Reviews and Comments

There really needs to be a lot more queer texts, especially within anarchism. There were so many pieces that I didn't fully agree with (and that's fine), but it was worrying how often these pieces tended to err towards... other hegemonic values. Sometimes, I don't think they noticed they were doing it.

Some of the essays quoted... massively problematic people in trying to make their point, and I'm not keen on that. Revisiting it, I found an essay that openly cites an individual who has worked with organisations that support pederasts, and I just... don't get why? Like, it doesn't build their point, it doesn't add to it, and it does just... open up a lot of issues for queer folks. Why should we launder people who engage in harm against children into our spaces?

Sadly, more people need to really check through their sources and recognise who they are and elaborate on them.

First and foremost, this book is beautifully written. Xiaowei Wang's style of writing is probably one of the most comforting aspects about their work, especially considering the topic at hand. It also kind of helps embody the difficulty of the subject, highlighting the nuances rather than the binary discussion that often happens (tech good vs. tech bad).

But it also helps put a lot into perspective. Part of this is through showing how China and the US aren't all that different with regards to capitalism (despite what we may be led to believe), even though it may present in different forms. Part of it is through explaining so much about technology that both feels absurd and showing how it's manufacturing spaces. And more than that, they explain how the systems in the US and in China converge and impact each other.

It's hard to put a lot of it into words. This book is fantastic.

Initially, I really liked this because it was one of the first introductions to anarchism and education that I'd had. It often feels like no one is talking about it, and it's sometimes hard to find information in a range of disparate sources.

I can't totally dislike this because it did send me on my own path towards finding projects and learning more about different school movements, but it's unfortunate that the author is a TERF and supports TERF-related projects. While I'm not going to say that I can't recognise that anarchists can be bigots (especially white anarchists), it still frustrates me that they manage to exist and perpetuate hierarchies that they should find unjustified and fight against. As a result, this is a book that I refuse to recommend to anyone. There are other people doing the work to bring the history and philosophy to light who aren't transphobes. [Note: It recently dawned on me that she may not identify as an anarchist and is simply an academic who is 'interested' in anarchism because I've never seen her identify as such. However, my point still stands.]

And if you need to get this book for any reason, pirate it. She deserves nothing, and the publisher needs to know she is not welcome in liberatory spaces.