Political Media Review – PMR

Anarchy Alive! Anti-Authoritarian Politics from Practice to Theory

It is widely recognised that these are exciting times for anarchist theory. Uri Gordon’s book is one of many by the young veterans of the varied anarchist practices of the last ten years (at least) and can only add to this excitement.

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Anarchism and Authority: A Philosophical Introduction to Classical Anarchism

Arguing about the nature of anarchism is a popular anarchist pastime, and Paul McLaughlin here offers a provocative intervention in that debate, in the form of a ‘philosophical introduction to classical anarchism’. While I don’t in the end find his answer convincing, he does a good deal of valuable work in the course of arguing for it.

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The Fire and the Word: A History of the Zapatista Movement

This richly illustrated and designed volume, featuring indigenous art and photographs on nearly every page and unprecedented interviews with members of the early villages, is a result of the seven years Mexican journalist Gloria Muñoz Ramírez’ spent with the Zapatistas in Southern Chiapas.

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The Lifelong Activist: Changing the World Without Losing Your Way

As an activist, being effective is more important than merely being busy. A hectic schedule does not automatically translate into social change and doing more is not the same as achieving more.

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The Culture of Punishment: Prison, Society and Spectacle

It is impossible to come in contact with commercial media and not be exposed to the specter of criminal justice as entertainment. Turn on the news and you can see car chases. Turn on afternoon fare and it is syndicated reality shows featuring people being chased down by police.

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Death Squads or Self-Defense Forces? How Paramilitary Groups Emerge and Challenge Democracy in Latin America

The Georgia-based School of the Americas has been the convergence point for many years for activists concerned about the United States' impact on Latin American policy.

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Gun Crusaders: The NRA’s Culture War

I was listening to a radio talk show recently where a caller complained about getting a National Rifle Association telephone 'poll' that consisted of one question, with the phrasing being something to the effect whether participants believed Hillary Clinton and friends were coming for their guns.

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Snitching: Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice

Incidents such as that of activist Brandon Darby informing on fellow activists, and the Tulia, Texas drug arrests scandal are but two examples of a trend that law enforcement has increasingly relied on as a method for policing, but which is increasingly returning disastrous results.

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The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and Chicago Police Murdered A Black Panther

Among some circles, Fred Hampton is a luminary without peers. Though new generations may only catch his reference in a song, his legacy in Chicago and to the Black liberation movement is without question.

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From Toussaint to Tupac: The Black International since the Age of Revolution

Black Panther Party leader Huey Newton perhaps explained Black revolutionary nationalism best when he drew lines against what he called reactionary nationalism. Revolutionary nationalism is a force that sees capital and the ruling order in a fundamentally different way;

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Working From Within: Chicana and Chicano Activist Educators in Whitestream Schools

A peculiar tension has always existed between activist educators working in public and higher education. Maybe it is the contradiction of cultivating consciousness of youth while being on the payroll of institutions (and certainly the state) that seldom believe in such politically minded pursuits.

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