Direct Action

An Ethnography

Paperback, 600 pages

English language

Published Sept. 1, 2009 by AK Press.

ISBN:
978-1-904859-79-6
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OCLC Number:
182529207

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4 stars (2 reviews)

Direct Action: An Ethnography is an ethnographic study of the global justice movement written by anthropologist David Graeber and published by AK Press in 2009.

3 editions

At times a trudge, but worth it

4 stars

Much of the first part revolves around a recreated narrative of a Direct Action event, from the author's notes.

Later the book becomes a sort of analysis of these events, how they fit into the Anarchist culture, and how that culture fits into the Capitalist society around it.

All in all, a good introduction into what Anarchy and Direct Action are, how they work in theory and how the author has seen them work in practice.

Mess of a lovely book

No rating

I admittedly only skimmed over the first section of this book (the ethnography portion). However, I really enjoyed reading the second part. It's not that Graeber goes into anything I didn't already know about punk, anarchist, DIY movements. Instead I think he connects his insights really beautifully to larger concepts and moments in history in a way that is accessible and coherent.

I appreciated how he interrogated moral panics around anarchists and certain ill conceived stereotypes as well as certain contradictions and paradox's within the movement.