One of the most important parts of the Seattle Anarchist Book Fair is creating a forum where newcomers can engage with the beautiful idea, and where more seasoned anarchists can further explore our (anti-)politics, as well as providing a space for sharing information of use to anarchists and friends.
Below is a partial list of the workshops and discussions being offered this year at the Seattle Anarchist Book Fair.
The Bunny Alliance: Animal Liberation, Anarchism & Anti-Fascism
As an organization The Bunny Alliance is dedicated to Anarchist and antifascist principles. We will discuss the growing threat of Fascist and white nationalist uprisings all over the world, and their attempts at inserting themselves within the animal liberation and environmental movements. The Gateway to Hell Campaign has been one of the main animal liberation campaigns that is actively working to get fascists and racists out of the animal rights movement. The campaign works to educate the public about the threat of fascist politics and organizing, and works not only to expose Air France’s practice of shipping non-human animals to laboratories, but also to expose Air France’s practice of working with the State to further institutionalized racism by actively deporting migrants and asylum seekers. We will also discuss how The Bunny Alliance organizes through anarchist principles and how these are applied to an animal liberation campaign.
Decolonizing the Prison Industrial Complex and Liberating Political Prisoners
This interactive workshop encourages participants to scrutinize power and privilege, systems of oppression and relationships of domination. One of the most striking legacies in American history is that of slavery and genocide. The legacy continues on with the New Jim Crow; the Prison Industrial Complex. This workshop takes history, theory and praxis seriously to flesh out the dynamics of intersectionality that exist between race, class, gender and ethnicity in the American criminal injustice system. Decolonizing our minds starts with revolutionary consciousness surrounding our cultural memory of revolutionary discourse against mass incarceration, torture and gentrification. The workshop starts with personal discussions about ourselves in context of ancestral heritage followed up by presentations and discussions about colonization, genocide, slavery and how these all relate to decolonization in the 21st century. The end goal is stimulating critical thinking and pushing participants to become more involved in anti-colonial organizing attacking the root of white supremacy in the Americas.
Digital Counter-Surveillance
Encryption is the ability to conceal a message. Encryption methods are classified by the US government as “munitions,” and are tightly regulated. Learn how to use these weapons to circumvent dragnet surveillance.
Without encryption, we are voluntarily sharing more than we’d like to with corporate and government entities, all while generating profits and doing spying work for them.
Although we’re living in a post-privacy society, digital privacy and security are still within our reach.
This beginner-level workshop* will teach you the basics of encryption and how to implement encryption tools and habits to protect your hard drive, web browsing, emails, chat and other data.
*Laptops are strongly suggested for this workshop. Mobile phone security will also be discussed.
Resources:
http://help.riseup.net/en/security
http://www.cryptoparty.in
The End of the World As We Know It? From Seattle to Argentina
The End of the World As we Know It? Crisis, Resistance, and the Age of Austerity (AK Press, 2014) provides stories of widespread resistance to global capitalism and the state in the age of austerity. People all over the world have taken to the streets to register their discontent and social antagonisms. Matthew Adams and Marie Trigona will discuss their contributions to the recently released book and contextualize their perspectives on the global capitalist crisis and analysis on movements fighting to create a world worth living in.
Mathew Adams gives us history and case studies of solidarity networks as a means of resisting austerity, using the example of Seattle Solidarity Network.
Marie Trigona speaks on Argentina’s antagonist movements, in particular, Argentina’s occupied factories, rooting her analysis in the rise of neoliberalism, and notes how space is organized and contested.
Humor, Sarcasm, Mockery and Laughter: Essential Anarchists Weapons and Medicine
If you can’t laugh at something it has a hold on you. Though you hate and detest it, it has power over you, it possesses you, it is sacred to you and will feed off you. Only laughter can destroy the sacred and free you from its possession. Against the current rulers and the stalintellectual and maocademics wannabe rulers, who developed political correctitude to stomp out the ribald rowdiness of rebellion, I choose take up the cHAos of Hilarious Anarchy to attack the cOSMos of the Order of Slaves and Masters they uphold. Humor, sarcasm, mockery and laughter are the weapons that can undo a world of orders and commands. They are the medicines that break the power of authority and bigotry, because the only thing that rulers and bigots can’t stand is being laughed at. I want those who come to this workshop to think of something that seems to overwhelm them with anger or sorrow and to find what is funny in it, what they can mock in it, what reduces it to something they can laugh at, and to be prepared to share their mocking laughter.
Nihilism: from Nardonaya Volya to Present
This workshop will cover the beginning of Nardonaya Volya and the politic they espoused from 1879-1883. Rather than discuss the wealth of the Russian nihilist movement as a whole, we prefer to isolate this one group as they offer the most interesting politic and actualization of their desires. They invented the word terrorism, and proudly exclaimed it. From their creation during the split of Land And Liberty, the trial of sixteen, to their end during harsh political repression and a crumbling organization after the assassination of Tsar Alexander the 2nd.
The Final part of the workshop will be a full open discussion on nihilist revivalism. By nihilist revivalism we mean the current trend of political nihilist tendencies to be actualized. In history, there have been spurts of this. From nardonaya volya (1879-1883), Nihilismo (italy, 1910-1921), up against the wall MOTHERFUCKERS (1963-?) and recently, the WTO riots that sparked something beautiful. Was political nihilism ever really dead? What defines a nihilist tendency? Why does the world seem more “Hot” than 20 years earlier? These are just some of the questions we hope to delve into.
The Struggle Within: Prisons, Political Prisoners, and Mass Movements in the United States, a talk with author and activist Dan Berger and former political prisoners Larry Giddings and Josh Harper
Dan Berger, author of The Struggle Within (PM Press, 2014), and former political prisoners Larry Giddings and Josh Harper will examine state repression of the most dynamic social movements across half a century and how mass imprisonment has been a tool of repression deployed against diverse left-wing social movements over the last fifty years, including black liberation, Puerto Rican independence, Native American sovereignty, Chicano radicalism, white antiracist and working-class mobilizations, pacifist and antinuclear campaigns, and earth liberation and animal rights.
Speakers will address their personal experience in the context of larger strategies of state repression and grassroots resistance, drawing connections between supporting political prisoners and the larger goals of prison abolition. Join us for dialogue and discussion about how social movements have provided steep challenges to state power and how we can learn from state repression and continue to fight mass imprisonment.
Dan Berger is an author, professor, and antiprison organizer. He is a cofounder of Decarcerate PA and a longtime supporter of political prisoners.
Larry Giddings spent more than thirty years in federal and state prisons for revolutionary activities carried out in the early 1970s as part of an antiauthoritarian collective. He was released in 2004.
Josh Harper served three years in federal prison for his role in the Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty campaign. He was released in 2009.
Walls of Silence, Fortresses of Revolt: An Analysis and Reflection Two Years After Seattle May Day
This event will be a presentation given by two of the Grand Jury Resisters from the May Day 2012 investigation that took place in Northwest. Though the Grand Jury has officially ended, continued state repression is still a constant force in the lives of anarchists in the Northwest. We will be focusing on aspects of resistance such as incarceration, fleeing subpoenas, recuperative efforts of mainstream media, coping with state harassment, and supporting resisters and all people effected by repression. Our intention in giving this talk is to share our stories and ideas about how to both continue the anarchist struggle and foster support for each other in the face of state investigations meant to disrupt and destabilize anarchist activity. The presentation will consist of a roughly 60 minute talk, followed by a roughly a half hour group conversation.
One of the most important parts of the Seattle Anarchist Book Fair is creating a forum where newcomers can engage with the beautiful idea, and where more seasoned anarchists can further explore our (anti-)politics, as well as providing a space for sharing information of use to anarchists and friends.
Below is a partial list of the workshops and discussions being offered this year at the Seattle Anarchist Book Fair.
The Bunny Alliance: Animal Liberation, Anarchism & Anti-Fascism
As an organization The Bunny Alliance is dedicated to Anarchist and antifascist principles. We will discuss the growing threat of Fascist and white nationalist uprisings all over the world, and their attempts at inserting themselves within the animal liberation and environmental movements. The Gateway to Hell Campaign has been one of the main animal liberation campaigns that is actively working to get fascists and racists out of the animal rights movement. The campaign works to educate the public about the threat of fascist politics and organizing, and works not only to expose Air France’s practice of shipping non-human animals to laboratories, but also to expose Air France’s practice of working with the State to further institutionalized racism by actively deporting migrants and asylum seekers. We will also discuss how The Bunny Alliance organizes through anarchist principles and how these are applied to an animal liberation campaign.
Decolonizing the Prison Industrial Complex and Liberating Political Prisoners
This interactive workshop encourages participants to scrutinize power and privilege, systems of oppression and relationships of domination. One of the most striking legacies in American history is that of slavery and genocide. The legacy continues on with the New Jim Crow; the Prison Industrial Complex. This workshop takes history, theory and praxis seriously to flesh out the dynamics of intersectionality that exist between race, class, gender and ethnicity in the American criminal injustice system. Decolonizing our minds starts with revolutionary consciousness surrounding our cultural memory of revolutionary discourse against mass incarceration, torture and gentrification. The workshop starts with personal discussions about ourselves in context of ancestral heritage followed up by presentations and discussions about colonization, genocide, slavery and how these all relate to decolonization in the 21st century. The end goal is stimulating critical thinking and pushing participants to become more involved in anti-colonial organizing attacking the root of white supremacy in the Americas.
Digital Counter-Surveillance
Encryption is the ability to conceal a message. Encryption methods are classified by the US government as “munitions,” and are tightly regulated. Learn how to use these weapons to circumvent dragnet surveillance.
Without encryption, we are voluntarily sharing more than we’d like to with corporate and government entities, all while generating profits and doing spying work for them.
Although we’re living in a post-privacy society, digital privacy and security are still within our reach.
This beginner-level workshop* will teach you the basics of encryption and how to implement encryption tools and habits to protect your hard drive, web browsing, emails, chat and other data.
*Laptops are strongly suggested for this workshop. Mobile phone security will also be discussed.
Resources:
http://help.riseup.net/en/security
http://www.cryptoparty.in
The End of the World As We Know It? From Seattle to Argentina
The End of the World As we Know It? Crisis, Resistance, and the Age of Austerity (AK Press, 2014) provides stories of widespread resistance to global capitalism and the state in the age of austerity. People all over the world have taken to the streets to register their discontent and social antagonisms. Matthew Adams and Marie Trigona will discuss their contributions to the recently released book and contextualize their perspectives on the global capitalist crisis and analysis on movements fighting to create a world worth living in.
Mathew Adams gives us history and case studies of solidarity networks as a means of resisting austerity, using the example of Seattle Solidarity Network.
Marie Trigona speaks on Argentina’s antagonist movements, in particular, Argentina’s occupied factories, rooting her analysis in the rise of neoliberalism, and notes how space is organized and contested.
Humor, Sarcasm, Mockery and Laughter: Essential Anarchists Weapons and Medicine
If you can’t laugh at something it has a hold on you. Though you hate and detest it, it has power over you, it possesses you, it is sacred to you and will feed off you. Only laughter can destroy the sacred and free you from its possession. Against the current rulers and the stalintellectual and maocademics wannabe rulers, who developed political correctitude to stomp out the ribald rowdiness of rebellion, I choose take up the cHAos of Hilarious Anarchy to attack the cOSMos of the Order of Slaves and Masters they uphold. Humor, sarcasm, mockery and laughter are the weapons that can undo a world of orders and commands. They are the medicines that break the power of authority and bigotry, because the only thing that rulers and bigots can’t stand is being laughed at. I want those who come to this workshop to think of something that seems to overwhelm them with anger or sorrow and to find what is funny in it, what they can mock in it, what reduces it to something they can laugh at, and to be prepared to share their mocking laughter.
Nihilism: from Nardonaya Volya to Present
This workshop will cover the beginning of Nardonaya Volya and the politic they espoused from 1879-1883. Rather than discuss the wealth of the Russian nihilist movement as a whole, we prefer to isolate this one group as they offer the most interesting politic and actualization of their desires. They invented the word terrorism, and proudly exclaimed it. From their creation during the split of Land And Liberty, the trial of sixteen, to their end during harsh political repression and a crumbling organization after the assassination of Tsar Alexander the 2nd.
The Final part of the workshop will be a full open discussion on nihilist revivalism. By nihilist revivalism we mean the current trend of political nihilist tendencies to be actualized. In history, there have been spurts of this. From nardonaya volya (1879-1883), Nihilismo (italy, 1910-1921), up against the wall MOTHERFUCKERS (1963-?) and recently, the WTO riots that sparked something beautiful. Was political nihilism ever really dead? What defines a nihilist tendency? Why does the world seem more “Hot” than 20 years earlier? These are just some of the questions we hope to delve into.
The Struggle Within: Prisons, Political Prisoners, and Mass Movements in the United States, a talk with author and activist Dan Berger and former political prisoners Larry Giddings and Josh Harper
Dan Berger, author of The Struggle Within (PM Press, 2014), and former political prisoners Larry Giddings and Josh Harper will examine state repression of the most dynamic social movements across half a century and how mass imprisonment has been a tool of repression deployed against diverse left-wing social movements over the last fifty years, including black liberation, Puerto Rican independence, Native American sovereignty, Chicano radicalism, white antiracist and working-class mobilizations, pacifist and antinuclear campaigns, and earth liberation and animal rights.
Speakers will address their personal experience in the context of larger strategies of state repression and grassroots resistance, drawing connections between supporting political prisoners and the larger goals of prison abolition. Join us for dialogue and discussion about how social movements have provided steep challenges to state power and how we can learn from state repression and continue to fight mass imprisonment.
Dan Berger is an author, professor, and antiprison organizer. He is a cofounder of Decarcerate PA and a longtime supporter of political prisoners.
Larry Giddings spent more than thirty years in federal and state prisons for revolutionary activities carried out in the early 1970s as part of an antiauthoritarian collective. He was released in 2004.
Josh Harper served three years in federal prison for his role in the Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty campaign. He was released in 2009.
Walls of Silence, Fortresses of Revolt: An Analysis and Reflection Two Years After Seattle May Day
This event will be a presentation given by two of the Grand Jury Resisters from the May Day 2012 investigation that took place in Northwest. Though the Grand Jury has officially ended, continued state repression is still a constant force in the lives of anarchists in the Northwest. We will be focusing on aspects of resistance such as incarceration, fleeing subpoenas, recuperative efforts of mainstream media, coping with state harassment, and supporting resisters and all people effected by repression. Our intention in giving this talk is to share our stories and ideas about how to both continue the anarchist struggle and foster support for each other in the face of state investigations meant to disrupt and destabilize anarchist activity. The presentation will consist of a roughly 60 minute talk, followed by a roughly a half hour group conversation.