Some frolics through the politics of these rabble-rousing English anarchists, who have raised tabloid-baiting, cop-targeting and Tory-annoying to a fine art. Some insightful essays, mixed with a lot of working-class rhetoric. SC

Publisher: AK
Paperback: 186 pages
Illustrated

Corporations and their political allies wage an unrelenting class war against the working people. Privatization, the market and level playing fields are the mantras of the day. CEOs tell workers to tighten their belts while their own wallets are bulging. Income inequality is more acute in the U.S. than in any other industrialized country, even surpassing Britain. Glamorous Manhattan has disparities in wealth that exceed those of Guatemala. People are working long hours, producing more and earning less. Wages have been stagnant or declining for more than 20 years. The ranks of the poor have mushroomed. Meanwhile profits are at unprecedented levels. Recorded live at MIT, this marks the third volume in the series of lectures bringing Noam Chomsky’s words and vision to CD. 57 min. AK

Publisher: AK
Audio CD

In 1992, Bill Clinton was elected president of the United States. After 12 years of a Republican White House, voters hungry for “Change” believed Clinton when he promised a new vision, a new activism and a new direction for the U.S. Chomsky speaks about the president’s actions on NAFTA, health care, crime, labor relations, foreign policy and the economy. 56 min. AK

Publisher: AK
Audio CD

Megamergers and monopolies are limiting competition. Fewer than 10 corporations control most of the global media. The existing free market depends heavily on taxpayer subsidies and bailouts. Corporate welfare far exceeds that which goes to the poor. Economic policy is based on the dictum “Take from the needy and give to the greedy.” 56 min. AK

Publisher: AK
Audio CD

A broad review of democratic theory and political history, Chomsky argues that classical democrats such as Thomas Jefferson would be shocked at the current disrepair of American democracy. The enormous growth of corporate capitalism has already devastated democratic culture and government by concentrating power in the hands of the wealthy. And the future looks no brighter. 72 min. AK

Publisher: AK
Audio CD

These two titles are published back to back, upside down in the manner of the old two-fer pulps. The Neoist manifestoes are republished from Smile magazine which Home called “the official organ of Generation Positive, a movement so avant-garde that it consisted solely of myself.” In 1984, Home joined forces with a Dada-influenced group calling itself the Neoists. As far as can be gleaned from the manifestoes, it would appear that starting art movements as an end in itself is a sort of 20th-century art form. The writing in the actual manifestoes is by turns silly, and occasionally, actual ly brilliant. The influence of Tristan Tzara is especially in evidence, and one manifesto suggests that “Neoism is not a philosophy at all, it is an illegible note that Tristan Tzara allowed to fall from his breast pocket prior to a performance at the Cabaret Voltaire in 1916.” It should be noted that these writings are among the first public offerings from a very young and prolific writer.
The Art Strike notion has been floating around the art world since 1968. During martial law in Poland, artists refused to exhibit their work in state galleries, leaving the ruling class without an official culture. Home writes,”what’s important are the questions that something like this poses. Hopefully it is as much about triggering doubts as anything else.” The Art Strike that occurred from 1990 to 1993 came about largely as a giant mail-art event and consisted of this series of essays by various people which raise, among others, the question of how effective such a declaration can be in a free marketplace. The standout among The Art Strike Papers is a piece entitled “Art and Class” by Home. The publication of these two titles as a single book allows us to see Home’s growth as a writer and theorist over a crucial decade in his development. SA

Publisher: AK
Paperback: 100 pages

Thumbnail outline of the seemingly mazelike “utopian” (read “anti-commodity”) movements that seek to replace art and work with some form of more genuine expression. Ties together pataphysics, COBRA, lettrists, Situationist International, Fluxus, auto-destructive art, Provos, Yippies, White Panthers, punk, mail art, and other currents. Anti-romantic non-coffeetable, anti-art history. SS

Publisher: AK
Paperback: 120 pages

“In the autumn of 1983 a tape recording of a telephone conversation between President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher was sent anonymously to newspapers in various parts of the world. A covering note claimed that the tape was a recording of a crossed phone line on which was heard part of the two leaders’ telephone conversation. In January 1984, the story was taken up by the Sunday Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. The Sunday Times described the tape as part of a KGB propaganda war. The U.S. State Department said that the tape was evidence of ‘an increasingly sophisticated Russian disinformation campaign.’ In fact the tape was made by members of the anarchist punk-rock group Crass. The tape had been produced by using parts of TV and radio broadcasts made by the two leaders, then overdubbed with telephone noises.”

Publisher: AK
Paperback: 24 pages

A collection of work from novelist and art agitator Stewart Home, this brings together his writings from the mid-’80s onward. This book is concerned with what’s been happening at the cutting edge of culture since the demise of Fluxus and the Situationists. It provides inside information on the Neoists, Plagiarists, Art Strikers, London Psychogeographical Association, K Foundation and other groups that are even more obscure. Rather than offering up a continuous narrative, the text is made of articles, manifestoes, lectures and essays. AK

Publisher: AK
Paperback: 209 pages

“The bibliography appears at the point in a subject’s living death when criticism reaches its critical mass.” This immense annotated bibliography contains all the sources for articles, books, essays and commentary on the Situationist International (1957-1972). Works here are in English as well as in French. This is an excellent guide book to lead the impressionable ones on a tour of found and missing texts regarding one of the most important political “artisti”’ movements in Europe. AK

Publisher: AK
Paperback: 150 pages