BASTARD Conference 2021

The Berkeley Anarchist Study Group will hold the 2021 BASTARD Conference at 12pm on Saturday, November 13, at The Long Haul Infoshop in Berkeley, CA. BASTARD is an annual gathering of informal, autodidactic conversations and presentations about anarchy. It functions as a forum for participants in the study group as well as guests from around the world to share their interests and pursuits. We took the year off in 2020 for obvious reasons, but we’re back this year for an afternoon of discussions around the theme of Excess.

Fire From Below

from It's Going Down

Zoe Baker on Lessons from Anarchist History

On this episode of the It’s Going Down podcast, we speak with anarchist historian and YouTuber, Zoe Baker, about lessons from anarchist history, what past struggles can teach us about the social movements of today, just what the hell an ‘anarcho-communist’ is, and how anarchists in the past have dealt with the question of organization, tactics, and strategy.

Constructing Anarchisms: Anarchy as Criterion

from Libertarian Labyrinth

The position that I’m inclined to champion is that anarchy, understood in that form of an-arche, is, in fact, clear enough in its meaning to function as a criterion. That basic sense—a rejection of existing foundations or fundamentals—is simple enough, even if understanding all that it entails in various specific contexts is not. That standard of formal adequacy seems broadly applicable. As we contemplate anarchistic practices or elaborate anarchistic theory, are we really saying “no”—and saying no to something fundamental to the existing systems of social relations that we oppose?

It Could Happen Here: A Review

Anarchy-ish: comfortably relegated to the realm of the hypothetical, the reassuring plausible deniability of speculative fiction, with a cast of do-gooders to assuage liberal listeners.

from Anathema

While only charlatans confidently predict what will happen, it's always interesting to explore what could happen. This is especially true if the coulds being explored are pertinent to the unfolding of struggles against the State and Capital. In the past couple of years, the podcaster Robert Evans has become known for this kind of exploration in his popular podcast It Could Happen Here. Podcasts, especially non-anarchist podcasts, do not normally get much attention in anarchist newspapers like Anathema. A review of Evans's podcast could seem out of place in these pages.

Our Position On Elections

While c4ss takes a week off, here's some more basic-ass ancom takes in place of your basic-ass mutualist takes.

from Anarchist Communists Meanjin

Anarchists are often characterized as being opposed to elections or the vote. Yet anyone that has spent any time in an anarchist or anarchist inspired organisation will tell you that voting is our favorite pastime, one which we take almost any opportunity to undertake. Rather than being opposed to elections we would love nothing more than to see them expanded throughout all levels of society. In fact anarchists should be considered as the most strident proponents of elections and the vote.

Update on the situation of anarchist comrade Toby Shone

Write an anarchist prisoner today!

via Enough 14

Bristol. UK. Toby’s trial began on 6th October at Bristol Crown Court. The charges for administration of 325.nostate.net, funding of terrorism through the website and dissemination of and collection of material useful to terrorists have now been dropped due to lack of evidence.

Solidarity with Køpiplatz! Køpi Bleibt!

We in Anarchist-Communists Meanjin voice our solidarity with Køpiplatz.

from Anarchist-Communists Meanjin

Meanjin (Brisbane) Australia: Solidarity with Køpiplatz! Køpi Bleibt!

We in Anarchist-Communists Meanjin voice our solidarity with Køpiplatz. Like Berlin, Meanjin is also subject to soaring rent prices and gentrification. Districts once overflowing with creative energy have given way to canyons of empty streets polluted with American trash food joints and corporate bars. As we have previously noted, “as long as the working class lacks access to and communal control of their own sustainable housing the crisis will remain, sometimes at a low point and at other times surging upwards. As long as a landlord class remains, homelessness will continue, renters will be exploited and housing will remain precarious.

Rudolf Rocker: an anarchist ‘rabbi’ in London

From Red Pepper dot org UK

David J. Lobina rediscovers a forgotten but fascinating figure in London’s radical and Jewish history

Originally from Germany, the anarchist thinker Rudolf Rocker spent much of his life in exile in some of the world’s major cities – Paris, London, New York – where he always gravitated towards immigrants involved in radical politics, most notably the Jewish anarchist community in London at the turn of the 20th century. Often referred to as a rabbi by members of this community as a sign of appreciation, the epithet of an ‘anarchist rabbi’ is the title of a book about Rocker’s life and thought, as well as a documentary about his time in London.

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Paul Z. Simons on Immediatism Podcast

Two additional Paul Z. Simons texts have been made available on Immediatism.com. "An Anarchist Affection for Democracy" identifies the tension between anarchists who believe direct forms of democracy have utility and those, more nihilist-oriented, who believe it has no place. The latter group, as described by Simons, are more concerned with destroying all structures of power regardless whether they are horizontal, as direct democracy is described in this essay to be. "In a Moral Universe There Are No Anarchists" is Simon's expression of support for a fellow writer suffering under accusations from within the anarchist milieu.

Francisco Solar is ill

Write an anarchist prisoner today!

from BUSCANDO LA KALLE!!

URGENT! On the recent illness detected in the anarchist comrade Francisco Solar and his delicate health situation

The diagnosis: advanced diabetes with 700 mg/dl of glucose, that is, on the verge of a diabetic coma. A few days later, the prisoner began to suffer a significant loss of vision that continues to this day, without receiving any attention, preventing him from reading or other daily tasks.

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