Anarchism is a practical way of organizing and doing things, already practiced in our daily lives.
Anarchism can help us find fulfillment, empathy, and liberation in various aspects of life.
Challenging traditional notions of permanence, productivity, and accumulation can lead to personal growth, community care, and envisioning new economic relationships and utopian possibilities.
Deep dives
Practical Anarchism A Guide for Daily Life
The book explores the idea that anarchism is something many of us already practice in our daily lives, regardless of whether we realize it or not. It emphasizes the importance of understanding anarchism as a way of organizing and doing things, rather than a set of theoretical concepts. The book highlights the influence of black and queer feminism on anarchism and discusses how it can help us find fulfillment, empathy, and liberation in our everyday lives. The author argues for a practical anarchism that challenges state authority, disidentifies from hierarchical power structures, and envisions alternative ways of organizing society. The book also examines the connections between anarchism and other movements such as abolitionism, highlighting the importance of prefigurative politics and building new systems that don't rely on the state. It encourages a deep critique of capitalism and the deconstruction of hierarchies in various aspects of life, including education, relationships, work, and time. The author challenges traditional notions of productivity, emphasizes the value of care and community self-defense, and explores the potential of gift economies and the reimagining of utopia as a no-place, allowing for new ways of thinking and living.
Rejecting Permanence and Embracing Dissolution
This chapter challenges the idea of permanence and the expectation that relationships, whether romantic or otherwise, should last forever. It argues for a reorientation towards care and centering the present moment, embracing the beauty of endings and dissolution as a natural part of life. The author encourages disidentification from societal pressures to conform to traditional relationship structures and norms, advocating for healthy conflict resolution and mutual respect. By rejecting the need for permanence, the chapter explores the possibilities of reimagining relationships as fluid and evolving, allowing for personal growth and liberation.
Refusing the Morality of Work
The chapter challenges the capitalist ideology that equates productivity with moral worth and emphasizes the importance of refusing work as it exists under capitalism. It explores the concept of dissolution and disidentification from oppressive work systems, encouraging a reevaluation of our relationship with labor. The author highlights the possibility of alternative ways of organizing work, such as embracing artful idleness and reimagining the meaning of luxury and wastefulness. The chapter also examines the potential for a gift economy, where resources and wealth are shared based on mutual care and solidarity, rather than hoarded for individual gain.
Reimagining Money and Redefining Wealth
This chapter challenges the capitalist mindset of constantly orienting towards the future and accumulating wealth. It advocates for a reassessment of our relationship with money, rejecting the idea of hoarding for personal gain. The chapter explores the concept of redistributing wealth and resources within communities, especially during moments of abundance. It encourages a shift away from individual profit-seeking and towards collective well-being, emphasizing the importance of a community-focused economic approach. The author also discusses the potential of thinking in terms of a no-place economy, dismantling the hierarchies created by property ownership and envisioning new possibilities for economic relationships.
Utopia as a No-Place
This chapter offers a nuanced understanding of utopia, considering it as both a vision and a critique. It acknowledges the dangers of utopian thinking, particularly when it neglects the histories of oppression and violence embedded in many utopian pursuits. The chapter encourages the practice of imagining alternatives to the current world, emphasizing the importance of reclaiming and reshaping utopia as a fluid concept. It explores the idea of no-place, where social relations, property, and land can be reimagined beyond the confines of capitalist frameworks. The author highlights the power of utopian thinking to inspire creativity, challenge the status quo, and envision new ways of relating to one another and the world.
In a context in which abolitionist discourse is reaching an ever-wider audience, and people’s trust in the state, as a vehicle through which we can hope to achieve meaningful political change, continues to ebb away, we are seeing a renewed engagement with prefigurative politics across the left.
Pluto has always published books from a variety of political tendencies, and that includes anarchism. The label ‘anarchist’ has far from universal appeal, but as Scott Branson argues in their new book, Practical Anarchism: A Guide for Daily Life, the label itself is of secondary importance, and anarchism is something many of us are already practising in our daily lives, whether we realise it or not.
From relationships to school, work, art, even the way we organise our time, the book shows us that anarchism can help us find fulfilment, empathy and liberation in the everyday.
Scott joins us on the show for a conversation about their vision of a ‘practical anarchism’. We discuss the ways in which it is informed by Black and queer feminisms, how we can work to disidentify from the logic of capital and the state, and why we shouldn’t throw out the idea of ‘utopia’ altogether.
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