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Black Bloc, White Riot

Wednesday Oct 20, 7PM @ Red Emma's

Canadian author and activist AK Thompson comes to Baltimore to discuss his new book, Black Block, White Riot: Anti-Globalization and the Genealogy of Dissent, just released by our favorite anarchist publisher,  AK Press!

Black Bloc, White Riot revisits the struggles against globalization that marked the beginning of the twenty-first century and explores the connection between political violence and the white middle class. Drawing on movement literature, contemporary and critical theory, and his own practical investigations, Thompson (co-founder of Upping the Anti: A Journal of Theory and Action) outlines the movement's effects on the white middle class kids who were swept up in it and considers how and why violence must once again become a central category of activist politics.

"A manifesto for individuals who seek to destroy those structurally imposed identities that limit people's full expression of their genuine needs."—George Katsiaficas, author of Subversion of Politics

With a title that's a modern-day mash-up of Frantz Fanon and The Clash, Black Bloc, White Riot revisits the struggles against globalization that marked the beginning of the twenty-first century and explores the connection between political violence and the white middle class.

Beginning with an account of the political trajectory of the white middle class through the first half of the twentieth century, AK Thompson argues that the anti-globalization movement constituted an attempt by white middle class activists to reconnect with political-and, hence, human-being.

Drawing on movement literature, contemporary and critical theory, and practical investigations, Thompson outlines the movement's effects on the white middle class kids who were swept up in it and considers how and why violence must once again become a central category of activist politics.

AK Thompson is a writer and activist living and working in Toronto, Canada. Currently completing his PhD in sociology at York University, Thompson teaches social theory and serves on the editorial committee of Upping the Anti: A Journal of Theory and Action. His publications include Sociology for Changing the World: Social Movements/Social Research (Fernwood Publishing, 2006).


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800 St. Paul St. * Baltimore, MD 21202 * (410) 230-0450 * info@redemmas.org
Red Emma's is open Monday through Friday from 10AM-10PM, Saturday from 10AM-8PM, and Sunday from 10AM-6PM. Our weekly collective meetings are Sunday at 7PM, and are open to anyone interested in the project, except for the first Sunday of every month, which is closed to everyone except collective members.
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