Mutual aid is the radical act of caring for each other while working to change …
Mutual Aid by Dean Spade does not live up to my expectations.
2 stars
Mutual Aid by Dean Spade does not live up to my expectations.
Most could be said in a few paragraphs and it is too much focused on short-term mutual aid, and catastrophic environments and does not talk enough about maintaining mutual aid and guiding structures. The permanent MA in form of Co-Ops or economical MA is not touched enough.
Tom Mann used the concept of "raising class-conscious" to equip the anarchist movement with people capable of taking "responsibility in the control of all industrial affairs" i.e. running infrastructure. Not just in the terms of being able for a strike or mass action.
"A 30-time StorySLAM champion shows readers how to improve their storytelling skills, and how doing …
Short Notes on Storyworthy
5 stars
I read this book to re-visit my story telling skills and improve narration for projects to come, which are sitting around on my work desk.
And it was great again to hear about 5-Seconds moments of transition, of storyworthy moment-collections, of movies in your (and your audiences) head, of how to craft and build story lines with „But“ and „Therefore“ connectors.
Do you need to read it? Well, not if you are not planing to tell more of your stories to people at tables, stages and in writing. But if you want to go onto this adventure, I wholeheartedly recommend it.
In the nineteenth century anarchists were accused of conspiracy by governments afraid of revolution, but …
Short Reflection on Occult Features of Anarchism
4 stars
This was a rather short read. Feels incomplete and pointed instead of neatly woven.
It has its points in the right analysis of neglect of idea history parts that do not favor the current perception of what is needed in anarchist practices (or to draw wrong traditions). A bit too much focussed around Freemasons, could have written more about (or at all) heretic Christian anarchists (I.e. the Dutch or Belgian, the American settler communes (Owenites are mentioned in two paragraphs)).
The book should be longer.
Good for name dropping and connections,
bad on what actually connects them (beyond a few points and adjectives, I was a bit sad about that).
Theosophy is named a few times, but no compelling story is told, just hinted. Goldman vs. Krishnamurti was fun to discover.
Good for sources and references.
Mysticism (meister ekkehard) is not mentioned enough, as well as Spinozist traditions (Landauer, Rocker, …
This was a rather short read. Feels incomplete and pointed instead of neatly woven.
It has its points in the right analysis of neglect of idea history parts that do not favor the current perception of what is needed in anarchist practices (or to draw wrong traditions). A bit too much focussed around Freemasons, could have written more about (or at all) heretic Christian anarchists (I.e. the Dutch or Belgian, the American settler communes (Owenites are mentioned in two paragraphs)).
The book should be longer.
Good for name dropping and connections,
bad on what actually connects them (beyond a few points and adjectives, I was a bit sad about that).
Theosophy is named a few times, but no compelling story is told, just hinted. Goldman vs. Krishnamurti was fun to discover.
Good for sources and references.
Mysticism (meister ekkehard) is not mentioned enough, as well as Spinozist traditions (Landauer, Rocker, Buber!)
Short discussion of the usefulness of applying cultural appropriation to the past vs. Using it in the present.
The last chapter is about modern-day dealing with conspiracy theories (I skipped that for now)
