Meeting: 8:30pm Thursday, February 23, 2012

Our next meeting will be this Thursday at 8:30pm at a REAP member's apartment. For the address email cuareading@gmail.com. We will be discussing whether or not REAP would like to host the Platypus Affiliated Society for an on-campus event. The suggested background readings are to provide information about Platypus. A criticism of Platypus will also be posted.
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Readings:

A reading to counter the positions of Platypus -

http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/q-what-is-a-platypus-a-an-american-eustonite/

Here are some articles suggested to become familiar with Platypus taken from an email from Greg

"Dear all,

First of all, this is Platypus's mission statement:
http://platypus1917.org/2007/11/01/platypus-review-editorial-statement-of-purpose/

Here are some interviews with anarchists, such as Chomsky or Graeber:
http://platypus1917.org/2010/10/08/history-and-possibility-an-interview-with-noam-chomsky/
http://platypus1917.org/2012/01/31/interview-with-david-graeber/

Here's a recent one with Zizek:
http://platypus1917.org/2011/12/01/occupy-movement-interview-with-slavoj-zizek/

This is an article that was written by a member of Platypus on art and resistance. A very topical, and interesting essay, I think:
http://platypus1917.org/2011/08/31/antinomy-of-art-and-politics/

Finally, (feel free to browse through whatever you're interested in btw, every issue of the PR is online and free) these are a couple of these "controversial" articles that are regarded as pro-imperialist, but, as I believe, are simply critiques of the short-sightedness of contemporary "anti-imperialist" movements:
http://platypus1917.org/2008/10/01/iraq-and-the-election-the-fog-of-anti-war-politics/
http://platypus1917.org/2009/02/03/nothing-left-to-say-a-critique-of-the-guardian%e2%80%99s-coverage-of-the-2008-mumbai-attacks/
http://platypus1917.org/2009/12/06/the-poverty-of-pakistan%e2%80%99s-politics-ppp/

A related article would be the following, which they regard as one of the major impulses that have led to the founding of Platypus. It's written by Prof. Moishe Postone, Cutrone's former mentor, and deals with the political disorientation of the anti-Iraq War movement:
http://platypus1917.org/wp-content/uploads/readings/postonemoishe_historyhelplessness.pdf

Solidarity,
Greg"

Meeting: 8:30pm Thursday, February 16, 2012

Hey,

The next REAP meeting will be this Thursday, February 16, at 8:30pm. It will take place at a REAP member's apartment located at 202 E Chalmers, #116, Champaign, IL.

The reading for this week is from a section of Michel Foucault's book History of Sexuality: An Introduction. The section we will be discussing is chapter 2 "Method" (17-27). It is recommended that you read the first chapter "Objective" which starts on pg. 6 to help contextualize the discussion of power in the second (or, at least doing some wikipedia reading to get a feeling for the background), but this isn't necessary for the discussion. The reading can be downloaded here: http://ifile.it/vxlfgun

Meeting: Feb 2, 2012 8:30pm at Espresso Royale

Our first meeting of the Spring 2012 semester is tonight at 8:30pm at the Espresso Royale on Oregon in Urbana.

Sorry for posting this after the starting time. Future meeting times will be posted in advance.

Event: The New Age of Conspiracy: An Introductory Look at the Use of Conspiracy Charges Against Social Movements and Radicals

Please join Radical Education for Autonomous Persons (REAP), this Wednesday, November 6th, at 6 PM as we welcome Lena Mercer. Lena will be visiting the UIUC campus to discuss the use of conspiracy-related charges as a means of repressing social movements and politically radical individuals.

The New Age of Conspiracy: An Introductory Look at the Use of Conspiracy Charges Against Social Movements and Radicals (e.g. the Asheville11 and RNC8)

Where: Illini Union, Room 407 (1401 W. Green Urbana)
When: 6 PM - 8 PM

Conspiracy charges continue to be issued against social movements and politically radical individuals. These charges have long-term implications for the target individuals and movements, ranging from exaggerated felony accusations with excessively high bail to media exposure that makes it difficult for the accused to find employment or housing later in life, to public stigmatization of the movement.

Lena Mercer will discuss two recent cases that involve conspiracy charges - the Asheville 11 case and the case of the RNC8 - as well as the meanings of these charges and their implications for future political organizers.

Background information about these two cases is below.

Asheville 11

On May 1, 2010 eleven people were arrested and charged with nearly $20,000 worth of damage to store front and car windows in a tourist section of downtown Asheville. Picked at random the eleven were swept off sidewalks and into waiting police vehicles. They have become the targets of egregious attempts by the Asheville Police Department to show it maintains control.

What began as ten misdemeanor charges and $10,000 bail for each person, quickly ratcheted up to $65,000 bail with an additional three felonies added to every person. Each are facing over five years in jail; a higher penalty then often found in domestic violence cases.

In a clearly desperate act, the state is aggressively persecuting these eleven by charging them with every crime they can muster, demanding exorbitant bail and publicly slandering the defendants. With no evidence against them the presumption of innocence has been completely abandoned by the media and police.
(taken from http://asheville11defense.com/)

RNC 8

The RNC 8 are: Luce Guillén-Givins, Max Specktor, Nathanael Secor, Eryn Trimmer, Monica Bicking, Erik Oseland, Robert Czernik and Garrett Fitzgerald. Their case has proceeded as follows:

All were preemptively arrested prior to the 2008 RNC in response to their political organizing. They were falsely charged with Conspiracy to Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism under the Minnesota PATRIOT Act.
Later that year, prosecutors added charges of Conspiracy to Commit Criminal Damage to Property in Furtherance of Terrorism, as well as both charges without the terrorism enhancement, for a total of four felony charges per defendant.
In early 2009, facing mounting political pressure, prosecutors removed the terrorism enhancements, leaving each defendant with two felony charges each.
In August 2010, Erik Oseland accepted a plea agreement to a single gross misdemeanor charge. In September 2010, all charges against Monica Bicking, Eryn Trimmer, and Luce Guillén-Givins were dropped, leaving four defendants to face trial beginning on October 25, 2010.
(taken from http://rnc8.org/)

Funding for this event is provided by SORF. This event is sponsored by Radical Education for Autonomous Persons (REAP), a registered student organization at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Meeting: Wednesday, September 7th, 7pm

This Wednesday (September 7th) we'll be meeting in the Courtyard Cafe at the Illini Union at 7pm.

The reading for this week is: Anarchy 101 by Bob Black (link)

Meeting: Wednesday, August 31st, 6PM

Of those that responded to the Doodle survey, the best time to meet is Wednesday evenings. So, we'll be meeting this Wednesday, August 31st, at 6PM in the Courtyard Cafe at the Illini Union.

At this meeting we'll get to know each other, and decide what we want to do this year with REAP. Some things we may want to discuss include: how to pick what we read, what topics to cover, how often we should meet, social activities, and anything else that comes to mind!

WHAT: First REAP meeting of the semester
WHEN: Wednesday, August 31st at 6PM
WHERE: Courtyard Cafe in the Illini Union

Fall 2011 Meeting Time Survey

http://www.doodle.com/w7w8zr44eux8h5s4

Now that the first week of class is nearly over and you have a better
idea of what your schedule is like, I think it would be a good time to
decide on when we should meet for REAP (anarchist reading group).

I have created Doodle so that we can decide on a time that works for
everybody. The times listed are the time the meeting would START, and
meetings generally last about 1.5hrs or 2hrs. In the past we have met
during the evening, which seems to accommodate the most people. For
this reason I have listed meeting start times between 4pm and 8pm in
half hour increments.

Please fill out the survey by this Sunday (August 28th) by following
this link: http://www.doodle.com/w7w8zr44eux8h5s4

Quad Day 2011

Look for us at Quad Day 2011 today! We'll probably be on the south side of the union, by the steam vent.

Battle of Algiers

Tonight, we watched Battle of Algiers and had a discussion about moving the meeting time for next semester and potential fundraising. This is our last meeting of the semester.

Potentials for resistance, indigenous, culturally and racially inspired, or otherwise.

The article I wanted to send out for this week is a blog post about
indigenous resistance. It's short and sweet.
http://propertyistheft.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/the-uprisings-of-the-indigenous/

There's more about non-Western anarchism here: http://en.wordpress.com/tag/anarchism-ethnicity-culture/

There's another article that can be seen as being more theory-based
that I thought was interesting if you read them together.
http://theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Aragorn___Locating_An_Indigenous_Anarchism.html

There's one last article that's been circulating among my facebook
friends about an illegal 18 hour rave that happened in London last
week. I thought it was pretty amusing the way partiers get discussed
as 'terrorist', how one picture is captioned 'violence' but it's just
some guy with a mask standing there.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1325401/Illegal-London-rave-18-hour-spree-destruction-Royal-Mail-depot.html

Reading

The reading for this week is "As Beautiful as a Brick through a Bank Window: Anarchism, the Academy, and Resisting Domestication". I finally got it to work. A similarly cool reading is Nurturing Autonomy (http://theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Jamie_Heckert__Nurturing_Autonomy.html).

Newman's "Anarchism, Poststructuralism and the Future of Radical Politics"

Last week, we read Newman's "Anarchism, Poststructuralism and the Future of Radical Politics".

REAP is an RSO!

REAP was recently approved to be a registered student organization! Woo hoo! :)

Does the "War on Terror" Still Exist?

Since no one sent out a reading, I would like to invite you all to come to this event that's being organized by some conservative and moderate groups about whether or not the war(s) on terror still exist. It's being held from 7 to 9 pm at Foellinger tonight. It would be great to get some radical voices there to critique what is likely to be an apologist approach. Even in the event description, I find it problematic that Dr. Pipes' analysis creates a divide between 'radical Islam and the West'. It's problematic because this kind of ideology enables the war(s) on terror to exist. It creates the 'radical' terrorist body and justifies imperialism and war over there while ignoring imperialism and war over here. I plan to ask him something about what he thinks about the raids on anti-war activists last month, increasing federal surveillance and whether or not the presumed 'end' to the 'war(s) on terror' has a relationship to/decreases acts related to Islamophobia in this country. If anyone would like to take any of these themes instead of me, that'd be much appreciated.

Also drinks at Murphys after! :)

Love and struggle,
-Susan

Does the "War on Terror" still exist? Dr. Daniel Pipes, Middle East scholar, author, and lecturer, will address this question, and shed light on a tumultuous struggle which extends from distant deserts to academic halls, from the sheep farm to the metropolis. You won't want to miss this amazing opportunity to hear Dr. Pipes' message, and ask him your questions directly!

Dr. Pipes studies, writes, and lectures nationwide on the conflict between radical Islam and the West. He knows Arabic, and has his doctorate in medieval Islamic history; his studies have led him to conclude that "It's a mistake to blame Islam, a religion 14 centuries old, for the evil that should be ascribed to militant Islam, a totalitarian ideology less than a century old. Militant Islam is the problem, but moderate Islam is the solution." He has taught world history at the University of Chicago, history at Harvard, and policy strategy at the Naval War College, in addition to directing the Foreign Policy Research Institute serving at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Today he directs the thinktank he founded, the Middle East Forum, and oversees Campus Watch, a project that critiques academic literature published by North American Middle East departments. His personal website is at www.DanielPipes.org.

This event is cosponsored by Stand With Us, the David Project, the Jewish Community Relations Council, the Hillel Foundation at the University of Illinois, the Chabad Jewish Center at the University of Illinois & Champaign-Urbana, the American-Israeli Student Coalition, Great News Radio (WGNN/WGNJ), the Orange and Blue Observer, and the Illini Conservative Union.

Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival (Chapter 1!)

For this next week in REAP, we will be reading the first chapter of Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival: http://www.carpediem.org.ve/imagenes/Noam_Chomsky_Hegemony_or_survival.pdf

Furthermore, we will be discussing the nature of power. As a lead up to this discussion, I (Dan) have prepared some questions for you to consider (and answer). We will be discussing your answers (along with the reading) at the next meeting.

Remember: there are no right or wrong answers; just try to be consistent with yourself. Consider:

1) Define "power".

2) By your definition, do you have/wield power?
3) By your definition, does the government or state have/wield power?
4) By your definition, do other people/things have power over you?
5) Can power be legitimate or illegitimate? What determines whether it is or not?
6) Is it a characteristic of an entity itself, or merely of an entity's action(s)?
7) Can power be created or destroyed?

Take your answers thus far to their extreme conclusions:
8) What would ultimate power look like?
9) Could you live in a power-less world? What would it look like?

Finally,
10) Think about it some more. Are there any interesting or unexpected conclusions from your thoughts?

A few readings on anti-oppression politics and anarchism

We could just do one or the other but I thought both were real compelling in the way that they talk about anti-oppression politics and anarchism. Plus they articulated some ways of thinking about anarchism that I found myself personally dissatisfied and suggest intriguing solutions. We can do a movie watching again sometime soon if people are interested.

http://athomehesaturista.wordpress.com/2009/11/07/refusing-to-wait-anarchism-and-intersectionality/
http://www.anarchistnews.org/?q=node%2F12230

Movie tonight!

There isn't a reading tonight. We'll be watching Anarchism in America at 9 pm at the Courtyard Cafe.

First meeting of the 2010-2011 year!

REAP's first meeting of the 2010-2011 year is tonight (September 1st) at 9 pm in the Courtyard Cafe. The reading is Voltarine de Cleyre's "Anarchism and American Traditions" (1908). This group isn't exclusive to students: all are welcome to participate in the discussion. Following the meeting, we'll most likely head over to Murphys for drinks.

October 7 Meeting

We will be reading "On the phenomenology of giant puppets: broken windows, imaginary jars of urine, and the cosmological role of the police in American culture" by David Graeber. (Click here to download the article in PDF format.)

If you are interested in discussing this with us, please e-mail cuareading@gmail.com to be added to the announcement list.