Anarchy: graphic guide - Clifford Harper

Hello all, Just to let you know so as to avoid confusion - the revised or re-mixed Anarchy
has not been published. It's 80% finished and 500 times better, but it ain't been published.
Clidfford H.

stirner1

Hello all, Just to let you know so as to avoid confusion - the revised or re-mixed Anarchy
has not been published. It's 80% finished and 500 times better, but it ain't been published.
Clidfford H.

Hi Clifford, many thanks for letting us know. Have seen some of the illustrations for it on Facebook, they are great! Please let us know when it's done and we can update the link to buy it here.

Great stuff, I particularly like the illustration of Jean Moreau. The new edition images seem to be a lot softer in line, for want of a better word. Are they all still woodcuts?

Looking forward to the completed edition x

Standfield

Great stuff, I particularly like the illustration of Jean Moreau. The new edition images seem to be a lot softer in line, for want of a better word. Are they all still woodcuts?

Looking forward to the completed edition x

the illustrations in this book aren't woodcuts, they are just in a woodcut style. You can see lots of the images for the new book here: https://www.facebook.com/AnarchyAGraphicGuide

I see, thanks Steven. Sorry, I thought the originals were woodcuts and the ones one Facebook weren't. Still, interested to know about the change in style. The original is more brutal, it has a more German expressionist look, whereas the edition-in-progress looks rounder, more graphic. I was just wondering if it was a concious effort concerning the look of the book - i.e "softening" up anarchism's image - or just an artistic change developed over time. Looks great regardless.

I know I've seen this guy's art somewhere before, but I cannot for the life of me remember where. Interesting stuff though, thanks for posting this.

To nine: Harper's illustrations often appear in the 'Guardian' newspaper book review section.

The introduction in this book states that the word anarchy means "without government".

In my opinion this is somewhat innacurate as the word comes from the Greek "ἀναρχία".

The literal meaning is closer to "without ruler".

The Ancient Greek word would have likely been referring to the archon, chief magistrate of Athens. A reference of an entity to rule others and likely this meant a person rather than the more abstract notion of government.

In fact, the years without a ruling archon were listed as "anarchy" - without the ruler/archon.

I may be splitting hairs but I hope you will consider including in the new edition some history on the actual origins of the word.

Kind regards,

@Calico

Semantics aside, I think that the introduction is right on as anarchists are very much against government.

I think that you may be confusing the act of administrating with the act of governing. Or perhaps you are confusing society itself with government.

Government is not society. Society is a myriad of relations that occur between people while government is a form of rule in which select people are formally organized into a distinct and independent polity, into a more or less centralized form of power that stands above the mass of society in order to decide upon, legislate, and enforce policy that will control all of the myriad social relations within a specific territory claimed as sovereign by the governing body.

Instead of a government what anarchists propose is an international federation of autonomous producers and consumers community collectives in which administrative decisions are made directly by the people involved in the processes of production and consumption rather then by a governing body (a state) with the power to decide the fate of entire peoples. In the federalism proposed by anarchists special tasks requiring some form of oversight would be handled by elected and immediately recallable delegates and not by politicians and technocrats with the concentrated "power to destroy" the very people that they propose to govern. This is not a form of "government." and in fact is quite the opposite.

Cliff, you might want to mention that this edition has recently been pirated by a so-called "anarchist" who is selling it hard copy for his own benefit. This is disgusting.

Readers: if you see a print copy of this book for sale, please do not buy it. It's a ripoff of Cliff's work that he has generously made available here at no charge. Also, please post here any information that would help uncover the identity of this person.