Institute for Anarchist Studies Update

This fall sees the IAS expand funding opportunities, say goodbye to a board member and find a new home on the internet, as well as continue with our general activities.

As a result of our June 2000 board meeting we decided to sponsor a writing contest in addition to our usual grant awards. We wanted some way to connect more directly with contemporary political developments and offer financial support to a wider variety of people. While our grants are meant for more substantial projects, we decided to offer $1000 for a short essay focusing on anarchist perspectives on the "new social movement" we see developing all around us. See page three for more details. The winning essay will be published in the newsletter as well as on our website.

Michelle Matisons, after five years as a board member, is moving on. She has relocated to the San Francisco Bay area where she has just successfully completed a Ph.D. in Women's Studies. Her dissertation, "Systems, Standpoints, and Subjects: Marxist Legacies in U.S. Feminist Theories" looks at the ways in which Marxism has influenced US feminism - for better or for worse. From the start, Michelle committed herself to ensuring the success of the IAS and we have all enjoyed working with her.

The IAS website has moved to a new location, http://flag.blackened.net/ias. This anarchist site has generously offered to host the IAS and we are happy to be in the company of friends. Our email address stays the same for the time being and we'll maintain a redirect page on our old website account.

A new page on the website detailing how and where to find completed IAS projects will be of interest to everyone.  Future pages in the works include advice on writing and publishing for the radical writer.

This year we gave out our first grant to a fiction project. For quite some time, we have been committed to funding the "written word" and we are excited to have given a grant for a play about an Irish anarchist. We also gave a grant to a previous grant recipient who will expand upon his original work on anarchism and South Africa to include issues such as Black Nationalism. See page three for more details.

Cindy Milstein and John Petrovato organized a great anarchist conference at the end of August. It was a pleasure to attend an anarchist conference where a high level of thought was present in both the presentations and inevitably lively lunch and dinner conversations. Five board members gave presentations to varying degrees, along with a wide variety of activists and intellectuals.

Chuck Morse's interview with Janet Biehl (Spring 1998) has been translated into two more languages, German and Japanese - that makes six different translations so far. My article on Seattle (Spring 2000) was quoted in a London based Portuguese language newspaper and will also be reprinted, in a revised state, in the upcoming issue of Social Anarchism.

Our fundraising campaign is going quite well although we still need $6000 in donations to meet our goal. So far, we have received $14,000 in donations and we thank everyone - old and new supporters - for their generosity. We recently received a fabulous donation from Aigis Press of three new titles, which will compliment our books for donors. These include Since Predator Came: Notes From The Struggle For American Indian Liberation by Ward Churchill; From State to Community: Rethinking South Korean Modernization by Seung-joon Ahn; and One Size Does Not Fit All by Beverly Naidus. See the booklist insert for all the wonderful books from Raven Used Books you can choose from and support the IAS.  

~ Rebecca DeWitt

Perspectives on Anarchist Theory - Vol. 4, No. 2 - Fall 2000