MOORE, John.- "Interview with John Moore". By John Filiss

Nature. PrimitivismMOORE, John (1957-2002). British anti-Civilisation theorist and poet

An important essayist and author of four short books— Anarchy and Ecstasy, The Primitivist Primer, Lovebite and Book of Levelling—John Moore stands out for his observations on primitivism as social theory. Though his books unfortunately see little distribution in North America, John’s excellent writings frequently appear in Green Anarchist, (BCM 1715, London, WC1N 3XX, U.K.).

Could you give a basic definition of "primitivism."
In ’A Primitivist Primer’ I define primitivism as ’a shorthand term for a radical current that critiques the totality of civilisation from an anarchist perspective, and seeks to initiate a comprehensive transformation of human life’, and as ’a convenient label used to characterise diverse individuals with a common project: the abolition of all power relations—e.g., the structures of control, coercion, domination, and exploitation—and the creation of a form of community that excludes all such relations’. I’m not sure now whether ’current’ is the right word. Certainly primitivism is a position within the broad spectrum of anarchism. I’m also more critical of using the concept ’community’ now. But these caveats aside, I’m happy enough with my formulation.
How comfortable are primitivists in general with the term and label "primitivist?"
I’ve no idea. I can only speak for myself. Personally, I find it very restrictive and these days try to avoid using it whenever possible, for a number of reasons. First, it’s a very ambiguous term because—like its counterpart, civilisation—it has many meanings, and as a result it’s easily misunderstood or caricatured. Second, there’s always the danger—as witnessed recently in *Fifth Estate*, for example—where hostile commentators can twist your words so that it looks as if you are constructing a primitivist ideology and setting up a primitivist political movement, even when you state exactly the contrary.
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