{"id":126,"date":"2012-08-16T11:23:25","date_gmt":"2012-08-16T18:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/modernslavery.calpress.org\/?p=126"},"modified":"2013-09-22T15:43:00","modified_gmt":"2013-09-22T22:43:00","slug":"modern-slavery-notes-new-journal-on-the-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernslavery.calpress.org\/?p=126","title":{"rendered":"Modern Slavery Notes: New Journal on the Planet!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Modern Slavery<\/em> #1. The first full issue of this journal has now taken half a decade to come to fruition. It\u2019s been a struggle on many fronts to turn the original impulse and idea into reality. But from here on there\u2019s no turning back and we refuse to be stopped!<\/p>\n

The Modern Slavery<\/em> project is a direct successor to previous C.A.L. Press projects. These include the magazine Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed<\/em> (published since 1980, and now produced by an independent collective since 2006), the North American Anarchist Review<\/em> (published for a few years in the \u201980s), the Alternative Press Review<\/em> (another magazine, published from 1993 well into the 2000s, with a web site that\u2019s still occasionally updated at both www.altpr.org<\/a> & www.alternativepressreview.org<\/a>), and the C.A.L. Press book publishing project (with titles including Future Primitive<\/em>, Anarchy after Leftism<\/em> and Elements of Refusal<\/em>).<\/p>\n

[pullquote]The original idea for this new journal was to provide a space within the libertarian and anarchist milieu for the publication of some of the really important, critical and creative material that has too often fallen into the cracks between what will fit into the inadequate spaces available in libertarian periodicals and what has been publishable in book form.[\/pullquote]<\/h4>\n

The original idea for this new journal was to provide a space within the libertarian and anarchist milieu for the publication of some of the really important, critical and creative material that has too often fallen into the cracks between what will fit into the inadequate spaces available in libertarian periodicals and what has been publishable in book form. Most of us probably already know that there are far too few libertarian and anarchist periodicals in the first place. Of those that exist most are infrequent, small and undependable. And of those that do publish more than one issue, many have very narrow editorial conceptions, excluding even the possibility of presenting much new, original and creative material \u2013 which also tends to result in restricting their availability to tiny circulations of the like-minded. But even for those that are open to publishing the most important and exciting material, the ability to present more than short essays, reviews and other material is lacking due to limitations of format, space and frequency of publication. To make this sad situation even worse, libertarian book publishing is largely in the same situation. A relatively small number of very small publishers exist (like C.A.L. Press itself, with only three titles in print) that usually cater to very narrow editorial niches, along with even fewer larger libertarian publishers. The smaller publishers have perennial problems with funding and distribution, while the larger publishers tend to function as ideological gate-keepers preventing more creative and challenging material from appearing in editions that might get more circulation, in favor of mediocre material that often promotes popular ideologies \u2013 often whether or not they have any significant libertarian content, coherence or value. You know this stuff. It\u2019s often, though luckily not always, poorly written, poorly edited and poorly produced. It includes boat-loads of uncreative, uncritical material pushing a full spectrum of left and right-wing ideologies, like social democracy, liberal feminism, identity politics and postmodernism. At best it\u2019s provided with thin libertarian coatings. At worst with heavy-handed ideological pronouncements that can be mistaken as (or occasionally actually are) Leninist, Trotskyist, Stalinist or Maoist in inspiration.<\/p>\n

Within this situation, where can anyone writing critical, coherent and insightfully anti-ideological libertarian essays, reviews, fiction and commentary publish anything of substantial size? Even 10-page essays or 5-page reviews have few potential venues for publication now. What about the 20 to 50-page essays, the 10 or 20 page reviews, short monographs, and anything else of extended length? Not a chance! And just because an author has a well-written book-length text ready for publication doesn\u2019t mean it can or will be published, either. (The first few issues of Modern Slavery<\/em> will feature several authors whose books remain unpublished for reasons entirely unrelated to the importance and quality of their writing.)<\/p>\n

The original concept for Modern Slavery<\/em> included a roughly 200-page, perfect-bound oversize journal format oriented towards people who enjoy reading and who aren\u2019t afraid to dive into longer texts that are exciting, intelligent and well-written. In order to remove any possibility or appearance of competition with the now separate and independent Anarchy<\/em> magazine project, the intention was to avoid newsstand distribution, keep the graphic design simple, severely limit artwork and photos, and avoid publishing any material on the shorter side. The planned format was actually intended to be something not yet too far from what you\u2019ll find in this first full issue. However, since the Anarchy<\/em> collective has recently decided to end its newsstand distribution and shrink its circulation, Modern Slavery<\/em> will instead seek (limited) newsstand distribution, include more complex graphic design and more artwork and photos, while attempting something more of a balance between longer and shorter contributions in future issues. The changes in direction will probably become more clear as future issues appear. What won\u2019t change will be our commitment to publication of quality writing and art.<\/p>\n

Our orientation is open \u2013 and encouraging \u2013 to new libertarian practices, ideas, styles and tropes, as long as they don\u2019t merely reproduce or recycle ideological calls to enslavement in any form. And as long as they are written and conveyed in manners likely to be understood and enjoyed \u2013 not in tortured postmodernist verbiage or academic-speak. Even serious and complex analyses and critiques can be readable!<\/p>\n

In this issue<\/h1>\n

The focus of this issue and every issue will be on the history, theoretical analysis and practical resistance to all forms of slavery. But this focus leaves a wide latitude for approaches. This first issue begins with \u201cJohn Brown\u2019s Body,\u201d co-editor Paul Simons\u2019 reexamination of John Brown\u2019s flawed but decisive assault on chattel slavery at Harper\u2019s Ferry. Many historians now mark this event as the beginning of the North American Civil War. At the time it was a highly controversial outgrowth of a complex abolitionist movement that was largely anarchistic, as Fran\u00e7ois Gardyn reveals in a sidebar piece titled \u201cNotes on Abolitionism and Anarchism.\u201d Among the interesting features of North American abolitionism examined in both pieces was the heavy influence of religion as both a source of and limiting factor to the fight against slavery. Henry David Thoreau defends John Brown\u2019s attack in his \u201cPlea for Captain John Brown,\u201d originally delivered as a speech in Concord, Massachusetts, that in its force, boldness and eloquence inspired a wide re-evaluation of Brown\u2019s (and his companions\u2019)
\nacts inside and outside the abolitionist movement. Given his wide influence on North American libertarians of all types, Thoreau should need little introduction. But how many have actually read his words in defense of Brown and denouncing slavery? We can all learn something from a review of this historical address.<\/p>\n

Following the historical re-examination of John Brown, abolitionism and anarchism, Ron Sakolsky invites us to fill in a gap that sometimes looms in anarchist theories and practices where \u201cmutual aid\u201d fails to appear. \u201cMutual Acquiescence or Mutual Aid\u201d introduces a new manner of conceiving the absence of mutual aid as a presence of a mutual acquiescence by taking threads from Peter Kropotkin, Gustav Landauer and others and demonstrating their potential for fruitful intersection and use.<\/p>\n

The serialization of Karen Goaman\u2019s The Old World is Behind<\/em> You begins with her brief introduction to the situationist influences on the anarchist milieu since the 1960s as she came to experience and know them personally. It then moves on to an initial explanation of her approach to an anthropological observant-participation method that she has used to investigate the post-situationist anarchist milieu through its publications, through interviews and through other convivial interactions throughout the 1990s. Future chapters of her text provide an overview of the Situationist
\nInternational, its influence on various post-situationist currents, and projects like Anti-Clockwise<\/em>, Here and Now<\/em>, Fifth Estate<\/em> and Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Wolfi Landstreicher begins the serialization of his Strangers in an Alien World<\/em> with an analysis of \u201csurvival versus life,\u201d the precariously \u201chard times\u201d for all those living under the contemporary reign of the state and economy, and \u201cthe anarchist tension\u201d that involves the attempt to live one\u2019s own life in confrontation with this \u201cimposed reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lang Gore contributes a unique reading experience in the first chapter of his novel, Hunting Seasons<\/em>, presented here in its original alliterative verse form, whose poetic melodies can be a stimulating and refreshing alternative to conventional fictional techniques.<\/p>\n

Bob Black\u2019s \u201cBeautiful Losers\u201d returns to our major theme of American radical history, this time covering the IWW\u2019s opposition to wage slavery rather than the abolitionists\u2019 opposition to chattel slavery. By examining the historiography of the IWW from its birth to the end of the 20th century, the essay gives us a more accurate and complete perspective on the libertarian contributions (and limitations) of the IWW than many book-length studies.<\/p>\n

Voltairine de Cleyre\u2019s \u201cDirect Action\u201d is a classic text of North American anarchism, presenting a compelling picture of the practice, as she cites examples from history that include Brown\u2019s raid on Harper\u2019s Ferry and the IWW free speech fights as she moves from consideration of the struggles against chattel slavery to the struggles against wage slavery! De Cleyre was a central participant in the libertarian milieu from the last decade of the 19th century up through the first decade of the 20th.<\/p>\n

Massimo Passamani presents a succinct and revealing description of Max Stirner\u2019s libertarian, egoist social intercourse through his \u201cunion of egoists\u201d in terms of \u201cMutual Utilization.\u201d Here Passamani contrasts the immediate and direct interests and relationships advocated by Stirner to reified interests and relationships mediated by alien ideals, compulsory morals and childish fantasies.<\/p>\n

In a draft version of an introduction written for the new translations of \u201cStirner\u2019s Critics\u201d and \u201cThe Philosophical Reactionaries,\u201d Jason McQuinn provides an overview of Stirner\u2019s central projects \u2013 the refusal of enslavement and thus the refusal of self-alienation \u2013 through the subjugation of all language use in his own immanent interests. \u201cClarifying the Unique and Its Self-Creation\u201d presents a description of Stirner\u2019s egoist method, its moments, and its many implications in order to extend the understanding of his largely misunderstood project.<\/p>\n

Finally \u00c9mile Armand, through a description of his own \u201canarchist individualist\u201d project, pursues a theme that could be more appreciated by all libertarians \u2013 that a life outside of slavery requires one\u2019s refusal to think and act as a slave, that one \u201clives to the greatest possible extent in a state of legitimate defence against authoritarian encroachments.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you like what you see in this first issue, please consider subscribing<\/a> early in order to help us publish regularly, with increasing print runs for each issue. US subscriptions are only $24 for 2 issues. ($30 in Canada & Mexico; $36 other continents.) Extended subscriptions are $48 for 4 issues ($60 & $72 outside the US), including a free copy of a C.A.L. Press book. Please make checks out to \u201cC.A.L. Press\u201d and send them to: C.A.L., POB 24332, Oakland, CA 94623, USA.<\/p>\n

We hope you enjoy this first issue! We have definitely enjoyed putting it together! –Jason McQuinn<\/strong><\/p>\n

[Issue #1 Table of Contents]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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