First reply! I predict a 20 page thread full of bad behaviour. My 2cents = violence is a useful tactic but ought not be fetishised. Best of luck
"How non-violence protects the state" - UK - Jan 23rd - Feb 2nd
3rd or 4th reply!
I stopped reading the book after he used dodgy terms like person of colour!
It read like a pile of steaming shit whith obvious conclusions that anyone with a passing knowledge of anarchism would have known for years! I get the impression the authors entire frame of reference is the the 'direct action' radical liberal protest scene which has nada to do with anarchism!
sorry!
Tacks any hope I get the book back 
Peter Gelderoos seems mainly to be challenging the hegemony of liberal activism. As Ive said elsewhere on Urban75 the author seems to pushing a pragmatic approach rather than a particular line and unfortunately as had to challenge the orthodox of pacifists on numerous occasions. If you remember not too long ago we had a similar scenario in the anti-war movement where those who participated in DA at Fairford and other places were being excluded or slagged off by self appointed leaders like Lindsey German. Its about realising the state is inherently violent, there are benefits in peaceful campaigning but people should find their own ways of fighting their oppression.
As Tacks says the wording in the book is pretty bad, but its vast in its critique at the same time.
raw wrote:
guydebordisdead wrote:
First reply! I predict a 20 page thread full of bad behaviour. My 2cents = violence is a useful tactic but ought not be fetishised. Best of luckHi, I think the basis of this tour is that "non-violence" is fetishished.
Ah. Not in Ireland though.
Tacks wrote:
3rd or 4th reply!I stopped reading the book after he used dodgy terms like person of colour!
It read like a pile of steaming shit whith obvious conclusions that anyone with a passing knowledge of anarchism would have known for years! I get the impression the authors entire frame of reference is the the 'direct action' radical liberal protest scene which has nada to do with anarchism!
sorry!
In american radical circles the term "people of color" is used extensibly to denote non-white people. i.e like the anarchist people of color "APOC" network. I've read parts of the book which I liked and I'm happy to organise the tour for peter. This is about debating ideas. I hope anarchists and non-anarchists interested in tactics and strategy will support this tour.
cheers
a
Extra date added!
Tuesday 29 January @ Star & Shadow Cinema starts 7:30pm
Stepney Bank, Newcastle, NE1 2BB.
Web: www.starandshadow.org.uk.
Bobby wrote:
Any chance of him coming to Belfast?
Do you not reckon a meeting about the importance of violence as a political tool would be in bad taste in Belfast?
Bobby wrote:
non-violence is only fetished in Dublin though
This lot are from your city
http://www.innatenonviolence.org/
Not really but a maybe wee bit if ye believe in the 'new era' in the north, it would be up for people to decide at the meeting. His book having read it doesnt fetish violence over any other tactic but merely states that it is ludicrous to put yrself in one box or the other. I think i went to one of their meetings a few years ago and confirmed everything for me what i already knew and experienced on the 'principle' of pacifism- predominately middle-class hippy balls. There not from our lot by the way.
Tacks wrote:
3rd or 4th reply!I stopped reading the book after he used dodgy terms like person of colour!
It read like a pile of steaming shit whith obvious conclusions that anyone with a passing knowledge of anarchism would have known for years! I get the impression the authors entire frame of reference is the the 'direct action' radical liberal protest scene which has nada to do with anarchism!
sorry!
To be fair, the book doesn't really seem to be aimed at anarchists so much as radical liberals. It is a load of wank though, riddled with contradictions and poor logic.
madashell wrote:
Tacks wrote:
3rd or 4th reply!I stopped reading the book after he used dodgy terms like person of colour!
It read like a pile of steaming shit whith obvious conclusions that anyone with a passing knowledge of anarchism would have known for years! I get the impression the authors entire frame of reference is the the 'direct action' radical liberal protest scene which has nada to do with anarchism!
sorry!
To be fair, the book doesn't really seem to be aimed at anarchists so much as radical liberals. It is a load of wank though, riddled with contradictions and poor logic.
i'll probably be at this
october_lost wrote:
I heard on the grapevine that ramparts had been evicted, can anyone confirm anything?
http://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389947.html they are still there.
"How non-violence protects the state" UK speaking tour with author Peter Gelderoos
Jan 23rd - Feb 2nd 2008
*Gandhi said it's better to resist violently than to use nonviolence to
hide your passivity. Meanwhile, Bono, the Burmese military, and 9 out of
10 humanitarian NGOs agree, peaceful resistance is the best!*
Violence never solves anything. Violence begets violence. The government
is strong when it comes to violence, we need to attack them where they are
weak! Everyone working for social change is familiar with the cliches of
pacifism. And to many people it seems that using more radical, illegal,
or violent tactics is naturally isolating. But what if it's actually our
supposed allies, or our own revolutionary practices, that are isolating
us? What if violence is something diverse, undefinable, a hopelessly
broad category that encompasses institutions that perpetuate oppression
and actions that can empower and liberate us? What if we are all cogs in
a violent system, and what if pacifists are tools of a violent system?
People working for social change face plenty of difficult questions, but
sometimes matters of strategy and tactics receive low priority. Among many
activists, the role of nonviolence as the default mode of struggle bears
little scrutiny. Even as it pretends to contain moral strength,
nonviolence is a major obstacle in global movements for social change.
Nonviolence is based on a number of historical falsifications that enforce
an inaccurate understanding of revolution, it protects white privilege and
the privilege of the Global North, it can reinforce patriarchal dynamics,
and it makes anti-authoritarians complicit with the authorities,
preserving the State monopoly of force.
Ultimately, nonviolence is created and encouraged by the State, and
antithetical to anarchist revolution.
[Tour dates]
Wednesday 23rd Jan @ Kebele Social Centre (Bristol) starts 7pm
14 Robertson Road, Easton, Bristol, BS5 6JY
Tel: 0117 9399469
Web: www.kebelecoop.org
Thursday 24th Jan @ PAD (Cardiff) starts 7.30pm
118 Clifton Street, Adamsdown, Cardiff, CF24 1LW
Web: thepad.wordpress.com
Friday 25th Jan @ Next to Nowhere (Liverpool) starts 7pm
96 Bold Street, Liverpool, L1 4HY
Tel: 0151 703 6806
Web: www.liverpoolsocialcentre.org
Thursday 31st Jan @ Common Place (Leeds) starts 7pm
23 - 25 Wharf Street, Leeds, LS2 7EQ
Tel: 0845 345 7334
Web: www.thecommonplace.org.uk
Friday 1st Feb @ Cowley Club (Brighton) starts 6pm
12 London Road, Brighton BN1 4JA
Tel: 01273 696104
Web: www.cowleyclub.org.uk
Saturday 2nd Feb @ Ramparts* (tbc) starts 7pm
15 -17 Rampart Street, London E1 2LA (near Whitechapel, off Commercial Rd)
Tel: 07050 618445
Web: therampart.wordpress.com
[Extra Dates]
Glasgow // Saturday 26th Jan (tbc)
Edinburgh // Monday 28th Jan (tbc)
*Ramparts is under eviction, please keep checking Indymedia for updates.
For more info on the tour see: www.wombles.org.uk