1611 lines
84 KiB
Plaintext
1611 lines
84 KiB
Plaintext
P r a c t i c a l @ n a r c h y
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O N L I N E
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Issue 3.1, September/October 1994
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A bimonthly electronic zine concerning anarchy from a practical point of
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view, to help you put some anarchy into your everyday life. The anarchy
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scene is covered through reviews and reports from people in the living
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anarchy.
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Editors:
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Chuck Munson : cm150@umail.umd.edu
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PO Box 179, College Park, MD 20741-0179
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Mike McEvoy : mjmc@fullfeed.com
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PO Box 173, Madison, WI 53701-0173
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Subscription to P@ Online is free in its electronic format and each issue
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is anti-copyright and may distributed freely as long as the source is
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credited. Please direct SUBSCRIPTION questions to CHUCK at the above
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address.
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We encourage our readers to submit articles and to send in short items from
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everywhere. Local or worldwide doesn't matter--we publish it. Send mail to
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the editors.
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** NEW P@ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS!!!!!**
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In order to make this publication easily available to all who are
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interested, and in order to make mail management easier for the editors, we
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now offer the following options:
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[A] You request that you be put on the mailing list. Send a
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subscription message to Chuck. You will be sent the full issue of the zine
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each time it is published. Beware that a zine can be awfully big!
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[B] You ask to be put on the notification list. You won't be sent the
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full issue, but will be sent a short email message announcing the new
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issue. You can then retrieve the issue from an archive at your convenience.
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[C] You send us nothing. It's up to you to browse the various FTP,
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Gopher, BBS, and WWW sites to see if a new issue has come out.
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Back issues of P@ Online are available from the following locations:
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GOPHER: The only place we know about is the Gopher at The Well (in California)
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WWW: Available via the Spunk Press home page:
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http://www.cwi.nl/cwi/people/Jack.Jansen/Spunk/Spunk_Home.html
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FTP: etext.archive.umich.edu
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[If anybody could set up a Listserv for us, we'd appreciate it!}
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**NEW HYPERTEXT FORMAT**
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If all goes well, the next issue of this zine will also be available in
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hypertext, and will be viewable using such tools as Mosaic and MacWeb. We
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are looking for a site to make this avaialble (probably with the Spunk
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Press archive). Stay tuned for more details!
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=@= PRACTICAL ANARCHY =@=
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## Kiss somebody of the same sex in a public place
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## Don't register your bike with the cops
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## Leave your watch at home
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## Don't give your Social Security Number to merchants
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## Start a regular Critical Mass ride in your town
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## Don't get an ISSN# for your zine. Don't get an ISBN# for your book.
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[The editor does not agree with all of the following suggestions; see his
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comments at the end of the list. George Ritzer is currently a professor at
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the University of Maryland-College Park]
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The following is an excerpt from George Ritzer's _The McDonaldization of
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Society_ (c)1993 Pine Forge Press.
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The following list contains suggested actions that individuals can take
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to cope with McDonaldization. In most cases, they assume prior action
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by others to create nonrationalized enterprises in those niches.
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* Avoid living in apartments or tract houses. Try to live in an
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atypical environment, preferably one you have built yourself or have had
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built for you. If you must live in an apartment or a tract house,
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humanize and individualize it. In fact, the residents of Levittown, the
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original tract house community, have done just that so that one now sees
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"The Levitt box disguised as a Tudor Manor, a Swiss chalet, a
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Pennsylvania Dutch Barn."
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* Avoid daily routine as much as possible. Try to do as many things as
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possible in a different way from one day to the next.
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* More generally, do as many things as you can for yourself. If you
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must use various servers, frequent nonrationalized, nonfranchised
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establishments. For example, lubricate your own car. If you are
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unwilling or unable to do so, have it done at your local, independent
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gasoline station. Do not, at all costs, frequent one of the franchised
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lube businesses.
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* Instead of popping into H&R Block at income tax time, hire a local
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accountant, preferably one who works out of an office in the home.
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* Similarly, the next time a minor medical or dental emergency leads you
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to think of a visit to a "McDoctor" or a "McDentist," resist the
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temptation and go instead to your neighborhood doctor or dentist,
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preferably one who is in solo practice.
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* The next time you need a pair of glasses, use the local store-front
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optometrist rather than the Pearle Vision Center.
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* Avoid Hair Cuttery and other hair cutting chains; the next time your
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hair needs cutting, go to a local barber or hairdresser.
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* At least once a week, pass up lunch at McDonald's and frequent a local
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greasy spoon. For dinner, again at least once a week, park the car,
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unplug the microwave, avoid the freezer, and cook a meal from scratch.
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* To really shake up the clerk at the department store, use cash rather
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than your credit card.
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* Send back to the post office all junk mail, especially that which is
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addressed to "occupant" or "resident."
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* The next time you are phoned by a computer, gently place the phone on
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the floor, thereby allowing the disembodied voice to drove on and
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occupying the line so that others will not be bothered by such calls for
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a while.
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* When dialing a business, always choose the "voice mail" option that
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permits you to speak to a real person.
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* Never buy artificial products such as Molly McButter and Butter Buds.
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* Seek out restaurants that use real china and metal utensils; avoid
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those that use material like styrofoam that adversely affect the
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environment.
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* Organize groups to protest abuses by McDonaldized systems. As we have
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seen, these systems do adapt to such protests. If you work in such a
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system, organize your coworkers to create more humanized working
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conditions.
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* If you must frequent a fast food restaurant, dine at one, such as
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Macheezmo Mouse Mexican Cafe, that has demonstrated some sensitivity to
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the dangers of McDonaldization.
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* If you are a regular at McDonald's, develop personal ties with the
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counterpeople; try to get to know them. Also, do what else you can to
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humanize it. In fact, during the breakfast hours, customers have done
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just that' they have "subverted the process" of McDonaldization. Instead
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of hastening through their meal, many breakfast customers "come every
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day of the week to read their papers, chat, drink coffee, and gobble down
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an Egg McMuffin." If breakfasts can be de-McDonaldized, why not other
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meals? Other aspects of the fast food experience?
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* Make an effort and read THE NEW YORK TIMES rather than USA TODAY once
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a week. Similarly, watch PBS news once a week with its three long
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stories rather than the network new shows with their numerous snippets
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of news.
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* More generally, watch as little television as possible. If you must
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watch TV, keep the channel selector on PBS. If you must watch one of
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the networks, turn off the sound and avert your eyes during commercials.
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After all, most commercials are sponsored by rationalized enterprises
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and they tout the virtues of rationalization.
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* Avoid most finger foods
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* For your next vacation, go to only one locale and get to know it well.
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* Never enter a domed stadium or one with artificial grass; make
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periodic pilgrimages to Fenway Park.
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* Avoid classes where tests are short answer and graded by computer. If
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a computer-graded exam is unavoidable, make extraneous marks and curl
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the edges of the exam so that the computer cannot deal with it.
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* Seek out small classes; get to know your professors.
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* Go to no movies that have Roman numerals after their names.
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It is particularly important that steps be taken to prevent children from
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becoming mindless supporters of McDonaldization.
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* Instead of using a "McChild" care center, leave your child with a
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neighborhood parent interested in earning some extra money.
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* Keep your children away from the television as much as possible. It
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is especially important they they not be exposed to the steady barrage
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of commercials from rationalized institutions, especially on Saturday
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morning cartoon shows.
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* Lead efforts to keep McDonaldization out of the school system.
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* If you can afford it, send your child to a small, non-McDonaldized
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educational institution.
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* Above all, when possible, avoid taking your children to fast food
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restaurants or their clones in other areas of society. If no
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alternatives are present (for example, you're on a highway and the only
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options are various fast-food chains), blindfold your child until the
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ordeal is over.
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******* Editor's (Chuck) comments****
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1) It's hard for many of us with limited incomes to live somewhere else
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other than in an apartment building. Practical anarchy would involve
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creating alternatives such as co-ops and cohousing AND challenging the
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landlord-tenant system which strangles us.
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2) The New York Times has better coverage of international events than do
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most small town newspapers owned by chains, BUT is consistently biased and
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inaccurate. If you read the Times you should also read "Lies of our Times"
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magazine. Also, they don't call PBS the "Petroleum Broadcasting System" for
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nothing. Keep your channel tuned to only PBS? What about the commercials on
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PBS?
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3) I've said it before, I'll say it again. Use McDonalds outlets when your
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travel...as rest areas! They're safer, cleaner, and you don't have to buy
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anything!
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** ELECTRO-RANTS **
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@< A big electronic Bronx cheer to all those who write about the Internet
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and persist on mentioning the White House's email address. Do they think
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that anybody there is listening? Do we care?
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@< The Clipper Chip is dead for now. Let's keep it that way. Support
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public domain encryption software. If information wants to be free, it's
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our duty to keep it way. Remember, government secrecy is incompatible with
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a truly free society.
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**P@Online Top Ten**
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(Chuck's list)
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1. The Pagans - Propaganda - Tape
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2. Liz Phair - Whip Smart - CD
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3. Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart - CD
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4. Beastie Boys - Ill Communication - CD
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5. Sonic Youth - Experimental, Jet Set, Trash and No Star - CD
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6. Frank Black - Teenager of the Year - CD
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7. The Match! magazine
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8. Fugazi - In On the Kill Taker - CD
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9. Neil Young - Sleeps With Angels - CD
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10. The Major League Baseball PLAYERS!
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7" and record reviews will return with our next issue.
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=@= Z I N E R E V I E W S =@=
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3V: Global networking newsletter #3 / January/February 1993 [3W Magazine,
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461 W. 49th St., Suite 338, New York, NY 10019 USA] A slick new magazine
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devoted to users of the Internet. This mag seems to have more substance
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than most of the glitzy Internet periodicals. This issue's theme is
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"freenets." Includes several lists of resources including World Wide Web,
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FTP sites, BBS connections, the Jewish Information Network, and more.($6 /
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$36 for 6 issues)
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Dreamtime Talkingmail Summer 1994 / Issue 6 [dreamtime village, c/o
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Xexoxial Endarchy, Rt.1 Box 131, LaFarge, WI 54639] The biannual
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publication of the Dreamtime Village project in rural Wisconsin. This issue
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includes articles on "The Permaculture of the Self," "Regenerate culture"
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by Gary Snyder, "The no go zone" by Hakim Bey, and "Becoming Native to this
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place" by Wes Jackson. Includes updates on Dreamtime projects such as the
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Mail Art garden, a calendar of upcoming events, and reviews of zines. Done
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in the usual outstanding Dreamtime layout. ($3 sample / $25 for 3 issues)
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Feminist Baseball #13 / 1994 [PO Box 9609, Seattle, WA 98109] A nicely
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done music zine that is chock-full of music reviews and some zine reviews.
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I like the personal flavor and the reviews seem to go into more depth than
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mags like MRR. Worth the money. ($3)
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The Gadfly vol.10, no.5 [The gadfly, Billings Student Center, University
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of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405] An anti-authoritarian newspaper, but also
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a student newspaper. Articles tend to cover Native American campaigns,
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radical environmentalism, and anti-racist organizing. ($Donation)
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Global Mail January 94 / Issue 7 [soapbox@well.sf.ca.us / Ashley Parker
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Owens, PO Box 597996, Chicago, IL 60659] An excellent, useful resource for
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mail art fans and anybody who wants to network with alternative projects
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around the world. Lists mail art exhibitions that are calling for entries.
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Also an invaluable source of info on penpals, networks, tape & sound
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compilations, email, and zines looking for contributors. ($8)
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Incite Information #27 / August 1994 [Mark Hand, PO Box 326, Arlington, VA
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22210] A great little libertarian zine. The editor is very open-minded and
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unafraid to take on controversial subjects. ($1 / $10 for 6 issues)
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Libertarian Labor Review #17 / Summer/Fall 1994 [Box 2824, Champaign, IL
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61825] A magazine devoted to discussing issues of interest to
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anarchosyndicalists. This issue looks at "The Information Railroad" and
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examines the "Prospects for syndicalism." Also, an article on "Marxism: The
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negation of communism" by Jeff Stein, and book reviews. ($3 / $12/4 issues)
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Live Wild or Die #5 [LWOD, PO Box 15032, Berkeley, CA 94701] An extensive
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free-form anarchist tabloid with rants on just about everything. Lots of
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cartoons and graphics. Seems oriented towards the action-oriented,
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street-fighting wing of the anarchist movement. Worth-checking out--reminds
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me of some of the more interesting anarcho-tabloids of the mid-80s.
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($$Donation)
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Love and Rage vol.5, no.3 / August 1994 [PO Box 853, Peter Stuyvesant
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Station, New York, NY 10009] A regular anarchist newspaper which covers
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current events. This issue looks at the situation in Rwanda and provides
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updates from Chiapas. Also a good source for info on what other anarchist
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groups are doing. Includes a transcript of an interview that a collective
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member did with Subcommander Marcos. ($1/$13 for 6 issues)
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The Match! #89 [Fred Woodworth, PO Box 3488, Tucson, AZ 85722] is one of
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the best anarchist periodicals around. One of the most uncompromising
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anarchist publications. The police, the church, anarchists, zine
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publishers, and more get their due. Includes some fine fiction and an
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extensive letters section. Barcodes suck! ($10 / 4 issues)
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MSRRT Newsletter February 1994 v.7, no.1 [Chris Dodge/Jan DeSirey, 4645
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Columbus Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55407] A newsletter that's not just for
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progressive librarians. This issue has an article on the decline of a
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community radio station in the Twin Cities. The strength of this
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publication is the excellent reviews of alternative books and periodicals.
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($15/year)
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On Indian Land Winter 1993/1994 [PO Box 2104, Seattle, WA 98111] An
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activist newspaper for those who are involved in the various Native
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American movements. More political than cultural. Updates on Big Mountain,
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Clayoquot Sound, Lyle Point, and Mt. Graham. Find out the latest on
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imprisoned folks like Leonard Peltier and Clifford Dann. ($1 / $10 for
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subscription)
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Out of Bounds Summer 1994 / v.1, no.2 [PO Box 4809, Alexandria, VA 22303]
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An eclectic cultural zine with articles and cartoons. Includes book and
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music reviews. Includes articles on CIA documents on the death squads of
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El Salvador, the police and asset forfeiture, the MTV "youth movement", and
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a great rant against greeting cards. (Sample:$4 - $14 / 4 issues)
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Quanta July 1993 v.5, no.2 [quanta@andrew.cmu.edu / Quanta, 3003 Van Ness
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St. NW #S919, Washington, D.C. 20008] This is a good-looking paper version
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of the electronic zine of the same name. Features fiction and nonfiction,
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but SF seems to be the focus. ($5)
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Second Guess #11 [PO Box 9382, Reno, NV 89507] is one of the best punkzines
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around. This issue includes the tour diary of the band Zoinks! Be sure to
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check out the zine and music reviews, plus a current list of pranks
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(practical anarchy of another kind) ($2)
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Slingshot #51 [Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705] An
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excellent anarchist newspaper out of the East Bay area. Always a good
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source on practical projects. Includes pieces on the Infoshop movement that
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is sweeping the continent, the campaign to free women who killed their
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abusers, the ongoing crackdown against the homeless in Berkeley, and an
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update on the local Food Not Bombs. Recommended. ($2)
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Squat Beautiful Winter 1993 [U.K., PO Box 2054, Philadelphia, PA 19103]
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It's good to see that squatters have a sense of humor. This zine features a
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combination of practical tips, humor, and artistic efforts. Check out the
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"Sexy Squatter of the month", learn how to build a solar box cooker, and
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take the conscientious squatmate quiz. ($??)
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Staring Into the Sun [Pierre Loiselle, PO Box 21533, 1850 Commercial,
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Vancouver, BC V5N 4A0, Canada] Poetry, rants, and collages. Looking for
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contributors of anti-authoritarian articles, essays, rants, and creative
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writing.
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TRANET: A bi-monthly digest for the A&T (Alternative and transformational)
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movement(s) #89 / July 1994 [tranet@igc.apc.org / Pond St., PO Box 567,
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Rangeley, ME 04970] A regular listing of resources of interest to social
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change activists. Lots of practical resources here, but it seems to cost
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too much for what most activists can probably afford. ($$Donation)
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University Sentinel vol.3,no.5 [PSU Publications Board (VG), PO Box 751,
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Portland, OR 97207] There are few good student newspapers and even fewer
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good "radical" student papers. The Sentinel, published by students at
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Portland State University, is an exception to the rule of mediocrity. The
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design and layout of this newspaper is so superior to the hackwork being
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done by typical student newspapers, it is obvious that these folks should
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be giving design lessons to student journalists at other universities. This
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issue includes articles on the Zapatista uprising in southern Mexico, media
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mergers, the practical uses of hemp, and an article on the anarchistic
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aspects of the Internet. In fact, this publication shows how familiar the
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staff is with anarchism. A Kropotkin quote! Includes a section that lists
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what happened on certain days in radical history (The Durutti Column). The
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cartoons by radical cartoonist Matt Wuerker are a nice touch.
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Weekly Weird News and Filth #11 [Filth / PO Box 426712, San Francisco, CA
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94103 / malice@well.sf.ca.us] is a compendium of 79 conspiracy theories
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ranging from JFK to cocaine cowboys to UFOs to Andy Kaufman. Not only a
|
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serious look at conspiracies, but includes some humorous theories for comic
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relief. Be sure to cut out and put together the Unified Conspiracy Theory
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Moebius Flow Chart to see how everything really is connected. ($1)
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** CONTACTS **
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Affinity Group of Evolutionary Anarchists (AGEA)
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AGEA is an address exchange network linking individuals who favor education
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and self-organization as the preferred methods of achieving a voluntary,
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egalitarian and cooperative society.
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For more info contact: Ed Stamm, PO Box 1402, Lawrence, KS 66044-8402 USA
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=@= PROJECTS =@=
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ANARCHIST COOKBOOK
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The editor is collecting recipes for a cookbook to be published in
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1995 titled "The Anarchist Cookbook: Recipes by anarchists and their
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friends."
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Interest in this project so far has been great. The recipes are
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rolling in!
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Please send your vegetarian and vegan recipes, tips on cooking for
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large groups, personal food idiosyncrasies, art, and info on other
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resources. Let's show the world what anarchy is all about!
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All recipes will be tested in the Practical Anarchy test kitchen.
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Bon Appetit!
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Send recipes to: Anarchist Cookbook, c/o Chuck Munson, PO Box 179,
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College Park, MD 20741-0179
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PRACTICAL ANARCHY: The Book
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Chuck Munson, Joseph Average, and B. Moody invite you to submit
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one, two, or a half dozen articles to an edited collection on the theme of
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Practical Anarchy. We aim to publish this collection in book form within
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one year (Summer 1995).
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Topics will include, but not limited to:
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@ Food production, consumption, and distribution (horticulture,
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husbandry, community sponsored agriculture, communal farming, urban and
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neighborhood gardening, buyers co-ops, food politics: problems and
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solutions)
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@ Housing
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@ Integrated strategies for local political organizing in
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neighborhoods and on campuses
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@ Women's health, self-defense, domestic violence, and gender
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relations (self-help methods and institutional development, e.g. clinics)
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@ "Crime" and anti-social acts
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@ Economic planning issues
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@ How-to ideas and strategies (development of a people's bank of
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goods and services, rotating credit funds, gift-giving circles, microradio,
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autonomous and democratic media, hostelries, bicycle repair collectives,
|
|
study groups, free universities)
|
|
@ Education and child rearing
|
|
|
|
To submit articles, or to get a writing contract and more info, write to:
|
|
Joseph Average, c/o Bloomington Anarchist Union, PO Box 3207, Bloomington,
|
|
IN 47402
|
|
To get an electronic copy of the writing contract contact Chuck at
|
|
cm150@umail.umd.edu
|
|
|
|
|
|
SPUNK PRESS
|
|
Spunk Press is an independent publishing project whose goal is to collect
|
|
anarchist, alternative and underground materials in electronic format and
|
|
make them available free of charge. Although our archive is located on the
|
|
Internet ( a worldwide network of five million people), we want to reach
|
|
out into the world of bulletin boards and personal computers and to those
|
|
without computer access. We want to help editors and writers to convert or
|
|
produce their works in an electronic format and use our distribution
|
|
channels (electronic archive sites, e-mail address lists, etc.) We are
|
|
seeking submissions of fanzines, pamphlets, books, articles, interviews,
|
|
reviews, posters, and other material, both in print and out of print.
|
|
Currently archived selections include Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, a
|
|
history of the IWW, Practical Anarchy magazine, H.Bey's T.A.Z., and a
|
|
Situationist bibliography. You can submit material either via the Internet
|
|
or on a PC or Mac diskette. You can receive material via the Internet (FTP
|
|
to etext.archive.umich.edu and access directory /pub/Politics/Spunk), or by
|
|
sending a diskette. For more information and a copy of our current catalog,
|
|
contact Spunk Press by electronic mail at spunk@lysator.liu.se or write to:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spunk Press, c/o ACF Freedom Bookshop, 84B Whitechapel High Street, London
|
|
E17QX, UK. or
|
|
Spunk Press, c/o Practical Anarchy, POB 179, College Park, MD 20741-0179, USA.
|
|
|
|
The electronic Spunk Press archive was last updated in July of 1994 and
|
|
contains over 400 items. The next update will occur soon.
|
|
|
|
==== MIDWEST PUNK SHOW LISTING ====
|
|
A list of upcoming punk shows in the Midwest is available from
|
|
<aa704@po.cwru.edu>. This is not a LISTSERV, so send a nice, personal
|
|
message for more information.
|
|
|
|
Another punk-related information source is: TREADWAY@MPS.ohio-state.edu. To
|
|
be added to the mailing list, write: TREADWAY@MPS.ohio-state.edu
|
|
|
|
================================
|
|
DIRECT ACTION MANUAL
|
|
REVIVED BY BLACK FIST COLLECTIVE
|
|
|
|
Houston-based grouping seeks support and contributions
|
|
for the Direct Action Manual project
|
|
|
|
-------------------------
|
|
The Houston, Texas (USA)-based Black Fist collective is putting
|
|
forth a call for contributions to a newly revived Direct Action Manual.
|
|
The Direct Action Manual was initiated by the (now dissolved) Web
|
|
Collective in San Francisco, California (USA), but was canceled in early
|
|
1994 due to lack of support.
|
|
The Direct Action Manual project's end result will be a book with
|
|
information on taking direct action in your community. We're also looking
|
|
for international contributions. In addition, the Black Fist collective
|
|
will be expanding the project to include aspects of grassroots organizing
|
|
as well as organizing solidarity/defense campaigns, prisoner support and
|
|
perspectives on building a diverse and active movement.
|
|
Please make a note that the Black Fist collective is starting from
|
|
square one - any materials/contributions that were sent to the Web
|
|
Collective are not in the possession of Black Fist and should be re-directed
|
|
to the Houston collective. Any and all forms of publicity for this project
|
|
should make note of this fact.
|
|
Support and publicity for this project is critical. The Direct
|
|
Action Manual needs articles, art and money to help this project grow and
|
|
really take off. Please direct all correspondence, submissions and
|
|
financial contributions (in blank postal money orders or well-concealed
|
|
cash) to Black Fist, 15110 Bellaire, Box 317, Houston, Texas 77083, USA.
|
|
|
|
|
|
*@* New Electronic Anarchist Zine *@*
|
|
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|
|
B L A C K F I S T
|
|
Street knowledge for the radical massive
|
|
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|
|
ELECTRONIC ISSUE ONE
|
|
HARD COPY ISSUE EIGHT
|
|
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=2=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|
|
Malcontents
|
|
GIVING PROPS: EDITORIAL STATEMENTS
|
|
What is Black Fist
|
|
NEWS AND VIEWS
|
|
The Goldfront Project: Reparator-anarchist alliance
|
|
James Harry Reyos: Native American's case an injustice
|
|
New Afrikan, revolutionary nationalist ... and anarchist
|
|
DEEP SOUTH ACTIVISMDEEP SOUTH ACTIVISM
|
|
Grassroots revolt news
|
|
DISTRO INFO
|
|
Where to find us
|
|
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|
|
THIS COPY IS AN ABRIDGED ISSUE!!!
|
|
ARTICLES INCLUDED IN THE FULL ISSUE (AVAILABLE FROM SONICNET):
|
|
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|
|
Notice from Black Fist members
|
|
BFE (Black Fist Electronic) introBFE (Black Fist Electronic) intro
|
|
To Steal or Not to Steal?
|
|
Some Thoughts on (T/t)heft, (J/j)ustice, and Capitalism
|
|
PRI's victory in Mexico a hollow one
|
|
Boyling Point: last thoughts on Stonewall
|
|
U.S. Postal Pigz: How to protect your mail
|
|
ANARCHIST BLACK CROSS SECTION
|
|
Futility plus good intentions equals ABC conference
|
|
Indigenous Peruvians struggle against Sendero and State Indigenous
|
|
Peruvians struggle against Sendero and State
|
|
Minneapolis anti-racist's trial set for October
|
|
Free Manuel Salazar: victim of racism
|
|
Prison Briefs
|
|
ON GOGOL BOULEVARD SECTION
|
|
News from Nigeria, Poland and worldwide
|
|
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|
|
GIVING PROPS: EDITORIAL STATEMENTS AND SHIT
|
|
__________________________________
|
|
What is Black Fist
|
|
Black Fist is a newspaper created by a bunch of
|
|
anti-authoritarians. Anti-authoritarians are basically people who do not
|
|
feel that the controls exercised over our lives are necessary - like, for
|
|
example, the pigs.. Or the government they work for and protect. The people
|
|
here do not want this control over our lives and want to see it torn down,
|
|
dragged out and burned in the middle of the street.
|
|
You can write us about joining up with Black Fist if you want, but
|
|
anarchy and self-determination starts at home. Speak out and don't be
|
|
afraid to confront those whose ideas are messed up. The biggest cops are in
|
|
our heads, and killing yours is the first step to personal revolution.
|
|
Subvert authority. Get involved in your community as someone against
|
|
authority. Start your own collectives to support others, foster education
|
|
authority. Start your own collectives to support others, foster education
|
|
and revolutionize. Put out propaganda as much as possible. Actively support
|
|
those in Amerikan gulags whose crime is delivering war to oppressors.
|
|
Support those around the world in struggle for liberation and justice.
|
|
Don't vote - revolt. Your "leaders" become more unimportant when you work
|
|
without them.
|
|
Black Fist appears out of nowhere on a bimonthly basis. Write us
|
|
with your input, poetry, art or articles - your thoughts are important.
|
|
Deadlines are the second Saturday of the month prior to publication.
|
|
You can get a one-year subscription for $6, but if you can send us
|
|
a little more, we can always use it. Donations are very much needed to pay
|
|
for printing costs as well as to support our free prisoner subscriptions.
|
|
Please make sure to send the money in well-concealed cash or blank postal
|
|
money orders.
|
|
All the opinions within may not represent all our feelings, but the
|
|
exchange of ideas is there. Any reprints should credit this newspaper and
|
|
exchange of ideas is there. Any reprints should credit this newspaper and
|
|
have our address. Thanks. We try to credit most sources as well.
|
|
Black Fist o 15110 Bellaire, #317, Houston, Texas 77083
|
|
Electronic mail: st4gz@jetson.uh.edu
|
|
|
|
=@= C A L E N D A R =@=
|
|
|
|
AUTONOMOUS ZONE
|
|
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
|
|
|
|
OCTOBER 1994
|
|
|
|
The Autonomous Zone is a community center for radical information and
|
|
action. We provide a non-hierarchical framework and space where people can
|
|
develop knowledge and skills vital to building fundamental social change.
|
|
Our collectively run infoshop lends and sells hard-to-find radical
|
|
literature. We also host practical how-to classes where Chicagoans can
|
|
learn from each other. Additionally, we organize educational social events,
|
|
such as lectures, coffeehouses, potlatches, and discussions. The resources
|
|
and services offered through the Autonomous Zone are collectively organized
|
|
on egalitarian anarchist principles of cooperation, mutual aid, equal
|
|
participation and consensus decision-making. We hope to create for
|
|
ourselves and others, an empowering space free from hierarchy and
|
|
authoritarian coercion.
|
|
|
|
The A-Zone is located at 2045 W. North Ave., a block West of the Damen el
|
|
stop. Our hours are Noon to 8pm, Wed. through Sat.
|
|
|
|
Note that not all of these events are A-Zone sponsored, but we liked 'em
|
|
enough to put 'em in anyway! If you have any questions, call the A-Zone
|
|
312.278.0775
|
|
|
|
All events subject to constant change!
|
|
|
|
Every Thursday: Open Mic at Literary Explosions, corner of Milwaukee,
|
|
Damen, & North, 9pm. Don't miss it!
|
|
|
|
Every Saturday: Tenant's Rights Clinic at the A-Zone, 2-6pm. Call or stop
|
|
in for info on your rights as a tenant!
|
|
|
|
Oct. 2nd (Sat): The Rotifers -- Girlz & Womyn Only. "We are a brand new
|
|
femyle only group who want to communicate with other womyn. We plan to do
|
|
workshops about things like womyn's health issues, queer issues, racism and
|
|
class issues. We are also gonna do FUN stuff like bike rides, cook, and
|
|
play basketball. We believe we can grow and EMPOWER ourselves through
|
|
learning from EACH OTHER. 7pm, 1579 N. Milwaukee, #304. 486-3205 or
|
|
384-2407 for more info.
|
|
|
|
Oct. 6 (Thur): A-Zone Forum featuring speakers from the Rudy Lozano
|
|
Community Rights Assembly and Centro Sin Fronteras talking about their
|
|
fight against the city for 9 buildings across from the Lozano school
|
|
(Greenview & LeMoyne). They want affordable housing, a free health clinic,
|
|
and more; the city wants a parking lot. This is an urgent situation, tied
|
|
in with the gentrification of WestTown and corrupt city politics, and they
|
|
could use solidarity! 6:30 pm, at the A-Zone.
|
|
|
|
Oct. 7 (Fri): Stop the Hate! March against violence with Queer Nation.
|
|
Rally begins 6:30pm at 644 W. Belmont.
|
|
|
|
2600 Hacker/Phreak Open Meeting at Third Coast Cafe, 1300 or so N.
|
|
Dearborn. 5-8pm. First Friday every month!
|
|
|
|
Oct. 13th (Thur): Prisoner Support Meeting, for those wishing to do work
|
|
around prison issues and restart an Anarchist Black Cross collective.
|
|
6:30pm, at the A-Zone.
|
|
|
|
Oct. 14-17: Midwest Radical Scholars and Activist Conference at Loyola
|
|
University, 6525 N. Sheridan. 312.384.8827 for info.
|
|
|
|
Oct. 15 & 16: Midwest Anti-Fascist Network Founding Conference in Columbus,
|
|
Ohio. 614.294.5226 for more info.
|
|
|
|
Oct. 15 (Sat): Infoshops and Anti-Authoritarian Counter- Institutions
|
|
discussion at the Midwest Scholars Conf., hosted by the Autonomous Zone.
|
|
3:15 - 5:15pm.
|
|
|
|
A-Zone Coffeehouse. Open house, vegetarian potluck, and an informal
|
|
discussion on Haiti. Come & hang out! 7pm.
|
|
|
|
World Day of Action Against the IMF and World Bank. Take action!
|
|
|
|
Oct. 16 (Sun): Anarchist Direct Action discussion at the Midwest Scholars
|
|
Conf., hosted by the Autonomous Zone. 3:15 to 5:15 pm.
|
|
|
|
Anarchism & Young People's Liberation discussion at the Midwest Scholars
|
|
Conf., hosted by the A-Zone. 3:15-5:15pm.
|
|
|
|
World Day of Action Against McDonalds. Let McDeath know how ya feel!
|
|
|
|
Oct. 17th (Mon): Noam Chomsky speaking on "The 21st Century: Democracy or
|
|
Totalitarianism?", 7:30pm, Univ. of Ill., Illinois Room, 750 S. Halsted.
|
|
Free.
|
|
|
|
Oct. 18th (Tue): A-Zone General Assembly. Our monthly meeting open to
|
|
everyone to come & find out what we're about and up to, and you're welcome
|
|
to come share your views. 7pm, at the A-Zone.
|
|
|
|
Oct. 19th (Wed): Homocore and A-Zone Bowlathon, featuring Bikini Kill at
|
|
the Fireside Bowl on Fullerton.
|
|
|
|
Oct. 20th (Thur): Spraycan artist D-Zine will show slides of his work and
|
|
talk about his experience with graffiti. 6:30pm, at the A-Zone.
|
|
|
|
Deadline for submissions to (DIS)CONNECTION #2, the 'zine for infoshops and
|
|
radical collectives. We're hoping to have it out in mid-November, so get
|
|
your stuff in!
|
|
|
|
Oct. 22nd (Sat): Law & Order Hysteria and the U$ Imprisonment Binge. A
|
|
program to discuss crime, imprisonment, and racism, sponsored by the
|
|
Chicago National Lawyers Guild and the Campaign to Confront the Racist
|
|
Imprisonment Binge. 7pm, at Depaul Univ., Schmitt Academic Center, Room
|
|
154, 2320 N. Kenmore. 312.235.0070 for more info.
|
|
|
|
And coming up November 18-20, the Midwest Radical Networking Conference in
|
|
Delton, Michigan. Call the A-Zone for details.
|
|
|
|
A-ZONE FREE SKOOL WEEKLY SCHEDULE (now 'til Oct.29th): note: Generations
|
|
Cafe is at 1561 N. Milwaukee, 2nd floor)
|
|
|
|
Sundays: Bookmaking 12-3pm, at home of Tracy.
|
|
Urban Exploration 3-5pm start at A-Zone
|
|
Mondays: Lock Management 6-7pm at Generations Cafe
|
|
Survival Sewing 8-10pm
|
|
Tuesdays: Home Education 8-10pm, every other Tuesday, at Generations Cafe.
|
|
Wednesdays: Graphic Design 7pm
|
|
Thursdays: Vegan Cooking 6pm 1500 W. Division
|
|
Rhythm & Drumming 6-8pm
|
|
Revolutionary Anarchism 8pm at Myopic Cafe (Damen & Evergreen).
|
|
Fridays: Intro Spanish 12-3pm at A-Zone
|
|
Saturdays: Plant Gnosis 10:30am-Noon at A-Zone
|
|
|
|
For more info on these classes, call the A-Zone, or call Kate at 728-1790.
|
|
|
|
from the cyberdecks of:
|
|
* * *
|
|
* * AUTONOMOUS ZONE INFOSHOP
|
|
* /\ * 2045 W. North Ave., CHILL 60622 U$A
|
|
* /__\ Z * (packages to: Box 420, 1573 N. Milwaukee)
|
|
* / \ * phone: 312-278-0775, fax: 312-404-0455
|
|
* * email: thak@midway.uchicago.edu
|
|
* * *
|
|
"People are sheep." -- every leader the world has ever known Anyone have
|
|
any mint jelly? Those who would lead must become our prey!
|
|
|
|
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
|
|
ANARCHY IN THE UK
|
|
|
|
OCTOBER 21 - 30 1994
|
|
|
|
London
|
|
|
|
Ten Days that shook the world
|
|
|
|
The biggest ever anarchist festival with over 500 meetings throughout London.
|
|
PLUS Anarchist film and video season, live music from those anarchist bands,day
|
|
and night, comedy club, poetry festivals, raves, dancing and the best ten days'
|
|
social life you're very likely to experience
|
|
PLUS All night debates, anarchist eyewitnesses, thousands of foreign agitators,
|
|
orgy rooms.
|
|
PLUS Direct action, street skulduggery, art mayhem
|
|
PLUS Anarchist bookfair, London Greenpeace Fair, Anarchist picnic, indor rally
|
|
green action day, Books, comics ,record stalls,Chubawamba,George Melly, Jamie
|
|
Reed, Stuart Home, Edgar Broughton, Conflict, Tony Allen.
|
|
|
|
STOP PRESS Levitation of Parliament Oct 23rd
|
|
Street Action against the Criminal Justice bill : Oct 27th
|
|
|
|
Participants
|
|
|
|
*Reflective Theatre *Steve Booth *Lodro Dawa * Edgar Broughton Band *Pat V T
|
|
West * Working Press * Socialist Film Co-op * Dennis Gould *Aberdeen FIN *Anti
|
|
Facist Action *Peter Pavement *Haven Distribution *Slab O'Concrete *Blind Mole
|
|
Rat * Soundclash * Oi Plloi *Oxfin *Bad Attitude *Animal *Crossfire Films *Open
|
|
Eye * London Anarchist Forum * Freedom Bookshop * Freedom Press * Jamie Reed
|
|
*Gee * Bar the Shouting * IWW *Extreme Books(Oregon) *Advance Party Network
|
|
*Stuart Home *Neoist Alliance *Legalise Cannabis Campaign*Arnei *Decadent
|
|
Action * By-Pass* Chris Walsh * Head *Cool Tan Arts * Peace News * Larry O'Hara
|
|
Cyclorama *Giaconda Smile *Jeff Nuttall * Robin Webb * John Rety * Fun Times
|
|
*Jigsaw *Ramraid Sound System* Travellers Support Groups *Dave Morris Edinburgh
|
|
Fanzine Archive * Despite TV * Exploding Cinema * Madame Snarka *Richard Parry
|
|
*Ian Bone * Rodent *Laurens Otter * Gusset * Megadog *Our Day Will Come *
|
|
Anarchist Year book *56a Infoshop *Planet News *Mother Clan * Dead Dog Mountain
|
|
ALF Support Group*Izvestia(Rennes) *Arthur Moyse *Jeff Cloves *Penny Rimbaud *
|
|
Wildcat Comics * Word of warning * South Bristol Anarchists *Kate Sharpley
|
|
Library * Rob Johnson * Cliff Harper *Deric Wall * Green Revolution *Anarchist
|
|
Book Fair *Pheonix Prss *Anhrefn * Roy Bailey *Armchair Press * New Anarchist
|
|
Review * Rebel Press*Green line* Contra Flow *Davey Garland *Faslane Peace Camp
|
|
Bugs'n Drugs * Chaos UK * the Roughler *Riff Raff Poets *Ruptured Ambitions *
|
|
Earth First * Profane Existance Minneapolis *Shambhala Skin * Motarhate* Spit
|
|
head*Round the Bend* Fast Breeder *121 Centre *Mick Parkin* Tony Allen
|
|
*Forbidden Planet *Dave Douglas (Hatfield NUM) *London Greenpeace* Green
|
|
Anarchists *Freedom* Temple of Psycic Youth *Hunt Saboteurs Assoc *George Melly
|
|
*Martin Everett *Libertarian Education *Stephen Hancock* Schwartzennegar
|
|
*Cuckooland *Blaggers *Chumbawamba *Conflict *Verso *Alternative Tentacles*AK
|
|
Distribution* AK Prss *Active Distribution *Anarchist Distribution *DS4A *Steve
|
|
Ignorant *Housmans Bookshop* M11 Link Campaign* A Space(Philadelphia)*Homocult*
|
|
Cambridge anarchists *Spunk Press
|
|
|
|
Central information point during Festival - Conway Hall, Red Lion Square,
|
|
London WC2
|
|
|
|
Programme out now with full details (SAE and 1.00):
|
|
Anarchy in the UK 94 PO Box 1096 Bristol BS9 1BW
|
|
|
|
Main events.
|
|
------------
|
|
|
|
Friday 21st October
|
|
|
|
Opposing the Criminal Justice Act. 7.30pm Conway Hall
|
|
Invited speakers from Advance Party Network
|
|
Freedom Network
|
|
Hunt Saboteurs Association
|
|
Travellers Support Group
|
|
SQUASH
|
|
Cooltan
|
|
Levellers
|
|
M11 Link Campaign
|
|
European Squaters Group
|
|
|
|
Saturaday 22nd October
|
|
|
|
Anarchist Book Fair
|
|
10am - 8pm Conway Hall
|
|
Organised by New Anarchist Review, 84b Whitechapel High Street, E1
|
|
|
|
Day gathering for non violent anarchists and anarchist pacifists. Central
|
|
London. Organised by Jigsaw.
|
|
|
|
Evening discussion meeting at Conway Hall. 8pm
|
|
Organised by Anarchist Research Group, including Collin Ward
|
|
|
|
Sunday 23rd October
|
|
Levitation of Parliment. Parliment Square 11 a.m.
|
|
|
|
*** "At 11.23 precisely parliament will rise 500 ft into the air - Heathrow
|
|
has been warned to cancel all flights in the area.
|
|
|
|
Anarchist Post-Levitation Picnic - Hyde Park
|
|
|
|
Anarchy & Sexual Liberation.
|
|
Conway Hall 2-6pm
|
|
Meeting organised by Lesbien & Gay Freedom Movement
|
|
|
|
Thursday 27th October
|
|
Direct Action on the street against Criminal Justice Bill.
|
|
details to be announced or just do it!
|
|
|
|
Friday 28th October
|
|
Indoor Anarchist Rally 8pm-2am
|
|
Venue to be arranged
|
|
|
|
Discussion meeting. Conway Hall, 8pm
|
|
Organise by London Anarchist Forum
|
|
|
|
Saturday 29th October
|
|
|
|
London Greenpeace Fair (not Greenpeace International plc)
|
|
Conway Hall 10am-8pm
|
|
|
|
CND March + Rally. Temple Tube to Trafalgar Square, 1 p.m.
|
|
|
|
An acousic set from the Levellers and others if music licence is granted.
|
|
In view of impossibility of getting police permission for a specifically
|
|
anarchist march bring black flags to make this biggest ever anarchist street
|
|
presence ever.
|
|
|
|
Sunday 30th October
|
|
|
|
Anarchist Picnic. Hyde Park, 12-5pm
|
|
|
|
Conflict at Astoria. Round off the 10 days witn wild night of anarcho-punk
|
|
|
|
Other events ( ask for details):
|
|
--------------------------------
|
|
|
|
International speakers (huge numbers of them, but many more wanted)
|
|
meals, music, theatre, comedy and poetry over whole fesival
|
|
Presentation by Ploughshares Support Network
|
|
Counter Intelligence Exhibition at 121
|
|
|
|
Workshops:
|
|
Anarchism, violence and non-violence
|
|
Consensus Decision making for small and large groups
|
|
Liberating our meetings
|
|
|
|
Speaker meetings and discussions in following areas
|
|
|
|
The Spanish anarchist movement since 1936
|
|
Exhibition by the Kate Sharpley Library
|
|
Education , Organised by Lib Ed
|
|
Punk, will include Collin Jerwood, Steve Ignorant, Penny Rimbauld and many
|
|
more.
|
|
Anti Fascism, includes many european activists as well as AFA
|
|
also Larry O'hara, 'The truth about Searchlight'
|
|
|
|
Computers and Networking, by Spunk Press and Fast Breeder
|
|
Sex
|
|
Animal Rights
|
|
Paganism/Occult
|
|
Women
|
|
Green Politics, a vast programme of events
|
|
Money
|
|
Lesbien & Gay
|
|
Industrial
|
|
Christian Anarchism
|
|
Riots
|
|
Squatting
|
|
Unemployment
|
|
Drugs
|
|
Football
|
|
|
|
There will be sports events too: Pacifists v. Non pacifists
|
|
|
|
Music:
|
|
|
|
Mutiny, Cuckooland, Oi Polloi, AOS3 SE8 Culb Oct 25th
|
|
Oi Polloi, RDF, Citizen Fish, Sad Society, George Robey Oct 26th
|
|
Levellers, Schartznegger, Co-creators Oct 27th, Brixton Academy
|
|
Conflict, Dirt, Citizen Fish, Dub Warriors Oct 29th, Astoria (4.30-10.30)
|
|
and many more....
|
|
|
|
Addmission only with festival ticket from Anarchy in UK for above
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------
|
|
ANTI FASCIST CONFERENCE
|
|
|
|
Midwest Anti Fascist Network (MAFNET) founding conference
|
|
|
|
Columbus Ohio, Sat / Sun October 15 &16 1994
|
|
|
|
North High School
|
|
|
|
workshops / music-performances / speakers / child care / food / booths /
|
|
networking / basketball-soccer-volleyball!
|
|
|
|
"In recent years the undercurrent of intolerance and social injustice in
|
|
our society has grown in strength, which is made apparent with the rise of
|
|
hate crimes and Klan rallies. It's time to begin building a society of
|
|
tolerance with diversity and respect. Come join us at this conference."
|
|
|
|
For more information call 614.294.5225 or write to
|
|
Anti Racist Action (ARA) POB 02097 Columbus OH 43202
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dear friends:
|
|
|
|
Over the last year or two, we have seen an increase in racist group
|
|
activities and hate crimes here in the midwest. In response, many groups and
|
|
individuals have held meetings and protests.
|
|
|
|
As we did this work, people from different cities got to know and work with
|
|
each other. We saw the need for an effective, ongoing framework to
|
|
organize.
|
|
|
|
We are happy to announce the founding conference of the Midwest Anti Fascist
|
|
Network (MAFNET). This important conference will be held in Columbus, Ohio,
|
|
on the weekend of October 15-16,1994. Hundreds of activists will join to
|
|
discuss the future of our work and to create a unified network.
|
|
|
|
In addition, there will be several educational workshops, video
|
|
presentations, and speakers. The final agenda is not set yet, but proposed
|
|
topics include discussions of our experiences at recent KKK rallies,
|
|
African - American / Jewish Unity, legal defense and offense techniques,
|
|
anti-gay attacks and organizing against them, and several others.
|
|
|
|
There will be a social event of some kind Saturday night (bands). And we
|
|
will get the network off to a good start by holding an "action" in Columbus
|
|
as part of the weekend. Maybe something related to Native American Indian
|
|
activities against "Columbus Day"; maybe Klan related, but definitely
|
|
something on the street to make our discussions more real.
|
|
|
|
We have just reacted too long. It is time for us to build our movement in a
|
|
more stable, serious organized way. We can increase our numbers, involve
|
|
thousands of people, initiate new and imaginative programs to fight racism
|
|
-- the possibilities are unlimited.
|
|
|
|
Please plan to be a part of this historic weekend. Email or write or call
|
|
for more information and early registration. we can provide housing, food,
|
|
transportation from bus and airplanes, etc. We also will be providing an area
|
|
for organizations attending the conference to distribute their literature.
|
|
Oh yeah, we can provide child care also, and because of these things, we
|
|
will be asking those who register early to contribute $10 (or more) to help
|
|
us cover the costs of renting the space etc.
|
|
|
|
Thanks, and please pass this on. Email if you'd like me to send you USMail
|
|
copies of the original flyer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
==@== LETTERS ==@==
|
|
|
|
LET'S GET ORGANIZED!
|
|
|
|
Dear Friends and comrades:
|
|
|
|
Recently I completed a coast-to-coast speaking tour to promote my
|
|
newly reprinted book Anarchism and the Black Revolution, and also to raise
|
|
funds for the legal defense in the Chattanooga 8 racist frame-up case. I
|
|
spoke in 25 different cities to thousands of persons, and gave over 90
|
|
separate presentations. The tour not only allowed me to go to new places
|
|
and meet many friends and comrades, it also allowed me to size up the North
|
|
American Anarchist (and anti-authoritarian) movement, the struggle around
|
|
political prisoners, and the state of the Black movement today. I would
|
|
like to give you my assessment of where we are, and what I think can be
|
|
done to make changes.
|
|
|
|
The Anarchist and other anti-authoritarian forces are currently in
|
|
"ghettos" which are almost all-white, all youth-oriented, all middle-class,
|
|
and generally disconnected from the surrounding communities (many of which
|
|
are majority African or Hispanic). This cannot be allowed to go on if
|
|
anti-authoritarian politics are to become a real force in North American
|
|
social life. We must become more ethnically diverse, more action-oriented,
|
|
and more community based--if we are serious about a struggle for a social
|
|
revolution on this continent. My idea is for the creation of an
|
|
Anti-Authoritarian Network of Community Organizers (AANCO), a "united
|
|
front" of all those Anarchist forces who think we must build a broader,
|
|
more militant movement, which includes "ordinary" people and deals with the
|
|
revolution of everyday life. We need a movement of more than "punks",
|
|
college youth, or even like-minded Anarcho-activist types in another narrow
|
|
"federation".
|
|
|
|
AANCO is a worker/student/youth alliance; a direct action community based
|
|
organization to fight the crippling of capitalism: economic exploitation,
|
|
unemployment, homelessness, poverty, police brutality, racism and other
|
|
ills of a system in decline. We want to build a movement of thousands--and
|
|
ultimately millions--of persons to resist this corrupt system and fight for
|
|
a better life, which can only come with a new society.
|
|
|
|
We believe the old radical Left and syndicalist ideals of the "industrial
|
|
working class" grouped into large work sites serving as a revolutionary
|
|
class vanguard is outdated, and that the structure of capitalism has
|
|
produced a new class of "super-poor" persons who are marginalized and
|
|
divorced from any hope of gainful employment under this system. AANCO
|
|
believes that because of structural unemployment, caused by automation,
|
|
corporate downsizing, de-industrialization and a host of other factors, the
|
|
primary site of struggle has now shifted from the workplace to the
|
|
community. In fact, we believe that it is in the cities themselves where we
|
|
can build a movement to overthrow capital. But while we fight back against
|
|
the capitalist state, we must build a new counter-culture and new community
|
|
institutions.
|
|
|
|
We also believe poverty has become "racial-ized" in this country, with
|
|
millions of Black and other people of color bearing the brunt of the
|
|
current capitalist depression, and now constituting the majority of the new
|
|
poor and homeless. Because we recognize that this poverty is no "accident"
|
|
and does not hit everyone equally, but is rather a class and race
|
|
phenomenon, we realize that we need a Poor Peoples' Survival Movement which
|
|
unites the poor of all races, but especially the non-white communities in a
|
|
fightback movement. In that sense this movement would "fight racism", while
|
|
understanding that fighting racism is more than counter-mobilizations
|
|
against the Klan or Nazis, because white supremacy is more than a fascist
|
|
vanguard. All the institutions of capitalism are racist, and white
|
|
supremacy is an intrinsic part of the ideological and socio-economic
|
|
foundations of this system. So we have to fight to destroy the system
|
|
itself in order to truly destroy racism. White people must help fight for
|
|
the rights of people of color--on the job, on the campuses, and in the
|
|
community, and not passively allow the "white power" state to destroy them
|
|
with government "anti-crime" programs, "weed and seed", "community
|
|
policing" and other repressive initiatives. The state has always depended
|
|
on the white population to be accomplices to its criminal activities, AANCO
|
|
says NO!
|
|
|
|
The Poor People's Survival Movement would be a program started by AANCO,
|
|
(which is primarily a group of Anarchists and anti-racist activists), and
|
|
supported by the Federation of Black Community Partisans, Roots of
|
|
Resistance, and a number of local groups in the communities, on college
|
|
campuses, in prisons, in workplaces and other institutions all over N.
|
|
America. PPSM is a direct action movement of the poor, which will take over
|
|
abandoned housing for homeless persons, engage in mass urban squatting,
|
|
sit-ins at welfare offices and government buildings, and other acts of
|
|
civil disobedience. However, although all of these examples are
|
|
non-violent, this is not a pacifist organization; we expect to see food
|
|
riots, street fighting, general strikes and ultimately social revolution
|
|
break out. We support all of this as leading to our freedom.
|
|
|
|
The most important objective of our work now is designed to build
|
|
revolutionary dual power institutions in the community to counter
|
|
capitalist state power and begin to constitute an infrastructure for
|
|
Anarchism and freedom. Whether we call it a "workers council", "peoples'
|
|
assembly", "community-economic workshop or other neighborhood
|
|
self-governing structure, these local institutions could unite into
|
|
national and international federations to destroy capitalism and the
|
|
institution of the nation-state. The local groups would be autonomous, but
|
|
united in free association on a larger scale. This idea of the self
|
|
sufficient "eco-city" and the bioregional federation is no pipe dream of
|
|
mine; many are starting to realize that it can be built under today's
|
|
conditions. In fact, I believe that we must start building a commune now
|
|
which exists in the belly of the living capitalist beast, that covers the
|
|
U.S., Northern and Latin America, and stretches to fit the rest of the
|
|
world. This intercommunalism is the way forward.
|
|
|
|
So, where do we start? I think we should begin now in a realistic way in
|
|
our own communities to break out of the Anarchist ghetto, and establish a
|
|
social revolutionary movement which cannot be ignored and cannot be
|
|
resisted. A movement which can become a real force in people's lives. Let
|
|
us make it happen. Please join the Anti-Authoritarian Network of Community
|
|
Organizers, and help us build the Poor Peoples' Survival Network. If you or
|
|
your organization would be interested in working with us, please send $10
|
|
for an individual membership or $20 for an organization to the address
|
|
listed below.
|
|
|
|
I think it is important that I maintain as high a profile as possible in
|
|
order to push the more militant politics, and to serve as a pole of
|
|
attraction for those who want to engage in a more serious effort than the
|
|
Anarchist youth counter-cultural "Punk" scene. So I also intend to continue
|
|
my speaking tour in 1994-95, in order to make new contacts with those
|
|
Anarchists/anti-authoritarians that I have not met and also to spread the
|
|
ideas of a federation of community organizers. I will be conducting a
|
|
number of workshops on anti-racist politics and community organizing, for
|
|
booking information please call the voice mail # below.
|
|
|
|
In solidarity,
|
|
Lorenzo Komboa Ervin
|
|
AANCO
|
|
145 Park Drive
|
|
Decatur, GA 30030
|
|
(404) 717-4074 (voice mail)
|
|
|
|
|
|
=@= A R T I C L E S =@=
|
|
Social Control vs. Human Needs:
|
|
the Practice and Promise of RADRS
|
|
-by Richard Taylor
|
|
|
|
"the changed form and substance of law is rather like what a jailer might
|
|
do who shifted a prisoner's chains...or removed them and substituted bolts
|
|
and bars."
|
|
|
|
-Tolstoy
|
|
|
|
I. The judicial alternatives movement is seen by some as a
|
|
opportunity for individuals and communities to recover or assume a certain
|
|
degree of control over the administration of justice in their own lives.
|
|
Others have raised the criticism that it amounts to a high-tech way for the
|
|
state to exert control over citizens. I will examine the issue of social
|
|
control relating to ADR, and hope to develop the reader's ability to make
|
|
statements regarding ADR's putative liberatory potential; i.e. does ADR
|
|
enable people to manage their needs for social order independently of the
|
|
formal judicial system? Can it? If not, how might the emancipatory vision
|
|
be realized? Evidence from sociology, legal scholarship, and primatology
|
|
will be considered.
|
|
|
|
II. Joseph Scimecca, in his paper _Conflict Resolution and a
|
|
Critique of RADRS_, first chooses to define ADR in a certain narrow sense
|
|
as being "those processes which are alternatives to the formal legal or
|
|
court system, in particular, Neighborhood Justice Centers or Community
|
|
Mediation Centers." He then names a number of social control criticisms.
|
|
ADR, like formal law, is embedded in individualism. This enhances the
|
|
capacity for its use as social control by diverting attention to the
|
|
grievance of the individual and away from the critique of social
|
|
structures. ADR practitioners attribute failures of their processes to the
|
|
disputants' recalcitrance and not to any theoretical inadequacies in the
|
|
structural premise of the processes.
|
|
Also, ADR seeks to breach misunderstanding rather than redress
|
|
power imbalances, and this limits the role of third parties to conducting
|
|
discussion rather than providing insight into underlying issues. This is
|
|
tied into the question of neutrality. Where imbalances occur, a neutral
|
|
third party is necessarily an apologist for the status quo. Scimecca
|
|
remarks that the stated ideal of providing wider access to justice may have
|
|
been lost to the need to carve out institutional turf and create jobs for
|
|
professional practitioners, but has mixed feelings about this insofar as he
|
|
believes that a forty-hour training period is insufficient to practice
|
|
conflict resolution. His final critique, linked to the one on individualism
|
|
and perhaps the most important, is that ADR represents not so much an
|
|
alternative to the courts as an alternative to community organizing and to
|
|
politics itself, lacking, as it does, organic connection to communities.
|
|
Christine Harrington, in _Shadow Justice_, provides more specific
|
|
evidence of ADR's social control function. She begins her work by
|
|
discussing the modern court reform movement and its motivation. This
|
|
movement is variously known as "ADR," "informalism," or "delegalization."
|
|
She considers its motivation to be: the criticism of lower courts for
|
|
inhibiting minor offenders' access to justice and the claim that some
|
|
disputes are so complex as to require a more flexible response than that
|
|
provided by the adversarial system. Images of the state withdrawing its
|
|
supervision over minor disputes, and of local communities asserting control
|
|
over their own affairs are presented as the idealized portrait of
|
|
informalism, but she contends that the sociological evidence, particularly
|
|
the Kansas City Neighborhood Justice Center experience, shows otherwise.
|
|
The "target community" of the KCNJC, interestingly enough, is defined in
|
|
terms of a certain police jurisdiction. She remarks, "The coercion and
|
|
authority of police, prosecutors, and judges are essential elements to the
|
|
institutional existence of neighborhood justice centers."
|
|
The "alternatives" movement has transformed traditional legal
|
|
ideology (formalism) by creating a new basis for legitimacy (functionalism)
|
|
in the processing of minor disputes. The movement thus represents a change
|
|
within the mainstream ideology and not a departure from it. The effect of
|
|
this new basis for legitimacy expands the social control capacity of the
|
|
judicial system by subsuming the resources and capacities of the disputants
|
|
themselves, freeing the system to deploy resources elsewhere. Early ADR
|
|
debates between grass-roots organizers and those who were out mainly to
|
|
reform the court appear to have gone to the reformers. Discussion now
|
|
centers around issues of professionalization and certification. Harrington
|
|
quotes the Justice Department Ad Hoc committee's characterization of ADR as
|
|
a movement of "anxious professionals and unwilling participants" and
|
|
maintains that this is so because how-to issues of actually running dispute
|
|
resolution programs have taken precedence over demands for social justice.
|
|
She closes by remarking that the alternatives movement seems to have turned
|
|
away from a social- change strategy based upon legal rights and abandoned
|
|
the courts as a resource for political struggle.
|
|
Richard Hofrichter, in his _Neighborhood Justice in Capitalist
|
|
Society_, says much the same as Scimecca and Harrington in his
|
|
demonstration that ADR is social control, but distinguishes himself by
|
|
placing ADR within the context of a social control rationale. He sees ADR
|
|
as a response to the limits of the capitalist state's order- maintenance
|
|
function. Private institutions for moderating conflict and reducing tension
|
|
(families, churches, unions, etc.) are destabilized by capital's needs for
|
|
a liquid labor supply and ease of disinvestment. But capital (the social
|
|
class exercising ownership of the means of production) has at the same time
|
|
a contradictory need for politically stable and orderly communities so that
|
|
a reliable consumer/labor pool can be reproduced. Traditional forms of
|
|
order-maintenance are reaching the limits of their applicability for a
|
|
number of reasons. First, social destabilization induces a shift in the
|
|
nature of disorder to which the adversarial system is ill-constituted to
|
|
respond (family fights being a prime example from the NJC perspective) and
|
|
in which it would prefer not to involve itself. Second, destabilization
|
|
leads to greater claims by working-class citizens on court resources. Since
|
|
the courts are socialized to maintain middle- and ruling-class interests,
|
|
these working-class claims on the resource are themselves a form of
|
|
disorder, especially if a collective challenge to capital might reveal the
|
|
class bias of the law. Third, people resist forms of order-maintenance
|
|
which they recognize as alien to the community, such as direct force or
|
|
bureaucratic control. In order for the social relations of capitalism to
|
|
survive, they must be secured without the open exercise of power or
|
|
promotion of class interests. The challenge to the capitalist legal system,
|
|
given its social control contradictions, is to translate the problems of
|
|
exploitative social relations into some kind of individual pathology, ie
|
|
get people to focus on each other and not on their conditions.
|
|
This crisis, the need to legitimate social control, gives rise to a
|
|
new technique that Hofrichter calls the "informal state." Elements of this
|
|
"informal state" include: providing the appearances of everyday life,
|
|
providing people with a sense of control by actively involving them in a
|
|
process, inculcating values of cooperation rather than confrontation,
|
|
moving the normative locus of problem solving from public life to private,
|
|
and engaging in a proactive rather than reactive policy. ADR is a
|
|
development which embodies these characteristics, and is being used as a
|
|
way for the state to bypass the limitations of formal law.
|
|
Law, in the liberal tradition, is the attempt to bring objectivity
|
|
to social relations, to construct unity from competing private desires, to
|
|
juxtapose freedom and order, and enable rational, objective decisions. It
|
|
is, Zenon Bankowski claims in _An Anarchist Critique of Law Exemplified_, a
|
|
fruitless project. The rule of law is morally suspect in that it locates
|
|
the responsibility for important decisions outside the individual and gets
|
|
her to do things outside the range of decisions she is allowed to make.
|
|
This makes her into what he calls an "automatic mover," a person of
|
|
debilitated moral agency. The objective generalization of norms
|
|
(law-making) seeks to connect people by abstract contractual relations and
|
|
not through any basis in love or community. The opportunity to live in a
|
|
world where one can act out of rational feeling and not out of a priori
|
|
contractuality is important to satisfying the human moral instinct. As
|
|
Tifft and Sullivan put it in _The Struggle to be Human_, to expect law to
|
|
give meaning to the human struggle for a moral existence is to state that
|
|
the human person is superfluous. Law becomes unstable as individuals seek
|
|
to realize their true selves and exercise agency.
|
|
|
|
Since norm generalization must take place at particular instances
|
|
of legislative and judicial decision, it cannot determine all possible
|
|
outcomes and so must remain susceptible to the exercise of choice in
|
|
application of the norms. This choice is, of course, a locus of
|
|
subjectivity. The universalizing of consequences is seen by some as a means
|
|
to escape this. Much as Karl Popper describes scientific objectivity as the
|
|
internal coherency of the scientific universe, so is it held that juridical
|
|
objectivity can be attained through consequentializing rules and selecting
|
|
among alternate competing rules to ensure the internal coherency of the
|
|
legal universe. However, Popper's standard for that coherency is the
|
|
acceptance of hypotheses by the scientific community; his famous "science
|
|
is what scientists do" and the juridical theory is similarly reducible to
|
|
"law is what judges do." For the sake of coherency, the system of
|
|
generalized norms must be operated only by the professionalized few; the
|
|
so-called "rule of law" is dead-ended into the rule of men by inherent
|
|
subjectivity.
|
|
The moral necessity of subjective sovereignty and the
|
|
inauthenticity of objective authority combine to disqualify law as a
|
|
producer of real community. Bankowski suggests the embryonic egalitarian
|
|
social formations that appear in times of revolution (communes, soviets,
|
|
etc.) for the study of group settings which mitigate social harm and allow
|
|
people to lead morally authentic individual existences.
|
|
Another sort of inquiry is recommended by Frans de Waal. He has for
|
|
years studied conflict and conciliatory behavior among chimpanzees, rhesus
|
|
monkeys, stump-tailed macaques, and bonobos in social settings, and
|
|
stresses in _Peacemaking Among Primates_ that no similar observations have
|
|
been collected on human conflict. The chief lesson drawn from his work is
|
|
that primates regularly make up after they have fought. Chimpanzee females
|
|
knowingly act to mediate male-male conflicts and bring adversaries
|
|
together. These creatures also appear to understand the principle of the
|
|
collective lie and use it to create compromise situations which avoid
|
|
defining winners and losers. Aggression has such a long evolutionary
|
|
history that one must expect such coevolved countervailing and buffering
|
|
social mechanisms to accompany it.
|
|
Human society is structured by this dialectic between aggression
|
|
and affiliation; social differentiation, role division, and cooperation are
|
|
its syntheses. Differentiation leads to the possibility for disunity, and
|
|
the oldest and most widespread method primates have for maintaining social
|
|
cohesion is, of course, hierarchy. Unity and equality are hard to mix in a
|
|
social formation, but some creatures do resolve conflict and tension in
|
|
egalitarian ways. Bonobos, given their long hair, nearly upright gait,
|
|
face-to-face mating posture, and other features, are thought by many to
|
|
bear a close relationship to humans. Bonobo females maintain a unified
|
|
intra-female social order without resorting to a rank structure. Their
|
|
intense homosexual contacts have been implicated as a possible mechanism
|
|
(cf. "Feminism is the theory, lesbianism is the practice" from recent human
|
|
history.) Such examples suggest avenues for exploring the principles of
|
|
unification without subordination.
|
|
The sociobiological raw material for peacemaking appears to be the
|
|
same for all five species discussed. The extent and manner of its
|
|
exploitation may be accounted for by developmental and speciocultural
|
|
differences. Scientific generalizations about this raw material's
|
|
manifestation in humans, unfortunately, are lacking. de Waal cites two
|
|
factors hindering the realization of human conflict-resolution potential.
|
|
One is that people become self-conscious and attempt to modify their
|
|
behavior when it is being recorded. New methodologies for making
|
|
controllable observations are needed. The second is that most conflict
|
|
research has the agenda of finding ways to stamp out aggression rather than
|
|
finding ways to canalize or integrate it into life. Just as animals are not
|
|
slaves to instinct, humans are not automatons of reason; so, reconciliation
|
|
should not be viewed as the triumph of reason over instinct. The evolved
|
|
psychological mechanisms for peacemaking must be studied and made
|
|
accessible.
|
|
For Scimecca, ADR is not conflict resolution. In using his narrowed
|
|
definition of ADR, he is able to differentiate between alternate approaches
|
|
to conflict itself, something which both detractors and supporters of ADR
|
|
have failed to do. In seeking to elucidate a theoretical base upon which
|
|
the resolution of conflict may rest, he cites the work of the Center for
|
|
Analysis of Conflict in London which takes the premise that there are
|
|
certain universal human needs which, when unmet, form the roots of
|
|
conflict. Conflict, so it seems, will persist until these needs are
|
|
analyzed and addressed. Its research has shown them to be:
|
|
1. A need for consistency in response
|
|
2. A need for stimulation
|
|
3. A need for security
|
|
4. A need for recognition
|
|
5. A need for distributive justice
|
|
6. A need to appear rational and develop rationality
|
|
7. A need for meaningful responses
|
|
8. A need for a sense of control
|
|
9. A need to defend one's role
|
|
|
|
He points out ADR's lack of any theoretical understanding of conflict.
|
|
This, indeed, is why it is called "dispute resolution" rather than conflict
|
|
resolution. The justification for its use stems from the legal tradition
|
|
and not from a human-needs perspective.
|
|
|
|
III. Quotation is a linguistic device for showing that a thing exists in
|
|
a world apart from the reality of its textual surroundings, and this is why
|
|
I have followed Scimecca's lead in writing "ADR." The term "alternative"
|
|
makes sense only within the purview of the state, since the state holds a
|
|
monopoly on the legitimation of what conflict is and how it is handled.
|
|
Labelling a thing as "alternative" instead of framing it in its own
|
|
positive terms is a containment strategy, a way of linguistically
|
|
encapsulating potentially oppositional thought and leaving it stranded in
|
|
the mainstream. Scimecca all but spells this out when he describes the
|
|
range of practices referred to as ADR by the Ad Hoc committee, and this is
|
|
what prompts him to offer his own definition. The definition itself does
|
|
not quite go to the heart of the social-control question, because it does
|
|
not consider what social control is, how it is exercised, or offer a
|
|
rationale as to why ADR is preferred to more overt forms. He passes up the
|
|
opportunity to identify the state as the ultimate agent of social control,
|
|
sparing that criticism perhaps out of his regard for the trained
|
|
professional intervenor. His reservations on professionalism clash both
|
|
with his own critique on individualism and with the capacity for mediation
|
|
evidenced by primate nonprofessionals. But Scimecca's definition does what
|
|
he says it does. It allows him to critique ADR in a way that serves as a
|
|
springboard for presenting needs-based conflict resolution, and this is his
|
|
greatest contribution.
|
|
Harrington plays a familiar role as the good little liberal trying
|
|
to make the best of a bad system by working for change within it. She seems
|
|
to view ADR as a good idea gone awry, and neglects to explore the dynamics
|
|
that necessitate this "informalism." There is certainly room for her to be
|
|
more inquisitive; has the alternatives movement "turned away" from
|
|
political struggle, or has the state turned it away? It is not clear how
|
|
she would like to see the situation rectified, but she appears to favor a
|
|
politicization of legal activity on behalf of lower-income people. Perhaps
|
|
this would not be a bad development. Placing cogent, class-based demands on
|
|
the judicial resource could serve to stress the system further and clarify
|
|
its contradictions.
|
|
For Hofrichter, of course, ADR is itself a contradiction in that
|
|
its forms seem autonomous but must remain beholden to the legitimating
|
|
sufferance of the state. It is unclear to what extent Hofrichter is
|
|
critical of the state qua state, or sympathetic to true autonomy for
|
|
social- ordering tasks. He makes it clear, though, that capital is in an
|
|
awkward position with ADR, as it might contain the seeds of a credible
|
|
threat to the legitimacy of its use as social control.
|
|
Law and the state obviously predate capitalism by a few centuries,
|
|
so their features are not always imputable from capitalist economics.
|
|
Capital restructures or subsumes features of both as it encounters the
|
|
need. The law, we are told, is an objective means whereby individuals can
|
|
resolve their disputes, and this idea is still prevalent and valid in the
|
|
minds of most people. Capital, on the other hand, needs the
|
|
order-maintenance capacity of the state and its legal apparatus to protect
|
|
itself from the reality of the unstable economic environment that it
|
|
creates. Role differentiation (formalism/functionalism) resolves this
|
|
impasse. Subsumption is effected by relegating dispute resolution tasks to
|
|
various informal processes (labor arbitration and other ADR forms, while
|
|
not specifically discussed here, are nevertheless unifiable under this
|
|
analysis) and by consolidating the role of the courts as the means for
|
|
processing actual enemies of the state. In short, private disputes are
|
|
farmed out to non-court agencies and the court itself becomes more and more
|
|
of a cop shop.
|
|
Is that bad? A fair question. One would certainly think so, arguing
|
|
from a liberal perspective that the state's job is to help resolve problems
|
|
and not just contain them. More productively, one could view
|
|
functionalism/informalism both as an opportunity to create a basis for
|
|
community consciousness and as a chance to develop resistance-minded social
|
|
formations that could lead to more lasting change.
|
|
The anarchist critique of objective authority parallels the
|
|
primatologists' descriptions of hierarchical order-maintenance. Bankowski
|
|
does more than simply underscore the realization that instruments of the
|
|
state are ultimately instruments of the class that operates the state. He
|
|
declares that law's contractualized social order would be unacceptable even
|
|
if it could exist. The crux of the anarchist attack on law is, quite
|
|
simply, "who wants to live in a world where it doesn't matter if you are
|
|
good?" Legal linkage has an insidious implication for the integrity of
|
|
informal processes. The deprivation of the disputants' agency threatens the
|
|
original self-ordering premise and leaves personal responsibility for moral
|
|
choice unfulfilled. This raises suspicion as to the true ownership of the
|
|
agreements reached.
|
|
de Waal's evidence on the extent of peacemaking behavior in
|
|
stateless and lawless social formations does not provide us with all we
|
|
need to know, but it does effectively put the lie to the Hobbesian "war of
|
|
all against all" and serves to undermine the so-called "social contract"
|
|
which law is constantly citing as its rationale for unification through
|
|
subordination. At present, one cannot generalize intelligently about the
|
|
possibilities for human conflict resolution which might come from the type
|
|
of further study advocated by de Waal. Hopefully the emancipatory trappings
|
|
of ADR will help set a direction for truly productive inquiry.
|
|
The social-ordering practices which come forth from revolutionary,
|
|
conflict-resolution, and anthropo-primatological research will probably not
|
|
be classed as ADR. We should hope not. So long as Alternative Dispute
|
|
Resolution retains the status of a proper noun, or worse, an acronym, it
|
|
mocks the meaning of the three English words. Properly speaking, formal law
|
|
itself is an alternative. Informal practices, as presently constituted in
|
|
"ADR," not only are susceptible to the social-control criticism, but must
|
|
continue to be as long as they remain creatures of the state, as long as
|
|
they lack positive definition rooted in self-ordering autonomous
|
|
communities.
|
|
|
|
IV. BIBLIOGRAPHY
|
|
|
|
Bankowski, Zenon
|
|
_An Anarchist Critique of Law Exemplified_
|
|
_Legality, Ideology, and the State_ Sugarman, David (ed)
|
|
London; New York: Academic Press, 1983
|
|
|
|
Harrington, Christine B.
|
|
_Shadow Justice: the Ideology and Institutionalization of Alternatives to Court_
|
|
Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1985
|
|
|
|
Hofrichter, Richard
|
|
_Neighborhood Justice in Capitalist Society: the Expansion of the Informal
|
|
State_
|
|
New York: Greenwood Press, 1987
|
|
|
|
Scimecca, Joseph
|
|
_Conflict Resolution and a Critique of RADRS_
|
|
_Crimonology as Peacemaking_ Pepinsky, Harold (ed) Bloomington, IN Indiana
|
|
University Press, 1991
|
|
|
|
Tifft, Larry and Sullivan, Dennis
|
|
_The Struggle to be Human: Crime, Crimonology, and Anarchism_
|
|
Sanday, Scotland: Cienfuegos Press, 1980
|
|
|
|
de Waal, Frans B. M.
|
|
_Peacemaking Among Primates_
|
|
Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press, 1989 --
|
|
|
|
**BOOK REVIEWS**
|
|
|
|
Bioregionalism in the Heartland:
|
|
Still Far From Home
|
|
by Richard Taylor
|
|
|
|
About two years ago I borrowed a book called HOME!: A Bioregional
|
|
Reader. This book is a collection of articles describing a way of life that
|
|
seems sensible enough to me: living within one's means. Bioregionalism is
|
|
about the association of life with place, about sustainability through
|
|
reliance on local resources. The bioregionalist ideal is that the kind of
|
|
life people live depends on what the land provides them. As a result of
|
|
this dependency on a bounded area, people must take the well-being of other
|
|
creatures and of the land itself into account with their decisions.
|
|
Well, this all seems fair enough, so in the fall of 1991 I went to
|
|
the First Annual Ohio River Watershed Bioregional Gathering in Oldenburg,
|
|
Indiana. My comments here refer to that experience and to the subsequent
|
|
gathering which I attended in fall of 92, with some remarks on
|
|
bioregionalism in general. I have both positive and negative feelings about
|
|
what I have seen, and for purposes of this article I am going to focus on
|
|
the negative.
|
|
The gatherings were held on a farm owned by a Franciscan convent,
|
|
with a barn, some pasture, and a small wooded area in which people were to
|
|
camp. I felt disappointed when I saw that people were driving their cars
|
|
from the barn area less than a quarter-mile through the pasture to the
|
|
woods and unloading coolers and other gear. I had brought a single backpack
|
|
and although I did not hike to Oldenburg I thought the least I could do at
|
|
this sort of event was to walk a little ways to the woods. At a meeting
|
|
that evening, it was requested by staffers that people remove their cars to
|
|
the parking area by the barn, but they did not. The cars stayed in the
|
|
forest until it was time to leave Sunday morning. This scenario was
|
|
repeated at the second gathering, despite the attempted establishment of a
|
|
no-drive zone at the edge of the pasture. Literally, an example of not
|
|
walking the talk.
|
|
Another disturbing event was the "Council of All Beings" held the
|
|
first morning of the gathering. This is a practice drawn from a certain
|
|
North American native tradition wherein people form a meeting circle, then
|
|
go out into the surrounding area a little ways to find some creature or
|
|
element (like a tree, or wind for example) and try to picture themselves as
|
|
that thing and grasp its point of view on the world. Everyone then comes
|
|
back to the circle and tells of their experience as the thing. This was ok
|
|
with me until it got to the part of coming back and telling about it. Not
|
|
as if I have a hard time flexing my imagination or anything, but I think
|
|
these people took it way too seriously.
|
|
The Council of All Beings seems to be mainly a way for the group to
|
|
create a sense of fellowship through mutually declaring a certain
|
|
suspension of disbelief; sort of like declaring the body and blood of
|
|
Christ during a Eucharist. In this case though, my disbelief is in the
|
|
possibility of really swapping places with other entities. The rationale is
|
|
that these other entities have no voice and so it is necessary for humans
|
|
to embody them, but how do we know the "interpreters" aren't just playing
|
|
their own game? I had a religious studies class once where I was told a
|
|
story about a woman who "channelled the spirit" of a giant redwood tree;
|
|
the message was not to worry about saving the trees, the redwoods were
|
|
saying they would let themselves be cut down and thereby awaken human
|
|
consciousness as to the evil being done. Taking such "representation"
|
|
seriously would be as disastrous for ecological affairs as it is for civil
|
|
rights. It requires you to suppose that you are even capable of putting
|
|
yourself in the position of another being. To me this is supposing a lot,
|
|
and it probably stems from the familiar chauvinism about the human ability
|
|
to adapt and imagine, plus environmentalism's equivalent of white guilt.
|
|
The best statements one can make about how nonhuman life experiences itself
|
|
amount to speculation-- which is not necessarily bad, except speculation
|
|
should not masquerade as experience. Pretending to get into other beings'
|
|
heads like this seems really arrogant to me. In trying to avoid being
|
|
human- centered, this Council winds up putting a human face on everything.
|
|
In the HOME! book, it says that the acid test of a bioregion is
|
|
whether its inhabitants recognize it as such and in this regard my
|
|
"bioregion", as it was presented to me, fails miserably.
|
|
A watershed is an area of land that drains (sheds its water) to a
|
|
certain river or stream. The "Ohio River Watershed Bioregion" extends from
|
|
the junction of the Ohio and the Mississippi to upstate New York, south to
|
|
Tennessee and north to Wisconsin. The basic problem is that it's larger
|
|
than any of the states that it overlaps; from a perspective that human
|
|
institutions must operate on a human scale, this is intolerable.
|
|
Bioregionalists continually insist that the proper boundaries for human
|
|
activity are watersheds. Actually, land can be divided up in many ways
|
|
using many geographic constructs, but the people at the gathering did not
|
|
seem to accept that the watershed is just another such construct; for them
|
|
the watershed comes first and other talk about geography is based on it. I
|
|
see this "watershed- ism" as taking the easy way out; it's much simpler for
|
|
a small group to autocratically decide that people's experience of the land
|
|
should be based upon some physical feature than it is to actually get
|
|
people engaged in dialogue about how they perceive the place where they
|
|
live and discuss how the land is boundaried in their consciousness. The
|
|
people I met seemed more intent on making their point by pretentiously
|
|
asking others near what river they lived. Wink wink nudge nudge.
|
|
This tendency exists at the national level also. In the 1980s,
|
|
there was a North American Bioregional Congress which was attended by
|
|
several Mexicans. The Mexicans expressed concern that the term North
|
|
American was exclusionist and applied only to the white peoples north of
|
|
the Rio Grande. Ok so the whites decided that in order to get around this,
|
|
they would change the name of the whole continent to Turtle Island. I see
|
|
this as very undemocratic in that these congress participants had no way to
|
|
gather ideas and consensus from the populations that live on the continent.
|
|
The usual bioregionalist rationale is that all the North American native
|
|
tribes share a mythology in which the continent is represented as a big
|
|
turtle. I am not convinced this is true, but even if so it raises another,
|
|
more serious issue; how do the indigenous people feel about this group of
|
|
middle-class neo-Europeans appropriating native traditions for their own
|
|
purposes?
|
|
Much of the concern and interest that I see among whites for
|
|
natives is directed more toward picking up the "fallen mantle of a great
|
|
culture" than with building bridges to actual native communities. The
|
|
culture and religion of aboriginal peoples is based on their relationship
|
|
to the land, and the most extreme and pressing issues for them right now
|
|
are treaty rights and recovery of ancestral lands, as well as things like
|
|
hazardous waste dumping and rampant alcoholism. This is where their
|
|
struggles lie, and they have little time for cultural voyeurs who would
|
|
rather just mimic their rituals. It is probably no accident that the native
|
|
people are very scarce at these sorts of gatherings.
|
|
Bioregionalism's spirituality strongly resembles its geopolitics.
|
|
The root of the word religion is lig, which means -to bind- ; a religion is
|
|
a set of beliefs that binds a community of people together and affirms
|
|
their common interests and heritage. Work in anthropology seems to show
|
|
that the religious or spiritual life of a society is modeled on the social
|
|
relationships that exist in that society. Spirituality, then, can be seen
|
|
as something coming forth from community. But bioregionalism tries to
|
|
contrive a spiritual tradition first and hopes that community will follow.
|
|
This is no surprise, having noted some of its autocratic sentiments, and it
|
|
is no wonder that an exercise like the Council of All Beings feels as
|
|
artificial as it does. Bioregionalist spirituality is described as
|
|
"earth-centered", but it comes off like an earth-spirit theocracy with no
|
|
room for atheists.
|
|
Even the bioregionalist "movement" as such seems to have grown in
|
|
kind of a top-down way; initially there were national congresses, and only
|
|
more lately have there been regional or local gatherings. This has resulted
|
|
in far-flung policy statements that have little popular input and which do
|
|
not address the needs of individual regions. To me this goes against the
|
|
original idea of decentralized communities forming larger levels of
|
|
organization through voluntary association, but that is certainly not
|
|
unique to bioregionalism. Nobody likes to feel lonely, and it has always
|
|
been easier for a marginal group to identify with a paper tiger at the
|
|
national level than to do something tangible in its locale.
|
|
On the last day of the gathering, some people from Indianapolis
|
|
drove down to Oldenburg for the morning circle. On the way, they had seen a
|
|
box turtle crossing the road and had picked it up and brought it to the
|
|
gathering, three counties away from where they found it. They placed it in
|
|
the center of the circle where it sat and cowered in its shell. People
|
|
began saying things about the turtle, of which I forget the words, but the
|
|
general theme was that we should all try to identify with this turtle as it
|
|
represented the earth spirit or something like that. It must have been a
|
|
field day for people who claim they live on something called Turtle Island.
|
|
Box turtles are those little orange-and-black critters with the
|
|
hinged bottom plate on the shell, and I know a couple things about them.
|
|
Don't try to eat one unless you would starve otherwise; they can eat toxic
|
|
mushrooms and store enough toxin in their tissues to nail you later. I've
|
|
also read they don't taste that great anyway...
|
|
But the other thing is, they are territorial and don't like to be
|
|
whisked miles from their home ranges by narcissistic humans. I don't know
|
|
what became of the poor animal, but it was wrong to seize it and force it
|
|
into a role like they did. This episode nearly provoked me to get up and
|
|
leave the gathering forthwith. It was pure paternalism, manifested as
|
|
disrespect, and it heavily colors my feelings towards the people in the
|
|
midwest who are "into bioregionalism".
|
|
This review is drawn mainly from what I have seen of midwestern
|
|
bioregionalism in action, and does not amount to a blanket indictment of
|
|
all principles described by bioregionalists. Some of the principles have
|
|
sense in them, and should be worked out into practice. The tendencies I
|
|
have described are those either unworkable or at variance with
|
|
bioregionalist precepts in the first place. They need to be confronted.
|
|
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_______________________________________
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This e-zine is published on 100% recycled electrons
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