“That is why we are, and define ourselves, insurrectionalist anarchists. Not because we think the solution is the barricades — the barricades could be a tragic consequence of choices that are not our own — but we are insurrectionalists because we think that anarchist action must necessarily face very serious problems.”
Category: justice
Tyler McBrien: The Struggle Continues: On Vincent Bevins’s “If We Burn”
“Bevins chronicles the protest movements that made the 2010s the most politically active in history, considering why such unprecedented mass protests so often had the opposite effect from what the protesters intended. Still, rather than focusing solely on these losses, he tracks the small wins, as well as the lessons learned and edifying counterfactuals disseminated…
Michael A. Allen & Julie VanDusky-Allen: “The ‘Barbie’ and ‘Star Wars’ universes”
Both “Barbie” and “Andor” are useful for those who want to understand why revolutions happen and what it takes for them to happen. Their fundamental point: Before the start of any revolution, the oppressed have to first recognize their oppression.
Silvia Federici: “The revolution is now”
“Enough with this idea of the revolution which has become in the future, so one day the children of my children will live better. No. The revolution is now. We have one life. Every day is precious. We cannot think of the revolution in the future. If we struggle, it is because the life that…
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor: “The Unknown History Of Black Uprisings”
“More than fifty years after the Kerner Commission, we have seen in the past eight years the return of Black rebellions in response to growing inequality that has been managed by the forces of racist and abusive policing. This is not history repeating itself; it is evidence that the problems that gave rise to earlier…
Hall Greenland: “After Independence, Algeria Launched an Experiment in Self-Managing Socialism”
“Local democracy wasn’t always perfect: there were many examples of local bigwigs, mafia, and armed mujahideen doing side deals with emigrating European owners or seizing European property. However, in the latter cases, there were often ongoing struggles between the usurpers and local workers for control. The spontaneous reality of the summer of 1962 set the…
Sahar Delijani: “Watching From a Distance As Women Fight for Freedom in Iran”
“There is a revolution in the making, and you must rush to make impressions of its traces, its familiar faces. You must learn to listen to its heartbeat, memorize it, keep it safe. For, this is for you too. This struggle. It encompasses your life, your freedom, your beliefs, your dreams of a better world.…
Deion Scott Hawkins: “Not all insurrections are equal – for enslaved Americans, it was the only option.”
“In my view, rebellions of the enslaved can aptly be classified as insurrections. From the early 1600s, historians estimate that there were around 250 insurrections in America that involved 10 or more enslaved people using violence to fight for equal rights.”
Janet Afary & Kevin B. Anderson: “Woman, Life, Freedom: The Origins Of The Uprising In Iran”
“Many issues besides women’s rights are bound up in the protests: authoritarianism, economic stagnation and severe unemployment, climate disaster, and various religious-fundamentalist impositions. The current uprising also represents the public’s response to the regime’s colossal cronyism and corruption, and to its confrontational foreign policy and regional expansionism, which have isolated Iran and contributed to extremely…
Amir Ahmadi Arian: “Without them: In Iran, a revolution of the mind has already taken place”
“How can you tell if a society is in a revolutionary state? I wonder if you ever can. Everyone who remembers the 1979 revolution will tell you that up to the very last day, most people were living their lives as if nothing was happening. Iran today is not different. Intense, bloody clashes between protestors…