- Anarchia - 'absence of a leader" is the root of anarchy's meaning.
- total chaos or a brand for resistance movements.
- One great example of what the anarchy ideals and credo is, appeared in an issue of 'Resistance: An anarchist monthly' published in 1947 -
We offer no blueprints of a future society, no handed-down program, no ready-made philosophy. We do not ask you to follow us. We ask you to stop depending on others for leadership, and to think and act for yourselves.
Organized mass murder, called “war” — conquest and plundering of nations, called “liberation” — regimentation of human beings, called “patriotism” — economic exploitation and poverty, called “the American system” — repression of healthy sexuality, creativity and living called “morality” and “Christianity” — these are the warp and woof of present-day society.
These things exist because a small group of politicians, militarists and bankers, controlling the wealth of the nation, is able to starve people into submission, to buy their minds and bodies, and hire them to kill and imprison each other. These things exist because people are trained in the home, in the school and on the job to obedience and submission to authority, and are beaten into indifference by the dog-eat-dog struggle for existence; because people cling to ancient myths of religion, patriotism, race and authority, and let hirelings of the ruling group do their thinking for them.
We believe this system can be ended by refusing to be pawns of the ruling group, by our learning to think and act for ourselves, by our finding ways of living and working together in peaceful, free cooperation.
- Rather than rant-driven and design-less, these magazines and publications ('Anarchy', 'Freedom' other anarchist publications) serves as the glue, and strictly designed in a regimented fashion.
Picturing Anarchy : The Graphic Design of Rufus Segar
1960's - young people / students looking to the libertarian left to make sense of vast social upheavals in post war London and other large urban communities across the UK.
- Anti-authoritarian principles and clearly articulated positions of on topics such as social justice, affordable housing, education and an ideal for direct action, had a strong resonance on the young people of the uk at the time.
- Politically engaged anarchy was no longer the metier of old Kropotkin-esque scholars, a new young new audience became the focus and the main action takers in far left politics.
- The Freedom Newspaper - 1886 - published by Kropotkin - was stodgy in format despite its radical message
- Ward and Segar 'the two cemented a working relationship that established a new voice and graphic identity for the UK anarchist movement'.
Further Research -
'Freedom: a journal of anarchist communism' - anarchist publication first published in 1886 by a group of anarchist/communist philosophers, journalists and writers, most notably Kropotkin and Charlotte Wilson, they had the intention of producing a 'non-sectarian anarchist monthly news paper'.
- Freedom was continuous from its conception in 1886 until 1927.
- Freedoms use of broadsides to advertise their publication through loud news print style visuals - these were displayed through hanging them on newstands amongst other broadsides and also placing them in Freedom Press Bookstore window.
- Broadsides would be printed with hand-set wood type
- Overviews of the thoughts and ideas of one wind of the UK anarchist movement for the decade of 1908 through 1997.
- Clear that anarchists then were masters of the same hyperbole, grandstanding and over statement that is so common in todays movement = the words "Blood thirst" and "tyranny" pop off the page. Seeing "Our vanishing liberties" and "The peril of Militarism" on these posters is bittersweet. It is shocking to see that our larger social situation has not changed hardly at all over a century but also heartening to know that anarchists were on the front line of social struggles then as now.
No comments:
Post a Comment