Thirty years of "crisis," mass unemployment, and flagging growth, and they still want us to believe in the economy. . . . We have to see that the e...
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reviews
Aug 10, 2011
Shane
rated it: 
Some reviewers here have already said it and quite well. This is a situationist tract for the 21st century and it is less a plan or handbook than it is a sort of clear-eyed meditation. Think Hakim Bey's T.A.Z. shorn of its mysticism or the Unabomber manifesto written by someone who believes there is something to be salvaged in humanity.
It is true, there are ideas here that are explored in depth and better elsewhere but i dont think that is this books purpose. This books value is as a More...
It is true, there are ideas here that are explored in depth and better elsewhere but i dont think that is this books purpose. This books value is as a More...
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Apr 30, 2011
John
rated it:
Finished at last. In review of this inflamatory little tract, let me start off with some background.
The Coming Insurrection has gained traction thanks to two readership groups. It is popular among anarchists as an expression of their thought and methods. It has also gained readership among the American "populist right" as a go-to treatise on "what the enemy thinks." For this we can thank Glen Beck. Say what you will about Beck, but he has actually made deeper More...
The Coming Insurrection has gained traction thanks to two readership groups. It is popular among anarchists as an expression of their thought and methods. It has also gained readership among the American "populist right" as a go-to treatise on "what the enemy thinks." For this we can thank Glen Beck. Say what you will about Beck, but he has actually made deeper More...
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Dec 19, 2011
Megan
rated it: 
October 2011: Rereading this to think about the Occupy movement.
From 2009:
The language is a little over the top. But I kind of loved that.
I think the book starts to falter at the end, in which it actually tries to move to a description of effective action - the authors end up, at least in my perspective, contradicting themselves quite a bit.
But their analysis of the current moment I think in many ways is absolutely correct. It's not entirely new, but while othe More...
From 2009:
The language is a little over the top. But I kind of loved that.
I think the book starts to falter at the end, in which it actually tries to move to a description of effective action - the authors end up, at least in my perspective, contradicting themselves quite a bit.
But their analysis of the current moment I think in many ways is absolutely correct. It's not entirely new, but while othe More...
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Feb 07, 2011
Gael
rated it: 
So funny to look at the book on my read-list and to find this after the controversy of these past four months or so. I was not psyched by the text, depicting the end of capitalism and our possible participation in its demise. The semi-religious tone felt a bit too much. I have not read it again since the Tarnac 9 got arrested, so I won't comment on that.
L'insurrection qui vient was talked about all over the place since then, sold much more than La Fabrique would have expected. Was it a go More...
L'insurrection qui vient was talked about all over the place since then, sold much more than La Fabrique would have expected. Was it a go More...
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Jan 19, 2012
Vincent
rated it: 
Suite aux sabotages de lignes TGV par un groupuscule d'extrême gauche, j'ai eu envie de lire le livre qu'ils auraient écrit et qui constituerait leur manifeste. Cet ouvrage intitulé l'insurrection qui vient est intéressant à plus d'un titre :
1) Il est très bien écrit. On est loin des écrits de la Fraction Armée Rouge ou des Brigades Rouges. On a là un essai de bonne facture et non une sorte de tract mal écrit
2) Certains constats sont très bien vus : écologie comme prétexte su More...
1) Il est très bien écrit. On est loin des écrits de la Fraction Armée Rouge ou des Brigades Rouges. On a là un essai de bonne facture et non une sorte de tract mal écrit
2) Certains constats sont très bien vus : écologie comme prétexte su More...
Jan 13, 2012
Jesse
rated it:
This is the self-destructing blueprint of Anonymous and Occupy Wall Street. The media has presented these protestors as the "best" of America, but many of these oh-so-earnest activists, railing against the evils of Wall St., don't seem to realize that they're being played.
The goal, as stated here, is some idyllic fantasy world composed of spiritually gentrified communes. It is communism, of course, but the not the old, flawed, stale varieties with its police brutality and b More...
The goal, as stated here, is some idyllic fantasy world composed of spiritually gentrified communes. It is communism, of course, but the not the old, flawed, stale varieties with its police brutality and b More...
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Jul 27, 2011
I don't think this book would be getting tallked about if it wasn't for external circumstances (i.e. the French riots of a few years ago, the Greek riots and the government crackdown on some student types that were living in a commune in the French countryside because they are thought to be the masterminds behind this book).
The book itself is fairly typical anarchist/revolutionary rhetoric that doesn't seem to say anything that has not been said before. It doesn't seem to offer anything other t More...
The book itself is fairly typical anarchist/revolutionary rhetoric that doesn't seem to say anything that has not been said before. It doesn't seem to offer anything other t More...
Jul 30, 2010
Tim
rated it:
A remarkable book - the best recent expression to date of the 'rage against the machine' that has been emerging for some time at the margins of European life.
This is an intellectual version of a rage that is usually focused on direct action. The bulk of the book appears, despite its claims to come from 'The Invisible Committee', to be drafted primarily by one highly creative and rather witty voice but the impulse here is precisely that fuelling riots in Athens on the one side and th More...
This is an intellectual version of a rage that is usually focused on direct action. The bulk of the book appears, despite its claims to come from 'The Invisible Committee', to be drafted primarily by one highly creative and rather witty voice but the impulse here is precisely that fuelling riots in Athens on the one side and th More...
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Dec 09, 2009
Trane
rated it:
I love a good revolutionary polemic and The Coming Insurrection certainly fits the bill with its fierce rejection of mainstream Left political solutions and its cry for revolutionary anarcho-communalist insurrection. There are several incisive critiques leveled in this text — though they don't really break much new ground if you've mixed a bit of the anarchist canon in with your Adorno, Marcuse, Foucault, Debord, and etc. The Coming Insurrection is at its best when critiquing the way in which
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Sep 24, 2009
Greg
rated it:
Five fucking stars. With reservations.
This book says some very unpopular things that happen to be very true. You will most likely disagree with me on this. The book is essentially a stituationist manifesto for the present day. It's a book that has seen the bullshit that the sixties produced, the harmless liberalism, snide little self-righteous products like Adbusters, feel good community programs where priveleged suburbanites descend upon poor neighborhoods and enlighten the sav More...
This book says some very unpopular things that happen to be very true. You will most likely disagree with me on this. The book is essentially a stituationist manifesto for the present day. It's a book that has seen the bullshit that the sixties produced, the harmless liberalism, snide little self-righteous products like Adbusters, feel good community programs where priveleged suburbanites descend upon poor neighborhoods and enlighten the sav More...
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Jul 20, 2009
Ben
rated it:
This essay is more a poetic indictment of post-industrial civilization than an advocation of a coherent political program. As poetic indictment of contemporary living it's very elegant and astute; as political program -- insofar as its rather romantic elaboration of communes could be said to constitute one -- it's suggestive at best, naive at worst. (Anyone remember running into all those books from the '70s detailing the train wrecks that became of many a 1960s' commune??)
If it's tr More...
If it's tr More...
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May 19, 2010
Drew
rated it:
In the beginning I was lost by the rhetoric, but it didn't stop me from continuing. The book begins by tearing down liberal ideas about managing the many crises we face: economic, ecological, etc. The liberals say, "We must tighten our belts. We must petition the establishment to reform the economy and save the planet." But isn't it the economy and the establishment that created these problems? These French insurrectionists ask: we are a generation born in crisis, so why should we be a
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Aug 01, 2011
Dachokie
rated it:
Cowardly Rebels without a Cause ..., April 12, 2010
The best thing about the book is that it is brief and somewhat entertaining. The worst thing about the book is that there will inevitably be a handful (or more) that will worship every word of every disorganized chapter ... an follow through with its instruction.
Essentially, this is a call to anarchy by who? A group of disgruntled STUDENTS so distraught with the way of the world that they feel the need to convince others More...
The best thing about the book is that it is brief and somewhat entertaining. The worst thing about the book is that there will inevitably be a handful (or more) that will worship every word of every disorganized chapter ... an follow through with its instruction.
Essentially, this is a call to anarchy by who? A group of disgruntled STUDENTS so distraught with the way of the world that they feel the need to convince others More...
Sep 30, 2009
Bill
rated it:
I was browsing Modern Times bookstore in the SF mission area and picked up this book and thought it looked interesting. It reads like a punk situationist, marxist, communist with a modern twist. I'm currently going through my questioning phase of how we've setup our money system and how this really controls us. Some interesting ideas here regarding the nature of work, unemployment, disrupting the present order of society, which is why this book has apparently been used to convict French terro
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Mar 08, 2011
Cathy
rated it:
There are those among us whose goal is to disrupt and decompose civilization as we know it. What would they replace it with? Well, communes. Communes with no real leaders or government -- just a bunch of people doing their own thing. First of all, these deluded young people who think this might be a good idea don't really understand anything about human nature, the purpose of government, or society in general. They are angry hopeless youths who don't care about anything or anyone. How did
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Aug 05, 2010
Sasluu
rated it:
Considered a "manual for terrorism" in France, where its nine alleged authors are currently being held in prison awaiting trial for "criminal association for the purposes of terrorist activity," this book is in fact an original attempt by Parisian banlieue youths to theorise, both to a global and local scale, the social discontent that led to the French riots of 2005 and other similar recent episodes in European cities. The result is interesting and refreshing, although it do
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Aug 19, 2011
Jonathan
rated it:
I thought I would really hate this book. I bought it right after the Greek uprising of December 08, when I wanted something to read while I ate a quick and wanted to avoid the 50 cent charge card fee for purchases under $5. Plus Firestorm had an irresistible sign up showing how Glen Beck had referenced the book on his show. I read a few pages at the time and it just didn't resonate with me.
I picked it up again this summer, and while I didn't like it a whole lot, I didn't hate it. More...
I picked it up again this summer, and while I didn't like it a whole lot, I didn't hate it. More...
Sep 23, 2010
Jacob
rated it:
This book is an outstanding short piece of philosophy and activity based on it. It is a book full of many interesting views on the situation of modern society, however the most stunning point in the book is made on the cover where the author(s) are only known as the Invisible Committee. It is important to see that in our society, where we are continually shouted at that only criminals want anonymity and privacy (at least from the government,) a non-violent philosophical tract still needs to be w
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Sep 05, 2009
Julian
rated it:
Pretty weak and unsubstantial, in the end. I've been pretty critical of the "event" that this book seems to have become, before having read it, and now that I've read it I'm pretty confused as to what all the fuss is about. I'd be interested in talking with sensible people who actually liked this book though. It also wasn't as good as Call, in my mind, which was both shorter and written years before, which doesn't seem to bode well for the theoretical/intellectual future of the Invisib
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May 05, 2009
Jankyhellface
rated it:
I have to say, that while I really wanted to hate this book for what it implies, I found The coming Insurrection to be beautifully poetic in it's negativity. That being said, being beautiful and poetic does not make a book or essay politically inspiring.
My suggestion to anyone who is interested in this style of writing, pick up Baudrillard's America. It is a lot more poetic in it's negation of the U.S. and consumer capitalism and you wont have to wade through shady pseudo/post-anarch More...
My suggestion to anyone who is interested in this style of writing, pick up Baudrillard's America. It is a lot more poetic in it's negation of the U.S. and consumer capitalism and you wont have to wade through shady pseudo/post-anarch More...
Jan 15, 2012
Nicolas
rated it:
Brûlot aux effluves de nitrate de potassium – on rappellera les déboires de Julien Coupat, considéré par la police comme l’auteur principal de cet ouvrage et présenté comme le chef du groupe de Tarnac ; une dizaine de jeunes paysans communistes corréziens soupçonnés de sabotages ferroviaires (le livre parle ouvertement de « rendre inutilisable une ligne de TGV » (p. 101). Soit. Un « comité invisible » radicalement révolutionnaire s’adonnant à une dissection au scalpel (voire à la machette) des d
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Nov 05, 2009
Richard
rated it:
Well, this book has a bad reputation with law abiding people and it has a good reputation with... the others. It kinda deserves neither.
The book itself is writting poorly more like someone who feels they are better than everyone else. It just feels somewhat pompous. But this is not the kind of book you read for its literary merits.
The information could be dangerous in a way. It talks about how to think during urban warfare, why you should try to overthrow a governm More...
The book itself is writting poorly more like someone who feels they are better than everyone else. It just feels somewhat pompous. But this is not the kind of book you read for its literary merits.
The information could be dangerous in a way. It talks about how to think during urban warfare, why you should try to overthrow a governm More...
Sep 30, 2009
Jerome
rated it:
"There is no social solution to the present situation."
All the details about the Invisible Committee, Tarnac 9, and Julien Coupat are well known. This short work, an alleged "handbook on terrorism" can, in one sense, be seen as the latest iteration of that perennial and distinctly French critique of alienated life under late capitalism. One might also see it as a 21st Century updating of SI's key intellectual works, The Society of the Spectacle and Revolution of E More...
All the details about the Invisible Committee, Tarnac 9, and Julien Coupat are well known. This short work, an alleged "handbook on terrorism" can, in one sense, be seen as the latest iteration of that perennial and distinctly French critique of alienated life under late capitalism. One might also see it as a 21st Century updating of SI's key intellectual works, The Society of the Spectacle and Revolution of E More...
Aug 09, 2009
Daniel
rated it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKyi2qNsk...
Yeah there's a lot of buzz surrounding this book. No it's not as buzzworthy as you're being told. Yeah it's pretty good. No it's not gonna bring about the revolution.
A lot of this book was written from a position of pretty impressive privilege. In a country where boss kidnappings are not uncommon, and an auto-plant is rigged up with explosives and the workers threaten to blow the joint sky high if they don't get re-hired and their More...
Yeah there's a lot of buzz surrounding this book. No it's not as buzzworthy as you're being told. Yeah it's pretty good. No it's not gonna bring about the revolution.
A lot of this book was written from a position of pretty impressive privilege. In a country where boss kidnappings are not uncommon, and an auto-plant is rigged up with explosives and the workers threaten to blow the joint sky high if they don't get re-hired and their More...
Sep 02, 2011
Millicent
rated it:
[French version, reading along with an English translation.]
I don't know. I read this three times. Once in French, and again at the same time with the English version, chapter by chapter. And then once straight through in English. Fun. Rabble rousing. I started the French version while sitting in Exarchia Square, anarchy central, Athen, Greece, whilst nomming on juicy vegan gyros. Awesome. I finished the English version sitting on top of the highest mountain East of the Missi More...
I don't know. I read this three times. Once in French, and again at the same time with the English version, chapter by chapter. And then once straight through in English. Fun. Rabble rousing. I started the French version while sitting in Exarchia Square, anarchy central, Athen, Greece, whilst nomming on juicy vegan gyros. Awesome. I finished the English version sitting on top of the highest mountain East of the Missi More...
Aug 07, 2010
Tom
rated it:
A manifesto on changing life as we know it. The authors' charges against corruption, stress, social anomie, etc., are well taken, but their solution(s) are inconsistent, contradictory, poorly thought out, and based more on ideological certainty than lived reality. All ideologies are forms of intellectual dishonesty, so to embrace an ideology is to erase ambiguities and feel certain that all questions, past and future, have already been answered. It's hard not to be self-deceptive in such a mind
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Mar 16, 2010
Sean
rated it:
this is like the new situationist movement. You might say "oh yeah I loved that kind of artsy overthrow the government, new way of thinking, kind of stuff when I was 19" well that's because you were 19 and now 10-15 years later it seems trite and childish. This is a lot like listening to that Gorilla Biscuits song you really used to relate to, wondering how you ever did and then getting upset with yourself for selling out and growing up. Then remembering how confusing and tortured your
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Jul 26, 2011
Blackout
rated it:
I'm sure some of it went right past me (I don't know much about French politics for one thing) but the more I read - the more universal it seemed...or at the very least thoroughly applicable to the current situation here in the states. At first i couldn't see why the French authorities would be arresting people they thought were connected to this small book but it gradually became clearer just how dangerous (to those interested in perpetuating the status quo at all costs) these ideas/concepts co
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Sep 07, 2010
Dylan
rated it:
At times it could seem far-fetched and/or overly speculated. But I have to hand it to these folks in pointing out some strikingly relevant, and easily identifiable, examples of why it is they are conveying their message. Ominously interesting and a book that you are definitely better off not purchasing with your B&N member's card... (You can probably find and read it on-line, but thanks to Semiotext for showing interest)
Aug 26, 2011
Eric
rated it: 
An utter piece of trash. A bunch of people with no lives pushing for the cause of socialism or communism (it's hard to tell at times) based on no facts and terrible logic and sweeping generalizations. This is the book that is supposedly inspiring widespread violent protests in Greece, France, and London, and may possibly have an impact in some circles here in America in the near future.
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