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Changing anarchism Changing anarchism Anarchist theory and practice in a global age edited by Jonathan Purkis and James Bowen Manchester University Press Manchester and New York distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave Copyright © Manchester University Press 2004 While copyright in the volume as a whole is vested in Manchester University Press, copyright in individual chapters belongs to their respective authors. This electronic version has been made freely available under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC- ND) licence, which permits non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction provided the author(s) and Manchester University Press are fully cited and no modifications or adaptations are made. Details of the licence can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Published by Manchester University Press Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9NR, UK and Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for ISBN 0 7190 6694 8 hardback First published 2004 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Typeset in Sabon with Gill Sans display by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester Printed in Great Britain by CPI, Bath Dedicated to the memory of John Moore, who died suddenly while this book was in production. His lively, innovative and pioneering contributions to anarchist theory and practice will be greatly missed. Contents List of contributors page ix Acknowledgements xi Introduction: Why anarchism still matters James Bowen and Jonathan Purkis 1 Part I Thinking 21 11 Anti-capitalism and poststructuralist anarchism Dave Morland 23 12 Towards an anarchist sociology Jonathan Purkis 39 13 Lived poetry: Stirner, anarchy, subjectivity and the art of living John Moore 55 14 Technology is capital: Fifth Estate’s critique of the megamachine Steve Millett 73 Part II Doing 99 15 Sexuality/identity/politics Jamie Heckert 101 16 Moving targets: rethinking anarchist strategies James Bowen 117 17 What did you do in the Drug War, Daddy? Colin Craig 129 18 In the eye of the beholder – child, mad or artist? Joanna Gore 145 viii Contents Part III Being 159 19 The anarchist travelling circus: reflections on contemporary anarchism, anti-capitalism and the international scene Karen Goaman 163 10 Good news for Francisco Ferrer – how anarchist ideals in education have survived around the world David Gribble 181 11 Enchantment and its uses: religion and spirituality in environmental direct action Bronislaw Szerszynski and Emma Tomalin 199 Conclusion: how anarchism still matters Jonathan Purkis and James Bowen 213 Glossary 230 Bibliography 239 Index 257 Contributors James Bowen lives in West Yorkshire and works to promote literacy among chil- dren of all ages. His other interests include travel, speaking and learning foreign languages, writing songs and short stories, reading, and playing guitar and singing in radical folk-roots band Bar the Shouting. He is also a member of the Lib ED radical education publishing collective. Colin Craig is a former senior international consultant in the subject of illicit drug use and the prevention of HIV transmission amongst injecting drug users. He has worked in the former Soviet Union, the United States and Western Europe on many different contracts relating to HIV prevention, research into drug trends, drug-using prisoners, drug user advocacy projects and developing health promotion amongst injecting drugs users. He is currently working on a history of the development of the War on Drugs. Karen Goaman has written a PhD thesis in anthropology at University College London, on situationism and contemporary anarchism, and is a part-time lecturer in communications and cultural history at London Metropolitan University. She is interested in the strand of thought that opposes industrial civilisation and is active on the fringes of London’s anti-capitalist milieu, including Rising Tide. Joanna Gore teaches fine art at Middlesex University and is currently writing up her PhD thesis ‘In the eye of the beholder: the role of the artist in the institutional dialectics of control, resistance and liberation’. She also works as a freelance artist/researcher in educational, health and community settings and tries to have fun. David Gribble worked at a variety of schools during his teaching career, principally Dartington Hall School and Sands School (of which he was one of the founders). Since his retirement in 1992 he has visited free or democratic schools all round the world, written or edited several books and articles and spoken in many different countries. He played an important role in the estab- lishment of the International Democratic Education Conferences, which take place each year in a different country. x Contributors Jamie Heckert is working towards a PhD in sociology at University of Edinburgh, exploring the concept of sexual orientation and how we can get over it. He teaches sex education, writes for The Tartan Skirt, ScotsGay and Green Pepper and enjoys yoga, swimming and reading science-fiction novels. Steve Millett lives in York and works for a charity providing support and infor- mation to lone parents. He recently received his PhD in contemporary anarchist- communist political theory from the University of Central Lancashire. John Moore (1957–2002) wrote extensively on contemporary anarchist theory in publications such as Green Anarchist, Social Anarchism, Anarchist Studies and was the author of several books, including Anarchy and ecstasy and Book of lev- elling. Until his death, he was regarded as one of the most eclectic and innova- tive anarchist thinkers around, and he did much to introduce a new generation to writings by Fredy Perlman, Max Stirner, the Situationist International and many other marginalised libertarian thinkers. He was also an entertaining and highly regarded poet. Dave Morland teaches sociology and philosophy at the University of Teesside. He has written widely on anarchism and has campaigned on issues such as the poll tax, the miners’ strike, nuclear arms and anti-capitalism. He lives with his partner and two children in north-east England, enjoys mountaineering and is a long-suffering Sunderland AFC fan. Jonathan Purkis teaches media and cultural studies at Liverpool John Moores University. He has been active in various radical environmental, anticonsumerist and anarchist groups and written a PhD thesis and various articles on these movements. He is heavily involved with the journal Anarchist Studies and plays music with Huddersfield band Bar the Shouting. Bronislaw Szerszynski is Lecturer in Environment and Culture at the Institute for Environment, Philosophy and Public Policy at Lancaster University, United Kingdom. He has researched and published work on: risk, environment and new technologies, citizenship and social movements, and religion and culture. He is also a singer, guitarist and songwriter. Emma Tomalin is a lecturer in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Leeds and has pursued a research interest in the relationship between religion and environmentalism, particularly in South Asia and Britain. More recently she has begun to investigate issues concerning religion and inter- national development, and links with gender and human rights concerns. She also works as a freelance researcher for radio productions and as a consultant for non-governmental organisations. Acknowledgements We would like to thank all of the contributors to this collection for providing an engaging and diverse collection of reflections on contemporary anarchism, as well as proving that co-operation and negotiation can work in practice. We would also like to thank Tony Mason and the staff at Manchester University Press for being supportive (and patient!) throughout the production of the book. The help of Chayley Collis and Paul Fitzgerald has been particularly appre- ciated where technical, editorial and artistic matters have been concerned. Ongoing professional and personal support and interest has also been forth- coming (sometimes unwittingly) from Jacqueline Gaile, Ian Welsh, Sharif Gemie and the Lib Ed Network. James Bowen and Jonathan Purkis Introduction: why anarchism still matters Global matters In February 2002, Commander Brian Paddick, then Police Chief for the (London) Metropolitan Borough of Brixton, posted the following message on the direct action discussion forum www.urban75.com: The concept of anarchism has always appealed to me. The idea of the innate good- ness of the individual that is corrupted by society or the system. It is a theoretical argument but I am not sure everyone would behave well if there were no laws and no system. I believe there are many people forced into causing harm to others by the way society operates at the moment. These comments, made by a senior British police officer already controversial for being openly gay and for extremely liberal drug enforcement policies, created something of a sensation in the mainstream media (where he also repeated them). The incident also prompted some sections of the slightly bemused alter- native media to react with outrage that a policeman was wasting valuable anar- chist discussion time on ‘their’ medium! The controversy surrounding Paddick’s comments provides a touchstone to explore matters that are becoming increasingly central to anarchist theory and practice. We live in an era where the politics of information are formulated and contested in a myriad of real and virtual locations and media, and where ascer- taining influence, apportioning blame, conceptualising and co-ordinating strat- egy has become an almost impossible business. Who knows what the impacts and influence of Paddick’s remarks have been on the wider milieu? The resurgence of interest in anarchism, which has been steadily percolating through often quite different social movements in the West over the last few decades, has now begun to form significant waves on a much wider scale, linking First and Third World struggles.