WHAT'S HAPPENING: NEW BOOKS

WHAT'S HAPPENING: NEW BOOKS

The IAS, in its mission to encourage critical thought and discourse about anarchism, hasgiven outoversixty grants to writersoverthe past decade. Itwas our hope that by assisting anarchist writers with encouragement and financial support, that more and better anarchist writings would appear. The fruits of these labors are now apparent, and half a dozen of the anarchist books reviewed below are projects by IAS grantees. The first part of this column will review some of the books that IAS grant recipients have published recently.

Art and Anarchism

Since the beginning of the anarchist movement, anarchists have always had an interest in the relationship between art and revolutionary politics. Indeed, anarchism has informed many of the most important artists, novelists, and poets, yet the connection has not been well understood or analyzed. Two books published this year, both of which were authored by previous IAS grant recipients, attempt to give insight on this topic.

Allan AntliEFs Anarchy and Art: From the Paris Commune to the Fall of the Berlin Wall (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2007) reviews the various critical moments when anarchist artists have responded to pivotal events over the past 140 years. He looks at diverse time periods such as Gustave Courbet's activism during the 1871 Paris Commune, anarchist art during the fall of the Soviet empire, the French Neoimpressionists, the Dada movement in New York, anarchist art during the Russian Revolution, political art of the 1960s, and gay art and politics post-World War II. Throughout, Antliff explores art's potential as a vehicle for social change and how it influences political events.

IAS grant recipient Josh MacPhee, along with Erik Reuland, has co-edited a new book called Realizing the Impossible: Art against Authority (AK Press, 2007). The book addresses the gap in our understanding of the role of art in revolutionary movements. From do-it-yourself printmaking to Zapatista video, from radical puppetry to the monuments of the Haymarket martyrs, the book encompasses a sprawling collection of essays by writers and artists. Contributors include: IAS board members Cindy Milstein and Erika Biddle, anthropologist David Graeber, IWW printmaker Carlos Cortez, British anarchist graphic artist Clifford Harper, anarchist art historian Allan Antliff, and others.

Revolution and Social Movements

Chuck Morse, the founder of the IAS and...