Visions of Anarchism in the 21st Century
15 April 2007
6th St Community Center
Anarchism is not a static philosophy or social view: It is constantly evolving and shifting its focus. In the past 20 years, we’ve seen anarchism play a crucial role in the development of the movement against corporate globalization. Anarchist thoughts and strategies have strongly influenced the environmental and animal rights movements as well. Where will anarchists be concentrating their theoretical, direct action, and organizing energies in the century that’s just started to unfold?
Beyond this, how close are we to defining an anarchist "vision" of a free global society? To some, this would be a violation of the fundamental anarchist support for diversity and respect for evolving societies. But other anarchists believe the "search for utopia" is an integral part of this process. This session is devoted to opening up a discussion about these viewpoints and, along the way, developing some indications of the direction of anarchy as an idea and a practice.
Autumn Brown studied Christian and Jewish Theology and Biblical Languages at Sarah Lawrence College and Oxford University and is a practicing Anarcho-Catholic. She has written several papers on the rhetoric of liberation in early Hebrew narratives. A founding member of the Rock Dove Collective, she is a consensus and facilitation trainer and serves as president of the Board of Directors of the Fertility Awareness Center in New York City. She is affiliated with Anarchist People of Color (APOC), the New York Metro Alliance of Anarchists (NYMAA), and the Consensus Collective. She willspeak about what it means to envision a radical new society that includes religion and spirituality.
Andrej Grubacic is a ZNet/Zmagazine author from the Balkans, involved with international project for participatory society, and a part of the Utopistics research group, working on real utopias. Andrej defines himself as an anarchist historian, which means that he writes history from an anarchist point of view - specifically, the history of self-government, mutual aid, and direct action.
Pattrice Jones is the author of Aftershock: Confronting Trauma in a Violent World (Lantern Books) as well as chapters in Terrorists or Freedom Fighters: Reflections on the Liberation of Animals (Lantern) and Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth (AK Press) - all written from an ecofeminist-anarchist perspective. She operates the Eastern Shore Sanctuary in rural Maryland. She will speak on the need to redefine freedom within an understanding of the natural web of relationships that sustain all life, coming to see liberation as connection rather than separation.
Cindy Milstein is co-organizer of the annual Renewing the Anarchist Tradition conference, a board member of the Institute for Anarchist Studies, and a member of both the Free Society Collective and the all-volunteer Black Sheep Books in Montpelier. She does grassroots political work in central Vermont and public speaking anywhere else. Her essays appear in several books, including Realizing the Impossible: Art against Authority (AK Press, 2007) and Globalize Liberation (City Lights, 2004).