How not to be governed : readings and interpretations from a critical anarchist left PDF
Preview How not to be governed : readings and interpretations from a critical anarchist left
How Not to Be Governed How Not to Be Governed Readings and Interpretations from a Critical Anarchist Left Edited by Jimmy Casas Klausen and James Martel LEXINGTON BOOKS A division of ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK Published by Lexington Books A division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 http://www.lexingtonbooks.com Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom Copyright © 2011 by Lexington Books All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data How not to be governed : readings and interpretations from a critical anarchist left / edited by Jimmy Casas Klausen and James Martel. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7391-5034-4 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-7391-5035-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-7391-5036-8 (electronic) 1. Anarchism. I. Klausen, Jimmy Casas, 1976- II. Martel, James R. HX833.H69 2011 320.5'7—dc22 2010043813 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction:HowNottoBeGoverned ix JamesMartelandJimmyCasasKlausen 1 AnarchistMethodsandPoliticalTheory 1 JacquelineStevens 2 AnAnarchismThatisNotAnarchism:NotestowardaCritique ofAnarchistImperialism 19 GeorgeCiccariello-Maher 3 BesidetheState:AnarchistStrainsinCubanRevolutionaryThought 47 KatherineGordy 4 KantviaRancière:FromEthicstoAnarchism 65 ToddMay 5 Nietzsche,Aristocratism,andNon-domination 83 VanessaLemm 6 MaxStirner,Postanarchyavantlalettre 103 BanuBargu 7 TheLateFoucault’sPremodernity 123 JimmyCasasKlausen 8 TheAmbivalentAnarchismofHannahArendt 143 JamesMartel 9 EmmaGoldmanandthePowerofRevolutionaryLove 157 KeallyMcBride 10 “ThisIsWhatDemocracyLooksLike” 167 ElenaLoizidou v vi Contents Index 189 ListofContributors 195 Acknowledgments Iftheproductionofanybookcouldqualifyasacommunalprocess,thenthe publication of this book in particular could be described as anarchocommu- nal. James Martel and Jimmy Casas Klausen wish to thank our contributors first of all for their patience with what must have seemed at times to be a chaotic endeavor. We are grateful to Phil Green for provoking us to think more searchingly about critical anarchism after offering us constructive but critical comments in Boston at the American Political Science Association panel that sparked this larger project in 2008. Joseph Parry at Lexington BooksapproachedusandtooktimetomeetwithusinBostonaboutturning our panelinto abook, andErinWalpolehas usheredusthroughtheproduc- tion process with Lynda Phung, our production editor and a University of Wisconsin–Madison alumna. We cannot thank Joseph, Erin, and Lynda enoughfortheirinterestintheprojectandfortitudeindealingwiththequirks ofitscoeditors.Finally,thisworkwouldneverhavereachedthepublication stageifitweren’tfortheepiceffortsofourprojectassistantsRobertGordon, May Erouart, and Alexander Hanna. Robbie and May probably had no idea what they were getting into when they agreed to join as project assistants under the auspices of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Undergraduate Research Scholars Program; their work was fantastic and much appreciated. Alexistobecommendedforsteppinginatthelastmomenttohelpcoeditors who had fled to remote locations. A final word to our skeptics: this book is humbleproofthatanarchymightnotbeunproductive. vii Introduction: How Not to Be Governed James Martel and Jimmy Casas Klausen ANARCHISM:INOURTIME? In thinking about the relevance or possibility of anarchism in our time, we come up against a set of obstacles. First and foremost is the obstacle of temporality itself; there is the sense that anarchism belongs to the past and thatitisthereforeatbestananachronismor,alternatively,thereisthenotion that it never really took hold at any time and is thus at worst an idea com- pletely divorced from reality. Perhaps just as important is the idea that an- archism is a problematical goal to pursue during a time when the state is underattack,whensovereigntyisbeingerodedbyaseriesofforceswhether human, nonhuman, or superhuman. The growing threats of global and do- mestic terrorism, the juggernaut of globalization, resurgences of religiosity, transnational pandemics,global warming,profit-drivengeneticmodification offoodsupplies,internationalpiracyandalltheotheraspectsofearlytwen- ty-first–centurylifewe’retoldtoworryaboutsuggestthatitmaybeperverse to pursue a theory that opposes state power, regulation, and authority; after all, we seem to be living in a time when we desperately need the state to protect us from or at least coordinate responses to the various crises that we face.Finally,itseemsthat,intheUnitedStatesatleast,therearealreadyaset ofwould-beanarchistsdoggedlypursuingtheeliminationofthestate.These are members of the so-called Tea Party; their agenda, far from being an expression of the left (traditionally viewed as the home of anarchist tenden- cies),istoseekthe“witheringaway”ofthestatefromthefarrightendofthe political spectrum. If we pursue an anarchist agenda, are we not in effect aligningourselveswithsuchamovement? ix
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