The Motivations Behind Engagement in Anarchy April M
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Crises Transformed: The Motivations Behind Engagement in Anarchy April M. Stapp Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Sociology Barbara Ellen Smith Samuel R. Cook Karl Precoda David L. Brunsma April 27, 2017 Blacksburg, VA Keywords: crisis, social movements, anarchism, anarchy, prefigurative politics, transformative embodiments, affect, care Crises Transformed: The Motivations Behind Engagement in Anarchy April M. Stapp ABSTRACT What motivates individuals to take part in anarchistic movements and spaces? For those who do, what occurs during engagement in anarchy? By collecting the oral histories of anarchistic activists, this study indicates how crisis, personal and collective, is a not only a motivating factor for why individuals join and engage in anarchistic movements and spaces, but how crises are, in turn, radically transformed through engagement in anarchical practice. To understand this process, this study explores crisis through the development of an eco-anarchistic dialectical framework—negate-subvert-create—to indicate how the crises of capital are embodied, consciously negated, subverted politically, and ultimately transformed through engagement in anarchy. Anarchy is accordingly conceptualized as a liminal spatio-temporality that allows individuals to reconnect their selves to their potentials to become something beyond the ecological destructive and dominant social world. These newfound potentials are realized through the embodiment of communitas, or collective liminality—a natural communality that individuals reconnect to engaging in anarchy. I end with an exploration of the possible outcomes and potential futures of anarchy by situating the current political, economic, social and ecological crises occurring around the globe within the eco-anarchistic framework developed in this study. Here, I indicate the importance of engaging in care practices and creating care- networks as a necessary outcome and future political practice for anarchistic movements as a way to mitigate and ultimately transform the crises of capital. Crises Transformed: The Motivations Behind Engagement in Anarchy April M. Stapp GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT What motivates individuals to take part in anarchistic movements and spaces? For those who do, what occurs during engagement in anarchy? By collecting the oral histories of anarchistic activists, this study indicates how crisis, personal and collective, is a not only a motivating factor for why individuals join and engage in anarchistic movements and spaces, but how crises are, in turn, radically transformed through engagement in anarchical practice. To understand this process, this study explores crisis through the development of an eco-anarchistic framework— negate-subvert-create—to indicate how the crises of capital are embodied, consciously negated, subverted politically, and ultimately transformed through engagement in anarchy. Anarchy is accordingly conceptualized as a liminal spatio-temporality that allows individuals to reconnect their selves to their potentials to become something beyond the ecological destructive and dominant social world. These newfound potentials are realized through the embodiment of communitas, or collective liminality—a natural communality that individuals reconnect to engaging in anarchy. I end with an exploration of the possible outcomes and potential futures of anarchy by situating the current political, economic, social and ecological crises occurring around the globe within the eco-anarchistic framework developed in this study. Here, I indicate the importance of engaging in care practices and creating care-networks as a necessary outcome and future political practice for anarchistic movements as a way to mitigate and ultimately transform the crises of capital. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Eliana: my ray of light. Your patience and diligence over these past few years is but a small testament to your strength. I look forward to watching you flourish and fulfill your purpose. Silly: thank you for always watching over me and reminding me to look up, smile, and wonder. Thank you, mostly, for allowing for my light to pierce the veil and guiding me through the darkness. Bird: thank you for pushing me to my death. Without our encounter, I would have never learned to live again. In the darkness, we really do find the light. Dr. Barbara Ellen Smith: simply put, I would not be here without you. Your kindness and empathy held me up in the most troubling of times. Your patience led me to this new beginning. Dr. Sam Cook: I owe you a box of matches! I will forever be grateful for having you in my life as a mentor and especially as a dear friend. Also, fruit flies, indeed, like a banana. Dr. David Brunsma: you have wholeheartedly been on my team since day one. Thank you endlessly for your patience as you watched me grow, get lost a few times, and ultimately develop into the person I am today. Dr. Karl Precoda: you are a treasure chest of knowledge—the only person to know about bowler hats! For that, you have always inspired me to do what I have done. To those who have held and let go of my hand through thick or thin: Family first: Lala, Papa, Sister, Robbie. Theresa, Karilyn, Donovan. GmaK. Rose and Bob. Bestie: Amanda—my deep river dancin’ beaut. Friends/Comrades: Yoni, Lee, Steve, Germ, Arjeta, Z, Darah, William, Xipil, Owl. Friends/Colleagues: Anthony S., Jenn W., Kym B., Tim F., Lindsey K., Mario K., Nate C., Sascha E., Sarah McD. Many thanks go to my favorite cyber-guide/friend/comrade, John P. Clark, for the endless inspiration. Lastly, to Dr. Daniel Sullivan: you were the only one to encourage me to fly and, most importantly, to never be ashamed of doing so. I have never looked back, but only to thank you. I would not be who I am today without your kindness and strength. You are truly a beautiful soul and I am so blessed to now carry the memories of you in my heart forever. Rest well, my dear Daniel, the world was so very lucky to have you, if not for a short while. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION….……………………………………………………………...1 Research Questions: Why Study Activists’ Personal Motivations and Embodiments?......5 Militant Research: Prefigurative Political Method/ologies ……………………………….7 Oral Historiography: Old School Methods, New School Figurations….………………..12 Dropping the Ditty: Collecting the Oral Histories of Anarchistic Activists…….……….16 Outline.…………………………………………………………………………………...22 INTERLUDE: “YOU CANNOT EVICT AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME.”……................26 CHAPTER 2: CRISIS: CAPITAL’S INHERENT NATURE AND NEMESIS.………………..28 A Brief Understanding of Neoliberalism………..……………………………………….29 The Colonization of Landscapes: The Immanent Critique of Anarchistic Movements....35 A Brief Genealogy of Contemporary Anarchistic Movements…….……………………39 The Prefigurative Politics of Anarchistic Movements……….…………………………..43 Spatial Occupations and the Appropriation of Crisis……..……………………………..48 INTERLUDE: TO THE POET MAN…………………………………..………………………...52 CHAPTER 3: THE EMBODIMENT OF CRISIS: UNSTABLE WORLDS, EUTOPIC YEARNINGS……………………………………………………………………………………54 Individual Crisis: Quotidian Breakdowns and Trauma…………………..……………...56 Alienation and Liminality: The Dissociative Embodiments of Structural Crises…..……64 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….……70 INTERLUDE: BECOMING ALIVE………………………………………………..…………….74 CHAPTER 4: THE ECOLOGY OF CRISIS: A ROOTED ANALYSIS OF ALIENATION AND ANARCHY…………………………………………………………………………………..….76 v Anarchistic Ecologies: Understanding the Roots of Alienation………...……………….77 Liminality and Communitas: The Natural Role of Anarchy for Social Transformation...91 INTERLUDE: HEARTS ON FIRE………………………….…………………………………..102 CHAPTER 5: OCCUPY: A CASE STUDY……….…………………………………………..105 Consciously Recognizing Alienation: Negation à Subversion……………………..…106 Political Subversions (v): To Overturn [Politics and Power] from the Foundation……112 The Inspirational Embodiments and Creative Outcomes of Anarchy………………….119 Conclusion………………….…………………………………………………………..129 INTERLUDE: THE EMPEROR IS A NAKED AND EVERYONE KNOWS!...............................134 CHAPTER 6: EMBODYING CRISES, PRACTICING CARE: TO CHANGE THE WORLD WE MUST CARE FOR OUR SELVES AND EACH OTHER………….…………………….135 The Third Wave of Neoliberalism……………….……………………………………..136 Power and Its Dis/contents: Interrogating the Liminality of Anarchy………………….138 Creating Communities and Networks of Care………………………………………….146 Care-Practice as a Militant Research Method…………..………………………………151 RESOURCES………….……………………………………………………………………….156 APPENDIX………………...…………………………………………………………………...172 vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Why have anarchistic movements and spaces begun to germinate around the globe since the start of the 2008 global economic crisis? In the United States in particular, the Occupy movement (Occupy hereon) was one such anarchical manifestation that utilized spatial occupations to begin the process of radically creating alternatives to neoliberal social worlds. As Occupiers avowed, “another world became possible” within the few months of active occupations in late 2011— another world realized, albeit temporarily, through engagement in anarchistic practice. Further, following raids of various local occupations, activists proclaimed: “you cannot evict an idea whose time has come!” indicating the immeasurable potentialities embodied and sought by activists. But, what are these “unevictable” ideas