Hey all, I started my dive into anarchism a little over a year ago and I’ve read a lot of the anarchy/socialism 101 type books but I’m starting to find a lot of it repetitive. I’m looking for suggestions to deepen my understanding of anarchism and libertarian socialism. Especially praxis and tactics, a lot of theory that I’ve come across doesn’t really get into the weeds about applying it, and as someone in an area with no leftist orgs to speak of (outside of a small DSA chapter), I don’t have anyone local to go to in order to learn from.
I want to start putting all of this knowledge to use in my area but I’m not 100% sure where to start or how to avoid some of the pitfalls of organizing. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Do you have access to special ressources / infrastructure, have specific skills or did you notice any problems in your neighborhood or daily life that you want to change? I feel like those can useful to pathways to learn specifics of organizing in relation to your individual situation and very often there are already some anarchist theory texts or report backs to be found.
Besides that, is reading your go to way of engaging with other peoples ideas?
I work in EMS and see the realities of American healthcare on a daily basis. One big issue I’ve identified in my area is poor access to (affordable and convenient) transportation for people with disabilities. My city is a victim of urban sprawl and has one of the highest pedestrian death rates in my state so not only is everyone car dependent, but if you try to walk or bike there’s a higher than average chance you get mowed down by an SUV. Not to mention homelessness, addiction, and food insecurity are a huge problem here that cause and exacerbate a number of health issues.
Reading has been my main way of engaging with politics lately. But I talk to friends and co-workers as well to engage with their ideas. Most of the people around me are evangelicals and conservatives so I get to understand their worldview more than they try to understand mine haha. I’ve also attended the odd protest and pride event when they come up and I’m not working, but that’s not often here. I wouldn’t say reading is my go to, but it’s one that’s most available to me at the moment
You mentioned lots of topics that I feel like you could make an big impact. I am from different continent so I dont know if I am just assuming, but there might be already active people/groups/organizations and maybe the way you want to be active aligns with the way they do things. I think its possible to “do anarchism” with others that are not anarchist ot atleast dont use that label.
Other than that, I enjoy reading your comments, to me they are engaging and precise, so maybe that is a skill you can use somehow.