reading for 2.7.17 – starting psycho february ;)

see bottom for thoughts on readings for the rest of the month…

link to the reading:
an intro to the topic — anarchism and psychology

more notes on Gross:[Gross’] first thesis was: The realization of the anarchist alternative to the patriarchal order of society has to begin with the destruction of the latter. Without hesitation, [he] owned up to practicing this -in accordance with anarchist principles – by the propaganda of the “example”, first by an exemplary way of life aimed at destroying the limitations of society within himself; second as a psychotherapist by trying to realize new forms of social life experimentally in founding unconventional relationships and communes (for example in Ascona from where he was expelled as an instigator of “orgies”) . . .
His second thesis: Whoever wants to change the structures of power (and production) in a repressive society, has to start by changing these structures in himself and to eradicate the “authority that has infiltrated one’s own inner being” (Sombart 1991, pp. 1l0 – 111).
Gross recognised the way in which family structures that violate the individual reflect those of patriarchal society and was the first to empathize deeply with the child in this conflict.
His lifelong concern with ethical issues culminated for Gross in the concept of an “inborn ‘i n s t i n c t o f m u t u a l a i d’ (Gross 1919a, p. 682)” which he described as the “basic ethical instinct (Gross 1914, p. 529)”. In 1919, Gross published “Protest and Morality in the Unconscious” (Gross 1919a). Jung only published on that subject towards the end of his life in the late 50’s (Jung 1958; 1959). Gross was explicitly referring to Kropotkin and his discovery of the principle of mutual aid in the field of biology. Mutuality is a core concept of anarchist thought. 150 years previously Proudhon had used the term “mutualism” for the free relationship of groups of equals that exist through mutual exchange. Kropotkin elaborated this concept in his book “Mutual Aid, a Factor of Evolution” (Kropotkin 1904), first published in England in 1902. Contemporary researchers in biology, anthropology and genetics seem to confirm this theory, according to a recent article in the Guardian, where Natalie Angier writes about “Why we can’t help helping each other”: “It’s not simply noble to be nice to our fellow man – it’s hardwired into our genes” (Angier 2001). Gross was the first analyst to introduce this ethical concept into psychoanalytic theory and practice.

Future readings?
perhaps next week we will read something by Reich, then an excerpt from Breakout (Before Marcuse and Laing, before Heidegger and Sartre, even before Freud, the way was prepared for the anarcho-psychological critique of economic man, of all codes of ideology or absolute morality, and of scientific habits of mind. First published in 1974, this title traces this philosophical tradition to its roots in the nineteenth century, to the figures of Stirner, Nietzsche and Dostoevsky, and to their psychological demolition of the two alternative axes of social theory and practice, a critique which today reads more pertinently than ever, and remains unanswered.
To understand this critique is crucial for an age which has shown a mounting revulsion at the consequences of the Crystal Palace, symbol at once of technologico-industrial progress and its rationalist-scientist ideology, an age whose imaginative preoccupations have telescoped onto the individual, and whose interest has switched from the social realm to that of anarchic, inner, ‘psychological man’.
), then something by Lacan?

Also – we are starting the countdown to BASTARD 2017 (April 23), with a suggested theme of evil. so think about who you’d like to suggest/invite for workshop presenters!

The 2014 BASTARD Conference

Celebrating a new day!

The BASTARD (Berkeley Anarchist Students of Theory And Research & Development) conference promotes the understanding that there are multiple valid approaches to anarchism, each of which has points that are worth examining. Come and share your approach. Participate in a commerce-free event with other anarchists who are interested in the theory and philosophy of where we’ve come from, where we are, and where we’re going.

The theme (always loose) of this year is Social War. Some differing voices:

“It can be anything anarchists want it to be.”

“Social war is a concept taken from Foucault that sounds cool and definitely lends itself to grandiose rhetoric, but has little to do with what we are actually trying to accomplish.”

“Social war is this process of doing something. It is our concerted effort to rupture the ever-present deadliness of the social peace.”

“Social War may be one of the few forms of refusal that all anarchists can agree upon and pursue. And that pursuit, of the concrete activities of the Social War, will ideally be done in an aggressive and principled manner.”

This year we are reaching outside of our normal BASTARD organizing routine, and meeting on sundays at the long haul, so all of you who have been wanting to help organize the most exciting commerce-free anarchist theory conference in the US (but don’t have time on tuesday nights), we’re here for you!

Meetings will start on January 11 at 12 noon, at 3124 Shattuck Ave in Berkeley (very near Ashby BART); bring ideas about speakers, workshops, art, opening and closing events.

2012 BASTARD Conference – Workshop Callout

2012 BASTARD Conference – Theme: No Future

Time is a beast. It has torn through humans chasing them from the fields and woods into suits and office buildings, suburbs and mortgages. There was a chance we were going to defeat it, on the commons of England, Mesopotamia, or during the revolutions on the old continent. But we didn’t. Instead time sits on our chests and makes us do horrible things.

This years BASTARD conference will examine time in all its perniciousness. What does a critique of time say about our relationship to history. Is history redeemable? Are we living at the end of history with the glorious victory of the neo-liberal revolution of the past 50 years? If there is no time does that argue for eternal recursion? Is there hope if there is no time?

Contribute a workshop to the 2012 BASTARD conference on this theme, a related topic, or something else entirely. Send your proposals to conference@sfbay-anarchists.org

Theme: No Future
Date: April 1st
Location: East Bay, CA

Workshop proposals for 2011 BASTARD conference: Crime & Anarchy

We image a world without the state and capitalism to be a more peaceful world than this one, but is this necessarily the case? What would crime look like if it were proportional, if it were human scale? What is the definition of crime in the absence of the state?

Today, anarchists are portrayed as violent criminals in the media. If they aren’t breaking things at conventions they are on trial for one crime or another. At the same time pensions are robbed, people are murdered on the other side (and this side) of the world by agents of the state, and the disparity between the rich and poor is greater than ever. To put the question another way, there is crime against property on the one hand and crimes against life and life-potential on the other.

The 2011 Berkeley Anarchist Students of Theory And Research & Development invite you to participate in this years conference. It will be held on the UCB campus in sunny Berkeley CA on Sunday April 10th and the topic will be Anarchy & Crime. Please propose a workshop on the theory of anarchist crime, criminality, and how anarchists analyze and experience crime today & crime tomorrow.

Send your proposals to conference@sfbay-anarchists.org