New IAS Grants

IAS is proud to congratulate our latest round of grantees.

Laura Hall

Laura Hall’s background is Mohawk and English-Canadian. Her work explores decolonizing and Indigenist approaches to environmentally sustainable community planning, while gendering the work in order to focus on the issues of Indigenous women as well as two-spirited peoples. She is a PhD candidate in Environmental Studies at York University.

Her project is called “Eco-Queer Indigenous Feminism”

I name my approach according to my own experiential, embodied and intersectional lived experience, but also as a way of representing the depth of Indigenist and decolonizing theory. In grounded, embodied, intersectional movements and story, Indigenous Eco-Queer feminist analysis is forming against a number of pressing issues— opposing oil and natural gas development for example and also ongoing housing/poverty needs, the likes of which are being addressed in our Indigenous communities in creatively culturally rooted ways. I would like to draw connections between our movements and anarchist-socialist discourses, while also lending a (Haudenosaunee) Indigenist analysis of the state’s relationship to hegemonic theory and treaty understandings (at two extremes) in order to better understand ways that we might unthink the state, rethink the state, or dream new/old governance in the spirit of treaty based responsibility (as both Indigenous and ally/accomplice groups).

E Ornelas

E Ornelas is a queer and genderqueer identified anarcha-feminist of mixed ethnic background who is an English-as-first-language, US citizen living in a colonized land. E’s research interests include the intersections of anarchist and feminist theory, particularly in educational contexts. When E is not facilitating both formal and informal discussions on these topics, E enjoys biking and baking.

E’s project is called “Purple & Black: An Anthology of Anarcha-Feminist Theory & Action”

This is meant to provide a review and synthesis of anarcha-feminism while moving conversations about anarcha-feminism beyond past authors’ attempts at defining and defending it within anarchism, to a compiled recognition and celebration of its achievements and contributions. My approach is to examine and annotate pertinent anarcha-feminist cultural artifacts, whether textual, artistic, oratory, etc. Though I am influenced by previous anarcha-feminist publications, I also wish to expand their reach beyond a predominantly white, western, and/or predominantly English-speaking sampling of theory and action.

Jack McGinn

Jack McGinn has long been involved in activism and international solidarity related to the Palestinian cause, having worked with Students for Justice in Palestine for six years, translating and distributing dispatches from activists based in Palestine, and writing for an online audience on related matters. He lives in Northern Ireland.

His project is called “Anarchist Trends in the Organizational Methods Underpinning the First Palestinian Intifada”

Palestine remains a well examined and critical point of focus for the international anti-hierarchical Left, situated as it is at the intersection of imperialist, capitalist, and neocolonical power. However, research into how specifically anti-hierarchical thought and practices play a role in the (multi-faceted) Palestinian resistance is lacking and in many cases is nonexistent. A pertinent example is the first intifada; a remarkable example of a decentralized and subaltern-led campaign of sustained resistance. Work has been done on the Israeli Anarchists Against the Wall, and a sparse amount of research on the dynamics of queer resistance against patriarchy and occupation exists, but there is as yet no study (in Arabic or English) like that of Sam Dolgoff’s edited collection of essays on the anarchist collectives in revolutionary Spain, for example. This piece looks to fill that void.

Support Radical Writing!

For 19 years the Institute for Anarchist Studies (IAS) has provided support to anarchist, anti-authoritarian, and radical ideas through our journal Perspectives on Anarchist Theory, the Lexicon pamphlet series, and through the book series co-published with AK Press called Anarchist Interventions. This work is important to sustain, as most print media does not uphold a critical, radical or anarchist analysis of current or past events.

The IAS is a venue for radical ideas to be shared and practical ideas to be broadened! In the spirit of mutual aid and self-sustainability the IAS, with the help of donations from people like you, has also funded grantees from a hundred different projects by individuals and organizations from around the world. These people take on the task of looking back into history, analyzing, exposing, clarifying, critiquing and developing writings from a radical perspective.

We pride ourselves in supporting writers from all walks of life who hold a radical or anarchist view on a large spectrum of topics. We have supported writers focusing many topics, including on people of color and radical resistance; radical anarcha-feminist childcare; the popular power movement in Argentina; gender in the Czech anarchist movement; anarchist trade unions in Bolivia; anarchism and US and Third World feminisms; the origins of anarchism in Puerto Rico; anarchism and revolutionary syndicalism in South Africa; alternatives to Emergency Medical Services (EMS); inter-generational connections between radicals regarding reproductive justice work and underground/pre-Roe abortion work; theater and the arts of transgression; transformative justice; climate change; and so many others. If you find these ideas valuable and provocative, we would value your financial contribution to continue this work.

Want to see more written pieces on radical topics you won’t find anywhere else? Support the IAS! Want to read essays in Perspectives On Anarchist Theory? Support the IAS! Want new antiauthoritarian books? Support the IAS!

The Institute for Anarchist Studies’ (IAS) winter 2015 Fundraising Campaign has surpassed 50% of its fundraising goal with less than two weeks left. Please take a minute to check out the link and donate generously. The IAS’ continued work depends on it: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-institute-for-anarchist-studies/x/9605606

Perspectives on Anarchist Theory  #28

The new issue of Perspectives on Anarchist Theory, #28, will be layed out by Josh McPhee starting March 15th. It will then go to Eberhardt Press and should be available by May Day, 2015. Here’s the contents:

Perspectives, No. 28, Justice

Call for Submissions for Perspectives on Anarcha-Feminism(s)

Are you an organizer or activist currently engaged in movement work? Are you interested in taking time to reflect on the lessons and ideals of this work in order to help advance anarchist theory and praxis? Do you have ideas, experiences, or questions that you would like to develop and share with a wider audience?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, the Perspectives on Anarchist Theory editorial collective would like to hear from you. As the global political terrain continues to shift and tremble, it is crucial that those of us with visions of a free society share our work and ideas so that we can create a solid, common foundation on which to build a better world.

We are currently interested in reading work related to the following themes on Anarcha-Feminism(s) for our next issue.

Some sub-themes are:

• Gender and Power
• Race and Feminism
• Queerness and Heteronormativity
• Patriarchy and the State
• Reproductive Justice
• Indigenous Feminism
• Sexuality
• Sex Work
• Class, Feminism and Gender
• Children, Power and Oppression 
• Aging, Care and Feminism
• Global Perspectives on all of the above

Like Anarchism, Anarcha-Feminism has many different facets and orientations. So this might be useful working definition: Anarcha-Feminism centers gender in the struggles against, and liberation from, all forms of domination. It’s important to focus on gender oppression rather than just feminism as it alone can leave out many of the intersecting ways that gender is oppressed, such as: heterosexism, patriarchy, homophobia, sexism, heteronormativity, transphobia, ableism, fatphobia and ageism.

Our deadline for the next print issue is September 1st, 2015

All submissions should conform to the following format requirements:
• Please follow the Chicago Manual of Style for general format and citation guidelines.
• Please use endnotes rather than footnotes.
• Type your endnotes directly into the text. Please do not use the “insert note” function in Word, as it is incompatible with our layout software.
• Do not include page numbers on your manuscript.
• Be sure to include your name and reliable contact information, as well as a brief (3-6 sentence) bio that you would like printed alongside your article.

Please prepare your manuscript as thoroughly as you can before sending it along for consideration. If you have a concept for an article but are unsure how to develop and refine the ideas or language, we are happy to help you out with the writing process, particularly if you have never written for publication before. Please contact us as soon as possible in order to ensure you are able to meet the publication deadline.

Send your essays or queries to: perspectivesonanarchisttheory@gmail.com

Octavia’s Brood, published by AK Press, in collaboration with the Institute for Anarchist Studies, available April 1st

Whenever we envision a world without war, without prisons, without capitalism, we are producing speculative fiction. Organizers and activists envision, and try to create, such worlds all the time. Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown have brought twenty of them together in both a tribute to the science fiction writer Ocatvia Butler and the first anthology of short stories to explore the connections between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change. Available April 1st from AK Press, and published in collaboration with the Institute for Anarchist Studies, Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements: www.akpress.org/octavia-s-brood.html

The visionary tales of Octavia’s Brood span genres—sci-fi, fantasy, horror, magical realism—but all are united by an attempt to inject a healthy dose of imagination and innovation into our political practice and to try on new ways of understanding ourselves, the world around us, and all the selves and worlds that could be. The collection is rounded off with essays by Tananarive Due and Mumia Abu-Jamal, and a preface by Sheree Renée Thomas.

“Those concerned with justice and liberation must always persuade the mass of people that a better world is possible. Our job begins with speculative fictions that fire society’s imagination and its desire for change. In adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha’s visionary conception, and by its activist-artists’ often stunning acts of creative inception, Octavia’s Brood makes for great thinking and damn good reading. The rest will be up to us.” —Jeff Chang, Who We Be: The Colorization of America

“Our radical imaginations are under siege and this text is the rescue mission. It is the new cornerstone of every class I teach on inequality, justice, and social change…. This is the text we’ve been waiting for.” —Ruha Benjamin, professor of African American Studies at Princeton University

“Octavia Butler once told me that two things worried her about the future of humanity: The tendency to think hierarchically, and the tendency to place ourselves higher on
the hierarchy than others. I think she would be humbled beyond words that the fine, thoughtful writers in this volume have honored her with their hearts and minds. And that in calling for us to consider that hierarchical structure, they are not walking in her shadow, nor standing on her shoulders, but marching at her side.” —Steven Barnes, author of Lion’s Blood

“Like Octavia Butler’s fiction, this collection is cartography, a map to freedom.” —dream hampton, filmmaker and Visiting Artist at Stanford University’s Institute for Diversity in the Arts

IAS board member Chris Dixon is soon heading on tour down the East Coast, speaking and facilitating workshops related to his new book, Another Politics: Talking Across Today’s Transformative Movements. Between March 27 and April 15, he will be stopping in Haverford, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Chapel Hill/Carrboro, New York, Providence, and Boston.

Find the full schedule here: writingwithmovements.com

Drawing on interviews with dozens of experienced organizers, Another Politics engages the convergence of anti-authoritarian radicalism and broader-based movements in the U.S. and Canada over the last two decades. From this convergence, a growing set of activists – from anti-poverty organizers in Toronto to prison abolitionists in Oakland, from occupy activists in New York to migrant justice organizers in Vancouver – are developing shared politics and practices. These efforts combine anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist, anti-oppression politics with grassroots organizing among ordinary, non-activist people. Another Politics explores these efforts and distills lessons for building effective, visionary movements.

For more information about the book, see writingwithmovements.com/another-politics.

The IAS is Turning Twenty

The Institute for Anarchist Studies (IAS), a grant-giving organization for radical writers and translators worldwide nonprofit was established in 1996 to support the development of anarchism. We are turning twenty in 2016. Stay tuned for details about our twentieth anniversary celebrations. If you are a an IAS writer, a part of the IAS community, or would like to be involved with planning the twentieth anniversary contact us at anarchiststudies@gmail.com.