Oppose and Propose! Lessons from Movement for a New Society Book Talk with Andrew Cornell

Movement for a New Society, a radical pacifist organization active in the 1970s and 1980s, pioneered forms of consen¬sus decision making, communal living, direct action, and self-education now central to antiauthoritarian movements.

Yet members found their commitments to “live the revolution now” often alienated potential allies and distracted them from confronting their opponents, while their distrust of leadership and commitment to cumber¬some group processes made it difficult to keep their analysis and strategy cutting-edge.

In this talk, followed by a discussion, Andrew Cornell will place Movement for a New Society in the broader history of U.S. anarchism and post-1960s radicalism, while offering an assessment of the strategies and conceptual tools it left to current movements.

Andrew Cornell is an educator, writer, and organizer living in Brooklyn, New York. He is the author of the brand new Oppose and Propose published with AK Press. His writing has appeared in periodicals such as Left Turn, LiP, and Perspectives on Anarchist Theory.