Kristian Williams

As it happens, two different anarchist publications are running articles I’ve written on marriage and monogamy. I didn’t write the pieces at the same time, or try to coordinate the publishing, or anything. Sometimes things just work out like that.

The first is a long essay in Fifth Estate, examining some comments Foucault made in interviews back in 1981 and ’82. It’s called “Sexual Liberation and the Possibilities of Friendship: Foucauldian Proposals and Anarchist Elaborations.”

The second is a review of Jenny Block’s book Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage (Seal Press, 2008). It’s titled “Saving Marriage from Itself,” and appears in the Spring-Summer issue of Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed.

Those who read both will notice that I like Foucault’s position a lot better than I like Block’s.

Neither article is online.

This coming weekend I’ll be giving four talks in British Columbia — three in Victoria and one in Vancouver.

I’ll be speaking twice on the cops and twice on Oscar Wilde and anarchism:
Wilde is chiefly remembered as a wit, a dandy, and a gay icon;
but the depth of his thought and the radicalism of his politics are
often forgotten. His aestheticism was more than a flamboyant pose.
It represented an entire system of values, from which Wilde critiqued
capitalism, the state, and Victorian morality.

Here are the dates:

Victoria BC; Friday, April 17th, 6pm
“A World Without Cops”
(with Gord Hill, Olympics Resistance Network)
Camas Books, 2590 Quadra
http://camas.ca/?q=node/181
I’ll be speaking about the history of the police, and specifically
about the class-control aspects of “quality-of-life” policing.

Victoria BC; Saturday, April 18th, 6pm
“A World Without Cops”
(with Zoe Blunt of the Victoria Forest Action Network, and Gord Hill)
Camas Books, 2590 Quadra
http://camas.ca/?q=node/182
I’ll be speaking about alternatives to policing.

Victoria BC; Sunday, April 19, 1pm
“Oscar Wilde: Aestheticism and Anarchism”
(with Alan Antliff, author of Art and Anarchy)
Camas Books, 2590 Quadra

Vancouver; Monday, April 20th, 7:30pm
“Oscar Wilde: Aestheticism and Anarchism”
(with Allan Antliff)
Spartacus Bookstore; 684 E. Hastings
http://mostlywater.org/oscar_wilde_literature_anarchy

In the latest issue of Make/Shift I have a review of Darius Rejali’s book Torture and Democracy. In it, I take issue with his definition of “torture.” In particular, I argue against his dismissal of the notion of “mental torture.”

This is actually the second review I’ve written on Rejali’s book. A much longer piece appeared in the International Socialist Review back in the fall. In that essay I scrutinized Rejali’s definition of “democracy.”

Only the ISR piece is online:
“Hidden Torture, False Democracy.” International Socialist Review. September-October 2008. http://www.isreview.org/issues/61/feat-torturedem.shtml

March 31 (Tuesday) at 6:30 pm
The Continental Club
1658 12th Street, West Oakland

I’ll be giving a talk on police and violence, trying to put some recent events in context. Q&A to follow.