Blends local context well with a broader political project
4 stars
This is a book produced by insurrectionary anarchists who apply that framework towards historical research & political analysis. The chapters can all be read on their own without the rest of the book, which is great - it leaves readers free to jump around to whichever sections interest them with less risk of coming away confused, or to just skip parts that don't stir any interest. I did not read the book "in order" & definitely found some chapters more interesting than others, but it still came across as a cohesive work overall.
All that is about structure, but the content itself is also solid: it pushes consistently against hegemonic perspectives in leftist & radical spaces as much as the mainstream, while exploring groups & events that I imagine many readers will have superficial (if any) knowledge of despite their connections to more widely understood processes. As someone who's not …
This is a book produced by insurrectionary anarchists who apply that framework towards historical research & political analysis. The chapters can all be read on their own without the rest of the book, which is great - it leaves readers free to jump around to whichever sections interest them with less risk of coming away confused, or to just skip parts that don't stir any interest. I did not read the book "in order" & definitely found some chapters more interesting than others, but it still came across as a cohesive work overall.
All that is about structure, but the content itself is also solid: it pushes consistently against hegemonic perspectives in leftist & radical spaces as much as the mainstream, while exploring groups & events that I imagine many readers will have superficial (if any) knowledge of despite their connections to more widely understood processes. As someone who's not in Philadelphia (around which all the book's essays are centered), I got a lot out of it & would recommend it.
