Sorry for the reference to the Sex Pistols, but I could not resist! And, again, sorry for the infrequent blogging – I’m nearing the end of translating Kropotkin’s Words of a Rebel for PM Press and working on revising what is left to revise of An Anarchist FAQ (progress is being made!). I also need to write the fourth instalment of Precursors of Syndicalism as well as a few reviews for Anarcho-Syndicalist Review, more on that shortly.
Sorry for the reference to the Sex Pistols, but I could not resist! And, again, sorry for the infrequent blogging – I’m nearing the end of translating Kropotkin’s Words of a Rebel for PM Press and working on revising what is left to revise of An Anarchist FAQ (progress is being made!). I also need to write the fourth instalment of Precursors of Syndicalism as well as a few reviews for Anarcho-Syndicalist Review, more on that shortly.
First, though, I need to mention that veteran anarchist Donald Rooum died recently. Best known for his Wildcat comics, Donald had been an anarchist since the late 1940s, I think – he once told he that he acted as one of the liaisons between the London Freedom Group and the Glasgow Anarchists (we having the biggest group outwith London at the time, maybe even bigger than London perhaps). I first meet him at a CND demo in 1988, all by myself from Glasgow as the comrade I was meant to go with had to drop-out at the last moment. So it was good to see comrades, although I was definitely a Black Flag anarchist rather than a Freedom one (although I bought and read both). So we chatted a bit, sold Freedom (better that than just walking – I have always thought it wise to get the message out to the wider public, unlike some…). After that, I saw him at various (London) bookfairs and chatted as well as always enjoying his articles and cartoons (although he did unfortunately indulge in a bog of Albert Meltzer bashing occasionally in Wildcat).
Like him, I was a fan of Max Stirner (as were many of the anarchists in Glasgow in the 1940s, incidentally, the last of whom – Bobby Lynn – I worked with in Glasgow in the early 1990s). I think one of the first things I read by him in Freedom was a (rightly) negative review of Ragnar Redbeard’s Might is Right – it being the kind of “egoism” premised on others lacking an ego and letting others use them (hardly Stirner’s position – I was recently surprised to see Redbeard’s diatribe advertised). I did get into an exchange of letters over GM crops in Freedom with him – I still think he was blasé over the very real danger of the privatisation of nature inherent in GM under capitalism and genetic pollution (if it does happen, then it would be far too late to put that genie back in the bottle… and people would probably also be sued for “stealing” genetically modified products!)
So sad news – he will be missed. Strangely enough I bought the collection Wildcat Anarchist Comics about a week before I was informed of his death – a book I would recommend, even if you have his previous collections (as I had) for it has extra material in it.
Second, the main aim of this blog – namely, getting people to buy Anarcho-Syndicalist Review.
I have written for numerous anarchist papers over the decades – including Freedom and Black Flag in Britain– but currently I mostly write for the US-based Anarcho-Syndicalist Review (formerly Libertarian Labor Review) which Sam Dolgoff helped found. I still contribute to Freedom (which is now issued twice-a-year) and I would still like to resurrect Black Flag as an annual bound volume (like the old Cienfuegos Press Anarchist Review – issues at libcom.org – but A5 size, or there about). Anyway, I doubt that will be seriously pursued for a while – I am still working on a new translation of Kropotkin’s Words of a Rebel (with supplementary material, like my recent edition of his Modern Science and Anarchy). Details to follow…
In terms of Anarcho-Syndicalist Review (ASR), it has a webpage which lists issue contents. I would recommend it, obviously, although I am not actually an anarcho-syndicalist (I agree with Malatesta’s critique but, like him, I see the importance of libertarians working within the labour movement and applying our ideas in it). I post my articles here, on “Anarchist Writers”, but sometimes the version in ASR has slight changes (typo fixes and so forth).
Anyway, I think it behoves anarchists to support the anarchist press and would urge you to buy the magazine (get a subscription!). With that in mind, I thought I should list where comrades in the UK can buy it. Currently ASR can be found in the following bookshops in England (no shops yet in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland):
- Five Leaves bookshop, 14a Long Row W, Nottingham NG1 2DH.
- Freedom bookshop, 84b Whitechapel High St, Shadwell, London E1 7QX.
- Housmans bookshop, 5 Caledonian Rd, London N1 9DY
These are all independent bookshops, so not only will you be supporting the libertarian press but also your local radical bookshop – and in these days of cheap on-line booksellers, they need all the solidarity they can get. All are excellent bookshops and all of which I have given talks at.
So, help support the anarchist press and radical bookshops – buy ASR!
Until I blog again, be seeing you…