Revolutionary Theory – Page 2 – "Victoria" Anarchist Reading Circle

October 27: Rejecting Statism During Crisis

Posted on October 16, 2024 - October 16, 2024 by Orange

Next time, we will be discussing Sobre la violencia en una época de catástrofes AKA About violence in a time of catastrophes (2023). We will also be pairing it with an excerpt, Chapter 7: Trusting, from Worth Fighting For: Bringing the Rojava Revolution Home. (2023)

About violence in a time of catastrophes is a short essay (machine-translated from Spanish) exploring the principles of anti-colonial violence and pleas for its audience to take a principled, intersectional stance against right-wing Islamic Jihadism, taking into account the experiences of Iranian and Afghan comrades. It is available for free on the Anarchist Library or as a custom imposed zine short-edge PDF.

Worth Fighting For: Bringing the Rojava Revolution Home is the story of two internationalist volunteers who became part of the Rojavan revolution, such as martyrs like Anna Campbell, who left her home in England and travelled to northeast Syria – the Rojava region of Kurdistan – to join the women fighters of the YPJ in the battle against the Islamic State. One year later, she was killed in the Turkish invasion of Afrin. The text is a critical reflection from these volunteer activists on what we can “bring back” to our movements at home on Turtle Island. Our reading, Chapter 7: Trusting, explores dismantling individuals’ state mentality in a time of War to create bonds of trust. It is available as a custom imposed zine short-edge PDF.

A screen reader with scans of both texts is available here:

Oct 27, 2024 Reader_About Violence + Trusting

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We ask you to please read the pieces ahead of time.

As always, we meet at Camas Books and Infoshop, 2620 Quadra Street, on unceded Lekwungen Territory at 6:30pm on Sunday October 27th. Bring a tea and a notebook!

September 29: Nonviolence and Ally Mythology

Posted on September 18, 2024 by Orange

Spilling over from our last conversation on Turning Away from The State, we decided to revisit the classic Accomplices Not Allies: Abolishing the Ally Industrial Complex (2014) by Indigenous Action (now Indigenous Abolition), and to pair it with Peter Gelderloos’ Debunking the myths around nonviolent resistance (2020).

This provocation is intended to intervene in some of the current tensions around solidarity/support work as the current trajectories are counter-liberatory from my perspective. Don’t construe this as being for “white young middle class allies”, just for paid activists, non-profits, or as a friend said, “downwardly-mobile anarchists or students.” There are many so-called “allies” in the migrant rights struggle who support “comprehensive immigration reform” which furthers militarization of Indigenous lands. – Accomplices Not Allies

The Floyd rebellion follows a long tradition of movements using a diversity of tactics to achieve their goals, discrediting champions of nonviolence. – Debunking nonviolent resistance

Accomplices Not Allies is available as to read here online or as a printable imposed zine.

Debunking the myths around nonviolent resistance is available online for free through Roar Magazine or as a custom printable imposed zine.

As always, we meet at Camas Books and Infoshop, 2620 Quadra Street, on unceded Lekwungen Territory at 6:30pm on Sunday September 29th.

September 15: Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en Solidarity

Posted on September 2, 2024 - September 2, 2024 by Orange

Recently, the Hereditary Chiefs of the Gitanyow village on Gitxsan territory burned a copy of a Mutual Benefits Agreement they’d signed with the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) Pipeline 10 years ago. They also set up a blockade at one of the access points on Gitanyow territory to not allow any PRGT construction crews in.

Simogyet Watakhayetsxw of the Lax Ganeda, or the Raven Frog clan, said: “The BC government, the federal government, defending PRGT. I am putting you on alert. There will be no trucks on my territory. And I will defend the territory as best I can.” She further notes: “For those people that are defending the Gitanyow, the Gitxsan and the Wet’suwet’en, I invite you to stand on the lines with the Gitanyow. Come and stand with my Wilp [house groups of the clans].”

The “Victoria” Anarchist Reading Circle stands in full solidarity with the Gitxsan people and their defense of their land.

The Gitxsan people have stood with their Wet’suwet’en siblings in joint struggle against a similar oil project — the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline. To sharpen our anarchist understandings of what being a̶l̶l̶i̶e̶s accomplices to Indigenous sovereignty looks like, we have decided to read Jeff Corntassel’s Life Beyond the State: Regenerating Indigenous International Relations and Everyday Challenges to Settler Colonialism (2021), a publication out of the local University of “Victoria’s” Anarchist Developments in Cultural Studies (ADCS) journal.

Corntassel, going back to 2005, has been part of articulating a theory of decolonization called Indigenous Resurgence, whose resonance with anarchism lies in turning away from the state as a site to conquer or to emulate. Rather, Corntassel, in this piece and others, has argued for an understanding of decolonization that begins from place-based land oriented relationships, where, one warrior at a time, the values, practices and ways of relating are generated that renew Indigenous ways of making decisions, honouring relationships and enacting self-determination. Life Beyond the State in particular also emphasizes Indigenous understandings of internationalism as a critical aspect of decolonization.

“We’ve seen this relationship between Indigenous warriors and anarchists that has been developing over the years, and I think that combining those two groups particularly is a really powerful move against the State, it’s a real threat when we act together, and so I just want to encourage people to act on that, because we’re on the right track, we’re winning this fight, and we just have to push harder and keep going, and push the envelope even further than we already have.” – Molly Wickham

The reading Life Beyond the State is available on the ADCS website, the Anarchist Library, or as an imposed zine.

As always, we meet at Camas Books and Infoshop, 2620 Quadra Street, on unceded Lekwungen Territory at 6:30pm on Sunday September 15th.

September 1: Kuwasi Balagoon

Posted on August 24, 2024 by Daisy

In early preparation for September’s upcoming Bi Visibility Week, we have chosen readings that centre the admirable bisexual freedom fighter Kuwasi Balagoon. While the two readings don’t place especial emphasis on Balagoon’s orientation, they do provide a thorough overview of his contributions to the struggle for Black liberation in the 70s and 80s. Both texts, Maroon: Kuwasi Balagoon and the Evolution of a Revolutionary New Afrikan Anarchism by Akinyele K. Umoja and Kuwasi at 60 by Kazembe Balagun, chronicle Balagoon’s daring acts of insurgency. Their scope includes Balagoon’s time before and after joining the Black Panther Party, his organizing in prison, and his later criticisms of the Black Panther Party from an anarchistic standpoint. These accessible historical accounts are sure to stoke more curiosity about the revolutionary figure and time period they illuminate.

Maroon and Kuwasi at 60, respectively, can be downloaded below this paragraph. Alternatively, Maroon and Kuwasi at 60 can both be read online or printed in zine format courtesy of the Anarchist Library.

Maroon: Kuwasi Balagoon -- Akinyele K. Umoja

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Kuwasi at 60 -- Kazembe Balagun

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As always, we meet at Camas Books and Infoshop, 2620 Quadra Street, on unceded Lekwungen Territory at 6:30pm on Sunday September 1st.

May 12: On the Poverty of Student Life

Posted on April 30, 2024 by Light

In solidarity with international student encampments and reclamations of their respective, Zionist-supporting Universities, we have decided to read the Situationist pamphlet On the Poverty of Student Life: A Consideration of Its Economic, Political, Sexual, Psychological and Notably Intellectual Aspects and of a Few Ways to Cure it (1966).

Taking advantage of the apathy of their colleagues, five “Pro-situs”, Situationist-influenced students had been elected to the University of Strasbourg’s students’ union in November 1966 and began scandalising the authorities. The students promptly proceeded to print 10,000 copies of the pamphlet using university funds and distributed them during a ceremony marking the beginning of the academic year. This provoked an immediate outcry in the local, national and international media. The students responsible were expelled and the student union closed under court order. The scandal significantly raised the profile of the Situationist Internationale and led them to reappraise the revolutionary potential of academia, reversing their previous disillusionment to take seats on the Occupation Committee of the Sorbonne during May 1968. On the Poverty of Student Life was a key text for the French and German students who rebelled in 1968.

On The Poverty of Student Life is available in plain text on the Anarchist Library or in an imposed PDF zine print format.

As always, we will be meeting at Camas Books, 2620 Quadra street, unceded Lekwungen territory. The next session will take place on Sunday, May 12 at 6:30pm.

Announcing the First ‘Victoria’ Anarchist Film Festival

Posted on April 30, 2024 - April 30, 2024 by Light

Our friends from the ‘Victoria’ Anarchist Bookfair collective, in conjunction with Camas Books and FreeSkool ‘Victoria,’ are proud to announce this year’s first ‘Victoria’ Anarchist Film Festival, operating on unceded L’kwungen territory, from May Day (May 1st) to May 11th.

While no one will be turned away at the door, we encourage donations, which support this year’s bookfair. The full screening schedule can be viewed here.

Mar 31: Anarchism and the Arab Spring

Posted on March 23, 2024 - March 23, 2024 by Creatrix

Join us for a discussion of Palestinian anarchist Mohammed Bamyeh’s article on the 2010-12 uprisings that swept through north Africa and the middle east, overthrowing dictatorships in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya.

For our next reading we are delving into “Anarchist Method, Liberal Intention, Authoritarian Lesson: The Arab Spring between Three Enlightenments.”

Bamyeh - Anarchist Method, Liberal Intention, Authoritarian Lesson: The Arab Spring between Three Enlightenments

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Bamyeh was a participant in the uprising in Egypt and writes from firsthand experience. He has authored numerous books, notably Anarchy as Order (2009) and Lifeworlds of Islam: The Pragmatics of a Religion (2019).

As always, we will be meeting at Camas Books, 2620 Quadra street, unceded Lekwungen territory. The next session will take place on Sunday, March 31st at 6:30pm.

Mar 3: Intersectional Black Anarchafeminism

Posted on February 19, 2024 - February 19, 2024 by Light

In honour of International Women’s Day on March 8th, combined with our yearning for more Black Anarchafeminism after What Is Black Anarchism?, we decided on reading more on Black Feminism, Anarchism, and Intersectionality.

We will be reading The Combahee River Collective Statement (1977) as a primer for our other two readings Femme Queen, Warrior Queen: Beyond Representation, Toward Self-Determination (2021) by Nsambu Za Suekama and Until All Are Free: Black Feminism, Anarchism, and Interlocking Oppression (2016) by Hillary Lazar.

The Combahee Statement includes the early formulation of “identity politics,” and argued that various oppressions such as racism, sexism, heteronormativity, and classism are interrelated and must be addressed as a whole. They also believed that Black feminism was the logical political movement to fight against these simultaneous oppressions.

Femme Queen, Warrior Queen and Until We Are All Free together draw insights from various sources, including the Street Trans* Action Revolutionaries, Claudia Jones, the Combahee River Collective, Frantz Fanon, and Malcolm X. The central message is that centering Black trans women not only advances their liberation but also contributes to the universal freedom of all African and oppressed people. The piece emphasizes the need to transcend divisive discourse and work toward transformative movements that address material conditions and internalized antagonisms within the Black trans struggle1. It invites readers to engage with honesty, good faith, and a commitment to revolutionary learning and movement building.

The Combahee River Collective statement can be read on BlackPast or downloaded here. It can also be listened to as a podcast episode on A People’s Anthology, read by Beverly Smith, one of the original members of the Combahee River Collective.

Femme Queen, Warrior Queen is on the Anarchist Library, as well as Until We Are All Free. These two are able to be downloaded packaged together here as Screen or Imposed Zine.

As always, we meet at Camas Books and Infoshop, 2620 Quadra Street, on unceded Lekwungen Territory at 6:30pm on Sunday March 3rd.

Feb 18: What Is Black Anarchism?

Posted on February 4, 2024 - February 14, 2024 by Light

In honour of Black History Month, we will be watching and discussing Andrewism (Andrew Sage)’s video What is Black Anarchism? (2021), which is also available to be read as a zine.

Andrew in his (video) essay introduces the concept and history of Black Anarchism, a political philosophy and movement that combines the principles of anarchism with the experiences and struggles of people of racialized Black people. He explains the main features and goals of Black Anarchism, such as opposing all forms of oppression, with particular emphasis on racism and white supremacy, and creating a non-hierarchical and self-determined society. He also mentions some of the prominent Black Anarchists and their contributions, such as Ashanti Alston, Kuwasi Balagoon, Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin, and Martin Sostre, who have been invisibilized by their White counterparts.

The text version of the essay is available on the Anarchist Library as screen or imposed zine PDF.

It is also available through our website: screen or imposed zine PDF.

As always, we meet at Camas Books and Infoshop, 2620 Quadra Street, on unceded Lekwungen Territory at 6:30pm on Sunday February 18th.

October 1st: Reconciliation is Dead: A Strategic Proposal

Posted on September 21, 2023 - September 25, 2023 by Light

In lieu of the Canadian State’s declaration of the national ‘holiday’ “National Day for Truth and Reconciliation” observed September 30th, we have decided to read Reconciliation is Dead: A Strategic Proposal (2020) by Métis water defender Tawinikay. In the piece, Tawinikay asserts that “the concept [of reconciliation] is a state-led smoke screen used to advance a more sophisticated policy of assimilation” that perpetuates and ensures the survival of the settler-colonial state.

Reconciliation is Dead is free to read on the Anarchist Library, and is also available as an imposed PDF.

Optionally, Autonomously and with Conviction: A Métis Refusal of State-Led Reconciliation is a recommended sister-text, which is also available as an imposed PDF.

As always, we are meeting at Camas Books, 2620 Quadra Street, on Lekwungen Territory. The next meeting is Sunday October 1st @ 6:30PM.

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