NO BORDERS: Louisville’s Radical Lending Library

Abolish Whiteness

Noel Ignatiev
“Abolish Whiteness” by Noel Ignatiev

11″ × 8.5″
6 Pages
2.1 MB

Whiteness is not a culture. There is Irish culture and Italian culture and American culture—the latter, as Albert Murray pointed out, a mixture of the Yankee, the Indian, and the Negro (with a pinch of ethnic salt); there is youth culture and drug culture and queer culture; but there is no such thing as white culture. Whiteness has nothing to do with culture and everything to do with social position. It is nothing but a reflection of privilege, and exists for no reason other than to defend it. Without the privileges attached to it, the white race would not exist, and the white skin would have no more social significance than big feet.

The Abolition of Work

Bob █████
“The Abolition of Work” by Bob █████

11″ × 8.5″
6 Pages
167 KB

An argument for the abolition of the producer- and consumer-based society, where all of life is devoted to the production and consumption of commodities. Attacking state socialism as much as liberal capitalism, Black argues that the only way for humans to be free is to reclaim their time from jobs and employment, instead turning necessary subsistence tasks into free play done voluntarily.

The essay argues that “no-one should ever work”, because work—defined as compulsory productive activity enforced by economic or political means—is the source of most of the misery in the world.

An Anarchist Introduction to Critical Race Theory

RACE (Revolutionary Anti-Authoritarians of Color)
“An Anarchist Introduction to Critical Race Theory” by RACE (Revolutionary Anti-Authoritarians of Color)

11″ × 8.5″
4 Pages
158 KB

Critical Race Theory starts by asking the same questions about race, racism and power that a myriad of academic disciplines and activists have pondered for the past century. It draws upon critical legal studies and radical feminism in the formation of its approach. While it is primarily concerned with the legal arena, it is activist in nature and has come to include political science, education, American and ethnic studies and more.

An Anarchist Solution to Global Warming

Peter Gelderloos
“An Anarchist Solution to Global Warming” by Peter Gelderloos

11″ × 8.5″
4 Pages
296 KB

If the Green Capitalist response to climate change will only add more fuel to the fire, and if government at a global scale is incapable of solving the problem…how would anarchists suggest we reorganize society in order to decrease the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and to survive an already changed world?

Are You an Anarchist? The Answer May Surprise You!

David Graeber
“Are You an Anarchist? The Answer May Surprise You!” by David Graeber

11″ × 8.5″
2 Pages
164 KB

At their very simplest, anarchist beliefs turn on to two elementary assumptions. The first is that human beings are, under ordinary circumstances, about as reasonable and decent as they are allowed to be, and can organize themselves and their communities without needing to be told how. The second is that power corrupts. Most of all, anarchism is just a matter of having the courage to take the simple principles of common decency that we all live by, and to follow them through to their logical conclusions. Odd though this may seem, in most important ways you are probably already an anarchist—you just don’t realize it.

Fragments of an Anarchist Public Health: Developing Visions of a Healthy Society

Marcus Hill
“Fragments of an Anarchist Public Health: Developing Visions of a Healthy Society” by Marcus Hill

11″ × 8.5″
10 Pages
245 KB

If we carry the importance of empowerment to its fullest logical extent in terms of health care and public health policy—that is, seeing the need to build real conditions for self-management, attacking the roots of inequalities instead of just minimizing their effects, addressing market forces and norms of competition that have invaded every facet of social life, and realizing that these conditions are systemically perpetuated through the institutions we create but not intrinsic to the societal roles these institutions need to fulfill—we can pragmatically and rationally consider more utopist visions of how health care institutions (and institutions throughout society) can be restructured.

Hot Pantz: DIY Gynecology / Herbal Remedies

Isabelle Gauthier & Lisa Vinebaum
“Hot Pantz: DIY Gynecology / Herbal Remedies” by Isabelle Gauthier & Lisa Vinebaum

8.5″ × 11″
12 Pages
7.5 MB

Patriarchy sucks!

It’s robbed us of our autonomy and much of our history. We believe that it’s integral for women to be aware and in control of our own bodies. The recipes we present here have been known for centuries, passed down from mother to daughter, and have survived the censorship of the witch hunts. Our intent is simple and practical: to help break away from the medical establishment’s tentacular grip on our bodies and our approaches to health and healing.

The Machinery of Hopelessness

David Graeber
“The Machinery of Hopelessness” by David Graeber

11″ × 8.5″
2 Pages
177 KB

Hopelessness isn’t natural. It needs to be produced. To understand this situation, we have to realize that the last 30 years have seen the construction of a vast bureaucratic apparatus that creates and maintains hopelessness. At the root of this machine is global leaders’ obsession with ensuring that social movements do not appear to grow or flourish, that those who challenge existing power arrangements are never perceived to win. Maintaining this illusion requires armies, prisons, police and private security firms to create a pervasive climate of fear, jingoistic conformity and despair. All these guns, surveillance cameras and propaganda engines are extraordinarily expensive and produce nothing—they’re economic deadweights that are dragging the entire capitalist system down.

Queering Anarchism

Deric Shannon & Abbey Willis
“Queering Anarchism” by Deric Shannon & Abbey Willis

8.5″ × 11″
3 Pages
176 KB

Queering anarchism means complexifying it. Concretely, we propose that we can apply some of the ways that we (might) love to the ways that we think about political theory. Thus, we build the metaphor of ‘theoretical polyamory’ to suggest that having multiple partners (or political theories) is a way of constructing more holistic and nuanced movements than might be implied by solely relying on anarchism for the answers to the complex questions surrounding the political project of undoing all forms of structured and institutionalized domination, coercion, and control.

Socialism, Anarchism & Feminism

Carol Ehrlich
“Socialism, Anarchism & Feminism” by Carol Ehrlich

8.5″ × 11″
6 Pages
231 KB

You are a woman in a capitalist society. You get pissed off: about the job, about the bills, about your husband (or ex), about the kids’ school, the housework, being pretty, not being pretty, being looked at, not being looked at (and either way, not listened to), etc.

Anarcha-feminism’s response:
We build autonomy—the process of ever growing synthesis for every living creature. We spread spontaneity and creation. We learn the joys of equality—of relationships without dominance among sisters. We destroy domination in all its forms.

Spectacular Times: Cities of Illusion

Larry Law
“Spectacular Times: Cities of Illusion” by Larry Law

11″ × 8.5″
22 Pages
5.3 MB

In the Society of the Spectacle we live in a world of carefully constructed illusions—about ourselves, each other, about power, authority, justice and daily life. These illusions are both constructed and reflected by education, advertising, propaganda, television, newspapers, speeches, elections, politics, religion, business transactions and the courts. They are perpetuated by us from the moment we accept this as a valid view of the world. We don’t have to agree with every detail—in fact we are positively encouraged to argue and take sides over a host of prefabricated trifles—we simply have to accept this view of the world; to view life from the perspective of Power.

Understanding Patriarchy

bell hooks
“Understanding Patriarchy” by bell hooks

8.5″ × 11″
4 Pages
159 KB

Patriarchy is the single most life-threatening social disease assaulting the male body and spirit in our nation. Yet most men do not use the word “patriarchy” in everyday life. Most men never think about patriarchy—what it means, how it is created and sustained. Many men in our nation would not be able to spell the word or pronounce it correctly. The word “patriarchy” just is not a part of their normal everyday thought or speech. Men who have heard and know the word usually associate it with women’s liberation, with feminism, and therefore dismiss it as irrelevant to their own experiences.

What About Human Nature?

The Anarchist FAQ Editorial Collective
“What About Human Nature?” by The Anarchist FAQ Editorial Collective

11″ × 8.5″
2 Pages
451 KB

Anarchists argue that anarchy is not against “human nature” for two main reasons. Firstly, what is considered as being “human nature” is shaped by the society we live in and the relationships we create. This means a hierarchical society will encourage certain personality traits to dominate while an anarchist one would encourage others. As such, anarchists “do not so much rely on the fact that human nature will change as they do upon the theory that the same nature will act differently under different circumstances.” Secondly, change “seems to be one of the fundamental laws of existence” so “who can say that man [sic!] has reached the limits of his possibilities.” (George Barrett)

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

Peggy McIntosh
“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh

11″ × 8.5″
2 Pages
154 KB

I began to count the ways in which I enjoy unearned skin privilege and have been conditioned into oblivion about its existence.

My schooling gave me no training in seeing myself as an oppressor, as an unfairly advantaged person, or as a participant in a damaged culture. I was taught to see myself as an individual whose moral state depended on her individual moral will.

You’d Be Better Off Without Police, Presidents, Money & Capitalism: A Short Intro to Anarchism

Alex Bradshaw
“You’d Be Better Off Without Police, Presidents, Money & Capitalism: A Short Intro to Anarchism” by Alex Bradshaw

11″ × 8.5″
2 Pages
705 KB

Chances are, first and foremost, that what you’ve been told in regards to anarchism is a complete farce and is quite possibly its complete opposite.

I’ll go out on a limb and assume you’ve heard something along the lines of: “anarchist = bomb-throwing terrorist” or “anarchist society = society just the way it is minus the police.” This couldn’t be further from the truth.

This pamphlet is one author’s articulation of anarchism, what the social theory rejects, and its foreseeable ethical alternatives.

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