Here is a list of talks that took place at Manchester & Salford Anarchist Bookfair 2019
Talks in the Education Space
10.30am
Nick Stevenson: Anarchism and Education
Nick Stevenson teaches and writes about radical education at the University of Nottingham. He has 3 children in the school/college system and is interested in discussing more humanistic alternatives.
11.30am
Manchester IWW: An Introduction to IWW (Industrial Workers of the World)
The IWW is a revolutionary global union, fighting for better conditions today and economic democracy tomorrow. By training our members in powerful organising methods, direct-action and direct-democracy, we put power in the hands of workers.
After a brief introduction to the IWW, we will be doing a short taster session of our organiser training. The workshop will show how to march on your boss and give your lists of demands.
12.30pm
Anarchist Party: What is The Anarchist Party?
What or who is the Anarchist Party?
Come along and find out
1.30pm
Book Launch: Marie Louise Berneri Journey Through Utopia (PM Press)
Utopias have been penned with diverse intentions: some as pictures of an ideal society, some as blueprints for action, yet others, especially in times of severe censorship, as covert criticisms of existing conditions. Marie Louise Berneri exposes the dark shadow that lingers above most utopian works by emphasising the intolerant and authoritarian nature of these visions, and she warns of the doom that awaits those foolish enough to put their trust in an ordered and regimented world.
This new edition is framed with an Introduction from Matthew S. Adams that situates Berneri’s work in the context of her life, and concludes with an Afterword from Rhiannon Firth that extends Berneri’s analysis into contemporary utopias.
Matthew S. Adams is lecturer in politics, history, and communication at Loughborough University. He is the author of Kropotkin, Read, and the Intellectual History of British Anarchism and co-editor of Anarchism, 1914–1918 and The Palgrave Handbook of Anarchism.
Rhiannon Firth is senior research officer in sociology at the University of Essex. Her research interests include utopian political theory, anarchist social movements, prefigurative spatial practices, alternative epistemologies, and critical pedagogy. She is the author of Utopian Politics: Citizenship and Practice, which involved ethnographic research with several intentional communities, housing cooperatives, and autonomous social centres around the UK.
2.30pm
Book Talk: Ruth Kinna: The Government of No One (Pelican Books)
Ruth will introduce some of the main themes of her new book, The Government of No One, to open a discussion about the value of examining anarchist history, the nature of domination and the possibilities of anarchizing.
3.30pm
Book Talk: D Hunter Chav Solidarity
D Hunter presents his book “Chav Solidarity”: part autobiography, part meditation on trauma, class and identity, part one finger salute into the face of respectability politics, but mostly an articulation of the contradictory heart of Chavvy shit heads across the U.K. Hunter will read excerpts from the book, as well as discussing it’s origins and surrounding issues. This will be followed by a question and answer session and open discussion regarding the issues raised in the book.Hunter uses his experiences as child sex worker, teenage crack addict, violent thug and community activist to examine the ways in which our classed experiences shape the ways in which we think and do our politics. Content WarningThroughout the book there are references to sexual violence, racism both interpersonal and institutional, gendered violence both physical, psychological and verbal, various forms of physical violence, suicide, drug usage, transphobia, murder, and police brutality. This event will be reflection of this. Dog Section Press said” It’s one of those books that, after reading, you make urgent recommendations to friends, family and comrades – everything is changed and your world looks different now. It’s maybe the most important political text written for many, many years. Before Bakunin, before Marx, certainly before anything we’ve published, read this book now…”Ewa Jasiewicz in Red Pepper said..” Every page of this book is a spark, a window, a blow, bringing realisation. This is honestly the most important intervention into mainstream, predominantly white and middle class social movements – of which I count myself a part of and perpetuator of for many years – that I have ever read. This book does what groundbreaking writing should – models new awareness and challenges, reflects and changes the reader’s thinking and understanding of oneself and their relationship to others. Take it, grab it with both hands and read it.”Other readers have called this book:”the best book I’ve read today.””full of nuanced self-reflection and complexity that refuses to caricature.””pretty horrific””brings us the bluntness and authenticity that remains erased in most conversations.””essential reading””it’s not for the faint hearted but well worth the money”More information can be found at www.chavsolidarity.com