrick
La crise ? Une soirée à Strasbourg
Qui succédera au capitalisme ? Pierre Sommermeyer
L'heure des illégalismes
Salut à l'action directe, Marianne Enckell
Illégaliste, parfaitement ! Jean-Marc Delpech, David Doillon
Grève générale ! Bernard Hennequin
En porte-à-faux : réfugiés et sans papiers face à l'illégalité, Christophe Tafelmacher
Une révolte grecque, Jean-Pierre Duteuil
Syndicalisme d'action directe et illégalité, Irène Pereira
Désobéir à la loi ? André Bernard
Table ronde sur (...)

LOCAL EVENTS-WINNIPEG:

BOOK LAUNCH-'THE TYRANNY OF RIGHTS':

This just in from the Viva Mondragon facebook page...A book launch for 'The Tyranny of Rights' down at our local infoshop/restaurant/grocery store Mondragon, 91 Albert St., Winnipeg, MB.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Brewster Kneen "Tyranny of Rights" Book Launch:
Date:
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Time:
7:30pm - 9:30pm
Location:
Mondragon

91 Albert St.

Winnipeg, MB
Description
Brewster Kneen, author of the food security classic Farmageddon, is back! Join us for the launch of his latest book The Tyranny of Rights. In this provocative book, Brewster Kneen asks why the demand for rights – human rights, intellectual property rights, the right to save seed, the right to food – has become such a dominant strategy of movements for social and economic justice. As he discusses this question, he uncovers ways in which concept and language of rights imposes the individualistic and legalistic approach on other civilizations and ways of thinking. Kneen intends to spark dialogue and debate about the concept of ‘rights’ and the best ways to achieve genuine justice and equity among people and the Creation we inhabit.

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:

ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR IN SWITZERLAND:

The following item came Molly's way via the A-Infos website. What I found noteworthy about this event, the Biel/Bienne Anarchist Bookfair, is their website which contains a capsule history of the growth of the anarchist bookfair concept. I don't know if is true to reality, but I append it anyways at the end of the article. For now, the announcement...

@@@@@@@@@@

Call for the next anarchist bookfair in Switzerland:

Dear activists,

---- Taking place last year in Winterthur and this year in Biel/Bienne, the second anarchist book convention will be held in May 2010. The city being situated on the linguistic border, we, therefore, have more possibilities offered to us when it comes to the organization of this event. More than changing city, the idea is to widen the concept.

---- We are planning, aside from the presentation of dozens of publishers, libraries, distributors and organisations, multiple cultural and political activities in different wonderful places of this small town, located in between the verdant Jura and the glistening lake. What hatched in Winterthur can now grow in Biel/Bienne; a multilingual convention aiming to be a meeting point for anarchists from all over central Europe, and who knows, further.

In addition, Biel/Bienne, located on the grounds of the Fédération Jurassienne, is a town where the libertarian tradition lives on and perpetuates. In spite of its population of over 50,000, there are squats, an autonomous youth center with 40 years of history, « le Chat Noir », one of the only anarchist infokiosks in Switzerland, a self-managed popular kitchen serving hot meals multiple times a day as well as an autonomous printing house in Biel/Bienne. Due to its privileged geographic situation, it is also often a meeting point for anarchists from the whole country.

To guarantee that this edition will be at least as successful as the « Winti » edition where a good 300 visitors came, we are, of course, counting on you, dear activists and exhibitors. In return for your modest contribution to the organization costs, you will not only have the possibility to attend the book convention, the cultural activities as well as meeting different people from here and abroad,you will also have the occasion to present your book house, your library, your newspaper or your organization to a wide public.

The convention will take place on Saturday the 15th and Sunday the 16th of May 2010 at the CAJ/AJZ (Autonomous Youth Center), also known as the Coupole/Kessel. We offer accommodation, as well as press tables.You can register directly by visiting our website (salondulivre.ch)where you will also soon find more detailed information concerning the program, the location and the convention in general.

We are grateful for your future participation in this event!

From one book lover to another, the best greetings!

2010 Biel/Bienne Anarchist Book Convention Organization Committee

http://www.buechermesse.ch/

@@@@@@@@@@

And here's what I was speaking about above, a capsule history of the modern concept of the anarchist bookfair.

@@@@@@@@@@

What is a libertarian book convention?:
During the early 1980’s, under the impression of a so-called socialist, yet tedious and expensive book convention that was frequented by many major publishing houses, a desire to realise such an event of their own emerged among a few Londoner anarchists. The attributes –anarchist or – libertarian in the rapidly established bookfair referred on one hand to the publishing programmes offered and on the other hand to a certain notion of how the event should look like. The aim was not only to sell as many books as possible and to awaken peoples interest in anarchism, but to create a platform for activists and a variety of further cultural events. specifically anarchistic conceptions that emphasise on individual freedom should furthermore be lived at the book convention: racism, sexism, homophobia etc. were banned from the event. A great value, however, was set on the do-it-yourself-attitude of the visitors and providers, as well as on solidarity and on structures for grassroots democratic decision-making.

The first anarchist bookfair was not exactly a big success: merely half a dozen offerers attended the event, and since there weren’t scarcely any visitors, the attendees turned the bookfair into a pool-tournament. ( I wonder who won-Molly )But the enthusiasm did not abandon them, the event became more and more prominent year after year, attracted more libertarian publishing houses and visitors and continually increased in size and variety. The book convention became so popular over the years, that it will be taking place for the 28th time this year. The hosts reckon thus free from humility, that it is the largest and most important regularly realised anarchistic event in the world. The numbers are indeed quite impressive. 100 bookstands, 40 programmes and around 3000 visitors on each convention day.

But the times in which the "Anarchist-Bookfair" was the single event of its kind are long forgotten, so that its organisers have started to emphasise on the appendix "of London". In Great Britain alone, numerous anarchistic bookfairs have been launched in recent years. In Canada and the USA, one is spoilt for choice as a literary intrigued anarchist – between springtime and autumn there is barely a weekend on which no anarchistic book convention is taking place. In Latin America too, where anarchistic bookshops and libraries have a long tradition, there have been several attempts in recent years, like for example in Monterrey (Mexico) and Sao Paulo (Brasil).

Eventually there has been a move in this direction on the European Continent too: Since 2003 the "Balkan Anarchist Bookfair" takes place every two years (2003 in Ljubljana (Slowenia), 2005 in Zagreb (Croatia), 2008 in Sofia (Bulgaria); Likewise in Eastern Europe the "Anarchistic ki sajam knijia" in Zagreb and an anarchistic book convention in Poznan (Poland) take place yearly. In Western Europe our Spanish associates, who regularly organise "ferias del libro anarquista" in different cities (Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Valencia), stand out most notably. But also in Paris, Gent, Florence, Lisbon and Dublin, correlative events have taken place. The concepts have hardly changed over the years, although the programmes have broadened massively. Many events are bookfairs, cabarets, course of lectures, culture days, movie cycles and meeting points in one.

You know, I still wonder who won that goddamn pool tournament-Molly.