Anarchism? Start here.

Anarchy isn't just for adults! A Rule Is To Break presents the ideas of challenging societal expectations and tradition and expressing yourself freely in kid-terms that are both funny and thought provoking—it even functions as a guidebook for adults to understand what it is to be a critically thinking, creative individual. 

[A] searing indictment of the U.S. settler colonial project and a call to action to save ourselves from the forces of oppression and tyranny… As Black as Resistance invite us not to simply critique prisons or the state but to imagine and then build alternative forms of governance that are life-giving. It is a book brimming with urgency and one that boldly confronts the injustices of our past and present.
—Mariame Kaba, co-author of Fumbling Towards Repair

Everyone who picks up this book will be able to dip into it and find experiences of interest. One of its greatest strengths is that it doesn’t shy away from tackling the hard stuff. A straw figure assault on anarchism from detractors has always been claims of utopianism. This text makes it clear that there are people dealing with often incredibly harsh realities… [Y]ou will find all sorts of genuine experiences of ordinary people in diverse places to help you challenge your understanding of the world within the pages of Deciding For Ourselves.
—LAMA, libcom.org

This classic work of science fiction is one of our most frequently recommended titles for helping imagine a society based on cooperation and responsibility to one another. Le Guin questions and challenges our ideas of language, land, love, and humanity and juxtaposes an attempt at an ethical society with a home planet that continues to exploit, oppress, and extract from its people and land. There are no easy answers, but The Dispossessed opens up a world of wonder and imagination that can aid in the move towards a liberated society. 
—Ash, Firestorm Collective member 

Everywhere anarchism is on the upswing as a political philosophy—everywhere, that is, except the academy. Anarchists repeatedly appeal to anthropologists for ideas about how society might be reorganized on a more egalitarian, less alienating basis. Anthropologists, terrified of being accused of romanticism, respond with silence… But what if they didn't?

Drawing upon traditions of black and African storytelling as well as Pan-African thought, Kadalie consistently shows rather than tells us his message. He states complex concepts in clear, simple language and then illustrates them through engaging stories and rich vignettes... Social ecologists should listen well to Kadalie not only because his book is written in an engaging, narrative style, but also because it reveals a wealth of horizontalist Black history that white social ecologists tend to dismiss and overlook.
—Eleanor Finley, ROAR Magazine

An impassioned and accessible contribution to the radical catalog, drawing from queer theory, feminism, and abolitionism. Practical Anarchism serves as both an introduction to anarchy and an argument for the relevance of anarchist ethics in daily life, from relationships and workplaces to art and economics.
—Libertie, Firestorm Collective member

Against the austerity of straight politics, Queering Anarchism sketches the connections between gender mutiny, queer sexualities, and anti-authoritarian desires. Through embodied histories and incendiary critique, the contributors gathered here show how we must not stop at smashing the state; rather normativity itself is the enemy of all radical possibility.
—Eric A. Stanley, co-editor of Captive Genders

Part manifesto, part prayer, part devotional—a rousing collection of vignettes and micro essays that inspire and incite. Read it to be warmed, guided, and changed. Accompanied by a wildly diverse set of illustrations of the anarchist logo, each essay offers a thoughtful meditation on how to do and think about anarchism in our world today. Full of love for the possibilities of the world to come. Try Anarchism for Life is a refreshing and necessary addition to the repertoire of anarchist literature.
—Rivers Solomon, author of An Unkindness of Ghosts

As a bite-sized introduction to prison abolition and transformative justice, this zine tackles one of the hardest questions that anarchists contend with. What is the answer to interpersonal harm and “violent crimes” without turning to the state? The contributors offer complex, compassionate, and messy responses to this problem. Despite the heavy topic, it is written without graphic detail and with survivors in mind.
—Esmé, Firestorm Collective member 

Here we have the best of a non-dogmatic Marxism listening to a most creative and humane anarchism. But this book is never weighted down by unforgiving theory. Just the opposite: it is a series of conversations where the reader feels fully present. It provides a marvelous framework for enriching the conversation that's never really stopped: about how we may make this world a better place.
—Margaret Randall, author of Sandino's Daughters

An immersive and coherent (and admittedly didactic) exploration of anarchic utopia, juxtaposed with the dystopia of our present reality. Where Orwell, writing in Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, expounds upon the dangers of authority and resilience of totalitarianism, Piercy offers a vision of tenuous possibility through feminism, ecology, and a deep reckoning with power.
—Libertie, Firestorm Collective member