CrimethInc.'s Blog, page 12
December 16, 2013
Episode #15: The Ex-Worker Holiday Special
It’s that time of the year again: massive consumer binges propping up an economy in crisis, Greek rioters torching Christmas trees, and… the Ex-Worker holiday special! In Episode 15 of our twice-monthly podcast, Clara and Alanis take a whirlwind tour through two hundred years of blistering anarchist critiques of religion and morality. From romantic poets to guillotined dynamite artists, from Enlightenment philosophers to punk rockers, anarchists have never been so fiery as when they’ve denied the gods and affirmed our right to determine our own values. The discussion touches on direct actions against religion, the shifting politics of atheism, and the contradictions of Christian anarchism. Prison rebel Sean Swain responds to our episode on fascism, a murderous police department receives some crime stopping tips, and we offer anarchist reflections on Nelson Mandela’s legacy, decapitated Lenin statues, and Finnish hockey riots. As the Greeks say: Merry Crisis and Happy New Fear!
Our first episode of the new year will deal with stepping back and defining what anarchism means, and we’re looking for listener contributions, so send in your thoughts to podcast@crimethinc.com, or leave us a voicemail at 202-59-NOWRK.
You can download this and all of our previous episodes online. You can also subscribe in iTunes here or just add the feed URL to your podcast player of choice. Rate us on iTunes and let us know what you think, or send us an email to podcast@crimethinc.com.
December 5, 2013
CrimethInc. Gift Pack Experiment
For us, this week started with a flurry of bulk book orders from people getting them as gifts for the holiday. It reminded us that outreach takes many forms—and giving books to close friends and family might be one of the most efficient and effective methods there is. Reflecting on it, we decided to try a little experiment this year: our first ever sale, with books 27%-50% off.
We’ve made three simple gift packs designed for different types of recipients: Contradictionary, our most broadly appealing book, suitable for everyone, but an especially delightful Trojan horse for fans of the printed word; Work, an excellent introduction to anti-capitalist ideas for curious folks questioning the forces that shape our world; and Rolling Thunder, perfect for immersing radicals and free-thinkers alike in the contemporary anarchist milieu, providing an excellent base from which to begin exploring real-world projects and actions.
So, if you find yourself caving to the gift-giving pressures of this time of year, or you simply want to share the ideas that are important to you with the people who matter most in your life, these could be a great place to start:
Contradictionary: 5 copies for $20, 27% off regular wholesale price. All five books come with special release bookmark and pencil (usually limited to one per order). Add Contradictionary Gift Pack to cart.
Work: 3 copies for $15, 50% off regular price. All three books come with a copy of the bulk capitalist pyramid poster (usually just one per order). Add Work Gift Pack to cart.
Rolling Thunder Bundle: 3 bundles for $15, 35% off regular price. Each bundle contains the 3 most recent issues of Rolling Thunder (#10, #9, #8); well over 300 pages per bundle. Add Rolling Thunder Bundle Gift Pack to cart.
Each pack comes with 10 PRISM stickers (which make excellent stocking stuffers), and are limited to three of each pack per person. Sale ends January 1st.
December 1, 2013
The Ex-Worker #14: Squat the World!
In this episode, Alanis and Clara allegedly break into an abandoned building to begin a conversation about squatting–and why it’s so important to anarchists. This episode includes two interviews–one with participants in a squatted social center in the United States, and one from an anti-infrastructure land occupation project in France. We’ll also hear the soothing sounds of listener feedback, regarding our last episode and some further clarifications about technology, a review of Hannah Dobbz’s “Nine-tenths of the Law: Property and resistance in the United States,” news, upcoming events, and prisoner birthdays.
We’ve just been chugging along with the podcast—can you believe this is our 14th episode?!—and realized we haven’t actually taken a step back and defined what anarchism means. Our first episode of the new year will deal with this topic, and we’re looking for listener contributions, so send in your thoughts to podcast@crimethinc.com, or leave us a voicemail at 202-59-NOWRK.
You can download this and all of our previous episodes online. You can also subscribe in iTunes here or just add the feed URL to your podcast player of choice. Rate us on iTunes and let us know what you think, or send us an email to podcast@crimethinc.com.
November 18, 2013
The Ex-Worker #13: Ones and Zeroes
Some radicals believe the internet prefigures a decentralized utopia; others foresee a new digital feudalism of total management and surveillance. In our long-awaited thirteenth episode of the Ex-Worker, Clara and Alanis take on the recent CrimethInc. feature “Deserting the Digital Utopia,” teasing out some of the limitations and possibilities of resistance that engages with digital technologies. A supporter of imprisoned radical hacker Jeremy Hammond discusses his anti-authoritarian politics and the military, corporate, police, and intelligence agencies he targeted with his hacks. Listeners lambast us on our grievous gaffe from last episode, sketchy cops and masked marchers populate the news, and we announce an anarchist primer competition (even if we can’t agree on how to pronounce it).
You can download this and all of our previous episodes online. You can also subscribe in iTunes here or just add the feed URL to your podcast player of choice. Rate us on iTunes and let us know what you think, or send us an email to podcast@crimethinc.com.
November 11, 2013
CrimethInc. in Hebrew
To accompany our in-depth interview on the history and context of Israeli anarchism, here are some of the CrimethInc. materials that have appeared in Hebrew, including translations of Dear Occupiers and Eight Simple Steps towards Revolution. A full translation of Fighting for Our Lives is available at mevakerhamedina.blogspot.com along with other texts.
Secret World (Hebrew) PDF [1.3MB]
Dear Occupiers (Hebrew) PDF [928KB]
8 Simple Steps (Hebrew) PDF [1.3MB]
Wash Your Own Dishes (Hebrew) PDF [190KB]
A poster reading “Anarchy is an explosive concept” pasted in front of the police headquarters in Tel Aviv.
October 30, 2013
The 2013 Uprisings in Brazil: Speaking Tour
In hopes of fostering an exchange of tactics and momentum between liberation movements in North and South America, we have arranged a speaking tour of the East Coast for comrades from Brazil. In these presentations, they will explain the context of the new wave of unrest sweeping Brazil, tracing its trajectory and distilling lessons for anarchists and others organizing in the US. Don’t miss!
Thursday, November 7, 6 pm: Chapel Hill, NC at Hanes Art Auditorium, UNC
Friday, November 8: Philadelphia, PA at the Wooden Shoe
Saturday, November 9: Brooklyn, at the base
Sunday, November 10: Boston, at the Boston Anarchist Book Fair
Saturday, November 16: Charlottesville, VA at the APOC house
Sunday, November 17: Richmond, VA at the Flying Brick
Saturday, November 23: Chapel Hill, NC at the Carrboro Anarchist Book Fair
Dates in Baltimore and Washington, DC to be announced. Keep an eye on this page for details. Email rollingthunder@crimethinc.com with questions or booking offers.
The 2013 Uprisings in Brazil
Last summer, Brazil exploded in protests unlike anything in living memory. At the peak, a hundred cities participated in fierce clashes with the authorities; a movement that began with demonstrations against public transit fare increases and became a veritable popular uprising. Yet as the middle class joined in, nationalist and reactionary narratives muddied the message.
Despite this, the movement succeeded in blocking the fare increases in many cities, demonstrating the effectiveness of new forms of struggle without parties or unions. Autonomous and horizontal groups forced other issues to the surface, including the consequences of the upcoming World Cup and Olympic games.
In this presentation, Brazilian anarchists will describe the context from which the events of 2013 emerged, and explain their impact on other ongoing struggles. What conclusions are Brazilians drawing from their experiences, and what can North Americans learn from them?
For more background, consult the features we published last summer on the revolt in Brazil.
October 28, 2013
Deserting the Digital Utopia
The Internet has often been compared to the Wild West: a largely unregulated space rich in opportunities, in which people may experiment with new relations. Most commentators miss the full implications of this metaphor. The Wild West was the final frontier of colonization, where the last zones of ungoverned territory were mapped, stripped of resources, and integrated into state control. Many who fled to the Wild West in search of freedom only accelerated this process of colonization. Similarly, those who champion the Internet as the new frontier of freedom may inadvertently hasten the enclosure of the last aspects of human life that remain outside the economy.
The Net is indubitably the front lines of the battle against enclosure, and it is essential to fight on the territory it presents. But should the object of that fight be to establish a democratic digital utopia? Understanding the original meaning of “computer” as a human being reduced to an algorithmic device, we set out to trace the relationship between capitalism and digitization and to imagine a digital resistance to computing itself.
October 25, 2013
Ex-Worker #12: Remembering Means Fighting
Anarchist resistance to fascism has a long and colorful history. In the 12th episode of the Ex-Worker, we build on last episode’s exploration of anti-fascism with a brief glimpse into the anarchist militias and guerrillas who fought against Franco in the Spanish Revolution and beyond. The Occupied London Collective joins us for an in-depth interview about fascism and resistance in Greece, discussing how the rise of the Golden Dawn fits into the global advance of neoliberal capitalism and how Greek anarchists have responded. We also share a revised Free Speech FAQ, a tool for anti-fascists to use in challenging civil libertarian defenses of fascist organizing. A special guest contributor chips in with a set of lively anti-fascist movie reviews. Listeners offer more antifa updates and crucial ways to get involved, alongside news of riots, blockades, and so much more.
You can download this and all of our previous episodes online. You can also subscribe in iTunes here or just add the feed URL to your podcast player of choice. Rate us on iTunes and let us know what you think, or send us an email to podcast@crimethinc.com.
October 8, 2013
The Ex-Worker #11: Fascism and Anti-Fascism
Recently murdered Greek anti-fascist rapper Killah P is just the latest casualty in a worldwide surge of fascist violence. In our eleventh episode of The Ex-Worker, we analyze contemporary fascism and the resistance anarchists have mounted to it, including the history of Anti-Racist Action. Interviews with the One People’s Project and New York City Anarchist Black Cross discuss the extreme right in the US today, tactics for fighting fascists, and the Tinley Park case. We also clear up a listener’s question about “National Anarchism,” roll out more Contradictionary terms, and share a ton of news and upcoming events.
You can download this and all of our previous episodes online. You can also subscribe in iTunes here or just add the feed URL to your podcast player of choice. Rate us on iTunes and let us know what you think, or send us an email to podcast@crimethinc.com.
September 18, 2013
The Ex-Worker #10: Are The Issues The Issue?
Building on our previous exploration of insurrectionary anarchism, the tenth episode of the Ex-Worker examines how these ideas apply to environmental struggles today. We share excerpts from a debate about “The Issues Are Not The Issue,” a critical discussion of tactics and strategy in eco-defense movements, and grapple with the limitations of campaign organizing, connections based on identity versus affinity, critiques of the green left, and staying involved in struggle for the long haul. We also take a look at Desert, an anarchist analysis of climate change and the possibilities for resistance in a world of ecological disaster, share updates from imprisoned grand jury resistors and hunger strikers, round up a ton of news from global uprisings, share new reading recommendations, and plenty more.
You can download this and all of our previous episodes online. You can also subscribe in iTunes here or just add the feed URL to your podcast player of choice. Rate us on iTunes and let us know what you think, or send us an email to podcast@crimethinc.com.
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