Thurs, May 28: How Nonviolence Protects the State

How Nonviolence Protects the State by Peter Gelderloos. 128 pages

“Since the civil rights era, the doctrine of nonviolence has enjoyed near-universal acceptance by the US Left. Today protest is often shaped by cooperation with state authorities—even organizers of rallies against police brutality apply for police permits, and anti-imperialists usually stop short of supporting self-defense and armed resistance. How Nonviolence Protects the State challenges the belief that nonviolence is the only way to fight for a better world. In a call bound to stir controversy and lively debate, Peter Gelderloos invites activists to consider diverse tactics, passionately arguing that exclusive nonviolence often acts to reinforce the same structures of oppression that activists seek to overthrow.” -South End Press

Thursday May 28, 7:30pm

Location: Sakia Atrium, 42nd Street and Park Avenue, SW corner.

Thurs. April 23- “Detroit: I Do Mind Dying”

Detroit: I Do Mind Dying- A Study in Urban Revolution by Dan Georgakas and Marvin Surkin

“Detroit: I Do Mind Dying tells the remarkable story of the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement, based in Detroit, and the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, two of the most important political organizations of the 1960s and 1970s.” -south end press

“A beautiful, riveting account of one of the most important radical movements of our century- a movement led by black revolutionaries whose vision of emancipation for all is sorely needed today” -Robin D.G. Kelley

Thursday, April 23, 7:30pm

Location: Sakia Atrium, 42nd Street and Park Avenue, SW corner.

Wed. March 18: Jensen, “As the World Burns”

As The World Burns: 50 Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial by Derrick Jensen & Stephanie McMillan

“Two of America’s most talented activists team up to deliver a bold and hilarious satire of modern environmental policy in this fully illustrated graphic novel. The US government gives robot machines from space permission to eat the earth in exchange for bricks of gold. A one-eyed bunny rescues his friends from a corporate animal testing laboratory. And two little girls figure out the secret to saving the world from both of its enemies (and it isn’t by using energy-efficient light bulbs or biodiesel fuel). As the World Burns will inspire you to do whatever it takes to stop ecocide before it’s too late.“

*A Joint Meeting with the Freegan.info Reading Group*

Location TBA

Thursday, Feb. 26: Ken Knabb, “The Joy of Revolution”

“The Joy of Revolution is a series of observations on the problems and possibilities of a global anti-hierarchical revolution. Beginning with a brief overview of the failure of Bolshevism and the inadequacy of reformism, it examines the pros and cons of a wide range of radical tactics, then concludes with some speculations on what a liberated society might be like…Never in history has there been such a glaring contrast between what could be and what actually exists.” -Ken Knabb

An excellent short (89 page) introduction to anarchist ideas. This meeting is a good opportunity for newcomers to anarchism to join in the discussion. Invite a friend!

The entire pamphlet is available online at www.bopsecrets.org/PS/joyrev.htm (scroll down for Spanish, French, Russian, Portuguese and Hebrew translations), or in hard copy from AK Press in the anthology “Public Secrets: Collected Skirmishes of Ken Knabb, 1970-1997″

Location: Earth Matters Cafe upstairs, 177 Ludlow St. just below Houston. F Train to 2nd Ave., JMZ Trains to Essex/Delancey St.

January 28, 7:30: “Nowtopia” by Chris Carlsson

Nowtopia: How Pirate Programmers, Outlaw Bicyclists, and Vacant-lot Gardeners are Inventing the Future Today

“Chris Carlsson is one of our most original and compelling voices for radical social change in America. Nowtopia opens a window onto today’s vibrant subcultures of technical experimentation and cooperative work, in everything from biofuels to bicycling, gardening to the webworld. More than tinkerers and bohemians, these renegade innovators are pioneers of new ways of living beyond the market and ordinary jobs. Carlsson moves effortlessly from tales of personal liberation to a trenchant analysis of the reconfiguration of class. Nowtopia is a ringing appeal for the liberation of human creativity from the noose of wage-work—before it’s too late.” -Richard Walker

Location: Earth Matters Cafe upstairs, 177 Ludlow St. just below Houston. F Train to 2nd Ave., JMZ Trains to Essex/Delancey St.

Dec. 17, 7:30pm: Mikhail Bakunin

Mikhail Bakunin– selections in No Gods No Masters edited by Daniel Guerin (p.127-214)

Mikhail Bakunin was one of the intellectual founding fathers of Anarchism. He is often considered to be Marx’s historical rival. When Marx headed toward State-run Socialism, Bakunin argued for the abolition of the State as the most fundamental goal for those who want to guarantee freedom. -flag.blackened.net

These readings are available online in full text via Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=g4YncZ8MgRsC.

Location: Earth Matters Cafe upstairs, 177 Ludlow St. just below Houston. F Train to 2nd Ave., JMZ Trains to Essex/Delancey St.

Wed., Nov. 26, 7:30: Marge Piercy, “Woman on the Edge of Time”

A classic anarcha-feminist novel of utopian and disastrous futures. Check out Piercy’s poem “The Low Road” to get a sense of her writing.

Location: Earth Matters Cafe, 177 Ludlow St. just below Houston. F Train to 2nd Ave., JMZ Trains to Essex/Delancey St.

Oct. 29, 7:30: “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene

*Note NEW later WEDNESDAY MEETINGS starting Oct. 29, 7:30pm*

Greene’s bestseller distills Machiavellian lessons in deceit, manipulation, intimidation and has become a big hit among corporate climbers and hip hop stars alike. Among the book’s 48 laws, illustrated with examples from statecraft, war, business, and other forms of con-artistry: “Court Attention at all Cost; Conceal Your Intentions; Appeal to People’s Self-Interest; Concentrate Your Forces; Keep Others in Suspended Terror; Isolation is Dangerous; Play to People’s Fantasies; Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter; Assume Formlessness”.

Can an anti-power “reverse reading” of this creepy book give us clearer insight into the methods of control employed by governments and corporations? Can it prepare us to neutralize powertripping in anarchist groups? Are there lessons here for anarchists about the kinds of power we want to create?

If you don’t have time to read the whole book, feel free to check out the mini online version and join in the discussion: http://www2.tech.purdue.edu/cg/Courses/cgt411/covey/48_laws_of_power.htm

Location: Earth Matters Cafe, 177 Ludlow St. just below Houston. F Train to 2nd Ave., JMZ Trains to Essex/Delancey St.

All are welcome! You don’t have to be in the New York Metro Alliance of Anarchists to take part.
Join the NYMAA Reading Group e-mail list by sending an email to nymaa-reading-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

The NYMAA Reading Group is open to all those interested in studying anarchism– while some participants have read widely in anarchist theory and history, no prior knowledge of anarchism is expected. We have been meeting monthly since December ‘06 and select readings collectively.

Sept. 25, 6:30: “A Decade of Anarchy” by Colin Ward

“A Decade of Anarchy” by Colin Ward

This rich collection gathers the best of the most influential British anarchist journal of the 1960s, including pieces by  Paul Goodman, Colin Ward, Alex Comfort, and others on topics such as direct action, work, education, deviance, and the environment.

Location: Earth Matters Cafe, 177 Ludlow St. just below Houston. F Train to 2nd Ave., JMZ Trains to Essex/Delancey St.

August 28, 6:30pm- “The Imagination of the New Left: A Global Analysis of 1968″ by George Katsiaficas

The Imagination of the New Left: A Global Analysis of 1968 by George Katsiaficas

“Beginning with an overview of historical moments of world-wide transition, Katsiaficas delineates the global turmoil of 1968, including a study of the Prague Spring; the student movements in Mexico, Japan, Sri Lanka, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Spain; the Tet offensive in Vietnam, and guerrilla movements in Latin America; the Democratic Convention in Chicago; and the assassination of Martin Luther King.” -South End Press

Location: Earth Matters Cafe, 177 Ludlow St. just below Houston. F Train to 2nd Ave., JMZ Trains to Essex/Delancey St.