Joyful Militancy: Building Thriving Resistance in Toxic Times

by Carla Bergman, Nick Montgomery, Hari Alluri (Introduction)

Overview

"Absolutely what we need in these days of spreading gloom." —John Holloway, author of Crack Capitalism

"A guide to a fulfilling militant life." —Michael Hardt, co-author of Assembly

"Rigid radicalism" is the congealed and debilitating practices that suck life and inspiration from the fight for a better world. Joyful Militancy investigates how fear, self-righteousness, and moralism infiltrate and take root within liberation movements, what to do about them, and ultimately how tenderness and vulnerability can thrive alongside fierce militant commitment.

Carla Bergman co-edited Stay Solid: A Radical Handbook For Youth.

Nick Montgomery is an organizer and writer currently at Queen's University.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849352895
Publisher:	AK Press
Publication date:	10/30/2017
Series:	Anarchist Interventions
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Carla Bergman: Carla Bergman has worked with youth in alternatives-to-education projects for over fifteen years. She co-directed the film: Common Notions: Handbook Not Required and co-edited the Stay Solid: A Radical Handbook For Youth.
Nick Montgomery: Nick Montgomery is an organizer and writer currently finishing a PhD in Cultural Studies at Queen’s University. His work focuses on alternatives to the capitalism, gender violence, settler colonialism, and ecological degradation.
Hari Alluri: Hari Alluri, an award-winning poet, educator, and teaching artist, is the author of Carving Ashes (2013), The Promise of Rust (2016), and The Flayed City (2017)

Table of Contents

Introduction
-- Intro to intro
-- Questions
-- Affirmative theory
-- Joy and the Spinozan current
-- Joyful militancy and emergent powers
-- Beyond optimism and pessimism
-- On anarchism
-- The beginning of a conversation
-- Structure of the book

Chapter 1: Empire, Militancy and Joy
-- Resistance and joy are everywhere
-- Sadness and subjection
-- Joy is not happiness
-- The power of joy
-- Militant about joy
-- Starting from where people find themselves

Chapter 2: Friendship, freedom, ethics
-- Introduction
-- Friendship is the root of freedom
-- From morality to ethics
-- What can friendship do?
-- Solidarity begins at home
-- The ethics of affinity in anarchism
-- Connecting Spinozan current to Indigenous resurgence
-- Friendship and freedom have sharp edges
-- The active shaping of our worlds together

Chapter 3: Trust and Responsibility as Common Notions
-- Trust and responsibility as common notions
-- (Mis)trust and (ir)responsibility under Empire
-- Empire’s radical monopoly over life
-- Towards conviviality
-- Emergent trust and responsibility: three examples
-- Indigenous struggles
-- Anti-violence and transformative justice
-- Deschooling and youth liberation
-- The power of baseline trust
-- Infinite trust and responsibilities?
-- Holding common notions gently

Chapter 4: Rigid Radicalism
-- Introduction
-- It’s those people
-- The paradigm of government
-- Decline and counterrevolution
-- The perils of comparing
-- Having good politics

Chapter 5: Sources of Rigid Radicalism, Sources of Joy
-- Introduction
-- Ideology
-- Ideology in Leninism
-- Ideology in anarchism
-- Critique of ideology as such
-- Undoing ideology
-- Morality, fear, and ethical attunement
-- Christian origins of morality
-- Morality in movements
-- Warding off morality with common notions
-- You’re so paranoid, you probably think this section is about you
-- Lack-finding, perfectionism, schooling, walking
-- Radical perfectionism and paranoid reading
-- Holding ambivalence
-- The limits of critique: from paranoia to potential
-- Towards new encounters

Outro
-- Rigid radicalism can be hard to talk about
-- Three modes of attunement
Appendix 1: Feeling Powers Growing Within Yourself: An Interview with Silvia Federici

Appendix 2: Breaking down the walls around each other: the transformative power of trust - An Interview with Kelsey Cham Corbett

Glossary of Terms

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

"Yes, yes, yes! This book is so timely! Absolutely what we need in these days of spreading gloom. A very well argued case for joyful militancy, and against the dead hand of puritanical revolution. Read it, live it!”—John Holloway, author of Crack Capitalism

"This wonderful book, infused and informed by activist experience, emphasizes the importance of the full range of political affects. Anger and rage rightly, inevitably drive militants, the authors argue, but we must also discover joy and friendship in struggle, which are our highest rewards. The book provides not only an antidote for anyone who has suffered the pitfalls of political activism but also a guide to a fulfilling militant life.” Michael Hardt, co-author of Assembly

“The resurgence of the reactionary right has led many on the left to feel overwhelming despair. Resisting the rising tide of dread, this unique, genre-bending book offers a spirited defense of a militant politics of joy—an affirmative theory of openness and experimentation, curiosity and questioning. This is a thought-provoking, morale-boosting, hope-inspiring tonic offered at the moment we need it most.” Astra Taylor, author of The People’s Platform and co-founder of The Debt Collective

"Combining humility, deep insight and open, liberatory theoretical foundations Joyful Militancy importantly, and accessibly, asks hard questions and challenges the rigid culture within activism and social movements that need it. Instead with open hearts and minds the pages within offer thoughts for liberatory openings, not more answers, for all of us to explore within ourselves to radically engage in shifts from rigidity towards joy with sharp edges. This book kicks ass!" —scott crow, author, Black Flags and Windmills and Emergency Hearts, Molotov Dreams

“People who talk about revolution and class struggle without referring explicitly to everyday life, without understanding what is subversive about Joyful Militancy and what is positive in the affective refusal of Empire, such people have a corpse in their mouth. Carla Bergman and Nick Montgomery help us to remove that corpse so that we can sing new subversive songs, which is precisely what is needed more than ever.” - Stevphen Shukaitis, author of The Composition of Movements to Come

From the Publisher