Scan barcode
outcolder's review against another edition
5.0
Having borrowed this door-stopper from a public library, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to finish it before the last allowed renewal but then I got into it. The first half of the book is the "ethnography," which I put in quotes because it didn't feel like the ethnographies I normally read, you know, about indigenous cultures. There is obviously going to be a lot more understanding between Graeber and the members of the direct action tribe than there would be between the anthropologist and the capital O Other. Also for me as a reader, I am not unfamiliar with the tribe he is studying either. So it is not nearly as heavy or weird as a book about the Malagasy would be, for example. Also, it is very exciting. First they plan actions to disrupt the FTAA meeting in Quebec City, they plan how to get there, then the inevitable 'best-laid-plans' stuff, and then three days of direct action in a cloud of tear gas. It did make me angry, though, at police especially but also at the whole system that makes everything such crap. I also thought, "why doesn't someone like Peter Jackson make a CGI blockbuster out of this book instead of tired old Tolkien?" You know, obviously, I know why, but still. The point is, the first nearly 300 pages is an exciting first hand account of insurrectionist anarchists doing their thing. The next 3 chapters are also great, although requiring progressively more brain power. It is a bit ironic that he occasionally takes digs at 'movement celebrities' and people who claim 'to speak for the movement' when that is pretty much what he is up to here, but the idea that this book is meant to be part of a dialogue and not meant as some kind of anarchist "Grundrisse" is pretty clear. These chapters are titled "Meetings," "Actions," and "Representation," and are the bits where in a 'normal' anthropology book the writer would begin to make generalizations or maybe attack someone else's generalizations. I think the "Meetings" chapter would make a great booklet and I like the idea of having all these facilitators and "vibes watchers," at least for those meetings where the process is as likely to lead to a split as it is to consensus. The "Actions" chapter puts us back in the action, which is welcome after all those meetings, right? "Representation" was also great and something I think media majors might want to check out. The last chapter, "Imagination," left me a little cold and reminded me again of why I prefer organizations with a bit more structure and a bit more focus on building and maintaining membership than the more purely insurrectionist groups. Graeber was active more or less in three groups during the period covered in the book: Direct Action Network, Ya Basta! NYC, and the IWW and the one he talks about the least, the one with most "rules," is the IWW and that is the only one that still exists. I know that isn't necessarily the point, the point is to push the boundaries, get us some more freedom and space to live, some more joy... the point isn't to create yet another thing over us... but I guess I would rather experience the concrete if small victories of a labor union than the ephemeral Temporary Autonomous Zone. I would rather be able to say, hey, we won a wage hike or we won paid sick leave, then be able to say, as Graeber often does, hey, we changed the conversation. I am not knocking the successes of the summit hoppers (or Occupy which is looming in the future of this book like the shadowy outline a big friendly paper mache puppet hidden in a tear gas cloud), I am just trying to be clear that I prefer to act locally, I guess, and to try to get some of these ideas out to people who don't yet consider themselves activists. In any case: 5 big stars! Fun to read! Lots to think about! You don't have to agree with everything to be stimulated emotionally and intellectually! Hooray!
flexmentallo's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.25
Graeber is an excellent writer, but his earlier works do hew a little too academic for my taste, and this ethnography is a bit of a slog. There's a lot of valuable, interesting stuff here for anyone interested in or curious about what anarchist politics look like in action, but the more philosophical stuff is covered in greater (and more readable) depth later in his career.
danprisk's review against another edition
5.0
This was one of the books I was least excited about in my to read pile, but ended up being one of the most interesting books I have read in a long time.
It's a physically daunting book to pick up, perhaps more so than many similar length books I've read lately. Yet that is full dispelled within the first few pages. The first section is highly conversational, and easy to follow. Dropping the reader straight into an activist group, Graeber does a great job of immersing you in the world of the activist with large sections of straight quotation, interspersed with discussion and context. He follows an affinity group from initial discussions through to action on the streets of Quebec, showing the full gamut of anarchist organisation and action.
The second section of the book walks through further analysis of different sections of this story. This section gets a little more theoretical, but still in Graeber's easy conversational style. This touches on aspects from consensus based decision making, to the role of the police, the wider application of bureaucracy, and feminist theory via the notion of interpretive labour. If you've read other of Graeber's work a lot of this will be familiar, and explored from a different angle. It's worth revisiting even if you know it well.
The only aspect I was sad not to see addressed was the potential application of consensus decision making outside of activist circles. It's a fascinating process, and leaves me curious how such processes can be applied in an environment where the participants are not so united in purpose.
This book has opened a bunch of new avenues of reading I need to follow up on. But more than that it's made me want to seek out activist groups, organise, and take to the streets.
It's a physically daunting book to pick up, perhaps more so than many similar length books I've read lately. Yet that is full dispelled within the first few pages. The first section is highly conversational, and easy to follow. Dropping the reader straight into an activist group, Graeber does a great job of immersing you in the world of the activist with large sections of straight quotation, interspersed with discussion and context. He follows an affinity group from initial discussions through to action on the streets of Quebec, showing the full gamut of anarchist organisation and action.
The second section of the book walks through further analysis of different sections of this story. This section gets a little more theoretical, but still in Graeber's easy conversational style. This touches on aspects from consensus based decision making, to the role of the police, the wider application of bureaucracy, and feminist theory via the notion of interpretive labour. If you've read other of Graeber's work a lot of this will be familiar, and explored from a different angle. It's worth revisiting even if you know it well.
The only aspect I was sad not to see addressed was the potential application of consensus decision making outside of activist circles. It's a fascinating process, and leaves me curious how such processes can be applied in an environment where the participants are not so united in purpose.
This book has opened a bunch of new avenues of reading I need to follow up on. But more than that it's made me want to seek out activist groups, organise, and take to the streets.
loppear's review
5.0
Very readable account of Black Bloc / anarchist protest actions in the early 2000s, primarily leading to the Quebec G20 summit of 2000. Consists of Graeber's personal involvement, notes, minutes, and summaries of many public meetings in preparing for the summit; analysis of the nature of non-violence and civil disobedience in America post-1990s (in light of the Zapatistas, Earth First!, and Seattle WTO 1999); detailed thoughts on the consensus decision process as exercised particularly by the Direct Action groups in NYC between Seattle and Montreal and as later seen by most of us in the OWS councils; and the relation of these protest groups to challenges of minority and feminist representation. "The internet is great for disseminating information and useless for making decisions." Absolutely 5+ stars.
More...