I’m digging anarchists’ more hands on, pragmatic approach to politics. I finished The Conquest of Bread a couple of weeks ago and I’m currently working my way through Bullshit Jobs. Any suggestions about theory, praxis, mutual aid, etc. would be appreciated

    • anarchotoothbrushistEnglish
      7·
      1 year ago

      Seconding this.

      AFAQ gives overviews on topics with a lot of quoting from books and essays. It often notes that a book is ‘essential reading’ for a certain topic.

      So it’s not only an informative read in itself, it’s a great source for people looking for reading recommendations.

  • pbpza@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    15·
    1 year ago

    You may join local IWW, help with local food not bombs, go to some anarchist bookfair near you etc. About theory, there is a website called the anarchist library with a lot of books concerning anarchism for free!

    • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemmy.worldOP
      6·
      1 year ago

      Thanks for the tips! I’ve found a mutual aid group in my city and apparently there’s a food not bombs chapter here too. I’ve looked through the anarchist Library a few times but their search function isn’t the greatest and being pretty new to leftist ideology, anarchism in particular, a lot of the authors are completely unfamiliar to me. I’m not sure if what I’ll be digging into is any good and/or too much for me to wrap my head around. I was hoping to find the general consensus among anarchists of where to start, what to look into, etc. so id be able to read more confidently and with most of the basics covered

  • vxnxnt@feddit.deEnglish
    12·
    1 year ago

    I haven’t read any anarchist books myself yet, but I have read plenty of shorter texts I found online (mostly from The Anarchist Library).

    Here are a few I found to be worth a read (in no particular order):

    Since you already read The Conquest of Bread I decided to leave out most of Kropotkin’s shorter texts, as I assume that you should already be familiar with his ideas and principles.

    Although not anarchists, I still find many libertarian Marxists to be pretty insightful as well (some may as well be Anarchists in denial). Anton Pannekoek’s and Rosa Luxemburg’s works being some I really enjoy reading.

    I also have What is Anarchism? (by Alexander Berkman) and Anarcho-Syndicalism (by Rudolf Rocker) standing on my bookshelf, but I haven’t gotten around to reading them quite yet. If they sound interesting enough you could give them a try.

  • purahna@lemmygrad.ml
    121·
    1 year ago

    first off, I’m a Marxist but y’all are my comrades, so my suggestions are coming from the outside but these are a couple pieces I used when I was finding my feet politically. These are a couple of the works that I found that make a compelling case for anarchism.

    https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/errico-malatesta-anarchy

    https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/petr-kropotkin-mutual-aid-a-factor-of-evolution and anything else Kropotkin, sounds like you read the bread book and liked it (it’s a banger)

    https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/anonymous-desert

    https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/dean-spade-mutual-aid (haven’t read this one but heard good things)

    • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemmy.worldOP
      3·
      1 year ago

      Thank you, I appreciate it! I’m not 100% an anarchist but I’ve really become enamored with the concept and wanted to dive deeper. It scratches that social libertarian itch that a lot of other leftist ideologies don’t spend a lot of time on (at least in my reading so far)

      • purahna@lemmygrad.ml
        3·
        1 year ago

        It really does. That is one upshot of anarchism for sure, it provides a framework for individual liberty that right-libertarianism kind of falls flat on by allowing corporate power to influence individuals as a stand-in for a state. Marxism also doesn’t scratch that itch, you have to buy in to the need for a balance between the rights of the individual and the rights of the collective (which then come back around and benefit the individual, if all things go according to plan)

        • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemmy.worldOP
          1·
          1 year ago

          I also find a lot of Marxism to be agreeable. I’ve read a bit of Marx, the principles of communism by Engles, I’m about half way through Imperialism by Lenin. I’ve done some reading on life in the USSR, the Chinese revolution, as well as Allende and project cybersyn. There’s some great concepts laid out and good arguments as well. Where Marxism/ML/MLM kind of lose me is social liberties. I’m coming from the perspective of “my rights end where yours begin”. We all ultimately make concessions to our freedom in order to peacefully live in a society. I feel a governments only duty to social issues is to intervene when a groups rights are being violated and to not interfere otherwise. There’s some nuance to that obviously but speaking generally I feel it’s a good rule to go by

          I see a lot of praise for China and modern day Russia from Marxists spaces online. And while I’m able to admit I’m not the most informed on life in either of these countries, China particularly because its pretty difficult to find reliable info on the social climate there. Things like the Uyghur concentration camps, LGBT rights, racism, and general discrimination along social lines seems pretty common and largely accepted. I get it’s kind of the pot calling the kettle black on these things coming from the US, but I’d think a socialist government would be better equipped and much more willing to tackle these problems. Support for modern Russia just straight up doesn’t make sense to me. They’re a capitalist society, rife with inequities and corruption like every other capitalist state. I see no reason to support them. The amount of support for them leaves a sour taste in my mouth. As I continue to learn that may change but it’s hard reconciling what I read with what I see

          • Syulang@aus.social
            1·
            1 year ago

            @BarrelAgedBoredom @purahna Those on the left supporting post-soviet Russia tend to fall into two camps, I’ve noticed:

            1. Nostalgic tankies who love seeing old Soviet military gear parading through central Moscow, and just want the USSR back (I get it but it’s a terrie basis on which to stake out a political stance)

            2. Edgelord “brocialists” trying to play the intellectual with the “enemy of my enemy is my friend” card. Probably uses words like “degenerate” and “kulak” and is on their way to being a straight up fascist, but are too far up their own arse to notice.

            • astreus@lemmy.world
              1·
              1 year ago

              This is a big thing that turned me off lemmygrad and expanded my political horizon (I was rather hardcore MLM). The more I’ve read and interacted in different groups, the more I’ve realised my inherent stance is anti-authoritarian and seek a collectivist way of life.

    • zzzeyez
      12·
      11 months ago

      first anarchist revolution, The Paris Commune, was marxist. marxism is anarchist 'til you introduce Lenin’s stuff, which i don’t

      i’m not marxist (im hegelian) but i consider many marxists to be anarchists

  • Hotchip@lemmy.world
    7·
    1 year ago

    Fan of Bookchins work myself. I would suggest googling him, and if you’re into podcasts: give srsly wrong a listen. Its libertarian socialist thought broken down in a podcast with skits and well humored education/interviews. Their discord also has a fantastic bookclub with live readings and discussion.

    • anarchotoothbrushistEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      give srsly wrong a listen

      Can you recommend an episode or two to start with? Something representative of their typical quality, format, and tone? Preferably recent, too?

      (Sorry if this is a bit of a weird request. I just like to know I’m giving a podcast a fair go, without having to listen to, like, 5 episodes to figure out what it’s usually like. 😆)

      • Hotchip@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        It would kind of depend on what topics you’re interested in. Episodes 242, 243, and the Social ecology series that starts at episode 219 are fantastic.

        I would suggest listening to a few on topics you’re curious about. Each non-series episode is easy to follow by itself, no need to start form episode one.

  • Klutzy@geddit.social
    4·
    1 year ago

    My only suggestion is that much of Errico Malatesta’s writings are better than Conquest of Bread. Don’t take Conquest of Bread too seriously, in my opinion.

  • Nix@merv.news
    4·
    1 year ago

    Good youtube channels would be nice too. So far i just know of submedia

  • soweli Jemi@kulupu.duckdns.org
    3·
    1 year ago

    I found “At The Café” dialogues by Malatesta to be a very entertaining yet insightful reas, especially when it comes to discussions among leftists about power structures.

  • klep@lemmy.world
    3·
    1 year ago

    What is Property by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

    The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin

    Luigi Galleani

    Emma Goldman

    There’s a lot. I could make a more comprehensive list when I get done with work, if you’d like.

    • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemmy.worldOP
      2·
      1 year ago

      Awesome, thank you! I’d be happy to hear any other recommendations you have. I’m reading an anarchist programme by Malatesta next, then it’s on to anarchy by Malatesta. I might dive a bit deeper into David Graeber’s works after that. Bullshit Jobs was fascinating

      • klep
        1·
        1 year ago

        Some more I thought of, by no means a comprehensive list though. Just what I’ve read on the subject that appealed to me as I was studying anarchism as a political philosophy.

        Statism and Anarchy by Mikhail Bakunin

        Anarcho-syndicalism: Theory and Practice by Rudolf Rocker

        Mutual Aid by Kropotkin

        Trotsky discusses anarchism in Marxism and Ararchism

        Nestor Makhno has some interesting writings

        Chomsky is good

        Émile Armand has some good writings on Individualist Anarchism (he’s very anti-conflict though, which I tend to disagree with)

        Lastly, something I would strongly recommend if you’re new to anarchist thought and philosophy is Anarchism: Arguments For and Against by Albert Meltzer.

        I am leaving out tons of great writings and writers/philosophers/theorists (and theories)/poets/etc…

        There is a lot out there. Let me know if you have any questions!

        • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemmy.worldOP
          1·
          1 year ago

          Awesome, I appreciate it! Especially the inclusion of something that would seem to have (at least some) criticisms of anarchism. I’ve been having trouble finding good faith critiques of leftist thought be it Marxism, anarchism, Maoism, etc. Searching “criticism of x” usually results in right wing hit pieces

  • Discoslugs@lemmy.world
    2·
    1 year ago

    Pyter Kropotkin’s Mutual aid and conquest of bread.

    Both have somethings that are out dated. But both are very good for foundational understanding of anarchy.

  • J Lou@mastodon.social
    1·
    1 year ago

    The best libertarian left anarchism-compatible modern critique of capitalism has been put forward by libertarian left economist David Ellerman. He himself is not an anarchist, but his critique was cited in the anarchist FAQ. He also explains why capitalist economists defense of capitalism is besides the point.

    A link to a short article where he explains his argument: https://www.ellerman.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Council_DemocracyCaseForWorkplaceDemocracy.pdf

    His book where he completely details his anti-capitalist argument: https://www.ellerman.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Ellerman-Property-and-Contract-Book.pdf