ABC With Danny and Jim

A short overview of the book Joan Puig Elías. Anarquismo, pedagogía y coherencia by Valeria Giacomoni (Barcelona: Descontrol, 2016), a biography of the anarchist teacher and leading light of the Escuela Natura who presided over the Consejo de la Escuela Nueva Unificada (CENU) during the Spanish civil war.

In this episode we discuss Loren Goldner's collection of essays 'Revolution, Defeat and Theoretical Underdevelopment' (Haymarket 2017), which examines the promise and failings of four revolutionary episodes in the twentieth century: Russia, Turkey, Spain and Bolivia. Goldner's blog 'Break Their Haughty Power' is well worth exploring, you can find it here: http://breaktheirhaughtypower.org/ Danny d...

In this episode we were joined by Dr Pascale Siegrist of the German Historical Institute London. Pascale is an intellectual historian whose first book project examines the ‘global’ thought of fin-de-siècle anarchists. You can find more on Pascale's research interests here: https://www.ghil.ac.uk/team/our-team/pascale-siegrist . For this episode we read two brilliant pieces by Pascale on anarchism...

In this episode we take a break from our usual format - to coincide with our 1st 'birthday' we discuss the first two pieces to be published in our new newsletter: 'Ten Years on the Turn' and 'People Just Do Something', both written by Danny as reflections on the past decade of politics. We also use this as an opportunity to reflect on the past year.  You can subscribe to the newsletter here:...

In this episode we discuss Paul Avrich's classic 'Kronstadt 1921' (Princeton University Press, 1970), marking 100 years since this pivotal event in radical history. Along the way we discuss anti-Semitism within critiques of communism, the perils of a mechanistic understanding of class struggle and historical change, the nature of Bolshevik smear campaigns, and the significance of 1921 to the prosp...

In this episode we're delighted to be joined by Martha Ackelsberg (Smith College, Massachusetts) to discuss her classic study of Mujeres Libres, 'Free Women of Spain,' on the 30th anniversary of its original publication.  Martha's work has been hugely influential in the study of anarchism, gender and the Spanish Civil War, and has shaped the work of both Danny and Jim. We were thrilled that s...

In this episode we discuss Marie Fleming's 'The Geography of Freedom' (Black Rose Books, 1988), a study of anarchist geographer Elisée Reclus who was a key figure in the 19th century movement.  We are very grateful that Black Rose provided us with this book to discuss. Black Rose have been publishing alternative, radical works from their base in Montreal since the 1970s, and operate a range of bri...

In this episode we were delighted to be joined by our friend, colleague and comrade Dr Matthew Kerry (University of Stirling) to discuss his book 'Unite Proletarian Brothers!: Radicalism and Revolution in the Second Spanish Republic' (Institute of Historical Research, 2020), which is available to everyone as an Open Access publication here: bit.ly/3is39X9 We discuss radicalism, fascism, the state...

A short overview of the new book by Agustín Guillamón, La matanza del cuartel Carlos Marx. Bellaterra, mayo de 1937 (Serra de Tramuntana: Calumnia, 2020), which details the investigation into the torture and murder of twelve anarchists during the Barcelona May days, 1937.

In this extra special festive bonus episode we join Pearson Bolt of the excellent Coffee with Comrades podcast to chat with Professor Ruth Kinna (Loughborough University) about her recent publication 'The Government of No One' (Pelican, 2019). We really enjoyed this opportunities to go in-depth into theory and history with one of the most prominent and lucid scholars of anarchism in the world. Man...

In a break from our usual set up, this episode features Danny and Jim speaking to Alan McGuire of the Sobremesa podcast about the history of anarchism in Spain.  Sobremesa is weekly podcast which covers subjects about contemporary Spanish society, politics and history, you can subscribe using your usual podcast app and find more information here: alanmcguire.com/the-sobremesa-podcast/ and via...

In this episode we were delighted to be joined by Professor Kathy Ferguson (The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa) to discuss her fascinating work on anarchist printing over the turn of the twentieth century. Along the way we discuss the formative role that creating print had in anarchist communities, the value of considering the 'materiality' of radical politics, and reflect on the relationship betw...

In this episode we discuss Julius S. Scott's 'The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution,' an extraordinary text which began life as a PhD thesis in the 1980s, and has gained an almost cult reputation amongst scholars of transnational radical history until it's publication with Verso in 2018.  You can watch a video featuring  Scott, Robin Kelley, Peter L...

In this episode we discuss David Roediger's 'Seizing Freedom' (Verso, 2014), a brilliant account of the radical upheavals brought by the US Civil War and the self-emancipation of slaves in the 1860s.  Along the way we discuss the concept of revolutionary  time, the meaning of tragedy, and the errors of liberal history.  Danny has previously spoken about Roediger and his notion of re...

This episode is a conversation with Frank Jacob (Nord University, Norway) about his forthcoming book 'Emma Goldman and the Russian Revolution:  From Admiration to Frustration,' which will be published with De Gruyter later this year (print ~November; Open Access digital ~December): https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/570450.  We discuss Goldman's life, her intellectual contribution to t...

This episode is a conversation with Ole Birk Laursen about his work on the fascinating Indian anarchist M.P.T. Acharya. We discuss Acharya's life in Europe, the USA and India, as well as his views on Indian nationalism and figures including Mahatma Gandhi and founder of the Indian Communist Party M.N. Roy.  For more on Ole and his work see his excellent website: https://olebirklaursen.wordpress.co...

In this episode we are joined by Dr Liz Stainforth (University of Leeds) to discuss Kristin Ross's Communal Luxury (Verso, 2015). Together we talk about the appeal of utopian history, the relationship between ideas and actions and the value of reclaiming of public space.  An interview with Ross in which she discusses her approach to the history of May '68 is available here: https://towardsaut...

This is the first episode of ABC Bitesize, a subseries of the Anarchist Book Club. Inspired by a tweet by the famous youtuber anarchopac, the idea is to provide overviews of radical history books that are currently unavailable in English. Episode 1 is based on Dieter Nelles, Harald Piotrowski, Ulrich Linse and Carlos García's book Antifascistas alemanes en Barcelona (1933-1939) (Barcelona: Virus,...

In this episode we discuss Silvia Federici's seminal work 'Caliban and the Witch,' which calls for us to examine the development of capitalism through the eyes and the body of women in the early modern era. Along the way we discuss the idea of modernity; the relationship between theory, politics and history; and the claim that Federici's recent work could be read as justifying transphobia in the p...

This episode is our first with a guest, the brilliant scholar of French & transnational anarchism Dr Constance Bantman (University of Surrey, @ConnieLorene). Constance joined us to speak about her forthcoming book, 'Jean Grave and the Networks of French Anarchism,' which examines the life, work and connections of one of the most influential anarchists of the late 19th/early 20th century. Our d...

In this episode of ABC with Danny and Jim we discuss Paul Gilroy's The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness (Verso, 1993). Our discussion follows this book's navigation through black culture and modernity, reflecting on thinkers from WEB du Bois to Hegel as well as Gilroy's rich investigation of black music. Along we way we discuss the concept of diaspora, the perils of black ethno-n...

In this episode of Anarchist Book Club we discuss Steve Wright's 'Storming Heaven: Class Composition and Struggle in Italian Autonomist Marxism' (Pluto, 2017). Our conversation takes us through the roots of autonomism and its relationship to the PCI (Italian Communist Party) in post-war Italy, into reflections on the practice of work-place inquiry and the efforts to build a useful theory of class...

In this episode we discuss Maia Ramnath's 'Decolonising Anarchism' (AK Press, 2011), an account of radical groups and individuals involved in the Indian independence movement and its post-colonial successors: from bomb-throwers and Californian bohemians to peasant collectivists and syndicalist educators; from Mahatma Gandhi to the dissident communist martyr Bhagat Singh. Throughout we probe how a...

In this episode we discuss Domenico Losurdo's 'War and Revolution: Rethinking the Twentieth Century,' trans.  Gregory Elliott (Verso, 2020), an extended critique of historical revisionism which stretches from Edmund Burke to Niall Ferguson, via Ernst Nolte, Hannah Ardent and Francois Furet. We question the value of Losurdo's approach, including his treatment of counter-revolution in France an...

In this first episode of Anarchist Book Club with Danny and Jim, we discuss Eric Laursen's  'The Duty to Stand Aside' (AK Press 2020), which explores the relationship between George Orwell and the pacifist, anarchist and doctor Alex Comfort, who became famous in the 1970s as the author of 'The Joy of Sex'. We use this as a starting point to discuss the shifting politics of George Orwell, from...