The latest issue of the War Resister’s League’s magazine WIN features an interview in which I discuss the militarization of the police, counterinsurgency, and the possibilities for nonviolent participation in militant struggle.
AK Press Fire (March 2015)
Longstanding anarchist publisher AK Press suffered a fire recently at their Oakland office and warehouse. Much of their inventory, as well as that of smaller publishers they distribute, experienced extensive smoke and water damage. The city government has declared the building unsafe to enter, forcing AK to suspend business operations for the time being.
This is bad news for a lot of reasons. AK has consistently put out good material, maintained an extensive back catalog, and served as the main (if not the sole) distributor for dozens of small presses. It is too early to tell how much of their inventory is lost, and how much of that material is gone forever. Likewise, it is too soon to know when they will be able to return to the day-to-day work of filling orders and publishing new material.
As far as my own work goes, AK published Life During Wartime and is set to publish the new edition of Our Enemies in Blue later this year. They are also the distributor for Fire the Cops, Witness to Betrayal, and Hurt. With the exception of Our Enemies in Blue, you can still order those titles directly from me.
But first, I would encourage you to contribute to AK’s recovery.
Now (again) Available: Confrontations (March 2015)
In 2007, I released a 65-page pamphlet titled Confrontations, collecting short articles on what could broadly be described as the role of force in politics.
It includes an essay I wrote for Dissent on the fallacies inherent to liberal theories of deliberate democracy, some polemical responses to critics of the Earth Liberation Front and black blocs, a two-part set of articles on “The Criminalization of Anarchism” in the Pacific Northwest, and an article I wrote for Counterpunch on the history of crowd control and the Miami Model — as well as some new material written especially for the pamphlet and a substantial introduction by Ward Churchill.
I thought the last copy of Confrontations had been sold a long time ago, but I’ve recently received a box of them. So, while supplies last, I’ll sell those remaining for $5 each. Just send a check to:
Kristian Williams
PO Box 11112
Portland Or 97211
Magic, Art, and Politics (March 2015)
Two new articles this week:
The first is a wide-ranging essay about, among other things, John Constantine, Spider Jerusalem, The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Promethea, the Sandman, Tarot Cards, and William Blake. You know, the usual.
The other is a pretty ambivalent review of Chris Dixon’s book Another Politics. The book argues that there is an emerging anti-authoritarian current within the left, and examines its ideas and practices. I suggest that Dixon’s right about the practices but wrong about the ideas.
