A Living Spirit of Revolt: The Infrapolitics of Anarchism PDF
Preview A Living Spirit of Revolt: The Infrapolitics of Anarchism
Praise for A Living Spirit of revoLt “The great contribution of Žiga Vodovnik is that his writing res- cues anarchism from its dogma, its rigidity, its isolation from the majority of the human race. He reveals the natural anarchism of our everyday lives, and in doing so, enlarges the possibilities for a truly human society, in which our imaginations, our compassion, can have full play.” —Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States, from the Introduction “Like Marx’s old mole, the instinct for freedom keeps burrowing, and periodically breaks through to the light of day in novel and exciting forms. That is happening again right now in many parts of the world, often inspired by, and revitalizing, the anarchist tradition that is examined in Vodovnik’s book. A Living Spirit of Revolt is a deeply informed and thoughtful work, which offers us very timely and instructive lessons.” —Noam Chomsky, MIT “Žiga Vodovnik’s A Living Sprit of Revolt is an original and brilliant exploration of the great tapestry of theory and praxis that be- longs in the anarchist tradition and its contemporary forms. For the first time he makes a striking case that the Transcendentalists and their intellectual cousins belong firmly in this tradition. No library of contemporary or historical radicalism can be without it.” —James C. Scott, professor of political science and anthro- pology, Yale University “Žiga Vodovnik has made a fresh and original contribution to our understanding of anarchism, by unearthing its importance for the New England Transcendentalists and their impact on radical politics in America. A Living Spirit of Revolt is interesting, rel- evant, and is sure to be widely read and enjoyed.” —Uri Gordon, author of Anarchy Alive: Anti-authoritarian Politics from Practice to Theory “This book with its felicitous title is an important and essen- tial work, honest, painstaking, and intelligent. Unlike so many political scientists, Žiga Vodovnik understands anarchism. It is unlikely that anyone can read A Living Spirit of Revolt without gaining a wholly new perspective on the history and future of the anarchist movement. In a period that promises to spawn exciting transformations and occupations of politics, this brilliant work offers a degree of real understanding, and therefore cannot be too much commended.” —Andrej Grubačić, author of Don’t Mourn Balkanize! Essays After Yugoslavia and coauthor of Wobblies and Zapatistas: Conversations on Anarchism, Marxism, and Radical History A L S iving pirit r of evoLt The Infrapolitics of Anarchism Žiga Vodovnik A Living Sprit of Revolt: The Infrapolitics of Anarchism Žiga Vodovnik © PM Press 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be transmitted by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. PO Box 23912 Oakland, CA 94623 www.pmpress.org Cover design by John Yates Layout by Jonathan Rowland ISBN: 978-1-60486-523-3 LCCN: 2012913632 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the USA by the Employee Owners of Thomson-Shore in Dexter, Michigan. www.thomsonshore.com This book was financially supported by the Slovenian Book Agency. Dedicated to the memory of my mother, Ana Vodovnik (1944–2010), and my friend Howard Zinn (1922–2010). In a way, they are both responsible for this book. Contents A Fresh Look at Anarchism ix by Howard Zinn Preface xv 1. Lectori Benevolo Salutem! 1 2. Perceptions and Conceptions 29 of Anarchism 3. Ontology of Anarchism 63 4. A Brief Genealogy of Anarchist Thought 77 5. Currents of Anarchism 103 6. The Forgotten Current of Anarchism: 125 New England Transcendentalism 7. Transcendentalism and the American 139 Anarchist Tradition 8. Transcendentalism as an Inspiration 179 and Aspiration 9. The Anatomy of Revolt 191 References 203 Index 220 A F L A resh ook At nArchism it iS time to breAthe Some cLeAn, refreShing Air into the stale, nonsense-filled discussions of anarchism which have occupied the attention of people on all sides of the politi- cal spectrum—right, left, center. This is what Žiga Vodovnik sets out to do in his original and imaginative analysis of anarchism. Anarchism deserves to be liberated from all the ideo- logical debris it has accumulated for over a hundred years. Anarchism, properly cleansed of myth and pretense, has nev- er been more needed than in our time, when every system, every culture, has been corrupted by the profit motive or the hubris of leaders, and has led the people of the earth into a morass of injustice and violence. The word anarchy still unsettles most people in the Western world; it suggests disorder, violence, uncertainty. We have good reasons for fearing those conditions, be- cause we have been living with them for a long time, not in anarchist societies but in exactly those societies most fearful of anarchy—the powerful nation-states of modern times. At no time in human history has there been such social chaos. Millions starving, or in prisons, or in mental institutions. Inner turmoil to the point of large-scale alien- ation, confusion, unhappiness. Outer turmoil symbolized by huge armies, stores of nerve gas, and stockpiles of hydrogen
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