DUUUUUUUANNNNNEEEEEEEEE sipping on some starbucks....

From Medium by Duane Rousselle

A few thoughts occurred to me today about what it would take for anarchism to be relevant again. I write these thoughts now in haste, without editing:

1. A complete detach from leftism, and indeed from political discourse as such; i.e., a return to the tradition of Max Stirner, post-leftism, anti-politics, and nihilist communism/anarchism.

2. A rethinking of the affinity group. Less problematic group effects. It’s not a fucking family or a substitute family and it’s not to be grounded on transference whether horizontal or hierarchical. On this, we can learn from Jacques Lacan’s “cartel.” The cartel is a post-anarchist mode of social organization.

3. Abandon post-anarchism. It has become stale. It was meant to bring back the surprise to anarchist thought and action. It was a short-lived intervention. Now it’s just a lot of fancy words, too many Deleuze quotations, and a huge boost to Todd May’s career.

4. Abolish the anarchist gatekeepers — those who push out the books from elite UK universities. We need a return to solid anarchist publishing. Existing anarchist presses are not cutting it. Too much about insiders and “the right type of ideology.” Bring back dangerous ideas.

5. Do like the SI and dethrone those who hijack conferences with videos that my son did not agree to watch (i.e., videos about cutting male genitalia — I’m talking about you, Belfast).

6. We need a resurgence of big thinkers, not those who repeat boring historical anarchist doctrine and slogans. Alejandro de Acosta. Aragorn!. Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed. Monsier Dupont. Wolfi. We need to embrace anarchist theory and stop the American ideological indoctrination of global anarchisms, and the British rejection of French thought.

7. We need new modes of social movement. The existing practices are either tired, or antithetical to the world that is possible. Who wants to live in a world that has exchanged the fight against masters with the expulsion of anyone who threatens the consistency of the group?

8. Anarchism requires a place for subjective transformation. This will not happen on the streets (contra Badiou). We need to interrogate how subjective transformation is possible, and not simply how we can rearrange the chairs on the front lawn while the greasy dude in the living room keeps farting and burping.

9. Get off the internet. This is a place for short engagement. It’s a schizoid environment. Trolling online won’t do anything to change the world.

10. We don’t need an alternative to capitalism. The problem is worse. Capitalism is the alternative. It operates precisely as a logic of alternatives. This means that capitalism shifts into a much more difficult register, that of what Lacan called the “not-all,” and the “real.” The problem is not with finite structures of power, or various strata of power, — and everything is not reducible to power, so please stop that crap— but with infinity. We are like the child tossed into a game of minecraft and we have to survive, we have to carve a space for ourselves in this world.

11. The problem is not the Marxist category of “totality.” And the “sociological imagination” will get us nowhere in this infinite capitalist landscape. We need a new orientation. People are not anymore alienated within a world: they are alienated from the world, and, indeed, from other possible worlds. We can look at all four of Marx’s categories of alienation and refute them. For example, we are not at all alienated from the products of our labour. In this age of “build your own big mac,” and social media, we are no longer consumers but prosumers (see George Ritzer), and hence doubly exploited.

12. Anarchism is now a few voices on the internet, or a small club at a conference or publishing house. We need the bold thinkers again. Take risks and rise up to speak about the world in which we are actually living.

Comments

anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/03/2026 - 09:37

I think connections where anarchism is being practiced in countercultures and how. Use our affinity as well as book fairs and reactions to world events to support those practicing it like rainbow gatherings, homeless encampments, homesteaders, etc. Focusing like situations like rolling thunder magazine would do too. As well as personal life stories of the influence of anarchism in people's lives.

Gracchus Babeuf (not verified) Fri, 04/03/2026 - 09:45

Ye, not bad.

On 7, Jacques Camatte: "We are slaves; our goal is not to become masters, even without slaves, but to abolish the entire dialectic of master and slave."

9, the internet is schizo. If it was schizoid, it would probably be detached, calculating, rakishly handsome and strategically deceptive. Problem is offline is also schizo. I'm not smart enough to have a solution here.

12, it would be easy to fill the void if there's as much will as there is rizz. There's 10x the amount of people playing shinty, a sport probably no one has heard of, than organised anarchos in the UK + Europe put together. Including the ten CNTs, the IWA, federations etc. If you're getting mogged by second tier hurling, you need to fuck off and let fresh blood have a go.

an old fan (not verified) Fri, 04/03/2026 - 13:48

and me not taking the torch up either

there are still a few people out there who care enough about Duane to make slightly snarky comments about his latest blog post. :')

anonymous (not verified) Sat, 04/04/2026 - 01:07

My Duane problem:

1. You finished university. You got a family and everything you needed to be safe with your life. Now you return thinking the same circles exist when they don't. You weren't around so everyone moved on. Thanks for abandoning your principles for the respect of your colleagues.
2. I think this is another attempt to find a profit niche edge and has the desire to be performative, but without taking any real chances. You know, like post-anarchism. You won't do S.I. things, but you will write an academic paper on how you wish someone would.
3. You name quite a few excellent thinkers from 20 years ago. You didn't name anyone from Black Seed. This leads to believe you romanticize the anti-politics discussion forum, which was the greatest coming together of English speaking theorists in generations. You didn't keep up with those that wanted the same things you want now. You had to make sure you were comfy before you talked too dangerous for employment, while those that walked the talk held low paying jobs or went to prison.
4. The collapse of green anarchy. The Black Seed vs. Zerzan debate. Bellamy and Rydra. There really was a deepening of theory you never touched. The maximalist of thrashing Kevin Tucker's wildism, the cutting down of the shitty cult egoism of Dr. Bones and Glitchy fucking moron. You missed a huge civil war, motherfucker.
5. You don't really want anything except better theory to give you some professional ammo and bragging rights. You abandoned everyone, but you might get something going. But what made anti-politics dangerous wasn't the anarchism. It was the communism. Wolfi, Sashak, and Aragorn avoided the debates that defined a generation, while the communists grew and deepened theory that tossed the pro-revolutionary into the trash can.
6. Do you remember that being coherent was the first compromise? You definitely tried to be coherent, resulting in banal post-anarchism. That didn't work out. Probably because those that knew what you were saying were academics, rather than artists and criminals. You chose your jargon and got the results you looked for. You are now too safe and that upsets you. Abandoned your family, get a meth habit, and sexually molest a celebrity. That might free you

anonymous (not verified) Sun, 04/05/2026 - 00:46

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

That's a fun rebuttal with many good points, especially for the part of Duane having thrown IRL anarchy under the bus in favor of an academic career, which he seems to have had some success at.

Point 6 is where you went dogshit tho.

First, how is "coherence" a form of compromise? What if I shout "Free Palestine!!!!" at the local city council meeting, but in response to the contaminated tap water problem? See.. that's incoherence. And I don't see how that'd be serving ANY cause in here. So I assume that maybe your theoretical grievance lies somewhere else close to coherence?

Criminals, especially the individualist ones, can be people that connect to anarchy... but artists? I don't see how they aren't any less an esoteric, privileged caste within society than academics. And in some cities they DO live in way better spaces than academics... like in fucking urban lofts; and can get an easy entry at glamorous international biennales. See the recent controversy with Claire Fontaine for instance.

anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/06/2026 - 04:36

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

You made the criminals working class and the artists upper class in your mind? How about street artists? Criminals...easily making more money than your vision of artists. Drug cartels quickly come to mind. Obviously the context is what matters, not trying to find holes to put your shrank and shriveled in.

For me, I've never appealed to artists. My graffiti has never been art. It has always been the illegal act of graffitism, and my target audience typically transients and wanderers of all sorts. Become irrelevant. From the faceless multitude voices of power can rise. Academia is the bourgeois robbing the faceless of its talent, neutering the future of its momentum.

anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/06/2026 - 12:08

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

You made the criminals working class and the artists upper class in your mind? How about street artists? Criminals...easily making more money than your vision of artists. Drug cartels quickly come to mind. Obviously the context is what matters, not trying to find holes to put your shrank and shriveled in.

Yea... like the typical first thing capitalists will be picturing in their heads when reading "criminals" will be their obvious direct unlawful equivalents. Those gangsters. cartels and drug lords are only capitalists tho. I had other types of "crime" in my head... crimes that aren't about making money, and yes, there's a lot of it. Me being a petty thief, for instance, can make me being considered a criminal; just like gay people are still considered as such in some countries.

I'm not equating doing art to being a bougie. I just said that the "Artists" are a special privileged caste in this society. They also keep enforcing a hierarchy, where visual arts remain the most valued art form and is even equated as the Art.

Your graffiti can be considered "art" according to some Art theory. As long as it is an intentional act of expressing something that is abstract from common language, this is art.

anonymous (not verified) Sat, 04/04/2026 - 01:29

Ok Dwaaaaayne, I agree with many points here especially the first ones, but that'd be appreciated if you can come clean about your adherence to freemasonry and much better, how relates to anarchy. As despite the valid statements you're sounding and looking like a fake clown.

Also how is US/Canadian academic anarchism any better than the UK one?

Philip Mainlander (not verified) Sat, 04/04/2026 - 05:22

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

"Many present at the time observed that the incipient IWA’s organizing power was so weak that if it were not for the organizing efforts of socialist Freemasons, the official founding meeting of the IWA on September 28th 1864 would never have come to pass."

"Regarding the Circle–A, early versions like the 19th century logo of the Spanish locale of the IWA are clearly composed of the compass, level and plumbline of Masonic iconography, the only innovation being that the compass and level are arranged to form the letter A inside of a circle."

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/erica-lagalisse-occult-features…

Though ain't it obvious?

anonymous (not verified) Sat, 04/04/2026 - 14:39

In reply to by Philip Mainlander (not verified)

I know about some labor unions being tied to freemasonry and in fact the Freemasons themselves claim to have originated from a union of masons who built the temple of Solomon. Also that even Francisco Ferrer was a freemason, and that he was also a socialist. But that still says nothing at all about anarchism.

Socialism =/= anarchism. Especially not when it's the reformist socialism that some freemasons are into.

Speaking of freemasons... we need a secret society if there isn't one already. Or many. Anarchism has been way too aboveground for no reason other than populist stupidity.

Max Stirner (not verified) Sun, 04/05/2026 - 03:06

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

Bear in mind socialism in the first IWA was not a reified term like it is today. Proudhon, Bakunin and possibly Kropotkin among others were masons, and Bakunin was obviously drawing on personal experience with his secret socities model, https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/bakunin/works/1870/rebuke.ht…

You'd have to read Lagalisse to get it but groups like Freemasons were then such hotbeds for innovative thought, that anarchism was simply drawn in as one of many. It's unlikely that form can be revived, as much I agree with you.

Lebou (not verified) Sat, 04/04/2026 - 07:55

I have flowed into and not advanced or retarded my anarch presence in the Now. Progress itself is a construct of time, there is only immersion in organic emotional life essences. My anarcho-empathism is a plateau of anti-problematic existence which creates peaceful and humorous existence, but will not take shit from authority, and will defend itself if necessary. No problemo ;)

rocinante Sun, 04/05/2026 - 09:51

Hi Duane!

Been a long time! Not sure if you will see if, so wanted to share with you the new ANews Podcast 461 – 4.3.2026 which includes a "conversation of the week" about your recent text on ANews between Madison and Vic, tune in here: https://anarchistnews.org/content/anews-podcast-461-432026 (conversation starts around 12 minuutes in)

I thought it was amusing that both talkers didn't know much about you previously before spending an hour+ talking about each point, but it worked out in an intriguing way; I found it to be a good listen (I'm also biased because I did the sound editing).

One last thing: No mention has been made of the origin and source of this text of yours, which I find interesting for those paying close attention. It seems ANews made an April Fools' post and one of the links in the April Fools' text referenced your website and a text about Lacan eyerolling. Days later, back on your website - the same website address for the Lacan eyerolling text is changed over to read as a new text "My Anarchism Problem" and the old text disappears, only to be replaced by a new text and posted to ANews by anonymous. Did ANews poke you after all these years or did you see all the trackbacks on your website?

cheers,
-rocinante

Schmidt (not verified) Sun, 04/05/2026 - 10:27

In reply to by rocinante

Hi Rocinante,

So nice to read from you and see your name. Yes, I was poked. It reminds me of the A! years, which I admit I miss deeply. It's great to see you are working on interesting projects still. I admit I've become very cynical. Would love to catch up somehow, somewhere -

S

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