NOTES, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND SHORT REVIEWS

ASR - Anarcho-Syndicalist Review is the quarterly journal of a group of mostly IWW members with an anarcho-syndicalist bent. Besides the nine-page Libertarian manifesto which appears elsewhere in this DB, readers of number 32, the summer 2001 issue of ASR will find a good mix of what can best be described as theoretical articles and current anarcho-syndicalist news. Among them is a lengthy interview with a French activist, a veteran of the ultra-left ideological wars of the last few decades, who unburdens herself on such subjects as council communism, Paul Mattick, the Leninist left, the Greens, as well as the inchoate anti-WTO movement and other manifestations of contemporary radicalism. "The Peanut Butter Principle or Why Don't We Anarchists Stick together" discusses the oxymoronic problem of anarchist organization-actually one not limited to anarchists but characteristic of all voluntary political groups in my experience. In "Nationalism or Freedom" Jon Bekken questions the thinking of an anarchist critic of ASR's internationalism and the idea that workers have no country. Reviews have always been a strong point of the ASR. This issue considers new histories of Cuban anarchism and the Spanish anarchist movement as well as a book by Eric Chester on U.S. intervention in the Dominican Republic. And much more - 37 pages, single copy $4, four-issue sub $15, from PO Box 2824, Champaign, IL 61825.

Language, Mind and Society: Chomsky and His Critics is a 73-page journal "published by a group of Northern anarchists and academics." Planned originally as an issue of The Raven, which I understand is a sort of anarchist theoretical journal published by Freedom, the British anarchist weekly, it was denied publication by Freedom Press. An additional subtitle "An 'Alternative' RAVEN" refers to its independent publication, which resulted from the decision by Freedom Press not to publish it, allegedly because of its anti-Chomsky material. A five-page "Editorial Introduction: Chomsky's Critics: Orwellian Undertones in Fierce Debate on Language and Politics" lays the groundwork for much of the contents. Besides the consideration of Chomsky's linguistic and political thinking, much of this issue deals with the reasons for Freedom Press's action. A two-page letter by Chomsky refusing to comment on an article slated for inclusion in the collection is cited in a three page "Editorial Afterword: The Irresponsibility of Intellectuals," which asserts that Chomsky used his influence to convinced one of the contributors to the collection to withdraw his article and Freedom Press to refuse it publication. Of the three major articles dealing with Chomsky, the first examines his political views and strikes me as at least neutral toward Chomsky if not positive. The next deals with his linguistic theories and raises questions about their validity without any negative implications about his honesty. It was the last, "What Is Chomskyism?: Or, Chomsky against Chomsky," which is clearly hostile and elicited the response from Chomsky that supposedly scotched Freedom Press's publication of the issue. L3 ($5) from B. Bamford, 46 Kingsland Road, Rochdale, OL11 3HQ, England.

Processed World 2001 20th Anniversary Special Edition is the first issue in seven years. The central idea of the 23 articles in this 112-page issue is "The Greatest Speedup in History," by which PW means "the radical reconfiguration of everyday life over the past generation...." "The great speedup encompasses much more than the greater number of hours we work, both as paid wage workers and as free humans grasping for freedom and fulfillment. The dramatic intensification of work, ostensible because computers have made us so much more productive, is one example. The expansion of buying and selling into more hours of the day (the 24-hour supermarket being visible example)...." A playful situationist quality pervades PW-a mixture of lampoons and serious analyses of the nature of capitalism at the turn of the millenium. Among the articles are "Farce or Figleaf: The Promise of Leisure in the Computer Age," "Distanced Education: Fast Times at Ronald McDonald U., " "The Disappeared of Silicon Valley," "My Life in the Search Engine," "Radical Politics: Assuming We Refuse, Let's Refuse to Assume." $10 from 41 Sutter Street #1829, San Francisco, CA 94104.

Communism is the Central Organ in English of the Internationalist Communist Group, one of many "internationalist" groups that trace their political lineage to the left wing of the pre-WWI Italian Socialist Party. In 1921 the left wing under the leadership of Amadeo Bordiga proclaimed itself a Communist Party and became a part of the Third International. Then in 1926 because of what the leaders regarded as the International's betrayal of fundamental revolutionary principles the leftwing of the Italian CP was expelled from the International. Besides the ICG, other groups familiar to readers, like the International Communist Current and the International Bureau for a Revolutionary Party trace their origins to the "Italian Left." Issue 12 of Communism, July 2001, (28 pages) contains articles on war, (The Invariance of the Revolutionary Position on War: The Meaning of Revolutionary Defeatism," Bangladesh, pacifism, and the era of concentration camps in England. ICG also publishes central organs in French, German, Arabic, Spanish, Hungarian, Kurdish, and Portuguese. It is on the net at http://www.geocities.com/paris/6368/

The New Formulation: An Anti Authoritarian Review of Books is the new biannual publication of a group of anarchists identified with such organizations as the Institute of Anarchist Studies, the Social Ecology Project, and the Direct Action Network. The 46 half-standard pages of issue number one, November 2001 describes it purpose as follows: "to help clarify the distinctness of an anarchist approach to social affairs, to provide a forum for the integration of new works into the anarchist project, and to give authors struggling to redefine the tradition a setting in which to share their research and reflections." Books are paired for review. In "The Police/Prison Edifice" Parenti's Lockdown America: Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis is reviewed along with Joel Dyer's The Perpetual Prisoner Machine: How America Profits from Crime. I can't resist including a statement by the reviewer speaking of what he calls Dyer's lack of "a clear critique of capitalism." Throughout the book, capitalism is constantly fragmented into "shareholder interest," "profit motives," and "corporate power." This fragmentation cripples the radical potential of the book...." The reviewer has put his finger on what I find so frustrating about Z Magazine and other "radical" (as opposed to revolutionary) magazines and books: Their unwillingness to name the enemy. Other reviews include "Two Prison Anthologies," "Theory of the Anti-Globalization Movement," and "The Panther Insurgency." All this in addition to a non-review, "An Anti-Authoritarian Response to the War Efforts" by Marina Sitrin and Chuck Morse. Annual subscription (2 issues(: $7 in the U.S. and $10 elsewhere. From 2620 Second Avenue #4B, San Diego, CA 92103

AK Press Distribution 2002 Catalog appears in a 183-page edition. At its current rate of growth we can expect that within a few years it will to rival the Sears and Roebuck catalogs of my youth. Besides what has now become an impressive list of AK publications-most of them related in some way to anarchism-- readers are offered a gigantic selection of other radical non-fiction classified under 23 headings including Black Panther, Fascism/Anti-Fascism, Armed Struggle, Left Communist, Russian Revolution, Outlaws, Pirates, Bandits,Prisons and Prisoners, Secret State, and Avant Garde/Surrealism. Among the authors we find eight books by Howard Zinn, four by Martin Glaberman, 43 (!!!) By Noam Chomsky, and six by the EZLN. Heading the "Left Communism" list of authors is this introductory comment: "Left- Communist, Council Communist, Ultra-Left, Autonomist, Libertarian Socialist ... call it what you will, these are the real heirs and executors of the Marxist legacy. Drawing on the young Marx of the Grundrisse and the theory and practice of workers' councils from the Russian Revolution to Hungary '56, this vibrant virus of the working class has endured while Leninists and party builders everywhere are being consigned to the dustbin of history." Like the comment, the author list itself is the stuff about which questions arise. Victor Serge is there as is Rosa Luxemburg, Pannekoek, Marx, CLR James,Andy Anderson, and Barrot; but who are Anthony Bogues, Werner Bonefeld, Della Costa, and Terry Eagleton; And where are dozens of others I can think of?

Stanley's Exploits, or, Civilising Africa is the latest in the pamphlet series published by the Kate Sharpley Library. First published around 1890-I gather from the publishing history, which gives the date of the second edition as 1891-D.J. Nicoll's pamphlet proved an unvarnished picture of one US/ Britain's 19th century superheros-a picture derived entirely from Stanley's own words as recorded in books and articles he wrote: "I may mention here that whenever I produce any evidence against Mr. Stanley, it is always taken from his own works and his own words." Stanley, who was an American journalist, had inherited the mantle of The African explorer Dr. Livingstone. His explorations resembled military expeditions, and he seemed to glory in his role as tactician and killer of natives who chose to resist his encroachments on their territory. Seventeen pages from $3 from Kate Sharpley Library, BM Hurricane, London WC1N 3XX. U.K. or Kate Sharpley Library, PMB 820, 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704.

Internationalist Perspective - No. 38 Summer 2001. IP is the journal of a longstanding breakaway group from the International Communist Current, appearing twice a year. This 25-page issue begins with an article "In What World Do We Live..." :

"Depending on whether there is a question mark (?) Or an exclamation mark (!) at its end, the above phrase captures two major characteristics of the present period : the need to provide ourselves with new theoretical tools to comprehend the present world, and our disquiet with respect to the perspectives offered by capitalism today. The new century that has just begun is marked by both continuity and by profound transformations: the continuity of a system riven by its own immediate economic contradictions, and which is creating the conditions for its own replacement; the transformation of a society which, just as every living organism, changes, evolves, and adapts, in order to survive. The world such as it was defined after two world wars is dead, and if crisis, exploitation, and capitalist barbarism under all its forms continues to mark the course of history, these terms are no longer defined in the same way on the plane of the composition of classes, the economic and political organization of production, and of social organization, or the manner in which the law of value infiltrates the most private domains of human activity and thinking."

Other articles include "Toward new forms of class struggle," "The end of statist containment of the working class," and "The globalization of capital and the transformation of the state." The final two-page article is titled "A discussion network has been organized." It's an interesting article which unfortunately does not give readers the internet address. A four-issue sub is L3.50/$5.00 surface mail; L5/$8 air (please send checks made out to "cash" to AM, PO Box 40231, Staten Island, NY 10304 USA.

-fg