A message from A Pritchard at Anarchist Studies Network:
Ken Barlow, one of the commissioning editors at Pluto, has been in touch to ask if I knew of anyone that would be interested in writing a primer on anarchist praxis. I said I'd put out a general call if he could tell me what exactly he was after. This is what he said:
"The image the general public have of anarchists (if they think of them at all) is often of 'all or nothing,' sometimes violent, diehards who are only willing to operate through complete non-compliance with the state. In reality, anarchist/non-hierarchical practice can be applied widely in day-to-day life to make the world a better place, even in contexts of having to engage with the state, and even by those who might not consider themselves 'anarchists'. I am therefore envisaging a book (provisionally entitled 'The Pragmatic Anarchist') aimed at a wider (i.e. general, non-anarchist) readership that addresses this misnomer.
Such a book would make the case for a 'practical' anarchism that acknowledges (which is obviously not the same as liking) the current primacy of the state, and in this context setting out how ordinary people can make use of anarchist ideas and principles 'pragmatically' in everyday life, whether in their social, work or political environments. The above is just a sketch of the book as I envisage it, and I would be open to alternative avenues drawing on the same theme."
If you're up for it, I'm sure he'd like to hear from you (no need to email me). Ken Barlow <kenb@plutobooks.com>
