‘Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism’, Murray Bookchin (1995) – ‘A Book in Five Minutes’, No.15
Channel: ramblinactivist
Date: 2022-07-15

Ramblinactivist 2022/22, 15th July 2022.

The problem with the label, ‘anarchist’, is that the moment it is defined, it contradicts the principles it claims to represent. It was this contradiction that Murray Bookchin sought to explore in his 1995 book, ‘Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism: An Unbridgeable Chasm’.

It might be hard to say what ‘anarchism is’. However, it’s far easier to say what it isn’t. Such is the case with HBO’s new documentary series, ‘The Anarchists’; or FX’s new series about the Sex Pistols. They typify the meoliberal, affluence-centric media diatribe that puts far more emphasis on style over substance. And in these cases, far more emphasis on worn tropes about what ‘anarchists’ are alleged to be rather than an objective evaluation of what they are.

Murray Bookchin foresaw this warping of reality 27 years ago in this book; and for that reason anarchists today should revisit it. [Note: A link to a free on-line version is given in the page linked below; but get a lovely crisp AK Press hardcopy if you can!!]

For the text and audio podcast of this post, goto:
http://www.fraw.org.uk/blog/reviews/015/index.shtml

You can find more of these reviews in ‘A Book in Five Minutes’ here:
http://www.fraw.org.uk/blog/reviews/index.shtml

Finally, it would really help to promote this work if you could follow, subscribe, or like my social media presence – which can be accessed from the link above. In today’s digital analytics popularity contest, all that button-pressing means something in this messed-up world.

#anarchism #TheAnarchistsHBO #bookchin #PistolFX #pistols