No Quarter: an Anarchist Zine about Pirates

Calgary Anarchist Bookfair 2010

2010-07-03T17:49:00.000-07:00

I'll be at the Calgary Anarchist Bookfair this year. It's August 21-22nd
It's at the same place as last year: the Rehabilitation Society of Calgary #7 11 St NE (a short walk east from Bridgeland c-train station, it's the building with lots of nice murals on the north side of Memorial Drive).
Book Vendors from across Canada, workshops, movies, plus keynote speaker Xotchilt Sweedler. The title of her presentation is "The Importance of Building Community To Resist Capitalism. No charge for admission. Free Vegan food. Hours Friday 3-8, Saturday 10-8. I'll be tabling and doing a workshop about listening to rebel music.

No Quarter #5 out now!!!

2010-03-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

No Quarter #5 out now!!! email me if you want to get a copy:
captainmissionismycopilot [at] hotmail [dot] com

In Contempt of All Authority

2010-03-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

Our friends over at Breviary Stuff have started a new publishing project: Breviary Stuff Publications. Their first book is out now and it looks exciting. Buchanan Sharp – In Contempt of All Authority: Rural Artisans and Riot in the West of England, 1586-1660.

Interview with Gabriel Kuhn

2010-03-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

Here is an interview with Gabriel Kuhn which is in NQ#5.

This interview with Gabriel Kuhn was conducted via email in later 2009. His excellent book Life Under the Jolly Roger: Reflections on Golden Age Piracy was published by PM Press (pmpress.org) in January 2010. I highly recommend it.

How and when did you first get interested in pirates and the golden age of piracy?

As a child, like so many others. I was always fascinated by the outlaw image of pirates, I had pirate toys, I dressed up as a pirate, etc. Incorporating that fascination into my work later on just seemed to be a natural step, if you will.

I first encountered your writing when I read "Life Under the Death's Head:
Anarchism & Piracy," in the book Women Pirates and the Politics of the Jolly Roger by Ulrike Klausmann, Marion Meinzerin and yourself (published by Black Rose in
1997). What's the relationship between that essay and the new book?

I think there are clear similarities in how I try to look at golden age piracy through a variety of social, political, and cultural theory. The big difference is that I now know much more about piracy than when I wrote that essay. This has changed my outlook in several ways. In the essay I used golden age piracy mainly as a historical backdrop onto which I projected a few general ideas about radical politics. Doing justice to the actual history of golden age pirates was much less important than propagating political beliefs.
At the end of the essay I say something like, "I know I will be accused of romanticism, but I don't care." A very flippant remark, of course, but, well, it gives you an idea of the mindset I had.
This book takes a different angle. It tries to tie certain political ideas – which are very similar to the ones in the essay, not much has changed here – much more to what the golden age pirates' reality might have actually been like. So the assessment of their politics – rather than the projection of ours as contemporary radicals – plays a more important role. One consequence of this was that most of the romanticism went out the door…

Let me pick up on this. I think that perhaps the most important thing about Life Under the Jolly Roger is the way you engage with works of radical piratology critically. I feel like you are very quick to acknowledge the strengths of the works, but also argue very strongly against what you feel they got wrong. These are often very important differences (the interpretation of the story of Captain Mission and Libertalia, and the relationship between pirates and slavery being just two examples out of many). Why is it so important to correct these idealizations? Why is it so easy to make these kinds of mistakes?

Well, personally, I wouldn't even speak of mistakes. I think one of the aspects that make work on golden age piracy so difficult – and so intriguing – is the lack of first-hand sources. We have no letters, diaries, or logbooks of pirates, no accounts of people who traveled with them or who studied them at close hand. In short, apart from the traceable material facts (approximate numbers, areas of operation, ships used, etc.), there is very little certainty when it comes to the life of golden age pirates, their motives, their social relations, their political and ethical beliefs, etc. All we can do is read the "circumstantial evidence" (newspaper clippings, court transcripts, navy records), relate it to what we know of the era's general history, add our perception of how humans behave under certain circumstances, and then come up with a picture that seems convincing and believable to us. Now different scholars will come up with different pictures, but that only makes everything more interesting.
But to answer your question about idealizations and why I find it important to correct them: I think mainly because I want a radical political movement to be a credible movement; a movement that has to be taken seriously by its opponents on an intellectual and theoretical level. Now don't get me wrong, there is a place for romanticism: romanticism inspires, motivates, and reassures, and that's all great. But I also think that there is a place for serious examination where we take a step back, breathe out, and say, "Okay, let us look at how things might have really been…" And on this level I think the ability to be self-critical is tremendously important. It makes for better discussion among ourselves as radicals and for a more productive exchange with people whose politics differ.

Are you worried that people will get offended by your critiques - either the writers themselves or radicals who hold some of these idealized notions about golden age piracy very dearly?

I am a little worried that some of the writers might misinterpret my intentions, because I'm really not out to disrespect anybody's work. I wouldn't even say that I'm criticizing much, at least not in the sense of saying that someone is "wrong" on this point or another. The work of Marcus Rediker, Peter Lamborn Wilson, or Stephen Snelders is fantastic, there is absolutely no doubt about that, and my work builds almost entirely on theirs. Most importantly, I see them as authors who share similar political ideals, and this is much more significant to me than whether we share the same view on the ethics or ideals of Blackbeard or Bartholomew Roberts.
For me, when I differ from their interpretations, it's just about different perspectives, and about a lively, constructive debate. This is what I believe takes us further as radicals interested in historical analysis and political theory. Let us take Marcus Rediker's Villains of All Nations as an example. It is without any doubt the most accomplished book written on golden age piracy, particularly from a radical angle. Of course we could just be like, "Alright, Marcus Rediker has said it all, and that's that on golden age pirates." But I think that'd be rather boring, and I can't see Marcus Rediker wishing for that either. Radical discussion needs new takes and new thoughts, and I hope I've been able to formulate some in this book. Whether they'll make sense to readers and will be considered contributions to a valuable debate is for them to decide, but I think it's necessary to try. Radical discussion must never stop or it ends being radical.
Am I worried that I might offend some readers? To be honest, I haven't given that much thought. I guess I assumed that it's clear enough that I'm writing from a radical perspective and that I'm raising questions as a comrade and not as a foe. If people don't agree with me and think that I am too negative in my view of golden age pirates, that's perfectly fine. I'm glad that there are different positions. I just wish for respect and solidarity.

You wrote: “Perhaps there was neither anarchist nor revolutionary consciousness among pirates of the golden age – but they certainly carried anarchist and revolutionary momentum” (75). Could you elaborate on what you mean by that?

I just think that it'd be hard to make a convincing case that golden age pirates were very much concerned with universal values of equality and justice or with creating a better world for all. All considered, it just doesn't seem plausible to me. Their motivating factors rather appeared to be an individual escape from oppressive structures and the pursue of a joyful life. However, this does not mean that there was nothing revolutionary about them. "Lack of consciousness" has probably been overrated as a dividing line between people who deserve the revolutionary attribute and those who don't. To me, there does lie a revolutionary – and anarchist – element or potential in the rejection of oppressive structures and the pursue of a joyful life, no matter how "individualistic." No one can take this away from the golden age pirates, and I think it's what inspires radicals to this day. So even if golden age piracy probably cannot be called a "liberation movement" based on revolutionary "consciousness," it carries what I would call a revolutionary element, potential, or, well, "momentum."

You use the work of a number of people that might not be obvious when examining the golden age of piracy. Deleuze and Guattari, Pierre Clastres, and Nietzsche, for instance. Why did you use this approach?

The answer is pretty simple, I think: I did a philosophy Ph.D. and I have always enjoyed reading theory. At the same time, I've always wanted to tie theory to issues that seemed relevant politically, instead of ending up in very isolated academic dialogue. My relationship with academia has never been easy, and I have had very little to do with it since finishing my university studies almost fifteen years ago. If you will, this book is an example of trying to make theory meaningful not only to academics but also to people who share common interests – in this case, an interest in pirates and/or radical politics – but never had the time or motivation to read up on this stuff. Among the nicest compliments I can get is someone telling me, "This is the first time Foucault (or whoever) really grabbed my attention."

Ultimately what lessons do you think radicals can draw from the golden age of piracy?

I lay this out in more detail in the last chapter of the book, but the core aspects are: 1. The rejection of authority and of dominant social norms. This seems an essential aspect of any radical engagement. 2. The golden age pirates' internal social structure that stands as an extraordinary experiment in egalitarianism and direct democracy. It's not to be idealized as it was exclusive, i.e. the guiding principles were only shared among crew members and did not extend to others, but it is nonetheless a shining and inspiring example of radical self-determination. 3. The "libidinal" dimension of golden age pirate life which I consider indispensable for making radical politics attractive. You gotta have fun being a radical. A boring society is hardly worth fighting for, and it will not endure either. It's like that famous Emma Goldman quote, "If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution." I think the golden age pirates were always up for a good dance.
Besides these central points, there are a few other aspects: For example, the "Temporary Autonomous Zones" that the pirates created in the sense of Hakim Bey. Then their challenge to the control of space which renders terms like "pirate radio" very apt. And a number of important economic aspects, like the rejection of both the wage labor system and capitalist production (which allows to draw interesting parallels to modern-day dumpster divers, freegans, etc.), or the undermining of ownership rights (which today continues in the form of piracy as "copyright violation").
There are a lot of lessons to draw from golden age pirates for contemporary radicals, no doubt. As I argue in the book, though, the decisive question is how we can turn these lessons into effective politics today. The golden age pirates are no model for a free and just society for all, due to ever changing historical circumstances, their own contradictions, and also their special relationship to the sea. They carry the said revolutionary "momentum," but today this has to be brought to life by those who want to defend this legacy. In this context, crucial is not whether the golden age pirates were revolutionary, but how we and future generations can keep their legacy a revolutionary one. This has no longer to do with projection – it is a matter of adaptation.

What do you think about contemporary piracy, especially off the coast of Somalia?

I know very little about it. I don't think it has much to do with what I'm studying in this book, because for me the central feature of the golden age pirates is their lack of home, their "nomadism," if you will. All that the golden age pirates really had were their ships. They came indeed, as the traditional pirate greeting indicates, "from the sea." This distinguishes them from all other famous pirate communities, including the North African corsairs in the 16th century, the pirate syndicates of the South China Sea in the 19th, or contemporary pirates along the Horn of Africa.
To me, the approach of studying the latter wouldn't differ much from the general study of bandit groups with strong roots and acceptance in local communities. Personally, I think that the work of Eric Hobsbawm remains unsurpassed here. Of course there are tactical and strategic differences between bandits operating in the desert, in the forest, or on the sea, but the overall social dimensions of their actions are very similar, I believe. It is the nomadic character of the golden age pirates that makes them a unique social phenomenon and demands specific analysis.
But to give you an answer about Somali piracy based on the little I do know, I would say that it is a consequence of three overlapping factors, namely a dire social situation, war, and imperialism. Somalis wouldn't turn to piracy in the same numbers if it wasn't an economic necessity; they wouldn't have the weapons and the militaristic know-how if they hadn't been surrounded by war for nearly two decades now; and they had less justification for their attacks if there wasn't a sense that international maritime trade was plundering their resources. Whether this creates a social movement of sorts with promising political dimensions, I'm not sure. There are certainly anti-imperialist and anti-colonial aspects, and there is a sense of self-determination, but I don't know whether we're looking at any attempt here to actually alter the structure of Somali society. It is certainly an interesting development to observe for anyone interested in piracy, and we will see where it is headed.

In addition to Life Under the Jolly Roger you've written a lot! You have a forthcoming book of Gustav Landauer translations on PM Press. Also a forthcoming book about hardcore, straight edge, and radical politics on PM as well. You translated Klaus Viehmann's Prison Round Trip, wrote a pamphlet on anarchist football (soccer) and more I've missed. And that's just your English language output. It seems like you're even more prolific in German. What ties all your work together?

A passion to work with texts in whatever shape or form. Not to sound corny, but I've loved writing and putting together journals since I was very young, and this just seems to be a continuation. Whether it's working as an author, translator, or editor, it's all fun to me. Obviously this doesn't mean that things automatically turn out great, but it means that I keep on trying. Since I've been able to strongly focus on publishing work over the last few years – after a decade of permanent traveling which drew a lot of time and energy – I guess I've been able to get a few projects done.
As far as the different themes go that I've been working on – whether it's pirates, straight edge, anarchist history, or soccer – I would say that with almost everything I'm interested in I eventually reach the point where I'm asking myself how I could turn this into a publishing project. Then I develop ideas, and if I'm lucky enough some publisher picks them up.

So why did you want to write this particular book, and why now?

To be honest, this book would not have been written without Ramsey Kanaan, the founder of PM Press. Whether he'll live to cherish or regret this, I don't know, but the book really was his initiative.
I knew Ramsey from distributing Alpine Anarchist pamphlets through AK (Alpine Anarchist Productions is a DIY publishing project I founded in 2000), and when he started PM we exchanged ideas on a few possible projects. In that context, Ramsey brought up Women Pirates and the Politics of the Jolly Roger, the book that you mentioned before, and asked whether I wouldn't want to do something on pirates again. I hadn't given working on pirates a thought in a long time, but it seemed like a fun idea and I went to work. It took a little while before I knew where I was heading, but not least thanks to Ramsey's interventions, I eventually embarked on a path that felt right. As far as the outcome is concerned, that's for others to say.

Any last comments?

Thanks for the invitation to contribute to No Quarter, and keep up the important work! The internet is fine and all, but a vibrant underground culture needs some good old zines!

No Quarter #4 and more

2009-04-28T15:38:00.000-07:00

Out Now: No Quarter #4. Also No Quarter Pamphlet Series #2 : Trevor Bark - Crime Becomes Custom, Custom Becomes Crime and No Quarter Pamphlet Series #3 : Omasius Gorgut - Poor Man's Heaven, The Land of Cokaygne: A 14th Century Utopian Vision. Still available: No Quarter 1-3. If anyone really wants From Idle Hands The Devil's Work #1 I might have a couple left. No Quarter #1 & 2 are still available from AK Press too. email me if you are interested in any of the above (captainmissionismycopilot {at} @hotmail .com), although I am a little less than reliable when it comes to email. I don't currently do anything hi-tech like paypal. I often like trades. The Land of Cokaygne pamphlet may be available soon from Past Tense, and an earlier version is available from them for free download. Trevor Bark may have copies of his pamphlet and the text is here. Also, special thanks to breviary stuff, they are very nice to No Quarter and also I steal all the scans they do of the covers.

Sad News

2009-04-15T05:59:00.000-07:00

Franklin Rosemont, surrealist poet and historian is dead. Born October 2, 1943 and died April 12 at 65. Franklin was a prolific editor, author and poet, and co-founder of the Chicago Surrealist Group. Closely associated with Black Swan Books and Charles H Kerr and published dozens of books. Sad news indeed. Here is a nice obit on the ak press blog.

Calgary Anarchist Bookfair 2009

2009-03-20T06:20:00.000-07:00

I will be at the 2009 Calgary Anarchist Bookfair April 24, 25, and 26 !

It's at the Rehabilitation Society of Calgary #7 11 St NE (a short walk east from Bridgeland c-train station, it's the building with lots of nice murals on the north side of Memorial Drive)
http://bookfair.anarchistservices.ca/
Book Vendors from across Canada, workshops, movies, plus a keynote speaker. No charge for admission. Free Vegan food.

Friday, April 24
- Vendors - 2pm - 7pm
- Workshops
- Keynote speaker - Ron Sakolsky* - 7pm - 9pm
- Acoustic Show - 10 pm - late

Saturday, April 25
- Vendors - 10am - 7pm
- Workshops
- 4th Annual People's Prom - 8:30pm - late

Sunday, April 26
- Pancake Breakfast, Anti-2010 Olympics flyering, and hanging out

*Ron will share his ideas on wilderness, the green scare, miserabilism, pirate radio, resistance, visionary thinking, utopia and the art of demanding the impossible. His past books include: Gone To Croatan: Origins of North American Drop-Out Culture; Sounding Off: Music as Subversion/Resistance/Revolution; Seizing the Airwaves; Surrealist Subversions, and Creating Anarchy. His latest book, *Swift Winds* (Eberhardt Press, 2009) is a backpocket compendium of outrageous ideas, subversive tracts, mutinous manifestos, spitfire rants, polemical broadsides, incendiary poems and utopian visions. This volatile mixture is strategically aimed at countering authoritarian thinking with the surreal laughter of the insurgent imagination in flight. Currently, he is involved as a co-editor (with Andrea Langlois and Marian van der Zon) of an anthology scheduled for a 2010 release by New Star Press, to be entitled, *Islands of Resistance: Pirate Radio in Canada*.

Very excited about Ron's talk. I just got his new book, and its awesome. There will likely be a new zine or two from me, although no guarantees what...

Dead Somali Pirates and a Mystery

2008-09-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

Somewhat sketchy reports about Somali pirates hijacking an Iranian vessel for ransom and then falling sick and some dying. A Sept 28th report claims "Somali pirates suffered skin burns, lost hair and fell gravely ill 'within days' of boarding the MV Iran Deyanat. Some of them died". There is some question as to what the cargo is. "The vessel’s declared cargo consists of 'minerals' and 'industrial products'. But officials involved in negotiations over the ship are convinced that it was sailing for Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia’s Islamist rebels". FoxNews.com has picked up on the story publishing a story with the cautious title Mysterious Cargo Aboard Iranian Ship Seized by Pirates Raises WMD Concerns. Perhaps the Somali pirates should now be considered allies in the Global War on Terror.

Off With Their Heads !!!

2008-09-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

Bristol Radical History Week 2008
Off With Their Heads: Assassins, Plots & Regicide
Saturday 25th October – Tuesday 4th November 2008
With both Canada and the United States in the midst of a deluge of electoral politicking it is nice that our friends at the Bristol Radical History Group offer us an alternative to the banal bleating of liars of different stripes. We can examine with them how people in the past dealt with presidents, ministers and kings. And like all their events, it looks very good!

The Works of James Naylor

2008-09-16T17:53:00.000-07:00

One of the most fascinating figures of the English Revolution was James Naylor. He is perhaps best remembered for his ride into Bristol in 1656 emulating Jesus' ride into Jerusalem. Some of Naylor's companions sang Holy Holy Holy as he rode. He was arrested, convicted of blasphemy, and nearly executed. Parliament showed mercy, and instead flogged him, branded his forehead with the letter B for blasphemy, and stuck a red hot poker through his tongue. Plus two years hard labor.
Naylor was also quite a writer and his works are getting the deluxe treatment from Quaker Heritage Press. So far three volumes have been published, with a fourth and final volume in preparation. In addition they have been so kind to put the full text of the volumes on the internet! QHP have also published the works of Naylor's contemporary Isaac Penington, as well as a lot of other interesting material, all or most of which is available online too. Thank you Quaker Heritage Press.

A Few Things

2008-09-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

One- Bristol Radical History Group has posted mp3s of the talks from Down With Fences. So far I've only listened to Peter Linebaugh's talk about his most recent book Magna Carta Manifesto: Liberty and Commons for All (which I've just finished reading, it's good), and George Caffentzis talking about an older book, Clipped Coins: John Locke's Philosophy of Money (which I haven't read, but maybe I will now). The rest of the talks seem equally good. They've also published three pamphlets: Cry Freedom, Cry Seven Stars: Thomas Clarkson In Bristol, 1787 by Mark Steeds, We Come For Our Own And We Shall Have It - Smuggling In Poole And Dorset by Kevin Davis, and A Brief History Of Corporations - Where Did They Come From? By Dan Bennett & Andy Singer. I haven't seen any of them yet, but they seem awesome.

Two- Our friends at Breviary stuff have taken the time amidst posts about anti-enclosure riots, Elizabethan Rogues and Vagabonds and awesome books (seriously, please check out the current books list) to post about No Quarter #3.

Three- I've just seen Anja Kirchner's new film Trail of the Spider. So Awesome! "Trail of the Spider is a 55 minute Western that collides the suppressed multi-racial history of the American frontier with the conflicts breaking up East London today." Couldn't have said it better myself.

No Quarter #3 Out Now!

2008-04-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

No Quarter #3 Out Now! Pick one up at the calgary anarchist bookfair or email me:
captainmissionismycopilot [at] hotmail (dot) com

Down With The Fences! The Struggle for the Global Commons

2008-04-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

Our friends of the Bristol Radical History Group have a wonderful event coming up. Down With The Fences! The Struggle for the Global Commons is happening May 1st to 11th and is packed full of excellent talks, workshops and picnics. They always do a great job of balancing the microcosm and the macrocosm, so they have a bunch of stuff very local to Bristol and surrounding areas, talks relating to the whole of England as well as international struggles. Please check out the programme and be stoked.
Also, I've posted about it before, but recordings of the talks from Bristol Radical History Week 2006 can be downloaded here. And the programme for BRHW 2007 is here, and if you click on the details for each talk there are mp3s as well.
As if this wasn't enough BRHG news, there is also an interview in No Quarter #3 (which will be out in less than 7 days!!!).

Calgary Anarchist Bookfair

2008-04-04T21:03:00.000-07:00

The Calgary Anarchist Bookfair is coming up April 25-27. No Quarter #3 will be out by then, and consequently I'm doing a workshop:
Anarchy and the Golden Age of Piracy / Polly II: Plan for Revolution in the Docklands aka The (un)official No Quarter #3 zine release workshop.
Looking at the Golden Age of Piracy (roughly the 1680s-1720s) from an anarchist perspective. What do we make of Blackbeard, Sam Bellamy, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, Bart Roberts, Captain Mission and the rest? This workshop draws on standard pirate history as well as the work of radical historians such as Marcus Rediker, Peter Linebaugh, Christopher Hill, Peter Lamborn Wilson, Stephen Snelders, and Larry Law. It is also the release party for No Quarter (an anarchist zine about pirates) #3, and will feature special limited edition Calgary Anarchist Bookfair only No Quarter stuff (which will remain a secret until the bookfair). To celebrate we'll also be showing Polly II: Plan for Revolution in the Docklands (30 min.), a wonderful film by British film maker Anja Kirschner. "Polly II" is a near future tale of squatters flooded east end London fighting against corporate real estate development, becoming pirates and building a revolution.

Also of note at the bookfair is that Friends of Ann Clayborne distro will be tabling (extremely important I know), and the keynote speaker will be John Zerzan!

Bold Robin Hood

2008-03-04T21:21:00.000-08:00

Last year at the Edmonton Anarchist Bookfair some friends of mine gave me a copy of Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Tales edited by Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren. This book is an amazing source for the original source material for the world's most famous outlaw. It has all the early ballads, Robin Hood plays, and many of the later ballads. It has notes to explain the context, but mostly these texts are left to stand alone. So I have been reading bits and pieces for the past seven months or so and thoroughly enjoying myself.
I've come across some good resources in these months, some of which I will hopefully talk about at my other blog at some point. I did want to mention a very good website: Robin Hood - Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood. So much material! Please do check this website out if you have any interest in Robin Hood.

Friends of Ann Clayborne distro list

2007-10-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

Here is the list of what I have for my distro that I'm bringing to Edmonton for the Anarchist bookfair. I'm also going to brings some of my personal books that I'm getting rid of. If you are going to be at the Edmonton bookfair and want me to bring you something from the list then email me:
captainmissionismycopilot [AT] hotmail [dot} com

Jacques Baynac - The Story of Tatiana (Black & Red) $9
Fredy Perlman - Worker-Student Action Committees: France,May ’68 (Black & Red) $5
John Zerzan & J. Munis - Unions Against Revolution (Black & Red) $2.50
Fredy Perlman - The Strait (Black & Red) $10
Fredy Perlman - The Continuing Appeal of Nationalism (Black & Red) $3
Fredy Perlman - Against His-story, Against Leviathan! (Black & Red) $8
Jacques Camatte - The Wandering of Humanity (Black & Red) $2.50
Fredy Perlman - Anti-Semitism and the Beirut Pogrom (Black & Red) $1.50
Fredy Perlman - Reproduction of Daily Life (Black & Red) $2
Loraine PerlmanHaving Little Having Much (Black & Red) $6
Henri Simon - Poland 1980-82 (Black & Red) $5
David Watson - Beyond Bookchin (Black & Red) $7
Wildcat! Dodge Truck (Black & Red) $2.50
Taylor Sparrow - A Problem of Memory: Stories to End the Racial Nightmare (Eberhardt Press) $10
Catherine Marie Jeunet - Reclaiming Our Ancient Wisdom: Herbal Abortion Procedure and Practice for Midwives and Herbalists (Eberhardt Press) $4
At Daggers Drawn (Eberhardt Press) $4
A Crime Called Freedom: Writings of Os Cangaceiros Vol. I (Eberhardt Press) $6
Shon Meckfessel - SUFFLED HOW IT GUSH: A North American Anarchist in the Balkans (Eberhardt Press) $12
Criminal: Writings by Isabelle Eberhardt (Eberhardt Press) $4
Fredy Perlman - Progress and Nuclear Power: The Destruction of the Continent and Its Peoples (Eberhardt Press) $1
Fire To The Powder Keg: War And Social Guerilla War in Iraq (Eberhardt Press) $6
Communicating Vessels #16 $3
Communicating Vessels #17 $3
Communicating Vessels #18 $3
Communicating Vessels Anthology $10
No Quarter #1 $2
No Quarter #2 $3
FIHTDW:RIOH #1 $2
Stuart Christie – Granny Made Me an Anarchist (Scribner) $10
Green Anarchy #23 $4
Green Anarchy #24 $4
It’s Not Books, Nor High Marks. What We Lack is Life: 2 Documents From the 1998 Student-Teacher Tumult in Greece $1
An Introduction To The Situationists $1
Towards the Distruction of Schooling $1
Feral Forager $1
Species Traitor #3 $3
Memories of Freedom by the Western Wildlife Unit of the Animal Liberation Front $3
We Are All Hooligans: Youth Revolt in France, March 1994 $2
Albania: Laboratory of Subversion $2
The Rebellion In Los Angeles: The Context of a Proletarian Uprising $1
The Anarchist Tension $1
Critical Thinking as an Anarchist Weapon $2
At Daggers Drawn $2
Fawda: On The Situation in Palestine $1
The Insurrectional Project $2
Armed Joy $1
The Undesirables $1
Autonomous Self-Organization and Anarchist Intervention $1
Insurrectionary Anarchy: Organizing to Attack $0.25
Dreams of Insurrection $0.25

I'm selling books, cds, records etc

2007-10-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

This blog is mostly about my zines, but the next best thing to my zines is buying books from me!
Here is the link. Of course, it pretty much only applies if you live in Calgary (or Edmonton if you contact me before October 26th and come to the Edmonton Anarchist Bookfair to pick them up) because I'm probably not going to ship them to you (although you could ask I guess). They are good books at good prices. Please check it out.

Pirates, Witches & Smugglers

2007-10-04T19:17:00.000-07:00

October 27th - November 4th is Radical History week in Bristol, put on by the Bristol Radical History Group. Oh how I wish I was going! Speakers include Marcus Rediker, Stephen Snelders (author of The Devil's Anarchy: The Other Loose Roving Way of Life & Very Remarkable Travels of Jan Erasmus Reyning, Buccaneer, on Autonomedia, which is excellent), and Sylvia Federici (author of Caliban and the Witch: Women, The Body, and Primitive Accumulation, also on Autonomedia, as well as several other interesting looking books). There are a bunch of other speakers who I'm not familiar with but who have very interesting seeming topics (As I alluded to in the title of this post the theme is Pirates, Witches & Smugglers). Should be amazingly rad.

Instead of Bristol I will be in Canada, up at the Edmonton Anarchist book fair. I'll have a bunch of excellent distro items which I'll post about soon. Ward Churchill is speaking at the fair, which is exciting too.

Also, a somewhat recent article about modern day piracy in the Strait of Malacca. Pretty interesting.

Also, Make Magazine has a Halloween Special out. Not radical in any way really, but DIY in a very you-need-skills-to-do-this-shit way, but still lots of pretty fun Halloween stuff that is not focused on buying costumes or pre-fab decorations.

Also, through Scarstuff (which I posted about before) I found Mostly Ghostly Music Sharing Blaaahhhggg!!! which has been posting some interesting Halloween records and related material.

A Few Things

2007-08-27T16:30:00.000-07:00

AK Press is sold out of No Quarter #1 (I think), but will soon have copies of #1 and #2.

No Quarter #2 got a very nice review in MRR #292 (September 2007) and was in the Zine Top Ten.

Breviary Stuff (formerly daWB>> fragmented) wrote a post about No Quarter #2. It also happens to be a very interesting blog.

There is an article about modern piracy at Smithsonian.com. Pretty interesting stuff. Link.

I just got Peter Lamborn Wilson's CROSS-DRESSING IN THE ANTI-RENT WAR from Portable Press @ Yo-Yo Labs (here's the book). A beautiful and wonderful book of poetry about a number of interesting topics including the Calico Indians and the anti-rent war, Charles Fourier, utopian experiments in New York State, the Hudson River School (also mentioned in Kim Stanley Robinson's Sixty Days and Counting which I recently finished), and much more. If you don't like poetry but do like Peter Lamborn Wilson then I suspect you would still like this. You can also listen to him read from these poems at the Bowery Poetry Club December 17, 2005 here.

No Quarter #2 links

2007-05-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of links not included in No Quarter #2
Marcus Rediker's web site.
Pirate Utopias: Under the Banner of King Death. An article from Do or Die #8 (also an article about the Luddites from issue 6).
Bristol Radical History Group.
The International Chamber of Commerce weekly piracy report.
daWB>> fragmented.

Links for No Quarter #2

2007-04-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

I didn't include a list of websites in the print zine because if you have the internet (and obviously you do if you are reading this) then its easier to follow the links here than type out long urls.

Illegalism
Doug Imrie wrote an article called The Illegalists for Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed #41 Winter 1995. Its online here.
A critical, and only slightly interesting essay by Emile Armand called
Is the Illegalist Anarchist our Comrade? (written in 1911) is posted here.
Here the French movie La Bande a Bonnot is here in its entirety (but without English subtitles) on Brightcove which seems like a youtube clone. Christie Books is the user who posted it.
They also posted newsreel footage about the Bonnot Gang narrated by someone who sounds suspiciously like Stuart Christie.
Here is a french site with nice pictures from newspapers at the time.
If you want a basic introduction to the illegalists keep reading or read the Doug Imrie article. You could also check whatever source you usually check (wiki-whatever etc.).

Here is the short introduction I wrote for the translation of a piece by Octave Garnier in No Quarter #2.

The illegalist milieu developed in French anarchist circles in the first years of the 20th century. France was still reeling from bombings and assassinations committed by anarchist practitioners of propaganda by the deed* such as Ravachol and Emile Henry in the 1890s. Individualist anarchists, despite their critique of syndicalist and worker based anarchist activities were still forced to sell their labour for pennies or starve. A small number sought to remedy this by re-acquiring some of the wealth stolen from them by stealing it back. This developed into the theory of la reprise individuelle*. Anarchists such as Marius Jacob took up burglary rather than wait until after the revolution to live life. Jacob operated one of the most successful burglary rings in Europe prior to his arrest. A portion of the money was funnelled back to the anarchist movement to support prisoners and publish newspapers. In 1905 he was sentenced to life imprisonment in French Guiana. He was released in 1927.

In 1911 a group coalesced around Jules Bonnot and Octave Garnier that would be responsible for some of the most spectacular crimes in French history. The were the first group to use an automobile to flee the scene of a crime. Bonnot had acquired his driving skill while chauffeuring for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.

Octave Garnier was born near Paris on Christmas Day 1889 and died in a shootout with police on May 14, 1912 at the age of 22. Every attempt has been made to preserve the spirit of his writing here. It is not polished anarchist theory. It is rushed, full of mistakes and run-on sentences. It is defiant and unapologetic. We present it here as a small contribution to the literature on illegalism in the English language which is extremely insufficient. A short (and hopefully incomplete) bibliography of English Language material follows this translation.

*Propaganda by the deed is basically the theory that assassination of politicians, industrialists, or police could be the catalyst of a more general revolt. For instance, the assassination of Czarist officials in Russia by anarchists was hoped to spark a revolutionary uprising.

*La reprise individuelle is the theory that since the bourgeois and the rich obtained their wealth through exploitation of the lower classes, individuals are justified in redistributing wealth on a small scale (i.e. stealing it back) rather than waiting for a general redistribution “after the revolution”.

No Quarter #2 Out Now!!!

2007-04-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

No Quarter #2 is out now. I got it done just in time for the Calgary Anarchist bookfair. It will be available soon from Haymarket Cafe in Calgary and currently from C.H.U.D. in Edmonton. Its 60 pages half legal and $3 in person $4 through the mail to Canada/U.S. Email me for details captainmissionismycopilot [AT] hotmail [dot] COM

No Quarter #2 coming soon!!!

2007-03-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

That's right! Issue 2 of No Quarter should be out by early May, perhaps sooner. Until then I've posted a few things that will be in the issue. Here is a review of Frances Yates - The Rosicrucian Enlightenment (1972, Routledge Classics 2001).
Somewhat related to that check out a bunch of illstrations from Robert Fludd's De Naturae Simia, published in the first quarter of the 15th century. It is on the always interesting bibliodyssey.
Robert Fludd was an English alchemist who is a bit of a central figure in The Rosicrucian Enlightenment.

I should also note that both No Quarter #1 and From Idle Hands the Devils Work #1 were reviewed in MRR #286 (March 2007) and got critical but good reviews. It seems unlikely that I'll post them anytime soon because I'm trying to get No Quarter #2 out, but at some point I'll type them out... Oh, and both were in the Zine Top 10. Of course, they only reviewed 25 zines in the issue, but I'm still happy about it.

A Micronation of Pirates

2007-01-15T17:14:00.000-08:00

People for The Pirate Bay, a really cool bit torrent/copyright liberation type sight have entered into negotiations with the government(sic) of Sealand (official site, wikipedia entry) to buy it or transfer sovereignty or however you sell your semi-legal semi-nation to a bunch of Swedish anti-copyright swashbucklers. The Pirate Bay people are soliciting donations to this end. I'm not sure how serious a possibility this is but they say they will use any money raised to buy an island to found their own micronation if Sealand doesn't pan out. No word yet if they plan to change Sealand's name to Libertalia. I'd like to point out that while the notion of micronations is not anarchist it is also not statist. In fact it is to a large extent a critique of the legitacy of the state. There is lots of interesting discussions happening on the buy sealand site. Check it out.

Scarstuff!!!

2007-01-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

Here is an excellent blog relating to Halloween and halloween music!!!

some books i've recently obtained

2007-01-01T13:57:00.000-08:00

I’ve recently picked up a number of very exciting used books which are relevant to this project:

John Humphrey Noyes – Strange Cults & Utopias of 19th Century America
First published in 1870 as History of American Socialisms, this is the lovely Dover edition first reprinted in 1966. Noyes was the founder of the Oneida community, and offers a sympathetic look at the history of 48 utopian socialist communities in the U.S.
Pretty cool stuff.

Mark Poster (ed) – Harmonian Man: Selected Writings of Charles Fourier.
Almost all the communities examined in Noyes’ book were influenced by the work of Robert Owen or Charles Fourier, often both. This is a nice paperback collection published by Doubleday Anchor in 1971. Its amazing how many radical books were published by mainstream publishers in the mid sixties to mid seventies. This seems like a pretty good selection of Fourier’s writings on knowledge, society, work, sex, and education, although missing much of his weirder stuff on evolution, aesthetics, food etc. Books like this are why I haunt used bookstores.

Abeizer Coppe – Selected Writings
Many thanks to Andrew Hopton (ed) and Aporia Press for publishing this handsome edition in 1987. Coppe was perhaps the best know of the Ranters, proto-anarchist religious radicals in the English Revolution. Coppe is best known (by the few who know him) for A Fiery Flying Roll (late 1649 or Jan 1650), a wonderfully scurrilous, vulgar, and poetic pamphlet which was burned by parliament shortly after its publication and lead to Coppe’s arrest. Luckily a few copies escaped the fire and made it to us. Excerpts were first re -published in the appendix to Norman Cohn’s wonderful The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages (1956). Here Andrew Hopton gives us (I believe) all of Abeizer Coppe’s extant writings. I’m so very excited to get this book!!!

Norman Cohn – Europe’s Inner Demons: The Demonization of Christians in Medieval Christendom.
I happened upon this book in a used bookstore the day after I finished Pursuit of the Millennium. I was very excited to note that Cohn considers this book to be a sort of companion to Pursuit of the Millennium. This is also one of the most important books criticizing Margaret Murray’s theories about Witchcraft and her Witch Cult in Western Europe.

Raoul Vaneigem – The Movement of the Free Spirit
Vaneigem was of course the author of The Revolution of Everyday Life, and with Guy Debord the most important theorist of the Situationists. Here he writes about the Movement of the Free Spirit, a radical antinomian sect which existed from the middle ages until the 1500s and which Norman Cohn considers to be precursors of the Ranters. This book looks awesome.

Andrew Bradstock & Christopher Rowland – Radical Christian Writings: A Reader
This book covers a lot of ground but we are particularly interested with excerpts of writers including John Ball, one of the leaders of the peasant uprising in England in 1381, the early Anabaptist including Thomas Muntzer, Anna Jansz and others, members of the Family of Love, Early Baptists, Levelers, Diggers, Ranters, Fifth Monarchist, Early Quakers and other radicals around the English Revolution. As I said this book covers a lot of ground and the excerpts are generally quite short, but this is a great collection none the less.

Bulldozing the Great Pyramids (of Georgia)

2006-12-24T12:02:00.000-08:00

An interesting and depressing story from BoingBoing linking to the Oxford American (unfortunately Oxford American doesn’t have permanent links to their stories so I’m only linking to BoingBoing) about the destruction of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors compound in Putnam County, Georgia. The UNNM were (I’m assuming the sect is past tense because their leader Malachi Z. York is currently in prison for RICO, child molestation, and tax related charges. No offence intended) related to the Nation of Islam and Moorish Science (but not the Moorish Orthodox Church as reported on BoingBoing), and very into ancient Egyptian mythology and UFOs. Anyhow, I first heard of the Nuwaubians in UFO Religions by Christopher Partridge (ed). The article “The United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors” by Theodore Gabriel reminded me a lot of Peter Lamborn Wilson’s essay about Moorish Science in Sacred Drift: Essays on the Margins of Islam. Gabriel’s article paints the sect in a very positive light and I was very disheartened (although not surprised) to hear that York had been convicted of sex and tax charges and was in prison. The Oxford American article has a lot of amazing pictures and is well worth checking out.

Halloween Horror Movie choices

2006-10-28T16:31:00.000-07:00

After you’re done trick or treating (some emphasize the treat, some the trick) this year you might want to settle down and watch a horror movie. Here are some suggestions:

In her interview Hanna (of Ax Wound zine) mentioned Ginger Snaps, May, Nightmare on Elm Street, Slumber Party Massacre, I Spit on Your Grave (with caution due to tough rapes scenes), Dead Alive, Re-animator, Evil Dead and Army of Darkness.

On the H. P. Lovecraft tip (in addition to Re-animator) definitely check out Call of Cthulhu, which is a faux silent film (or more accurately a modern silent film made to look like a classic silent film. I recently re-watched In The Mouth of Madness, which holds up pretty well I think. I have yet to watch several recent adaptations: Beyond the Wall of Sleep, Dreams from the Witches House (directed by Stuart Gordon, who directed the excellent Re-animator, the ok From Beyond, and the terrible Dagon), and Cool Air. Cool Air is a selection from the annual H. P. Lovecraft film festival and seems very interesting.
Or if you are feeling a little more on the brain eating side of things please watch Dellamore Dellamorte (aka Cemetary Man). In case you ever wondered what film Winnipeg hc band Malefaction was sampling on that one album… I forget what it was called. The one with the pentagram and no jewel case. Of course Dawn of the Dead (hopefully I don’t need to say this but, the original). Zombi 2/Zombie is pretty good Halloween watching fare. I recently watched Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love and thought it was excellent. If you are more in a hopping zombie mood check out Mr. Vampire (or any of the sequals). Plague of the Zombies is one of the best Hammer films. There are shitloads of new zombie films out too. I have no idea if they are worth watching. Maybe I’ll check one out on Halloween night. More likely I’ll be watching Cool Air.
I also wanted to mention Charm, the long awaited film released by Kill Rock Stars. Very beautiful and interesting movie. Sort of a slasher, in an unconventional shot on Super 8 sort of way.
I also want to see Alucarda, a Mexican horror (and source of the image on the Kirsk shirt), and any of the Indian horrors of the Ramsey Brothers. I’ve been searching the DVD bins at local South Asian grocery stores to no avail so far. Mondo Macabra has also released a double feature of two of their films Purana Mandir and Band Darwaza.
I’m sure you all have your favorites too. Have a good Halloween and hand out lots of candy (or maybe make up a bunch of dvdrs of your fave horror movies and give those out to trick or treaters too. Maybe leave I Spit on Your Grave off that list).

Radio Free School Halloween episode

2006-10-28T16:28:00.000-07:00

The most recent episode of Radio Free School is there Halloween episode. Download it here. Past Halloween episodes are here and here. But to read the interview with Randy of Radio Free School you’ll just have to get a copy of the zine.

From Idle Hands the Devil's Work: OUT NOW!!!!!

2006-10-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

Its finally out! From Idle Hands The Devil’s Work: Radical Interpretations of Halloween. The official release date was Monday October 16th, 2006. I had them at the Regulations show. A few people bought them. The first printing at least is on nice Halloween orange covers. 32 pp, half legal. Stuff about the history of Halloween, costumes, dressing up and revolution, interviews with Hannah of Ax Wound, a feminist horror film zine, and Randy, one of the people who does Radio Free School, a radio show on CFMU in Hamilton about unschooling/free schooling. It has vegan Halloween treats and a Halloween manifesto from the Knights of Eris and another Halloween Manifest from the ASSOCIATION FOR ONTOLOGICAL ANARCHY. In other words, it’s a stacked issue and you should get it. If you live outside of Calgary email me for details:
captainmissionismycopilot [AT]hotmail [dot]com
If you live in Calgary its available from me (email me for details if you need to) and hopefully it will be available from Haymarket café/books. They carry No Quarter and are rad folks.

I've posted a couple things from the zine here. Hope you like.

fuck talk like a pirate day!

2006-09-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

Q. What did the writer of this blog slip into the drink of the inventors of talk like a pirate day?
A. Arrrrrsenic.

Also, there is a new book about Jewish Pirates coming out. Here is a link. IT looks pretty interesting.

Reviews

2006-08-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of posting some reviews for the zines. They can be found here.

Edmonton Anarchist Bookfair

2006-08-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

So, I'm going to be up in Edmonton September 1st-3rd for the Edmonton Anarchist Bookfair (link here). Me, my zine, and my distro. I'll post a list of what I'll be bringing for the distro soon. Hope to see you there

I just got an order from Eberhardt Press today. So I have the following titles for the ol' distro:

Shuffled How it Gush: A North American Anarchist in the Balkans by Shon Meckfessel (pb 235 pages)
Fire To The Powder Keg: War and Social Guerilla Struggle in Iraq trans Wolfi Landstreicher (pb 116 pages)
N'Drea: One Woman's Fight to Die Her Own Way by Andrea Dorea (pb 83 pg)
Criminal by Isabelle Eberhardt (pamphlet 40 pgs)
Eberhardt Press Review #2
Free to Chose: A Guide to Reproductive Freedom (pamphlet 23 pages)
InTerrorGation: The CIA's Secret Manual on Coersive Questioning

I also have some other titles:
Green Anarchy #23, Trees #1, Dreams of Insurrection, Feral Forager #1, Alfredo M. Bonanno - Armed Joy, The Undesirables, Alfredo M. Bonanno - The Insurrectional Project, Insurrectionary Anarchy: Organizing for Attack, Albania: Labratory of Subversion, The Aufheben Group - The Rebellion in Los Angeles: The Context of a Proletarian Uprising, The Friends of Al-Halladj - Fawda: On the Situation in Palestine, Wolfi Landstreicher - Autonomous Self-Organization and Anarchist Intervention, At Daggers Drawn: With the Existent, its defenders, and false critics, "Nous Sommes Tous Des Casseurs" "We Are All Hooligans": Youth Revolt in France, March 1994, As Darkness Falls: An Animal Liberation Front Primer, Feral Revolution: Writings of Feral Faun, and of course: No Quarter: An anarchist Zine about Pirates #1

a few notable websites

2006-07-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the website for Ax Wound, Hanna's feminist horror zine. It is rad.
Banning pointed me to the weekly piracy report. What's happening in the world of sea robbery today.
Marcus Rediker is one of the best historians writing today. And he writes a lot about pirates.
The Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade is a wonderful radio show on WBAI. Its archived here so you can download it. Peter Lamborn Wilson is a former host and it is currently hosted by Bill Weinberg. Bill is a contributor to World War 4 Report, a very good news site about the war on terror and related issues.

No Quarter: An Anarchist Zine about Pirates

2006-07-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

So here is the blog to accompany my print zine by the same name. Hopefully people will find this page if they are looking for info about my zine.
One major thing to note is that the address in the review in Anarchy Magazine is not correct. Please email me for a current address:
captainmissionismycopilot [at] hotmail [dot] com

This is a link to some of the content from issue one.
Its available for $2 in person or $3 through the mail.

(The logo was made here)

Anarchy AJODA Review

1999-08-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

There was a review in the second most recent issue of Anarchy. I haven't typed it out yet, not because it is a negative revie (and it is quite negative) but because it is very long. Hopefully soon. If anyone has seen a review anywhere other than HeartattaCk or Anarchy let me know!

From HeartattaCk #50

1999-08-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

No Quarter 7x8.5 $3 44pgs
This ‘zine relates current day anarchists and rebels to pirates of the 17th and 18th centuries, while including great illustrations from the time and also with interviews with current day rebels and anarchists. The ‘zine has 2 interviews, the first with Ramsey (of AK Press) and Bruno (the founder of Nabat books) and the second with Emily Pohl-Weary (a writer of stories and comics inspired by rebel pirates). Both interviews are an entertaining read. My favorite part of the ‘zine includes a photocopied pamphlet of the history of the life of Captain Mission (titled “A True Historie & Account Of The Pyrate Captain Mission, His Crew & Their Colony of Libertatia… Retold by Larry Law”). He was a pirate who supposedly set up a colony called Libertatia, which was the first anarchist-like colony in pirate times. The story of his life is really interesting and quite enjoyable. The rest of the zine contains in depth reviews of books the author has read, so indepth that some are the equivalent of a book report. The interviews are interesting, and the book reviews are good, but the main enjoyment that I got from this ‘zine was the pamphlet. It’s really good read about the first and possibly only, radical pirates of the 18th century, and that alone makes this ‘zine worth reading. Though one might argue that you could just get the pamphlet and scrap the ‘zine, but I like the ‘zine for what it is, and it does offer some content worth reading, as well as some great artwork from the old days of “Arr matey! Swab the poop-deck,” and whatnot. I dig this ‘zine a lot!
-Dave Johnson

Plus it was on the Zine recommendations from the issue along with Doris #23, I Hate This Part of Texas #5, Indestructable, You Idiot #4, Fat is Beautiful, Morgenmuffel #14, Mishap #20, and Energy Dome #1

From Idle Hands the Devils Work

1992-07-23T23:08:00.000-07:00

Here is the original blurb soliciting contributions:
Re-envisioning Halloween as a festival of children's liberation, exploring the social history of dressing up, encouraging critical readings of halloween, horror movies, and horror fiction. These are the topics covered in a forthcoming zine. You are encouraged to contribute.

It must not have been very good, seeing as I only got one response.

Halloween Manifesto

1992-07-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

Halloween Manifesto
Every year more than a few pranks are perpetrated by anonymous ghosts and goblins at the expense of straight society. For one night a year business is suspended and children rule the streets. A few pathetic attempts are made to preserve “law and order”, but it cannot be preserved. It is doubtful that it existed to begin with. Halloween is the shadowy specter of the unconscious haunting the dreams of pious Christian parents. It is a glimpse of the truth: that your kids are not miniature versions of yourself. They have not yet forgotten the joy of chaotic play. They have not yet lost the ability to imagine something better than ordered subdivisions and the banality of school and work. Some of them will never forget.
On Halloween more than any other night you look at your children in fear because they are not masquerading as pirates, witches and evil spirits. They are the mask; your worst fears. Unruly, uncontrollable, spirits of chaos. Every year straight society goes into damage control mode, trying desperately to contain the festival to one night. But it is not just caffeine and sugar that your children want. It is absolute freedom… and revenge. Revenge against a society determined to domesticate them and to force them into a function that merely serves to replicate itself and society. Revenge against schools that kill imagination and critical thought. That teach regurgitation of so-called facts and submission to authority. Revenge against parents and teachers; against adults in general. The great oppressor. And against automobiles; the great child killer. Straight society dreams fevered nightmares about feral children raised by wolves. Their own children turned against them. They try to concentrate those fears into one night, but it spills out every day. Halloween isn’t the only night teachers cars get egged. Parents see reports on TV about youth riots in France. Beneath the racism is the subconscious knowledge that France is not so far off. No neighborhood is ever as far away from youth rebellion as they would like.
Every night should be Halloween! Undisciplined, unruly, unstoppable. Reviled by the press, feared by parents and teachers, and owners of SUVs and chain stores. School is cancelled tomorrow. On account of real life. No school, no jobs, no curfew. A never-never land of forever-ever. Now, for real! Fuck School! Fuck their oppressive order and their no-future! We say yes! An ecstatic yes to life! Fuck off to their death culture: work and wars and chain stores and concrete. Halloween belongs to Eris, goddess of discord and strife, as it belongs to every child who ever threw a rotten egg or played hooky. On Halloween every child is Eris, if they want it. Everyday is Halloween. Your parents can smell it in the air. Even over the rotten eggs and the fear. Jack-o-lantern, the original merry prankster, the original shit disturber rides again. And again and again.
We bring you this message: You are not alone. You avatars of Eris, of Bacchus and Pan, of Shiva and Kali. We have not forgotten what it is to be alive. We Knights of Eris, guardians of the sacred Chao, horsemen(sic) of the golden apple, harbingers of chaos and destruction, stand with you. We dream of unlimited freedom, ruined cities, and impenetrable forests. We dream of a world without authority, without school, without work. Only joy as radiant as a golden apple. Of a wildness with no bounds.
In Pandemonium,
Knights of Eris 2006

Musings on the History of Halloween

1992-07-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

The history of Halloween is invariably traced back to Samhain, the Celtic festival of the death of summer and the beginning of the (Celtic) new year. David J. Skal makes the point that mass media representations of Halloween “often leave the impression that the holiday has been handed down, more or less intact, from Celtic antiquity… In reality, contemporary Halloween is a patchwork holiday, a kind of cultural Frankenstein stitched together quite recently from a number of traditions, all fused beneath the cauldron-light of the American melting pot”(p.20).
Skal Points to Roman influences on Samhain including the November 1st harvest festival dedicated to Pomona, Goddess of the orchard (hence bobbing for apples), and Saturnalia, the winter Solstice, which was celebrated by masked reveling. The feast of All Saints (Nov 1st) and All Souls (Nov 2nd) were established by the Church in the middle ages as part of an attempt to move Christian holidays into line with pagan holidays to co-opt them. Lisa Morton points out the similarities between Martinmas (Nov 11th) and both Samhain and Halloween. Martinmas is the feast of St. Martin of Tours, patron saint of the harvest. Morton points out that before the Gregorian calendar Martinmas was celebrated on Nov 1st. Martinmas is celebrated by children carrying jack-o’-lanterns in Germany, and house to house begging in the Netherlands.

Interestingly Morton also relates Martinmas to wine and quotes church documents referring to “Bacchus in the figure of Martin”. Bacchus is of course the beloved Roman God of Wine and Madness, also known to the Greeks as Dionysus. Dionysus was known as the Liberator, freeing one from one’s normal self either in the sense of intoxication or madness. In his last days Friedrich Nietzsche was freed from himself and became Dionysus. Perhaps Dionysus in the figure of Nietzsche (see Peter Lamborn Wilson, “Crazy Nietzsche”).
Another interesting influence on modern Halloween (although the extent of the influence is questionable) is Guy Fawkes Day (Nov 4th), which commemorates the “Gunpowder, Treason and Plot” of the Catholic Fawkes to blow up Parliament in England. Guy Fawkes Day involves children collecting “pennies for the Guy” to help deter the cost of fireworks and huge bonfires to burn the effigies of Fawkes and the Pope. As strange as it seems to us in North America, Guy Fawkes Day doesn’t celebrate Fawkes or his attempted demolition, but rather celebrates the foiling of the plot. This point may have been lost on some of the North American viewers of V for Vendetta this year, which was undoubtedly the introduction of many to the holiday. Unless they read the comic first.
Ronald Hutton notes that in the UK “Hallowe’en was also notable for the activities of mummers and guisers, figures found at winter festivals in general but particularly appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were said to be abroad and could be imitated or warded off by human wanderers”(p.380).

Orkney Boys in the early twentieth century went about dressed in female clothes, while those on Skye in the same period wore old clothes and blackened their faces. The latter were traditionally allowed to ‘exercise the greatest licence’, sitting where they pleased in a kitchen, singing, conversing, and ignoring the inhabitants of the house which they had entered and who were expected to set scones, cakes and fruit before them. Sooty, painted, or masked faces were also important on the Scottish mainland, as was odd dress of almost any kind. A common rhyme among Scots Hallowe’en guisers was:

Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marchin’
We are the guisers at the door,
If ye dinna let us in
We will bash yer windies in
An ye’ll never see the guisers any more” (p.381).

This is the sort of trick or treat we dream of. None of the ridiculous sing for your candy or say thank you. Candy on Halloween is not a gift. It’s a payment to prevent the ‘trick’. If ye dinna let us in, we will bash yer SUV’s windies in. Then again, if the candy isn’t good enough maybe we’ll do it anyway. But I digress.
An admirable part of modern Halloween lore is the Jack-o’-lantern. Jack-o’lantern seems to have been the original “God doesn’t want me and the Devil is afraid I’ll take over” type character (ok, maybe not the original, but dating back to at least the 1600s) . His pranks having offended both God and the Devil, Jack was condemned to walk the earth until judgment day with only a burning coal from the Devil that Jack caught in a hollowed out turnip to light his way. The turnip eventually became a pumpkin and Jack was brought over to North America from Scotland or Ireland, perhaps both. According to Skal, Jack-o’-lantern was associated with spooky pranks as early as 1817, but not explicitly with Halloween. Skal argues that almost nothing of modern Halloween existed in its modern form before 1900. Certainly not Trick-or-Treating.

This suits us fine. Halloween doesn’t need to have ancient traditions transmitted directly from the Druids. For my purposes Halloween doesn’t need to be ancient, only liberatory. The fact is that at some point in the Twentieth century (or perhaps before) Halloween developed into a celebration that gave children a lot of liberty to celebrate and to transgress normal social boundaries. If some of these practices are borrowed in altered forms from the Celts, medieval festival days, or Guy Fawkes, to name a few, then so much the better. We do not propose a ‘pure’ Halloween with ancient folkloric traditions, or even a stationary Halloween. The purpose of this project is not nostalgia for an imagined past (either in ancient times, or our childhood). Rather we seek to examine Halloween today and take what we find to be liberatory and to emphasize those elements. We seek to counteract the commercialization, pacification and policing of Halloween. We imagine an unruly Halloween, created by children for children, of ever shifting oral traditions, with little or no constraint, free from the control of parents, teachers, and police. We think that would be a Halloween worth celebrating!

introduction

1992-07-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

Last year, the week before Halloween I heard that the police here were going to have 100 extra police cruisers patrolling on Halloween. Allegedly to protect kids from some hinted at peril - which of course is a load of shit. It’s true that Halloween is a dangerous night for kids, but only because they get hit by cars. It’s also a dangerous night for property, which of course is the real reason for the increased police presence. It also helps to reinforce the image of Halloween and trick or treating as a dangerous thing for children. A night of child killers and poisoned candy; a total fabrication.
This scaremongering made me angry enough to start thinking about what eventually became this project. It made me examine my ongoing discontent with the direction that Halloween has been headed for some time. Less and less trick or treating, and what remains, sanitized and commercialized. All treat and no trick. More parental (and police) control, more Halloween parties, less vandalism…
So I decided that I wanted to do this zine and hear from other people. I wanted to know if I was looking at my own Halloweens past through rose colored glasses. I wanted to hear what others thought about the way things have been going. So I solicited for radical interpretations of Halloween. I wanted to look at the libratory aspects of kids causing mischief, or trick or treating as a social phenomenon with a threat attached. I wanted a utopian vision of Halloween with no cops, no parental control. Pre-halloween parties where the kids watch Over the Edge for inspiration. A caffeine and sugar filled night of youth justice against a society designed to keep them in line. No scaremongering from the media. Or scaremongering for all the right reasons. Sensational stories about what might happen to your SUV if you don’t give good enough candy. Hell, it might happen anyway. Maybe squads of vegan kids dressed up as ALF partisans, lab mice with menacing clubs, or dead vivesectors, enforcing vegan options for all children. Kid solidarity preventing reprisals for vandalism. “Where I come from we have one rule: a kid who tells on another kid is a dead kid”. Maybe older brother’s and sisters dressed up as hooligans or bandits helping enforce a ban on surveillance cameras, media and cops. What if the kids got unruly? What if they decided that it wasn’t just candy that they lacked. What if schools got attacked (and indeed they do, and not just on Halloween). What if fat kids vandalized Weight Watchers (or the local health region offices, which were planning to test all grade 5 kids for obesity)? What if queer and trans kids dressed however they wanted and nobody laughed? Or people did but their friends had their back. What if the homophobic assholes down the street had shit thrown at their house with a note: “Next time you call someone a fag, we’ll smash your car”? How long could any of this stay contained to one night? If kids don’t take shit one night will they take it November 1st? Not likely. Maybe they’ll decide to enforce half-halloween on May 31st. Or a radical reinterpretation of Guy Fawkes day on November 5th. It’s not much of a stretch to imagine who might be burnt in effigy instead of the Guy. And if the bonfire was built dangerously close to a school, what could be done? And if the kids will no longer submit to the arbitrary authority of school - if they get a taste of the power of the solidarity of silence in the face of interrogation by parents, teachers, the police – will they readily submit to the indignities of college or work?
Besides these day dreams I wanted to explore to what extent (if any) there have been libratory threads that run through the fabric of Halloween past of present. I was hoping that submissions might address the social history of dressing up, critical readings of not only Halloween but also horror fiction and movies, maybe even discussions of how to help counteract the reactionary trajectory of Halloween. Or discussions of how to deflect it in a more libratory direction. Maybe even contributions from kids or teens young enough to trick or treat, or at least still in high school. As you look through this zine you will see some modest beginnings in some of these areas. In others, nothing at all. I’ve included a list of materials at the end which were an inspiration to myself or other contributors to this zine, or that cover relevant material. If you like this zine perhaps consider contributing to issue #2. The deadline is early august 2007. The theme, in addition to more on Halloween, will also include feral children. Please pass this around to your friends. Read, think critically, act.

intro

1990-01-31T16:27:00.000-08:00

That pirates are a part of the popular imagination should be a surprise to no one. There is something very appealing about the pirate’s loose and roving way of life. In a world where people are more and more stuck in one place, working dull jobs, devoid of adventure – except adventure that they can consume, on tv, extreme sports, or adventure tourism – how can we help but daydream of treasure and the open sea.
It doesn’t escape our attention that the images of pirates that we consume are somewhat toothless. From movies to tv the pirates we see are ugly but jolly, often secretly good hearted (as in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean), or evil in a cartoonish way. We often see Royal Navy Officers desperate to hunt down the pirates, but perhaps we are never entirely sure why, other than that they are pirates and must be hunted down. We see images of pirates everywhere: in kitchy stores you can buy treasure maps and jolly roger flags, or lego and cheap toys. Somehow there is something deeply unsatisfying about all this.
For radicals, pirates offer something more. Adventure, yes, but potential too. There is something menacing about pirates that even hollywood can’t erase; something dangerous. We catch glimpses of Captain Robert’s short and merry life. We find reminders that the jolly roger is more than a clever logo; that rather than sailing under the colors, the authority, of any nation, pirates were sailing with death. Each captain had their own flag, but they all contained the same basic threat and reminder. Pirates were the enemies of all humanity; but we have to consider the context of such an idea. The enemy of all humanity, too true, but what did the concept of humanity entail in the 17th century (at least to those who made the accusation)? It certainly did not include workers, women, slaves, or indigenous peoples encountered in the imperialist expansion. In fact the humanity that pirates were the enemy of were only really rich merchants, slavers, governments and royals, and perhaps the church. In fact aren’t anarchists and other radicals also enemies of this impoverished ‘humanity’(or at least we ought to be).
When we look into the facts (as much as they can be discerned) of piracy we find a very mixed bag, as can be expected. There are certainly a selection of people who liked to kill and brutalize their crewmates. As several writers have noted, these people perhaps missed their calling, and should have been officers in the Royal Navy, or on merchant ships. We should note too, that the pirates themselves seldom had a chance to tell their own stories, and everywhere we look we see the taint of official propaganda describing the savagery of the pirates. We also find characters like Captain Mission (although he may have been fictionalized) who founded the colony of Libertatia upon the principles of liberty and justice. “Mission and his men thus created a radical-democratic utopia that condemned dispossession, capitalist property relations, slavery, and nationalism, as it affirmed justice, democracy, liberty, and popular rights” (Marcus Rediker – Libertalia: The Pirate’s Utopia p.125 in David Cordingly (ed.) – Pirates: Terror on the High Sea). And all this a century before the French revolution. Other pirate captains much better authenticated than Mission (such as Bartholomew Roberts) echoed these sentiments. We hear about other pirate utopias too, such as the independent pirate republic of Salé, on the coast of Morocco (in Peter Lamborn Wilson – Pirate Utopias: Moorish Corsairs & European Renegadoes). We hear of pirate women such as Anne Bonny and Mary Read, and Grace O’Malley, renegade Irish chieftain who met Queen Elizabeth I as an equal. We hear tales of mutinies, and runaway slaves, of violence and people trying to live their lives outside the interference of the great imperialist powers.
The purpose of this zine is to contribute in some small way to the exploration of the radical history of pirates, to the discussion of the growing body of work in this and related areas. To follow the threads running from the English Revolution to the Caribbean and the Golden Age of piracy, on to radical struggles on both sides of the Atlantic forward to today, if we can. We want to look at not just piracy but at bandits and mutiny, at the anarchist illegalist milieu of the turn of the (20th) century etc; anywhere we can find hope and inspiration. As noted in the Nabat Books statement: “the truly interesting and meaningful lives and real adventures are only to be had on the margins of what Kenneth Rexroth called ‘the social lie.’ Its with the dropouts, misfits, dissidents, renegades and revolutionaries, against the grain, between the cracks and amongst the enemies of the state that the good stuff can be found”. These are the cracks that we want to explore.

Bandits

1990-01-23T13:51:00.000-08:00

Bandits by E. J. Hobsbawm (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1969)
Bandits is a vital book for anyone who wants to look at the social history of banditry. It is an amazing wealth of information on banditry all over the world. Hobsbawn defines social bandits as “peasant outlaws whom the lord and state regard as criminals, but who remain within peasant society, and are considered by their people as heroes, as champions, avengers, fighters for justice, perhaps even leaders of liberation, and in any case men to be admired, helped and supported”(p.13). In Bandits, Hobsbawm documents and analyzes social banditry all over the world. He talks about several types of social bandits, the noble robber (like the fictional Robin Hood or the historical Diego Corrientes and Juro Janosik), avengers (known for their violence such as Rio Preto from Brazil), and haiduks (groups of free armed men somewhere between bandits and occasionally what Hobsbawm [p. 62] characterises as “primitive movements of guerrilla resistance and liberation”).
Chapter 7 is on the intersection between banditry and revolution, which would seem to be a point of much interest for many readers. Unfortunately this is where Hobsbawm Communism comes across the strongest and he betrays some of his biases.

At this point the bandit has to choose between becoming a criminal or a revolutionary.
What if he chooses revolution? As we have seen, social banditry has an affinity for revolution, being a phenomenon of social protest, if not a precursor or potential incubator of revolt. In this it differs sharply from the ordinary underworld of crime, with which we have already had occasion to contrast it. The underworld (as its name implies) is an anti-society, which exists by reversing the values of the ‘straight’ world – it is, in its own phrase, ‘bent’ – but is otherwise parasitic on it. A revolutionary world is also a ‘straight’ world, except perhaps at especially apocalyptic moments when even the anti-social criminals have their access of patriotism or revolutionary exaltation. Hence for the genuine underworld revolutions are little more than unusually good occasions for crime. There is no evidence that the flourishing underworld of Paris provided revolutionary militants or sympathisers in the French revolutions of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, though in 1871 the prostitutes were strongly Communard; but as a class they were victims of exploitation rather than criminals (p.84).

What are we to think about the choice that the bandit is given by Hobsbawm? In the eyes of the state a bandit does not cease to be a bandit the moment she takes up the banner of revolution. Far from it. In fact the charge of bandit is often a term of abuse used by states against revolutionaries and resistance fighters. The Nazi’s used the charge against partisans. Franco used it against the anarchist guerrillas after the end of the civil war. I’m sure there are numerous other examples. Throughout Bandits there are examples of people criminalized in one way or another who become bandits. I’d guess they are probably less concerned with what historians and zine writers will think of them and classify them as, and more concerned with staying alive, looking after themselves, their families and communities.
At the beginning of Bandits Hobsbawm makes it clear he is writing about social bandits, not freebooters (common criminals), nor bandit gentry, nor bandits in urban settings. Here he is dividing the social bandits into the ones he wants to claim, and the others. As we can see from his example of prostitutes in the Paris commune, these distinctions can seem fairly arbitrary. Why are some criminals ‘anti-social’ and others members of an exploited class? Does it really make any sense to make a distinction like that? It raises the question as to what Hobsbawm is referring to when he wrote: “especially apocalyptic moments when even the anti-social criminals have their access of patriotism or revolutionary exaltation”(p.84).
The next chapter on “the expropriators”, perhaps offers us some clues. First he ridicules “Bakuninist anarchists”(p.94), then he talks about Lenin and Stalin for a while, then he decides to explain exactly what he means by the phenomenon of expropriation. He chose the example of Francisco Sabate Llopart (El Quico)*, the most famous of the anarchists who waged guerrilla war against Franco after the defeat in the Spanish civil war. Why did El Quico keep fighting Franco until his death in 1960? Indeed, what motivated all the other anarchist guerrillas? Hobsbawm explains: “’The idea’ of anarchism was their motive: that totally uncompromising and lunatic dream which we all share, but which few except Spaniards ever tried to act upon, at the cost of total defeat and impotence for their labour movement.” (p. 97). He proceeds to abuse Francisco Sabate Llopart, the anarchist guerrillas in general, and anarchists in the Spanish revolution for the next 11 pages. Then he writes a conclusion, 6 more pages, and then the end! So getting back to my somewhat disingenuous question about to which especially apocalyptic moment Hobsbawm was referring, I’m guessing it was the Spanish revolution. Can you believe the anarchists would be so bold as to open up the jails when they had the chance? And that many of the ‘criminals’ were not as anti-social as some might assume? Some even contributed to the revolution. Then again, as we learn from the biographical sketch of Sabate, the anarchists were all criminals anyway.
I was being serious when I said that this book is a great resource. I know of no other book that covers so much ground in the social history of banditry. The first 93 pages are well worth a read, despite their somewhat Stalinist sympathies and heavy handed approach. But what can be said about the ridiculous attacks against anarchism, and more importantly the intentional misrepresentation of Francisco Sabate Llopart especially, but also all the other anarchist guerrillas? To allow petty ideological concerns to attack the names of men who had the courage to fight and ultimately die in the struggle against Franco and fascism is disgusting. So until there is a book on bandits that approaches the thoroughness of Bandits, hold your nose and take it for what it is. Perhaps stop reading after chapter six or seven. And if anyone finds a better book, please let me know.

*For more information about Sabate and the anarchist guerilla resistance to Franco I encourage you to read Antonio Tellez’s Sabate: Guerilla Extraordinary translated by Stuart Christie and Tellez’s The Anarchist Resistance to Franco: biographical notes. The later is a pamphlet of photos and short biographical notes of an number of anarchist guerilla’s published by the Kate Sharpley Library. The former is published by AK Press and Elephant Editions.

Two Travel Books

1990-01-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

Hunting Pirate Heaven: In Search of the Lost Pirate Utopias of the Indian Ocean by Kevin Rushby (Walker, 2003)
The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O’Malley and other Legendary Women of the Sea by Barbara Sjoholm (Seal, 2004)
Two books with some immediate similarities. Both with ‘pirate’ in the title, both more or less travel books, & both have little to do with pirates.
The Pirate Queen is a fascinating tale of travel and research that starts with Sjoholm's visit to Clare Island in Ireland, site of Grace O’Malley’s castle. Throughout her travels, Sjoholm does a wonderful job weaving together interviews with locals, research and her own impressions of the places she visits searching for women of the sea.
Besides Grace O’Malley, she finds folklore about Cailleach the sea hag, a sort of Goddess of storms in Scotland. She travels north by boat into the Orkneys, where she examines the persecution of witches and the practice of selling wind to sailors and the herring lassies, who drove the Scottish fishing industry for 100 years or so. Sjoholm seems to have a gift of being able to intertwine a huge amount of historical information into her travel narrative without getting bogged down. An amazing feat, especially when you consider that she was spending a great deal of time in her room because of the torrential rain. She evokes the rugged beauty of these islands, and the life of the sea without being overly romantic. She doesn’t paint a rosy picture of the lives of women working in the herring factories, but instead places them within the historical context and examines the relative liberty they had at a time when there was very little work or freedom for women.
Sjoholm also seems to have a knack for uncovering interesting characters in her travels. As if by chance she uncovers the story of Anne Robertson, a successful entrepreneur, supplier of ships, and recruiter for the Hudson Bay company and whalers, in the early 1800s. She continues by boat to the Faroe Islands, Iceland and then Norway. She encounters women sea captains, fishers, vikings, playwrites and feminist scholars. As I noted before this book has little to do with pirates, but of course it never claimed to. The section on Grace O’Malley is interesting, and the rest of the book is wonderful too. Another thing to note is that despite being a travel book the bibliography is wonderful. There are several books in there I’d love to hunt down.
Hunting Pirate Heaven grabbed my attention when I saw it at a used book store. : “In Search of the Lost Pirate Utopias of the Indian Ocean”! And this just a month after I had finished Peter Lamborn Wilson’s ‘Pirate Utopias’. What luck!
The story behind the book is that Rushby meets someone on the docks in London who talks up pirates as heroes and mentions in passing that he knows that Captain Mission (famous founder of the colony of Libertatia ) was real. Rushby decides that he should go to Africa and try to find evidence of the existence of Libertatia and of Mission, possibly find some descendents of pirates and generally have an adventure.
He certainly succeeds in the last part. He travels around the coast of Mozambique, over to the Comoros Islands, and down to Madagascar, often hitching rides on commercial freighters and other boats along the way. He quotes Captain Mission, Rousseau, and Gerrard Winstanley (leader of the Diggers), and meets various dropouts from North America and Europe, not to mention people who own their own islands.
He has quite the adventure in Anjoun (Nzwaan), one of the Comoros Islands, a former French colony. After gaining independence from France in the 70s there was a coup in 1975 overthrowing a corrupt dictator (Ahmed Abdullah) in favour of Ali Soilih. Soilih then hired a French mercenary/ adventurer, Bob Denard, to capture the former dictator, fearing that Abdullah might attempt to regain power. After Denard captured Abdullah, Soilih convinced Denard and his men to reluctantly leave Anjoun. “If history books are to believed, events on the Comoros now took a turn for the worse. Ali Soilih promptly disbanded the government, burned all records, legalized marijuana and put teenagers in charge”(p.196). Rushby did a little research and the books he read basically said Soilih was basically a crazy Maoist, compared him to Pol Pot, accused him of redistributing land owned by French absentee landlords to peasants, and said that he was a drug addict and was fairly debauched. Denard came back in 1978 and assassinated Soilih and took over, reinstalling the original dictator, Ahmed Abdullah, as a puppet. Eventually Abdullah rebelled against Denard, who’s militia was brutal, and who was running guns to apartheid South Africa. Abdullah died mysteriously and Denard tried to take over, but pressure from France forced him to flee to South Africa for four years. After which he returned with twelve men and defeated the virtually non-existent Comoran army. France sent in paratroopers and arrested Denard, trying him for Abdullah’s murder. He was acquitted. The funny thing is that almost no one Rushby talked to agreed with the official history about Soilih. Some were quite fond of him. Everything was very confused. I’d like to find out more. I think you could do a lot worse than burning government records, legalizing marijuana, redistributing the land of former colonialists, and putting teenagers in charge.
The one short coming of this book (and it’s a big one) is that despite all the interesting adventure, Rushby basically does very little when it comes to the point of the book. That is, looking for pirates or Captain Mission. He asks questions and gets some interesting answers, but unlike Sjoholm who seems to pull gold out of thin air, Rushby seems a lot more interested in drinking or hooking up with a French tourist than actually following up on leads. He eventually ends up in an area of Madagascar where supposedly everyone is descended from pirates. He finds a woman who can show him a family tree. And then the book sort of ends. No real conclusions, no real evidence. Just a sort of feeling that I got ripped off and that Rushby never really cared about finding anything, he just wanted an exotic premise for another adventure travel book.

Pirate Utopias : Moorish Corsairs & European Renegadoes by Peter Lamborn Wilson

1990-01-23T13:45:00.000-08:00

For me this is the book that started it all. If not an interest in pirates, for what young boy is not interested in pirates, then certainly a burgeoning interest in radical piratology. When I saw a reference to this book I wondered at the title: What could it mean, Pirate Utopias? I could not resist my curiosity and thank goodness I didn’t. Wilson herein chronicles the Pirate Republic of Sale in Morocco. He focuses on European renegadoes - Christian converts to Islam (thousands of them) - who along with Moorish corsairs ravaged European shipping from the 16th to 19th century. He asks “Were these men (and women) the scum of the seas, apostates, traitors – “Renegadoes”? Or did they abandon and betray Christendom as a praxis of social resistance?”. How does he bring Ireland into the mix, or Brooklyn? I’m afraid you’ll just have to read it and find out. If you have any interest in radical piratology and you haven’t read this book, please do. It is easily the most inspired and inspiring book about pirates I’ve ever read. Wilson’s detailed research is coupled with the wild originality typical of his writing. I could hardly be more enthusiastic about this book.

The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution

1990-01-23T13:36:00.000-08:00

If any book could make the case that radicals today should be interested in the English revolution, a period some 350 years distant, then this is the book. Conservative historical narratives represent this period as a civil war between Cromwell and King; between royalists and parliament. Instead of a history of great men, Hill gives us a history of “the lover fifty percent”, of rank and file soldiers, of common people, and of religious and political radicals.
Hill details groups such as the Levellers, radicals within Cromwell’s New Model Army, agitating for radical democracy within the army and in society at large, working against both the state church and the authority of the puritan divines. Hill looks at Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers who declared the world to be a common treasury for all and practiced agrarian communism on the commons. He looks at religious radicals of all stripes, Baptists, Familists, Muggletonians, Quakers and Seekers. He looks at conspiratorial groups such as the Fifth Monarchists, and perhaps the strangest and most interesting group, the Ranters. Various of these groups demanded the end of the state church, of tithes and religious courts, radical religious toleration (extending even to Muslims and Jews). They agitated for court proceedings in English instead of Latin (so that common people could understand the law) and the right to trial by jury and to represent oneself, even the abolition of lawyers. There was persistent agitation for universal suffrage (extending even to servants and women), universal healthcare, free universal education and various schemes of education reform, the redistribution of land seized from royalists to the poor, an end to Imperialist aggression in Ireland. The Diggers even went so far as to advocate ‘true levelling’, that is, the abolition of private land ownership, no wage labour and no law. Many religious communities allowed for easy divorce for men or women, various liberalizations of sexual morality including allowing wife swapping and destigmatizing adultery. Ranters argued that there was no sin and proceeded to practice what they preached. They loved to smoke, drink, curse, go nude, and have sex with whom they chose (supposedly in public at times). Hill documents that the revolutionary period was marked by widespread opposition and resistance to Calvinism and the protestant work ethic. Cottagers (people who built homes on common land) obstinately refused to work except when absolutely necessary or when wages were unusually high. Many of the radical religious sects and the Ranters were fond of drink and would often have their religious meetings in taverns rather than churches. It was common place for radicals (including George Fox, one of the founding Quakers, who later went on to respectability) to attend services at conservative congregations and challenge the pastor to a debate, demand the right to address the congregation, or simply to disrupt the service. Radicals declared the right of anyone to preach, not just the educated elite.
Hill argues that radical lay preachers in the New Model Army did a lot to spread the ideas during the civil war that blossomed into a social revolution. Ranters burnt the bible on at least one occasion. Many groups claimed that the bible was not literally true and should instruct by analogy. Others doubted its divine origins, pointing out the human element in translation, not to mention choosing which books are included in the bible. Many argued that God’s light existed in all and that one’s conscience was more important than anything in the bible or any other book, and that actions were more important than words ( a radical idea indeed at a time when education was restricted to a small elite). There were many wandering would-be messiahs and healers. Miracles and signs were common place. Many of the sects allowed women to preach (at a time when it was illegal for a woman to sit in the same pew as her husband at church). The claim that Jesus or God was within everyone was widespread, as was the denial of the historical Jesus, or even a creator God. Ranters cursed the bible, Jesus, puritans, the rich, almost anyone.
Hill provides evidence of all this and more, illustrating it with wonderful excerpts from primary sources. Censorship broke down during the revolutionary period and there is the most wonderful wealth of writings by and about the radicals. Hill’s scholarship is excellent but he never gets bogged down or boring. Despite being a well respected academic and perhaps the world’s leading authority on the English revolution (or perhaps because of it) his writing practically boils over with revolutionary enthusiasm. This book is consequently a wonderful introduction, especially for radicals to an amazingly radical period in the history of England, when common folk very nearly turned the world upside down. Hill notes: “The reader who wishes to restore his perspective might with advantage read the valuable book recently published by Professor David Underdown: Pride’s Purge (Oxford U.P., 1971). This deals with almost exactly the same period as I do, but from an entirely different angle. His is the view from the top, from Whitehall, mine the worm’s eye view. His index and mine contain entirely different lists of names.” I for one am glad I stuck with Hill.
This book is especially important if we want to take seriously Hill’s thesis in Radical Pirates (which unfortunately I’ve only read excerpts from), that English radicals, especially Ranters, may have ended up in the new world and influenced- perhaps even became- pirates themselves. I for one am willing to take seriously anything Christopher Hill says.

Women Pirates and the Politics of the Jolly Roger

1990-01-22T13:34:00.000-08:00

Women Pirates and the Politics of the Jolly Roger by Ulrike Klausmann & Marion Meinzerin and Gabriel Kuhn (Black Rose, 1997).
This book is comprised of two essays which I have review seperately.

Women Pirates by Ulrike Klausmann & Marion Meinzerin
The book opens with an anecdote about the occupation of the vintage steamer City of Cologne, in Germany during the Rhineland carnival by a group called Pirate Women Against Patriarchy. The audacity of this act caught “the authorities” off guard to such an extent that no one knew what to do for six days. The pirate women did not wait for them to decide; they had made their point and subsequently disappeared into the night. This amusing incident ties the subject matter of this book to the present.
This book looks with a feminist lens at women pirates. Not only the pirates with whom many readers are probably acquainted with like Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and Grace O’Malley, but others as well. Like Ch’ing Yih Szaou, Lady Ch’ing, captain of the largest pirate fleet of her time (early 1800s), or Lai Sho Sz’en, a Chinese pirate in the first part of the 20th century who let a journalist travel with her, and who purportedly died fighting the Japanese during the Chinese-Japanese war, and French buccaneer Jacquotte Delahaye who allegedly turned down a marriage proposal stating: “I couldn’t love a man who commands me – any more than I could love one who allowed himself to be commanded by me”(p.168). Very interesting research.
Klausmann and Meinzerin also make the argument that Bartholemew Roberts, one of the most successful and interesting pirates of the golden age, was in fact a woman. Surely this is enough reason to pick up the book. They trace the history of women and sea robbery to various places where it clearly does not fit our usual definition of piracy. A nice reminder that history is seldom as neat and clear as we would like. Klausmann and Meinzerin do an excellent job tying all these loose threads up into a cohesive and very interesting book.

Life under the Death Head by Gabriel Kuhn
I think that there is a lot to be said for audacity. We are radicals after all. And where better than the subject of pirates to set out for uncharted waters? There is a lot to admire in Gabriel Kuhn’s Life under the death’s head: Anarchism and Piracy. In less than 50 pages Kuhn attempts to use Max Stirner, Nietzche, Pierre Claestres, and Deleuze & Guattari to look at pirates. Stirner fairly briefly, Nietzche only in passing, but both Claestres and Deleuze & Guattari are used extensively.
Kuhn argues that pirates are an example of Claestres’ society without a state (or against the state as it is more commonly translated)*. Kuhn argues that the pirate captain fills essentially the same role as a tribal chief, emphasising that a pirate captain’s authority was subject to recall and existed mainly in battle. Outside of battle the captain had little real power over the crew. In fact, one of the main functions was to mediate disputes, and that the captain constantly had to maintain adequate support from all sides or have his authority rescinded. Kuhn also uses some of Claestres’ observations about primitive economies, asserting that pirates didn’t accumulate wealth like European society, but rather squandered whatever they had until they had nothing left.
Kuhn uses Deleuze & Guattari’s concept of the nomadic war machine and argues that pirates as a whole constituted just that. By their nature and in order to exist pirates were at war with all states and their agents. “Nomadic war functions molecularly: no arrangement, no uniformity, no command, no regulations, no supervision. No rigidity, not of language or of thinking, or of body and play, or of living and working together. In short: a defence of singularities, of events, of nomadic (as opposed to despotic) unity, without compromises, using all available mechanisms”(p.267).
There are some fascinating assertions in this essay. One is that pirates were Christian.Kuhn goes on to assert that:

pirate Christianity was thoroughly pagan. Like everything else about pirates, pagan myths, deities, and principles fit into their tribal form of life. Their absoluteness never exceeded a particular limit. Everything was subject to permanent revision, and gods and rules were regularly switched according to circumstances(p. 248).

And further that pirate Christianity was:

constantly mixed together with the most divergent of other religious perspectives: African tribal rites, voodoo (influences of the escaped African slaves upon pirate communities) or so-called cosmopolitan convictions. For this reason it is probably true “that nomads [pirates] offer no favourable terrain for religion. A warrior is always sinning against priests or God”(p. 248) (here Kuhn quotes Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, Tausend Plateaus [A Thousand Plateaus] Berlin: Merve 1992).

All very fascinating but there is no real evidence given for these claims.
In general the major weakness of this essay is that there is scant evidence provided to support most of the claims made. Clearly this is not meant to be an academic essay, and this reader at least is more than willing to give some leeway, but there is just no evidence given for many of the claims. Another problem is that for some reason Kuhn often makes claims as strongly as possible. Instead of saying that this essay will examine piracy during the following period or something of that nature Kuhn says: “True piracy represents only a small part of the history of sea robbery. Geographically concentrated in the Caribbean (and a little bit around Madagascar and African coastal zones) and historically spanning just 30 years – the period from around 1690 to around 1720 – the ‘Golden Age’ of piracy is in fact the only time when it ever really existed”(p. 228). He offers no evidence for such a controversial assertion. After reading the essay I can’t see why Kuhn even made the point! It is indeed a strange assertion in the same volume as Women Pirates, which spans the history of sea robbery. Likewise, Kuhn doesn’t argue that Pirate society was very similar to those societies discussed by Claestres, or that pirate society was similar to the concept of the nomadic war machine of Deleuze & Guattari. Rather Kuhn inserts the word pirate in square brackets after the word nomad in Deleuze & Guattari quotes. And then there is no indication that this is Kuhn’s insertion. Perhaps this is a fault of the translator or editor, but it is a problem none the less. Another problem is that Kuhn presents pirates (even defined in so narrow a way) as far too cohesive and uniform a group. Despite that Kuhn quotes Stirner: “for the individual is the relentless enemy of every generality, every band, meaning every binding tie” (p. 259) (from Max Stirner - The Ego and Its Own). I could go on, but I don’t think I need to. Obviously there are some shortcomings here. I would also emphasize a lot of interesting and audacious ideas that deserve further exploration.

* Its interesting to note that Peter Lamborn Wilson explores similar concepts in one of the essays in his Escape from the 19th Century, reviewed elsewhere (but not in his pirate book Pirate Utopias).

Quote on the Back

1990-01-04T16:35:00.000-08:00

“What are kingdoms but great robberies? Indeed, that was an apt and true reply which was given to Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been seized. For when that king had asked the man what he meant by keeping hostile possession of the sea, he answered with bold pride, ‘What thou meanest by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, whilst thou who dost it with a great fleet art styled an emperor”
- Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (410 CE).