Quote from Peter Gelderloos' "Anarchy Works"

Peter Gelderloos is one of my favourite activist writers, finding a delicate balance between recognizing his own voice and bias within his text, situating his argument within real-life historical 'fact', and presenting what could be highly intellectual topics of discussion in an accessible, and almost unarguable way. His books are great gifts for those looking to start the process of getting more interested in radical politics, and also for teens.

In his new text, Anarchy Works, available online for free here, Gelderloos gives historical and contemporary examples of where Anarchy, self proclaimed or unknowingly enacted, has been successful, and also looks at what went wrong or what destroyed those models in order to learn and grow from their mistakes or misfortunes. Here is a quote from my readings this morning:

If a man interfered in the women's sphere of activity or abused his wife, the women had a ritual of collective solidarity that preserved the balance and punished the offender, called "sitting on a man:' All the women would assemble outside the man's house, yelling at him and insulting him in order to cause him shame. Ifhe did not come out to apologize the mob ofwomen might destroy the fence around his house and his outlying storage buildings. If his offense were grievous enough, the women might even storm into his house, drag him out, and beat him up. When the British colonized the Igbo, they recognized men's institutions and economic roles, but ignored or were blind to the corresponding women's sphere of social life. When Igbo women responded to British indecency with the traditional practice of "sitting on a man," the British, possibly mistaking it for a women's insurrection, opened fire, putting an end to the gender-balancing ritual and cementing the institution ofpatriarchy in the society they had colonized.s

Highly recommended! Enjoy!

--N