Sale books!
by v/a
Just in, some great discounts on some great titles: - Theatre of the Oppressed by Augusto Boal for $9.0 (usually $22, a steal for this classic of participatory political drama!)
- Surrealism Against The Current : Tracts and Declarations for $10 (usually $30, an essential collection of everything that's been deeply political about Surrealism from its inception)
- The Fanon Reader for $14 (usually $25, a great introduction to one of the most important anticolonial thinkers of the past century)
- The Video Activist Handbook for $8.0 (usually $22.50 - Baltimore could really use some more video activists, so we hope someone picks this up soon!)
- The Lyotard Reader and Guide for $14.0 (usually $32)
and, if like us, you're bummed that you couldn't make it up to NYC last night to hear Noam Chomsky's speech at Riverside Church, you can listen online courtesy of WBAI (part II) or you can console yourself with these great discount Chomsky texts: - Letters from Lexington for $8.0
- For Reasons of State for $9.0
- Rogue States: The Rule of Force in World Affairs for $8.0
- Pirates and Emperors, Old and New for $8.0
Upping The Anti: A Journal of Theory and Action issue #8
by UTA Editorial Committee
It is always exciting to see the newest issue of Upping The Anti (UTA ) appear on bookshelves and periodical racks. The radical journal, put out twice a year by a Pan-Canadian collective, is geared toward the activist/ politically engaged reader and features theoretical/critical articles, interviews, round-table discussions, and book reviews on contemporary radical/ anti-authoritarian politics . The ever-refreshing element of UTA is it's high level of discourse and discussion, minus the "specialist language" and acedemic lingo, giving it accessability and enabling it to be widely read and recieved by a large and diverse readership. The newest issue of UTA (issue #8) covers a wide range of topics including interviews with Deborah Gould on the legacy of ACT UP , Helen Hudson of the Institue for Anarchist Studies on building longterm sustianable movements, and David McNally, Leo Panitch, Sam Gindin - York University political economy instructors on the econ. crisis. The issue also includes roundtables with SLAM (Student Liberation Action Movement) along with a discussion on Activist Study Groups, articles on the Palestinian struggle/ solidarity movements, Indigenous defense of land in Canada and anti-poverty groups in a climate of economic crisis. As usual UTA offers us a consistent dosage of analysis and discussion that helps to keep anti-authoritarian/ capitalist/ oppression movements informed and moving...toward social justice and change.
The Coming Insurrection
by The Invisible Committee
While translations of various quality have been floating around for a while now, it's deeply satisfying to have a polished, real-life, honest-to-god book version of The Coming Insurrection available. Authored by the anonymous collective "The Invisible Committee," the book has gained notoriety for being introduced by the state as one of the primary pieces of evidence in the trial for “criminal association for the purposes of terrorist activity” of the Tarnac 9 - think the French version of the Green Scare here and you've got the idea. So at least one state of this world thinks this is a dangerous book, and they might be right. The Coming Insurrection reads like a Situationist manifesto, and borrows from some of the same sources as Guy Debord and co. did (Henri Lefebvre's urbanism, for instance), but these kids have had the luxury of a few more decades of radical thought to draw on, so motifs drawn from Deleuze and Guattari, Alain Badiou, Giorgio Agamben and others surface throughout the text, which also distills down some of the conceptual work done in the (largely still untranslated) two issues of the journal Tiqqun. And above all, it takes this whole theoretical war machine and deploys it in the current context, with rigor and consistency, aimed at green capitalism, electronic isolation, state terror, and crisis, in a kind of Minima Moralia meets Crimethinc full-bore assault on miserabilism, exploitation, control and cooptation, along with some hints of the possibilities of an insurrectionary politics and a communism worthy of the name. It's an easy, pocket size text, a quick read, but one I'd encourage be re-read - it's all too easy to come away from the text with a limited picture of what the idea of insurrection they're advancing demands, to slip into thinking insurrection as what they uncompromising distance themselves from (an activist mileu). It's for this reason, too, that I'd recommend this text to people who aren't sold on "insurrection" as it's currently being advanced, who are working at different time scales, and who (like the authors of The Coming Insurrection), aren't expecting a climactic street fight against the cops to end state and capitalism for good. In fact, I'd say the most productive reading - if not the easiest one - of this little text is to try and think through what the revolutionary consistency it demands means for other subjects of (anti-)politics, than, say, a New School student. It'd be a shame to read this book lightly, to dismiss it as posturing or adventurism - to do so would be to miss the seriousness of the ethical project it proposes, much of which remains to be elaborated, in theory and in practice.
Red Emma's - now with more DVDs!
by v/a
Thanks to our friends at AK Press, Red Emma's is now offering a vastly expanded film section, with DVD's from AK Press Video, PM Press/ Big Noise Films, and many other indendent video producers and distributors. We're focusing for now on radical documentaries - with titles currently in stock on everything from armed struggle in Britain to the corporatization of the world's water supply to factory occupations in Argentina.....and lots more on the way.
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Giovanni Arrighi 1937-2009
We were saddened to learn that Giovanni Arrighi, professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University and one of our favorite anticapitalist theorists of the world-system, passed away on June 18th, after a year-long battle with cancer. We were privileged to work closely with Giovanni in recent years, especially during the symposium we helped organize around his last book, Adam Smith in Beijing. His rigorous and inventive work on the long-term dynamics of global capitalism remains a touchstone for many us in trying to come to grips with our current historical conjecture (especially as every new bit of financial news further confirms his theses about the decline of the hegemonic role of the US in the world system). We'll miss you, Giovanni. Links: Obituary by Steven Colatrella (Midnight Notes) David Harvey interviews Giovanni Arrighi in New Left Review
May 2009 conference on the work of Giovanni Arrighi in Madrid
Baltimore Free School - Pilot Session this Summer!
Head over to the brand new Baltimore Free School Website for a major update on this new project's first steps, including an exciting summer pilot session - now accepting course proposals! Plus notes, audio, and pictures from the Free School general assembly two weeks ago.
The Big 3
All modesty aside, we’ve been up to some pretty rad things here at Red Emma’s lately. For instance, I’m sure you’ve had the delicious vegan cake, muffins, and/or donuts we now sell. However, did you know all the reasons why we’re proud to serve Brunie’s Bakery? There’s more to love about vegan sweet eats than simply orgasmic and flavorful pleasure. How can that be you may ask? Well, we have every desire to elaborate on why we’re in love with vegan baked goods. Just read on and envision dancing donuts all the while. Speaking of yummy things to put in your tummy, it’s summer and fresh produce is without a doubt one of the best things about the season. Your favorite radical baristas (us, of course) have always tried to serve food to you that we believe in. From now until the chill of late fall, we will be making weekly runs to the farmer’s market. We do this in an effort to give you local, fresh, noncommercially sold green goods. Not only that, but we are extremely honored to serve you delicious outgrowth from Participation Park, which, by the way, is definitely our favorite local, urban, community garden. Lastly, just when you thought it couldn’t get more delectable, we are extremely excited to serve True Trade coffee from Café Para la Vida Digna. Ever since Café Rebelion closed its doors (for more details, please visit, http://www.caferebelion.com/index.html) , we’ve been rather at a loss on how to support the autonomous communities in Chiapas through our coffee buying. Yet, those concerns are no more ever since we joyfully found Café Para la Vida Digna (Coffee for a Life with Dignity). Café Para la Vida Digna is an all-volunteer-run, officially recognized cooperative/project of the Zapatista Autonomous Municipality en Rebellion, Ricardo Flores Magon of Chiapas, Mexico, that gives 100 percent of the proceeds back to RFM. Hopefully, for the rest of our days, we will be able to pour you a cup of their coffee or sell you a bag to take home. We have many more wonderful things to say about these three projects. So, look at the bottom of this announcement. Do you see the little red link that says ‘read more’? Oh, you do, do you? Well, that’s great and I’ll tell you why… when you click on the link, you will be directed to a page that will fill you with much more information as to why Brunie’s Bakery, Participation Park, and Café Para la Vida Digna all majorly rock! We do hope you will stop in for a cup of ethically traded coffee. While you’re at it, please take a look at our food menu. You might be surprised with how exquisite eating-to- support-your-community can be. Then, after we’ve caffeinated you and given you your vitamins- bite into a slice of vegan cake, a.k.a. heaven, and let your taste buds soar!
The Red Emma's Free School Project
UPDATE: FREE SCHOOL GENERAL ASSEMBLY, THURSDAY JUNE 4th, 7PM @ 2640! Red Emma's, along with a rapidly growing crew of learners, teachers, and supporters, is taking the first steps towards a new space for radical education in Baltimore - we're envisioning putting together enough community support to open up this summer. We've already got teachers ready to go to teach everything from languages (Spanish, Russian, French, and Arabic) to fighting the prison industrial complex, from pattern making and print design to the history of surrealism. We're looking for interested students and potential "faculty" who want to participate in this experiment in 100% free schooling, as well for a network of people willing to donate to make it a reality. If you've got questions, want to be kept in the loop for potential upcoming classes, or would like to pitch a course idea, get in touch at freeschool@redemmas.org. If you'd like to help us pay the roughly $500/month we'll need to raise for rent expenses for the new space, you can go ahead and set up a small monthly payment via paypal - it's not going to take much money to get this off the ground, but it is going to take some, and every little bit helps! More info on the project's website: freeschool.redemmas.org
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Tuesday Jul 7, 7PM @ 2640
Free School Pilot Session Kick-Off
We'll be posting the schedule for the summer pilot session of the Baltimore Free School on the website soon, but in the meantime, we wanted to let you know about the kick-off reception we're hosting at 2640 the week before classes get started. Come for some informal updates about the progress of the Free School project, as well as to meet the teachers who'll be organizing the first round of classes.
Thursday Jul 9, 8PM @ Red Emma's
"Live Nude Girls Unite!"
Red Emma’s Summer Screening Series continues on Thursday, July 9th, 2009, at 8pm. We’ll be sitting down, eating some popcorn, and watching the documentary, “Live Nude Girls Unite!” “Live Nude Girls Unite!” is a brave documentary about union organizing. However, it’s a unique spin on your usual labor film (in a completely rad way!)- for, this film is a first-hand account of the dancers at The Lusty Lady who formed the only union of strippers in the entire United States. Julie Query, an activist and one of the dancers, films the disenfranchising of the dancers, their struggle to bring equality into the workplace, and their eventual success! It is an extremely clever, playful,provocative, wise, and inspiring film that examines worker rights, sex worker rights, and makes powerful arguments for equality- be it, for worker equality, gender equality, or racial equality--in honest and unpretentious ways. We’re also thrilled to announce that the great folks over at Sugar (http://www.sugartheshop.com/) are our co-sponsors for this particular screening. We hope you’ll not only come out to watch the film but also to come hear about the great work that our friends over at Sugar, the self-described, “.. lesbian owned, women and trans operated, for profit, mission driven sex store,” are up to these days. Then hopefully we can engage in a bit of discussion on Sugar and their work, “Live Nude Girls Unite!”, and anything that fits your fancy. Come out for the second night of our summer screening series! You won’t be disappointed!
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