A-Infos (en) IAS News :: 003 - December 2003 - Newsletter of the Institute for Anarchist Studies

[ias-news@anarchist-studies.org]

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In this Issue:
1 2003 Fundraising Campaign
2 Great Books for IAS Donors
3 The New Formulation
4 2003 IAS Supporters
5 IAS Library
6 Anarchists in Wonderland: The Topsy-Turvy World of Post-Left Anarchy
7 Perspectives Nominated by the Utne Independent Press Award
8 Anarchist Summary
9 Upcoming Events

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2003 Fundraising Campaign
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With less than one month before our 2003 fundraising campaign comes to a
close we are working hard on raising the remainder of our fundraising
goal of $23,000. As you know, the IAS depends entirely on the
generosity of its allies around the world. This generosity enables us
to continue giving grants to radical writers, publishing Perspectives
on Anarchist Theory, covering administrative costs, and expanding our
programs. With your support, we are confident that we will be able to
meet our fundraising goal and begin the new year with a bang.

But why exactly do we merit your support? Aren’t there many other
deserving organizations out there?

Although there certainly are many organizations doing much needed and
important work, the IAS makes contributions that are not made by any
other organization on any continent. We really are unique.

Our grants are an invaluable source of support for radical writers
around the world and there is no other organization, anywhere, devoted
to supporting dissident authors.

Why is it so important to provide this support? These authors, through
their work, are helping us develop a critical analysis of hierarchy and
domination and imagine what a free society might look like. We need
good theoretical work to inform our activist practices and help us
expand our imagination. This is imperative. This work also needs to be
done by people who are at the grassroots and engaged in the struggle.
Otherwise, without an organization like the IAS, this radical work will
not occur or it will be done by academics who are removed from the real
concerns of the people.

Our grants do a lot more than make life a little easier for grant
recipients. They help recipients afford some of the elemental,
unavoidable necessities that are required for serious writing. For
example, they help authors take time off work, pay for childcare,
purchase books, afford transportation to far away archives, and do any
number of things that would be impossible without the IAS’s
assistance.

To date, we have already supported over forty high-quality projects
from authors in South Africa, Nigeria, Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, the
United States, Canada, among others. Please see below for a small
sample of work we have supported.

In addition to our grants, we publish Perspectives on Anarchist Theory
and maintain an extensive website. Perspectives is a unique source of
interviews, publishing news, and commentary pertaining to anarchism. It
helps keep people informed about anarchist scholarship and encourages
dialogue and a sense of community among those interested in this work.
There is really no other publication like it. The same can be said for
our website, which we are expanding and improving daily.

Finally, we are a movement organization dedicated to building a new
world, and this commitment shapes everything we do, from our
relationships with grant applicants, to our work with other sympathetic
groups, to our contact with you. While our contributions are modest, we
believe that they are very important and that the IAS offers something
essential to the struggle for a new world.

Although we are living through difficult times, we are confident that
together we can envision and realize an alternative. We have no doubt
about this. As the great Spanish anarchist Buenaventura Durruti said,
"We carry a new world, here in our hearts. That world is growing this
minute."

If you have not yet made a donation to the IAS, please consider making
one soon. Your support, no matter how big or small, helps us in our
effort to nurture the anarchist critique of domination and vision of
freedom. By giving now you can not only ensure a future for our
programs, but you can also set the stage for increased grant awards and
the development of our programs in the future.

We hope that we can count you among our supporters by the end of the
year. With your continued support we can ensure that this new world in
our hearts will continue to grow and one day produce a just and free
society in which there is no war, fear, or terror of any sort.

For the IAS,

Michael Caplan

Donate Now!: http://www.anarchist-studies.org/support/donate



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Great Books for IAS Donors
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Raven Books of Amherst, Massachusetts has generously made an amazing
collection of over 30 books available to contributors to the IAS's 2003
fundraising campaign. All IAS donors giving $25 or more are entitled to
receive at least one great book from their collection.

* For a $25 donation to the IAS, we will mail one book.
* For a $50 donation, we will send you any three.
* For $100, you get seven books.
* For $500, you get all of them!

Some books available include:

* Ward S. Albro, Always a Rebel: Ricardo Flores Magon and the Mexican
Revolution
* Noam Chomsky, Propaganda and the Public Mind: Interviews with David
Barsamian
* Ward Churchill, From a Native Son: Selected Essays on Indigenism,
1985 - 1995
* bell hooks, Feminism is For Everybody: Passionate Politics
* Arundhati Roy, Power Politics
* Edward Said, The Pen and the Sword: Conversations with David
Barsamian

Great Books for IAS Donors: http://www.anarchist-studies.org/support/books



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The New Formulation
-----------------------------------------------------------

The New Formulation, An Anti-Authoritarian Review of Books is a
bi-annual journal containing comparative book reviews that examine the
value of recent publications to the development of a contemporary
anarchist theory and politics. The New Formulation aims to help clarify
the distinctness of an anarchist approach to social affairs and to
provide a forum for the integration of new works and insights into the
anarchist project. This journal gives authors struggling to redefine
the tradition a setting in which to share their research and
reflections.

The New Formulation has a one-time offer for IAS supporters. Donors
giving $50 U.S. or more to the IAS during our 2003 fundraising campaign
will receive a complimentary annual subscription to The New
Formulation, on top of the gift books offered by Raven Books. A $7 U.S.
($10 for international subscriptions) value!

The New Formulation: http://www.newformulation.org



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2003 IAS Supporters
-----------------------------------------------------------

While the 2003 fundraising campaign has yet to come to a close, the IAS
would like to extend an early thank you to the following groups and
individuals for their support:

  * AK Press Distribution * Anonymous I & II * Ashanti Alston * Alexis
Bhagat * Susan & Edgar Bristow * Attilio Catanzano * Braden Cannon *
Michael Caplan * Cathy & Attilio Catanzano * Dan Chodorkoff * Mark
Cohen * Dave Dellinger * Rebecca DeWitt * Chris Dodge * Miranda Edison
* Howard Ehrlich * Paula Emery * Laura Evangelisto * George Uri Fischer
* Harold French * Paul Glavin * Audrey Goodfriend * Tom Goyens * Greg
Hall * Andrew Hedden * Julie Herrada * Jerry Kaplan * Charlie Keil *
Frank Lindenfeld * Elaine Leeder * QPIRG McGill * Elaine Leeder *
Brooke Lehman * Yvonne Liu * Daniel Mack * Eva Mesmer * Cindy Milstein
* Akinori Mitachi * Caroline Morse * Chuck Morse * Darini Nicholas *
Kathryn Partridge * John Petrovato * Debbie Richards * Alan Ritter *
Jonathan Rochkind * Eugene Rodriguez * Ron Sakolsky * Jon Thoreau Scott
* Timothy Shortell * Marc Silverstein * Curtis Steinmetz * Peter Stone
* David Witbrodt




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IAS Library
-----------------------------------------------------------

Since the IAS's inception in the spring of 1996 we have worked hard to
support radical, anti-authoritarian scholarship on contemporary social
contradictions and the possibilities of meaningful social
transformation. Over the years we have given grants to over forty
projects by writers from around the world. We have funded movement
research, translations, historical studies, and even a play. Many of
these projects would not have been completed without our support.

The following three pieces are from grant recipients that we supported:


In This Struggle, Only The Workers And Peasants Will Go All The Way To
The End:
  Towards a History of Anarchist Anti-Imperialism
(http://www.anarchist-studies.org/library/history_of_anti_imperialism)

By Lucien van der Walt

The anarchist movement has a long tradition of fighting imperialism.
However, whilst anarchists have actively participated in national
liberation struggles, they have argued that the destruction of national
oppression and imperialism can only be truly achieved through the
destruction of both capitalism and the state system, and the creation
of an international anarcho-communist society. This is not to argue
that anarchists absent themselves from national liberation struggles
that do not have such goals. Instead, anarchists stand in solidarity
with struggles against imperialism on principle, but seek to reshape
national liberation movements into social liberation movements.

Fight for Africa, Which you Deserve:
The Industrial Workers of Africa in South Africa, 1917-1921
(http://www.anarchist-studies.org/library/fight_for_africa)

By Lucien van der Walt

Since the South Africa's industrial revolution began in the wake of
diamond and gold discoveries in the 1860s and 1880s, hundreds of
thousands of workers from Australia, America, Europe and southern
Africa were drawn to the mines and surrounding industries that spring
up almost overnight. By 1913, with nearly 40,000 white workers, and
around 240,000 African workers ruled by the "Randlords," the
millionaire mine owners, and their allies, the rural landlords,
resistance among the workers begins to mount.

Brand: An Italian Anarchist and His Dream
(http://www.anarchist-studies.org/library/brand)

By Peter Lamborn Wilson

The "Frank Brand" I knew was an illegal . That is, he lived in the USA
as an illegal immigrant. He was also an illegalist--that is, a
law-breaker by conviction and principle. He used pseudonyms (Frank
Branch, Harry Arrigoni, Harry Goni) and false papers to hide his past
as a militant revolutionary anarchist in Italy, Switzerland, France,
Germany, Russia, Hungary, Cuba, Argentina, Mexico, and Spain. At the
same time, however, he was completely open about his beliefs and even
about his identity--he even wrote his books under his own real name,
Enrico Arrigoni, although his friends often addressed him by his nom de
guerre.




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Anarchists in Wonderland: The Topsy-Turvy World of Post-Left Anarchy
-----------------------------------------------------------

Theory & Politics, the IAS's semi-regular web column, features the
following new article by Peter Staudenmaier:

Since the editors of Anarchy Magazine began promoting it several years
ago, the vague category of post-left anarchism has generated
considerable debate among practically and theoretically engaged
anarchists. In the course of these discussions, anarchists from a
variety of backgrounds have posed a wide range of critical questions to
the promoters of the post-left idea. Most of these questions have gone
unanswered, and not a few of them have provoked a remarkable level of
vituperation from those who find the new post-left label appealing.
This leaves the discussion at something of an impasse; when the
post-leftists cannot agree among themselves on even the most basic
conceptual matters, such as what they mean by "the left," it is
difficult for the rest of us to know exactly what it is we are being
asked to believe.

Read More...: http://www.anarchist-studies.org/article/articleview/45/1/1/



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Perspectives Nominated by the Utne Independent Press Award
-----------------------------------------------------------

The Utne Reader, a US magazine of alternative ideas, announced the
nomination of Perspectives on Anarchist Theory for an Utne Independent
Press Award  (http://www.utne.com/uipa/) in the category of General
Excellence: Newsletters. Since 1989 these awards have showcased the
best from the Independent Press in categories ranging from reporting
excellence to personal life, cultural and international coverage.

"Perspective on Anarchist Theory stands out as an important independent
media voice. We are pleased to honor your accomplishments with an Utne
Independent Press Award nomination," said Editor Jay Walljasper.

The Utne Independent Press Awards, previously known as Utne Reader
Alternative Press Awards, recognize excellence in alternative and
independent publishing. Utne's editors select nominee publications
through their extensive reading process and careful examination, rather
than a competition requiring entry forms and fees. In this way, Utne
honors the efforts of small, sometimes unnoticed publications that
provide innovative, thought-provoking perspectives often ignored or
overlooked by mass media.

Take the UIPA Readers Choice Poll
(http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=45156298033)and register your
support for Perspectives on Anarchist Theory!




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Anarchist Summary
-----------------------------------------------------------

With the IAS's Anarchist Summary
(http://summary.anarchist-studies.org/), avid readers of anarchist
theory on-line can stay on top of the latest articles. Culled from a
wide range of English language anarchist websites, the Anarchist
Summary offers pointers to what is new on the web within the world of
anarchist theory. A selection of current articles follows:

* Toward Post-Modern Anarchism
(http://summary.anarchist-studies.org/index.php?m=200312#70)
* Anarchism and Poststructuralism
(http://summary.anarchist-studies.org/index.php?m=200312#58)
* imminent rebellion
(http://summary.anarchist-studies.org/index.php?m=200311#68)
* Slingshot magazine, #79
(http://summary.anarchist-studies.org/index.php?m=200311#67)
* The tradition of antimilitarism in Spain
(http://summary.anarchist-studies.org/index.php?m=200311#66)
* aporia journal
(http://summary.anarchist-studies.org/index.php?m=200311#65)
* The communist origins of anarchism
(http://summary.anarchist-studies.org/index.php?m=200311#60)
* The Northeastern Anarchist Issue #8
(http://summary.anarchist-studies.org/index.php?m=200311#59)

Anarchist Summary: http://summary.anarchist-studies.org/



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Upcoming Events
-----------------------------------------------------------



* 2003-12-06 :: England - Manchester Radical Bookfair
(http://www.anarchist-studies.org/calendar/appointmentview/18/)
* 2003-12-07 :: New Zealand - Anarchist Tea Party
(http://www.anarchist-studies.org/calendar/appointmentview/17/)
* 2004-01-16 :: US - East Coast Anarchist People Of Color Conference
(http://www.anarchist-studies.org/calendar/appointmentview/19/)
* 2004-01-24 :: US, DC - National Conference on Organized Resistance
(http://www.anarchist-studies.org/calendar/appointmentview/21/)
* 2004-05-15 :: Canada, Montreal- The 5th Annual Anarchist Bookfair!
(http://www.anarchist-studies.org/calendar/appointmentview/20/)

IAS Calendar: http://www.anarchist-studies.org/calendar




-----------------------------------------------------------
That's all for this issue of IAS News. If you think any of this information
would be of value to a friend or organization, please feel free to forward
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Copyleft 2003 Institute for Anarchist Studies
http://www.anarchist-studies.org




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