Free Skool:Summer 2013 Reading Group

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Reading Group on Anarchism

Class Description

The focus of this class will be readings on historical and contemporary anarchism. Anarchism is a major component of social movements, perhaps the dominant influence during the late 19th and early 20th Century. The past decade or so has seen a major resurgence of anarchist thought and principles, though perhaps not labeled as such. An understanding of anarchism and its place in our society is extremely important for anyone concerned with social justice. We'll explore classics like Bakunin and Kropotkin as well as anarchism's influence on movements like Occupy, Free Culture, and DIY. Open to recommendations for texts/excerpts. We'll even have awesome videos!

Things We'll Cover

• An introduction to anarchism, starting with a very basic outline of its history and common threads throughout differing anarchist movements (syndicalism etc.)
• Major events like Haymarket, the Spanish Civil War, Seattle WTO protests, Occupy.

Time and Location

Classes take place Tuesdays 6:30pm to 7:30pm EST, July 16 thru August 27 at The People's Arts Collective of New Haven:

212 College St, New Haven, CT 06511

Optionally, after class sessions can be scheduled, preferably somewhere with beer and the Internet.

Signing Up

There are a few ways to do this, there's a signup sheet at the Free Skool website, but it requires giving your information to Google via Google Docs. You can also just contact the facilitators (listed below) directly, or just show up. Classes are typically 6-10 people.

• To edit this wiki, you must request an account.

Facilitators

Sean "Diggity" O'Brien

me@seandiggity.com or sean@webio.me

Dan Fischer

danfischer4@gmail.com

Dan Kwet

dan@dankwet.com

Participants

• Katie Smuckler katiesmuckler@gmail.com

Class Outline

Session 1

July 16, 2013

• Introductions. What interests you about anarchism? What drew you to this discussion group?
• Video Clips:
  • Anarchists in the 1936 Spanish Civil War
  • Clips from Breaking the Spell
• What Is Anarchism? Short definitions from sources like An Anarchist FAQ, Chomsky, Rocker.
• Decide upon what to read before next session.

Readings "Assigned" from Session 1

• Kropotkin article from 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica

• Anarchy Works by Peter Gelderloos

• Introduction
  • Anarchy Would Never Work
  • What exactly is anarchism?
  • A note on inspiration
  • The tricky topic of representation
• Human Nature
  • Aren’t people naturally selfish?
  • Aren’t people naturally competitive?
  • Haven’t humans always been patriarchal?
  • Aren’t people naturally warlike?
  • Aren’t domination and authority natural?
  • A broader sense of self

• Selections from Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertian Ideas V1
  • Bakunin Sections:
    • 22 What is the State?
    • 23 The Illusion of Universal Suffrage
    • 24 On Science and Authority
  • Kropotkin
    • 41 On Anarchism
    • 34 Fields, Factories, and Workshops
    • 53 Mutual Aid and Anarchist Morality

Session 2

July 23, 2013

Session 2 Readings

• Chapter 2. William Godwin. Enquiry Concerning Political Justice.
• Chapter 3. Pierre-James Proudhon. What is Property?
• Chapter 6. Mikhail Bakunin. The Organization of the International.

• Anarchy Works by Peter Gelderloos

• 3. Economy

Without wages, what is the incentive to work? Don’t people need bosses and experts? Who will take out the trash? Who will take care of the elderly and disabled? How will people get healthcare? What about education? What about technology? How will exchange work? What about people who don’t want to give up a consumerist lifestyle? What about building and organizing large, spread-out infrastructure? How will cities work? What about drought, famine, or other catastrophes? Meeting our needs without keeping count

4. Environment What’s to stop someone from destroying the environment? What about global environmental problems, like climate change? The only way to save the planet

5. Crime Who will protect us without police? What about gangs and bullies? What’s to stop someone from killing people? What about rape, domestic violence, and other forms of harm? Beyond individual justice

6. Revolution How could people organized horizontally possibly overcome the state? How do we know revolutionaries won’t become new authorities? How will communities decide to organize themselves at first? How will reparations for past oppressions be worked out? How will a common, anti-authoritarian, ecological ethos come about? A revolution that is many revolutions

7. Neighboring Societies Could an anarchist society defend itself from an authoritarian neighbor? What will we do about societies that remain patriarchal or racist? What will prevent constant warfare and feuding? Networks not borders

8. The Future Won’t the state just reemerge over time? What about other problems we can’t foresee? Making Anarchy Work

Recommended Videos

• This Is What Democracy Looks Like
• This Is Anarchism
• Noam Chomsky, Anarchism and Other Topics
• Conversation with David Graeber

Recommended Readings

• An Anarchist FAQ
• Emma Goldman writings
• Bakunin on Marx and the First International
• The Kind of Anarchism I Believe in, and What's Wrong with Libertarians, Noam Chomsky interview
• Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas by Robert Graham
• Nestor Makhno: The Man and the Myth by Paul Avrich
• Demanding the Impossible: a History of Anarchism by Peter H. Marshall
• Government in the Future by Noam Chomsky
• Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology by David Graeber

Freedom Tips

1. Did you know there's a long-running anarchist press collective from Oakland, CA called AK Press?
2. If you haven't been there already, check out Do DIY.

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