Steal This Book, by Abbie Hoffman. Pirate Editions/Grove Press. 1971 If you are looking for an in-depth collection of arguments about the evils of the current system, this is not the book you are looking for. In fact it assumes in the intro that readers have already reached their ideological conclusions and are prepared to…

Arguing against the Minimum Wage has often been the preserve of the ‘right’ (presuming the simplistic and problematic left-right dichotomy that we impose as a conceptual framework to make sense of contemporary politics); however, the ‘left’ also suffers heavily from the Minimum Wage and, despite it purporting to be a pro-poor law, it works to…

The Lego corporation, popular producer of interlocking miniature toy bricks, has recently been making increased efforts to market its toys to girls. Some of these efforts have met with criticism from feminists, who worry about toys that are stereotypically “girly” in a way that reinforces traditional gender roles. In a recent piece titled “Un-PC Lego…

C4SS’s Tony Dreher (Senior Fellow & Audio/Visual Coordinator) and Kelly Vee (Advisor & Intern) recently sat down for a discussion surrounding Vee’s intellectual roots and her metamorphosis into a vegan, individualist anarcha-feminist. The audio clip is a little over 20 minutes.

I hope to review Gary Francione‘s Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog? here next month. I’ve found much of what I’ve watched and read thus far from Francione compelling. In the meantime, here is a good snippet on the topic of animal rights from Corin Bruce’s essay, Green Anarchism: Towards the Abolition of Heirarchy,…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Daniel Pryor‘s “‘Cultural Libertarianism’ on Trial” read by Katrina Haffner and edited by Nick Ford. Overall, there is value in cultural libertarianism just as there is value in social justice activism. Both sides are guilty of hyperbole and fail to acknowledge their own camp’s malicious elements. Instead, they tar the entirety…

In their July 20th Breitbart article, Milo Yiannopoulous and Allum Bokhari refer to the growing network of resistance to “social justice warriors” in the entertainment industry as “cultural libertarianism.” It’s a powerful term and intuitively appealing to supporters of a free society. Extending scepticism of “big government” to what the authors call “cultural authoritarianism” seems…

Hanging upside-down, swinging like a pendulum and naked, the grimacing face of the female victim from Rihanna’s new (NSFW) “Bitch Better Have My Money” music video seems to be the face that has launched a thousand think-pieces. In seven disturbing minutes, Rihanna takes revenge on her dodgy (white) accountant by kidnapping his (white) wife, stripping her,…

It’s sad evidence of collective latent racism that no one cares about prison until a conventionally attractive, intelligent, well-educated, middle-class, urban white woman goes there. Hence, Orange is the New Black, a funny and moving hit original series based on a bestselling memoir. How is it that black and Latina women are relegated to supporting…

In the first Avengers movie, Black Widow stands alone in a field of men. Despite being the token female character, she breaks the bounds of classic Hollywood femininity and demonstrates depth and a sense of humor. Then came Avengers 2: Age of Ultron. In a highly controversial move, Black Widow reveals that she is infertile,…

Origin Story  Those who are not familiar with comic books and the history surrounding them may be confused about the recent kerfuffle over the Batgirl cover and it being pulled. Never fear! For I have in my Utility Belt of Knowledge, the proper gadgets to give some context and offer critique. Batgirl, or Barbara Gordon as she is better…

Harriet A. Washington. Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present (New York: Anchor Books, 2006). There has been considerable controversy over the ethics of using knowledge — even to save lives — that was obtained from Nazi medical experimentation on death camp inmates. Unfortunately far…

Spanking. Consensual physical or verbal abuse. Physical restraint. Female ejaculation. Strangulation. Facesitting. #ThingsBannedInUKPorn No, it’s not an anarchist’s Christmas wishlist. The above is a selection of the #ThingsBannedInUKPorn this month. There are many angles people have taken when criticising these recent restrictions on pornography production, all of which can be thought of as anarchist in some…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Valdenor Júnior‘s “Victims of Abortion Criminalization” read by Christopher B. King and edited by Nick Ford. I agree with jurist Ronald Dworkin in his book Life’s Dominion. He states that people wish to ban abortion because they understand there is some intrinsic value to life that must be preserved. However, that sacred value is…

Jandira Magdalena dos Santos vanished after having an illegal abortion on August 26. She could feel the danger as it approached. Her last text message to her husband Leandro Brito Reis read: “Honey, they asked me to turn off my phone, I’m panicking, pray for me!” Two hours after getting the message, Leandro sent one…

Well, give Miss Representation credit. The inescapable “It’s for the children!” is right there in their petition’s name: Join Our Family To Stop Advertising Hurting Our Kids; Support the Truth In Advertising Act. The proposed bill would require the Federal Trade Commission to regulate advertisers’ use of image alteration, as well as create and maintain…

Last Friday, Rodrigo Constantino, in his blog on Brazilian magazine Veja’s website, made a strange comment: “I have no doubt that ‘good girls’ are under less risk of sexual assault.” The statement was widely discussed and displeased many in social media, especially for following IPEA‘s research in Brazil, in which 58.5% of interviewees agreed with…

Nell’ambiente dei movimenti libertari dominanti l’accusa di “statalismo” è solitamente rivolta contro una serie di obiettivi facilmente immaginabili. Chiunque lamenti il razzismo, il sessismo o altri argomenti di giustizia sociale, lo sfruttamento economico dei lavoratori o il degrado ambientale è automaticamente accusato di statalismo sulla base del ragionamento secondo cui lo sfruttamento, l’ingiustizia e l’inquinamento…

In the mainstream libertarian movement, accusations of “statism” typically focus on a fairly predictable set of targets. Anyone who complains of racism, sexism or other social justice issues, the economic exploitation of workers or degradation of the environment is reflexively accused of statism on the assumption that exploitation, injustice and pollution could only be problems…

Anche se forse senza rendersene conto, Amanda Knox, la cittadina americana condannata per omicidio dalle autorità italiane, ha fornito un esempio istruttivo sul significato del privilegio. Nel 2009 la Knox fu accusata di aver ucciso Meredith Kercher, una studentessa britannica con cui condivideva l’alloggio durante gli studi all’estero. Nel 2011, prima dell’assoluzione in seguito ad…