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The Machine and Its Discontents
– The only -ist name I respond to is “cellist.”
Of the generation that came of age through the turbulent events of May 1968, Fredy Perlman is certainly an individual that shines brightly. He participated in a student-worker action committee at the Sorbonne, which had been occupied by its students. During these intense event filled weeks he came across ideas and histories that would influence him over the following decade: the political critiques of the Situationist International, anarchism and the history of the Spanish Revolution, and the council communists.
Perlman was responsible for co-translating and making available to an English speaking audience many important texts of the left-libertarian movement including Guy Debord’s The Society of the Spectacle, Voline’s The Unknown Revolution, Jacques Camatte’s The Wandering of Humanity, I.I. Rubin’s Essays on Marx’s Theory of Value, and Jean Barrot & Francois Martin’s The Eclipse and Re-emergence of the Communist Movement.
On July 26th 1985 Perlman underwent heart surgery for a condition he had developed in his childhood. His was unable to recover from the operation and passed away in hospital at the age of 50.
This anthology gathers together Perlman’s own writings on the 1968 worker-student uprisings in France, the US and Yugoslavia, his illuminating essays on capitalist social relations and Marx’s concept of ‘commodity fetishism’, criticisms of ‘revolutionary leaders’, critiques of left nationalism, and concludes with a questioning of the Western notions of ‘civilisation’ and ‘progress’. Many of these texts have been out of print for some time.
Includes: Anything Can Happen, The Reproduction of Daily Life, Essay on Commodity Fetishism, Progress and Nuclear Power, The Continuing Appeal of Nationalism and more, edited and with an introduction by Darren Poynton.
Of the generation that came of age through the turbulent events of May 1968, Fredy Perlman is certainly an individual that shines brightly. He participated in a student-worker action committee at the Sorbonne, which had been occupied by its students. During these intense event filled weeks he came across ideas and histories that would influence him over the following decade: the political critiques of the Situationist International, anarchism and the history of the Spanish Revolution, and the council communists.
Perlman was responsible for co-translating and making available to an English speaking audience many important texts of the left-libertarian movement including Guy Debord’s The Society of the Spectacle, Voline’s The Unknown Revolution, Jacques Camatte’s The Wandering of Humanity, I.I. Rubin’s Essays on Marx’s Theory of Value, and Jean Barrot & Francois Martin’s The Eclipse and Re-emergence of the Communist Movement.
On July 26th 1985 Perlman underwent heart surgery for a condition he had developed in his childhood. His was unable to recover from the operation and passed away in hospital at the age of 50.
This anthology gathers together Perlman’s own writings on the 1968 worker-student uprisings in France, the US and Yugoslavia, his illuminating essays on capitalist social relations and Marx’s concept of ‘commodity fetishism’, criticisms of ‘revolutionary leaders’, critiques of left nationalism, and concludes with a questioning of the Western notions of ‘civilisation’ and ‘progress’. Many of these texts have been out of print for some time.
Includes: Anything Can Happen, The Reproduction of Daily Life, Essay on Commodity Fetishism, Progress and Nuclear Power, The Continuing Appeal of Nationalism and more, edited and with an introduction by Darren Poynton.
- GenresPolitics
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2018
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83 people want to read
About the author
Fredy Perlman
28 books59 followersFredy Perlman (August 20, 1934 – July 26, 1985) was an author and publisher. His most popular work, the book Against His-Story, Against Leviathan!, is a major source of inspiration for anti-civilisation perspectives in contemporary anarchism.
Perlman was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia. He emigrated with parents to Cochabamba, Bolivia in 1938 just ahead of the Nazi takeover. The Perlman family came to the United States in 1945 and finally settled in Lakeside Park, Kentucky.
In 1952 he attended Morehead State College in Kentucky and then UCLA from 1953-55. Perlman was on the staff of The Daily Bruin, the school newspaper, when the university administration changed the constitution of the newspaper to forbid it from nominating its own editors, as the custom had been. Perlman left the newspaper staff at that time and, with four others, proceeded to publish an independent paper, The Observer, which they handed out on a public sidewalk at the campus bus stop, since they were forbidden by the administration to distribute in on the campus.
In 1956-59 he attended Columbia University, where he met his life-long companion, Lorraine Nybakken. He enrolled as a student of English literature but soon concentrated his efforts in philosophy, political science and European literature. One particularly influential teacher for him at this time was C. Wright Mills.
In late 1959, Perlman and his wife took a cross-country motor scooter trip, mostly on two-lane highways traveling at 25 miles per hour. From 1959 to 1963, they lived on the lower east side of Manhattan while Perlman worked on a statistical analysis of the world's resources with John Ricklefs. They participated in anti-bomb and pacifist activities with the Living Theatre and others. Perlman was arrested after a sit-down in Times Square in the fall of 1961. He became the printer for the Living Theatre and during that time wrote The New Freedom, Corporate Capitalism and a play, Plunder, which he published himself.
In 1963, the husband and wife left the U.S. and moved to Belgrade, Yugoslavia after living some months in Copenhagen and Paris. Perlman received a master's degree in economics and a PhD at the University of Belgrade's Law School; his dissertation was titled "Conditions for the Development of a Backward Region," which created an outrage among some members of the faculty. During his last year in Yugoslavia, he was a member of the Planning Institute for Kosovo and Metohija.
During 1966-69 the couple lived in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Perlman taught social science courses at Western Michigan University and created outrage among some members of the faculty when he had students run their own classes and grade themselves. During his first year in Kalamazoo, he and Milos Samardzija, one of his professors from Belgrade, translated Isaac Illych Rubin's Essay on Marx's Theory of Value. Perlman wrote an introduction to the book: "An Essay on Commodity Fetishism."
In May 1968, after lecturing for two weeks in Turin, Italy, Perlman went to Paris on the last train before rail traffic was shut down by some of the strikes that were sweeping Western Europe that season. He participated in the May unrest in Paris and worked at the Censier center with the Citroen factory committee. After returning to Kalamazoo in August, he collaborated with Roger Gregoire in writing Worker-Student Action Committees, May 68.
During his last year in Kalamazoo, Perlman had left the university and together with several other people, mostly students, inaugurated the Black and Red magazine, of which six issues appeared. Typing and layout was done at the Perlman house and the printing at the Radical Education Project in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In January 1969 Perlman completed The Reproduction of Daily Life. While traveling in Europe in the spring of 1969
Perlman was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia. He emigrated with parents to Cochabamba, Bolivia in 1938 just ahead of the Nazi takeover. The Perlman family came to the United States in 1945 and finally settled in Lakeside Park, Kentucky.
In 1952 he attended Morehead State College in Kentucky and then UCLA from 1953-55. Perlman was on the staff of The Daily Bruin, the school newspaper, when the university administration changed the constitution of the newspaper to forbid it from nominating its own editors, as the custom had been. Perlman left the newspaper staff at that time and, with four others, proceeded to publish an independent paper, The Observer, which they handed out on a public sidewalk at the campus bus stop, since they were forbidden by the administration to distribute in on the campus.
In 1956-59 he attended Columbia University, where he met his life-long companion, Lorraine Nybakken. He enrolled as a student of English literature but soon concentrated his efforts in philosophy, political science and European literature. One particularly influential teacher for him at this time was C. Wright Mills.
In late 1959, Perlman and his wife took a cross-country motor scooter trip, mostly on two-lane highways traveling at 25 miles per hour. From 1959 to 1963, they lived on the lower east side of Manhattan while Perlman worked on a statistical analysis of the world's resources with John Ricklefs. They participated in anti-bomb and pacifist activities with the Living Theatre and others. Perlman was arrested after a sit-down in Times Square in the fall of 1961. He became the printer for the Living Theatre and during that time wrote The New Freedom, Corporate Capitalism and a play, Plunder, which he published himself.
In 1963, the husband and wife left the U.S. and moved to Belgrade, Yugoslavia after living some months in Copenhagen and Paris. Perlman received a master's degree in economics and a PhD at the University of Belgrade's Law School; his dissertation was titled "Conditions for the Development of a Backward Region," which created an outrage among some members of the faculty. During his last year in Yugoslavia, he was a member of the Planning Institute for Kosovo and Metohija.
During 1966-69 the couple lived in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Perlman taught social science courses at Western Michigan University and created outrage among some members of the faculty when he had students run their own classes and grade themselves. During his first year in Kalamazoo, he and Milos Samardzija, one of his professors from Belgrade, translated Isaac Illych Rubin's Essay on Marx's Theory of Value. Perlman wrote an introduction to the book: "An Essay on Commodity Fetishism."
In May 1968, after lecturing for two weeks in Turin, Italy, Perlman went to Paris on the last train before rail traffic was shut down by some of the strikes that were sweeping Western Europe that season. He participated in the May unrest in Paris and worked at the Censier center with the Citroen factory committee. After returning to Kalamazoo in August, he collaborated with Roger Gregoire in writing Worker-Student Action Committees, May 68.
During his last year in Kalamazoo, Perlman had left the university and together with several other people, mostly students, inaugurated the Black and Red magazine, of which six issues appeared. Typing and layout was done at the Perlman house and the printing at the Radical Education Project in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In January 1969 Perlman completed The Reproduction of Daily Life. While traveling in Europe in the spring of 1969
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 9, 2025
I found this book intriguing. I haven't read any other work by Perlman, so this was my first encounter with the guy. I also made sure to avoid learning any significant details about his life, skipping over the short intro in this book into the first chapter. While it is a collection of essays and excerpts of essays there is a core idea that is woven across this book, the fundamental question Marx was trying to answer, which paraphrasing him, was how the working man was controlled under commodity economies. From this question, emerges several critiques and criticisms, criticisms of economists, of organizers, of parties, of marxists and anarchists, etc... drawing from both historical and autobiographical examples in the first essay and from broader world events throughout the rest of the book. A devil's advocate might want to ask "Oh right, then what do you suggest we do, Perlman?". Well, the cool thing is that he doesn't. The critiques he presents are mainly about how the actions of aforementioned groups are not meaningfully opposed to the root of capitalism, with some actively seeking that root as a goal. Well, for anarchists, the critique he gives is more on the line of *letting the workers appropriate the means of production as their private property, rather than letting go of the concept of property altogether*, but with some misunderstandins, which is why the book doesn't get 5 stars from me. I will still recommend it though, in particular because the book makes you consider how your actions might perpetuate capital.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2024
It is a collection of essays by Perlman on different topics: Worker-student movements in France in the 1960s and in Yugoslavia again around the same time, critique of political economy, leaders, nationalism and progress.
I might not necessarily agree with him on everything or anything, but I do believe that his insights have basis and are definitely worth reading.
I might not necessarily agree with him on everything or anything, but I do believe that his insights have basis and are definitely worth reading.
September 6, 2022
A truly black flag approach to leftism, Perlman holds no punches in this collection of essays. I particularly enjoyed his account of the May 68 revolts in Paris, and his insight of the main failure being the failure to make the factories open to all the way they had made the universities a public place open to all. His sarcastic essay on the Seizure of State Power, with emphasis on the revolutionaries needing to overcome the masses, being taken seriously is pretty grim.
His bit on "Egocrats" I found a bit odd. He seems to be opposed to any type of organizational structure at all, affinity groups and socialist parties alike. They're too bent on propagating an idea, creating a cult around and idea instead of acting but... isn't that what you're doing too? Writing theory as a radical individualist doesn't somehow make you categorically different from those who propagate ideas collectively. I have a lot of faith in the power of the free association and horizontality of affinity groups, so this essay didn't quite vibe with me. Perhaps his perspective coming from the 60's and 70's when authoritarian organization was much more present molds this essay, I've never seen affinity groups trying to force ideological uniformity anywhere.
His take on nationalism is great. The main carrot that nationalism offers to the colonized is development – we're gonna have what they have in "developed" countries, while ignoring that what we have in developed countries is the product of genocide.
His bit on "Egocrats" I found a bit odd. He seems to be opposed to any type of organizational structure at all, affinity groups and socialist parties alike. They're too bent on propagating an idea, creating a cult around and idea instead of acting but... isn't that what you're doing too? Writing theory as a radical individualist doesn't somehow make you categorically different from those who propagate ideas collectively. I have a lot of faith in the power of the free association and horizontality of affinity groups, so this essay didn't quite vibe with me. Perhaps his perspective coming from the 60's and 70's when authoritarian organization was much more present molds this essay, I've never seen affinity groups trying to force ideological uniformity anywhere.
His take on nationalism is great. The main carrot that nationalism offers to the colonized is development – we're gonna have what they have in "developed" countries, while ignoring that what we have in developed countries is the product of genocide.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews