An Anarchist Library – Anarchist Writers

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to be asked to give a talk at "Sparrows’ Nest", Nottingham’s Anarchist Library & Archive. I was speaking on "Kropotkin’s Mutual Aid today", based on my essay Kropotkin’s Mutual Aid: An Introduction and Evaluation (hopefully hear in June whether, hopefully when, AK will publish it).

The meeting went well, I thought. Nice to discuss anarchist ideas with people, not to mention the state of the anarchist movement (the British Anarchist Federation is easily at its largest ever, for example). The actual venue, The Sparrows’ Nest Anarchist Library & Archive is an excellent resource. It is friendly and well-stocked in anarchist and related material, although they need more — so if you have any relevant books, magazines, papers and so forth you want to get rid of then contact them. If you are looking into researching anarchism or just want to find out more, then this is an essential place to visit. And the venue itself is very welcoming, as are the comrades involved!

So thanks to everyone involved in organising it!

Once thing I would suggest, is that they rethink their ordering system as it produces some strange bookshelf placing. Eric Hobsbawm’s Revolutionaries is thus in the anarchist section because it has a couple of (bad) chapters on anarchism in it. I’m not sure how possible it would be for them to reorganise it (I did not really think this through while there), to have a section of books by anarchists and libertarians (like council communists), a section of books by non-anarchists about anarchism and a section of other (as per AFAQs bibilography structure). But that is really beside the point, it is a great resource which needs support!

There is also an article ("Putting the ‘Shhh…!’ into Smashing the State") in the new Black Flag (issue no. 229) which is just out. And talking of which, pdfs of the last few copies are now on-line (be warned, they are big files!).

Also of note is the forth-coming Anarchist Conference on the 6th and 7th of June in London, which I hope to attend (family commitments allowing). Also, as I’ve mentioned before, I will be speaking at the Radical Routes) conference on the 23rd of May, again in London. Radical Routes is a co-op of housing co-ops, worker co-ops and social centres and the conference is to celebrate their 21st birthday. I’ll be discussing the economics of an anarchist society, which obviously is routed in co-operative production and housing. So it is just as well I’m in the middle of revising section I of An Anarchist FAQ just now!

I should say that I love libraries and archives. I’m fortunate enough to have had access to university libraries for most of the past two decades which was really handy when researching An Anarchist FAQ, plus numerous other articles. A lot of essential material in understanding and critiquing, say, economics, are simply not easy to fine outside of academia, for example. In addition, some important studies of anarchist movements can be found only in university libraries. While I’ve been luckly in finding lots of great books in second hand bookshops and bookfairs, it is fair to say that without access to libraries the bibliography of An Anarchist FAQ would be less comprehensive!

The importance of libraries, of knowing the past, cannot be stressed too much — particularly on-line ones, upon which the power of "cut-and-paste" can be utilised!

This importance of libraries and archives was reinforced on my trip to Nottingham. On the way there, I had a glance at The Sun. In its centre pages was a sympathetic article on people claiming dole and as can be expected from that beacon of journualistic standards made a few statements. It claimed that the 2.1 million jobless figure was "record breaking", although as unemployment went up to over 3 million under Thatcher I’m not sure what record they had in mind (the record of most unemployed in the 21st century?). It also noted that the Tories had reissued its infamous Labour isn’t working poster (now its Labour still isn’t working). Strangely, the journalist did not feel the need to mention that after 1979 the Tories tripled unemployment nor that when Labour returned to office in 1997 unemployment was still higher than when they left 18 years previously!

Now, surely the fact that the rising jobless figures, bad as they are, are still less than the record breaking numbers under Thatcher should be worthy of a comment? Or that they are edging towards figures considered acceptable throughout the 1980s and 1990s by Tory supporting newspapers like The Sun also be news worthy? Particularly when the Tories reissue of a 1979 advertising campaign slogan is considered important enough to include?

Ah, but why confuse readers some historical and political context?

Clearly the Tories feel that they are going to win the next election and are no longer bothering to pretend they are nicer than they are. They seem to think that they can be as Thatcherite as they like as they think people have forgotten that New Labour almost always followed Thatcherite policies when in office. Unsurprisingly, then, there is "inequality at levels not seen under Macmillan, Heath, Thatcher or Major. Real cuts in the incomes for those at the bottom of the pile" (Labour’s poverty of progress laid bare by Larry Elliott ). Yes, people will rightly punish Labour — but the net result will be worse. Let us hope people see through the farce of elections and start to act for themselves!

Finally, I’ll point to this article Economics Was OK, It Was Only the Economists who Failed (Disputed). File that under a bad workman blaming his tools, me thinks!

I’ve gathering my thought’s about the new book on anarchism, Black Flame. It is excellent and I would highly recommend it. However, I have two minor quibbles about it which I’ll blog about later this week (hopefully!).

Until I blog again, be seeing you!