Reading Group – North London Solidarity Federation

Accountability and Abolition Discussion Group 02 Canceled

Unfortunately we had to cancel this event. Hopefully we will hold it later in the month. Apologies for late announcement.

Reading Group 17 – Abolitionist Voices Part Two

For our seventeenth reading group we will finish reading Abolitionist Voices, a compilation edited by David Gordon Scott. From the blurb:

Why have so many radical thinkers advocated for the abolition of prisons and punishment? And why have their ideas been so difficult to popularize or garner the political will for change? This book outlines several different approaches to penal abolitionism and showcases their calls for the ending of legal coercion, domination, and repression.

This exciting and innovative edited collection shows how abolitionist ideas have continued topicality and relevance in the present day and how they can collectively help with devising new ways of thinking about social problems, as well as suggesting alternatives to existing penal policies, practices and institutions.

This month we will be finishing the book, reading Part III onward.

We normally link to a free online version of what we are reading, but this month we could not find one. If you would like to join the reading group but can no afford to buy Abolitionist Voices, please send us an email and we will try and get something sorted for you. Our friends at Freedom Press here kindly offer the space for our use, visit them for radical books, news, and events.

The reading group will be meeting on Tuesday the 27th of January, 19:00, at Freedom Bookshop, 84b Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX. You are welcome to come and join in the discussion even if you have not finished the reading.

Accountability and Abolition Discussion Group 02

Unfortunately we had to cancel this event. Hopefully we will hold it later in the month. Apologies for late announcement.

Our first discussion group on accountability and abolition was a success. We discussed the various public examples of “cancellation”, our own personal experiences with various forms of abuse, processes, why abusive behavior is so widespread within our society, and how individuals, radical spaces, organisations and individuals have struggled with holding people to account without either drifting into abuse apologetics on the one hand or recreating authoritarian structures of judgement and punishment on the other hand.

However, the session wrapped up with a lot more left to be said. What are the alternatives to what we do now? What are the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches? How can we reconcile the very different and sometimes contradictory experiences we have all had into a cohesive understanding of the problems? So we are holding a second discussion meeting on the topic.

Join us on the 5th of January at 7pm on the top floor space of the London Action Resource Centre (LARC), 62 Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, E1 1ES. Please bring a donation for the space if you can, as LARC is run entirely off of the the donations of its users.

Discussion Group – Accountability and Abolition

There is no reading group this month, as it would fall to close to Christmas. However, people involved in the reading group wanted to further discuss some of the topics that came up from our reading of What About the Rapists and Abolitionist Voices. So, we will be running a special discussion meeting on what accountability means in radical spaces and movements, and how this fits into the anarchist stance of prison abolition. This may be a one off meeting, or the first of many, depending on what those involved want to do.

While there is no expected reading for this discussion group, some of the people involved have suggested reading We Will Not Cancel Us by Adrienne Maree Brown as a shared point of reference for the discussion.

Join us on Monday the 15th of December at 7pm on the top floor space of the London Action Resource Centre (LARC), 62 Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, E1 1ES. Please bring a donation for the space if you can, as LARC is run entirely off of the the donations of its users.

Reading Group 16 – Abolitionist Voices

For our sixteenth reading group we will be reading Abolitionist Voices, a compilation edited by David Gordon Scott. From the blurb:

Why have so many radical thinkers advocated for the abolition of prisons and punishment? And why have their ideas been so difficult to popularize or garner the political will for change? This book outlines several different approaches to penal abolitionism and showcases their calls for the ending of legal coercion, domination, and repression.

This exciting and innovative edited collection shows how abolitionist ideas have continued topicality and relevance in the present day and how they can collectively help with devising new ways of thinking about social problems, as well as suggesting alternatives to existing penal policies, practices and institutions.

We will be reading Abolitionist Voices over two sessions. This month we will be reading Part I and Part II.

The reading group will be meeting on Tuesday the 25th of November, 19:00, at Freedom Bookshop, 84b Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX. You are welcome to come and join in the discussion even if you have not finished the reading.

Reading Group 15 – What About The Rapists?

For our fifteenth reading group we will be reading What About The Rapists by Dysophia. From the blurb:

“This short book is aimed at anarchists thinking about how to deal with abuses of power and acts of domination in their communities. It brings together a collection of articles representing different approaches to this problem, from transformative justice-based accountability processes to retributive-based acts of survivor-led retaliation.

Focusing on lessons learnt from experiments in this field and concerns that persist about these methods, it offers possible ways forward for those looking for grassroots responses.”

A free version of What About The Rapists can be found on the Dysophia site here and our friends at Freedom Press here have offered a 10% discount on physical copies for the reading group. Just quote “London SolFed Reading Group” or pop into Freedom for your general radical book buying needs.

The reading group will be meeting on Tuesday the 28th of October, 19:00, at Freedom Bookshop, 84b Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX. You are welcome to come and join in the discussion even if you have not finished the reading.

Reading Group 14 – Anarchy Works

For our fourteenth reading group we will be reading Anarchy Works by Peter Gelderloos. From the blurb:

Anarchy Works takes examples from around the world, combing through history and anthropology, showing that people have, in different ways and at different times, practiced mutual aid, self-organization, autonomy, horizontal decision-making: all the principles that anarchy is founded on, regardless of whether they call themselves anarchists. Well documented and expansive, this book is an inspiring answer to those who would say that anarchism is unrealistic, that it sounds nice but it couldn’t actually work. This point-by-point introduction shows that it already has.

A free version of Anarchy Works can be found on The Anarchist Library here and our friends at Freedom Press here have offered a 10% discount on physical copies for the reading group. Just quote “London SolFed Reading Group” or pop into Freedom for your general radical book buying needs.

The reading group will be meeting on Tuesday the 30th of September, 19:00, at Freedom Bookshop, 84b Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX. You are welcome to come and join in the discussion even if you have not finished the reading or are jumping in half way through the book.

Reading Group 13 – No Spiritual Surrender Part Two

For our thirteenth reading group we will start reading No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred by Klee Benally. From the blurb:

“The most bitter medicines are the strongest. We end despair by ending what is causing our suffering: destroying what destroys us. After all, anti-colonial means anti-settler society.

No Spiritual Surrender is a searing anti-colonial analysis rooted in frontline experience. Klee Benally (Diné) unrelentingly agitates against colonial politics towards Indigenous autonomy and total liberation of Nahasdzáán (Mother Earth).”

We have been reading No Spiritual Surrender over two months. This month we will finish the book, starting from chapter eight: Indigenous-Rooted Direct Action.

A free version of No Spiritual Surrender can be found on LibCom here and our friends at Freedom Press here have offered a 10% discount on physical copies for the reading group. Just quote “London SolFed Reading Group” or pop into Freedom for your general radical book buying needs.

The reading group will be meeting on Tuesday the 26th of August, 19:00, at Freedom Bookshop, 84b Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX. You are welcome to come and join in the discussion even if you have not finished the reading or are jumping in half way through the book.

Reading Group 12 – No Spiritual Surrender Part One

For our twelfth reading group we will start reading No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred by Klee Benally. From the blurb:

The most bitter medicines are the strongest. We end despair by ending what is causing our suffering: destroying what destroys us. After all, anti-colonial means anti-settler society.

No Spiritual Surrender is a searing anti-colonial analysis rooted in frontline experience. Klee Benally (Diné) unrelentingly agitates against colonial politics towards Indigenous autonomy and total liberation of Nahasdzáán (Mother Earth).”

We will be reading No Spiritual Surrender over two months. This month we will read up to and including chapter seven; The Politics of Frybread.

The reading group will be meeting on Tuesday the 29th of July, 19:00, at Freedom Bookshop, 84b Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX. You are welcome to come and join in the discussion even if you have not finished the reading or are jumping in half way through the book.

Reading Group 11 – The Ecology of Freedom Part Three

For our eleventh reading group we will finish reading The Ecology of Freedom by Murray Bookchin. From the blurb:

“The very notion of the domination of nature by man stems from the very real domination of human by human. With this succinct formulation, Murray Bookchin launches his most ambitious work, The Ecology of Freedom. An engaging and extremely readable book of breathtaking scope, its inspired synthesis of ecology, anthropology, and political theory traces our conflicting legacies of hierarchy and freedom, from the first emergence of human culture to today’s globalized capitalism, constantly pointing the way to a sane, sustainable ecological future. On a college syllabus or in an activist’s backpack, this book is indispensable reading for anyone who’s tired of living in a world where everything is an exploitable resource.”

We are reading The Ecology of Freedom over three months. This is the final month and we will be reading from chapter nine, Two Images of Technology, and finishing off the book.

A free version of The Ecology of Freedom can be found on the Anarchist Library here and our friends at Freedom Press here have offered a 10% discount on physical copies for the reading group. Just quote “London SolFed Reading Group” or pop into Freedom for your general radical book buying needs.

The reading group will be meeting on Tuesday the 24th of June, 19:00, at Freedom Bookshop, 84b Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX. You are welcome to come and join in the discussion even if you have not finished the reading or are jumping in half way through the book.