In a hierarchical society, whom do police protect? Who has more to fear from crime, and who has more to fear from police? In some communities, the police are like an occupying force; police and crime form the interlocking jaws of a trap that prevents people from escaping oppressive situations or rescuing their communities from violence, poverty, and fragmentation.
Our next reading is on alternatives to policing and community-based, self-organized ways to take care of our social needs and problems. Anarchists wish to create a society that can protect itself and resolve internal problems without police, judges, or prisons; a society that does not view its problems in terms of good and evil, permitted and prohibited, law-abiders and criminals.
We will discuss the common question asked of anarchists: ‘Yes, but who will protect us without police?’ that kicks off chapter 5, “Crime” from ‘Anarchy Works’, an excellent introduction to anarchism and response to many of the popular criticisms and reactions to the anarchist worldview, by Peter Gelderloos. Peter Gelderloos is an American anarchist and activist, and author
You can read the chapter online here:
A PDF version of the reading is available for download at the top of the ‘Readings’ column, from the right-hand menu.
As usual, we will be meeting at 2620 Quadra Street, on unceded Lekwungen territory. Doors will be open at 6:50pm, and discussion starts at 7pm.
At the next Victoria Anarchist Reading Circle, we will take a look at structural violence, in the guise of bureaucracy, through a lively, accessible and interesting article by contemporary anarchist and anthropologist David Graeber. The experience of bureaucratic incompetence, confusion, and its ability to cause otherwise intelligent people to behave outright foolishly, opens up a series of questions about the nature of power.