Are you an Anarchist? The answer might surprise you!
Rules: 0. Post content that is thoughtful and relevant to social liberation from an anarchist, autonomous, antifascist perspective.
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I like the thoughts of Abdullah Öcalan. Leader of Kurdish Workers Party and was Marxist Leninist, but ended up embracing what he came to call democratic confederalism. Particularily emphasizes the role of women in the revolution.
I want to read mutual aid by Peter Kropotkin. He was very educated in Russia and went on a journey to Sibiria where he witnessed the mutual aid between species. Talking about how mutual aid is human nature.
I highly recommend "An Anarchist FAQ" :
https://www.anarchistfaq.org/afaq/index.html
This FAQ is what turned me to an Anarchist.
Seconding this.
AFAQ gives overviews on topics with a lot of quoting from books and essays. It often notes that a book is 'essential reading' for a certain topic.
So it's not only an informative read in itself, it's a great source for people looking for reading recommendations.
Awesome, thanks! Sounds a lot like what I've been looking for
You may join local IWW, help with local food not bombs, go to some anarchist bookfair near you etc. About theory, there is a website called the anarchist library with a lot of books concerning anarchism for free!
Thanks for the tips! I've found a mutual aid group in my city and apparently there's a food not bombs chapter here too. I've looked through the anarchist Library a few times but their search function isn't the greatest and being pretty new to leftist ideology, anarchism in particular, a lot of the authors are completely unfamiliar to me. I'm not sure if what I'll be digging into is any good and/or too much for me to wrap my head around. I was hoping to find the general consensus among anarchists of where to start, what to look into, etc. so id be able to read more confidently and with most of the basics covered
I haven't read any anarchist books myself yet, but I have read plenty of shorter texts I found online (mostly from The Anarchist Library).
Here are a few I found to be worth a read (in no particular order):
Since you already read The Conquest of Bread I decided to leave out most of Kropotkin's shorter texts, as I assume that you should already be familiar with his ideas and principles.
Although not anarchists, I still find many libertarian Marxists to be pretty insightful as well (some may as well be Anarchists in denial). Anton Pannekoek's and Rosa Luxemburg's works being some I really enjoy reading.
I also have What is Anarchism? (by Alexander Berkman) and Anarcho-Syndicalism (by Rudolf Rocker) standing on my bookshelf, but I haven't gotten around to reading them quite yet. If they sound interesting enough you could give them a try.
Thanks! I'll check them out
first off, I'm a Marxist but y'all are my comrades, so my suggestions are coming from the outside but these are a couple pieces I used when I was finding my feet politically. These are a couple of the works that I found that make a compelling case for anarchism.
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/errico-malatesta-anarchy
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/petr-kropotkin-mutual-aid-a-factor-of-evolution and anything else Kropotkin, sounds like you read the bread book and liked it (it's a banger)
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/anonymous-desert
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/dean-spade-mutual-aid (haven't read this one but heard good things)
Thank you, I appreciate it! I'm not 100% an anarchist but I've really become enamored with the concept and wanted to dive deeper. It scratches that social libertarian itch that a lot of other leftist ideologies don't spend a lot of time on (at least in my reading so far)
It really does. That is one upshot of anarchism for sure, it provides a framework for individual liberty that right-libertarianism kind of falls flat on by allowing corporate power to influence individuals as a stand-in for a state. Marxism also doesn't scratch that itch, you have to buy in to the need for a balance between the rights of the individual and the rights of the collective (which then come back around and benefit the individual, if all things go according to plan)
On Anarchism, Noam Chomsky.
Fan of Bookchins work myself. I would suggest googling him, and if you're into podcasts: give srsly wrong a listen. Its libertarian socialist thought broken down in a podcast with skits and well humored education/interviews. Their discord also has a fantastic bookclub with live readings and discussion.
give srsly wrong a listen
Can you recommend an episode or two to start with? Something representative of their typical quality, format, and tone? Preferably recent, too?
(Sorry if this is a bit of a weird request. I just like to know I'm giving a podcast a fair go, without having to listen to, like, 5 episodes to figure out what it's usually like. 😆)
It would kind of depend on what topics you're interested in. Episodes 242, 243, and the Social ecology series that starts at episode 219 are fantastic.
I would suggest listening to a few on topics you're curious about. Each non-series episode is easy to follow by itself, no need to start form episode one.
Thanks!
In addition to the great suggestions others have already provided, check out Emma Goldman's writings if you haven't already. They might appeal to you and she has some interesting takes.
Here's a good starting point: http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/goldman/GoldmanCW.html
Sweet, thanks!
An aside, but you should consider crossposting this to !anarchism101@lemmy.ca - it could use the posts!
EDIT: It could use more subscribers, too, of course!
Can do!
Good youtube channels would be nice too. So far i just know of submedia
Noncompete is pretty good, but posts infrequently. They have a sizeable backlog though. He's an intersectionalist ancom if you're curious
Sweet, thanks
Hey, someone posted some more comments in this thread and while I was here I thought of your comment. I just found zoe baker, she's a PHD in anarchism and I've liked a lot of her content. You may be interested in it as well
Thanks! Ill search for her work
I also recommend Renegade Cut, Andrewism and Think That Through.
What is Property by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin
Luigi Galleani
Emma Goldman
There's a lot. I could make a more comprehensive list when I get done with work, if you'd like.
Awesome, thank you! I'd be happy to hear any other recommendations you have. I'm reading an anarchist programme by Malatesta next, then it's on to anarchy by Malatesta. I might dive a bit deeper into David Graeber's works after that. Bullshit Jobs was fascinating
Some more I thought of, by no means a comprehensive list though. Just what I've read on the subject that appealed to me as I was studying anarchism as a political philosophy.
Statism and Anarchy by Mikhail Bakunin
Anarcho-syndicalism: Theory and Practice by Rudolf Rocker
Mutual Aid by Kropotkin
Trotsky discusses anarchism in Marxism and Ararchism
Nestor Makhno has some interesting writings
Chomsky is good
Émile Armand has some good writings on Individualist Anarchism (he's very anti-conflict though, which I tend to disagree with)
Lastly, something I would strongly recommend if you're new to anarchist thought and philosophy is Anarchism: Arguments For and Against by Albert Meltzer.
I am leaving out tons of great writings and writers/philosophers/theorists (and theories)/poets/etc...
There is a lot out there. Let me know if you have any questions!
Awesome, I appreciate it! Especially the inclusion of something that would seem to have (at least some) criticisms of anarchism. I've been having trouble finding good faith critiques of leftist thought be it Marxism, anarchism, Maoism, etc. Searching "criticism of x" usually results in right wing hit pieces
My only suggestion is that much of Errico Malatesta's writings are better than Conquest of Bread. Don't take Conquest of Bread too seriously, in my opinion.
I found "At The Café" dialogues by Malatesta to be a very entertaining yet insightful reas, especially when it comes to discussions among leftists about power structures.
Sounds interesting, I'll check it out!
Sandströms anarchist accounting and most stuff by Öcalan.
Pyter Kropotkin's Mutual aid and conquest of bread.
Both have somethings that are out dated. But both are very good for foundational understanding of anarchy.
Beyond theory I found practical examples were extremely helpful in understanding how anarchist politics relate to real life, so I'd recommend Revolution in Rojava: Democratic Autonomy and Women's Liberation in Syrian Kurdistan.
Revolution in Rojava: Democratic Autonomy and Women’s Liberation in Syrian Kurdistan
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in new ways of community building or the current events unfolding in the region.