Bob Black

Bob Black is an American anarchist and lawyer. He is the author of The Abolition of Work and other essays, The Best Book Catalogue In The World by Bob Black, Friendly Fire, Anarchy After Leftism, and numerous political essays.

As a post-left anarchist Black has contributed significantly to the critique of workerism and scientism while he may not consider himself a primitivist. He has also written numerous critiques of other anarchists, notedly Murray Bookchin.

The Abolition of Work, Mr. Black's most widely read essay, draws upon the ideas of Marshall Sahlins and Richard Borshay Lee.

Controversy

Black is disliked by many figures in the underground publishing scene.

One altercation between Black and writer Jim Hogshire resulted in Hogshire's arrest. Black subsequently boasted that he had informed on Hogshire to the police, a claim that led to his alienation from some anarchist circles. It is alleged that during the course of a dispute over religion, Mr. Hogshire aimed an M1 rifle at Mr. Black while blocking his exit. According to Black, Hogshire (who is a Muslim) became incensed after he "expound hermeneutics to Hogshire"[1]. Using Hogshire's wife as a human shield, Black maneuvered himself out of the house and escaped. A month later, he wrote a letter to the Seattle police falsely claiming Hogshire was operating an illegal drug lab. Hogshire was indicted on felony charges but a year later these charges had been twice reduced, then dropped altogether. After news of this event became known, several radical bookstores, including Philadelphia's Wooden Shoe and Boston's Lucy Parsons Center banned all of Bob Black's books from their shelves.

On another occasion, a member of the Church of the SubGenius, John Hagen-Brenner sent Black a mail bomb consisting of several firecrackers in a tape cassette box wired to a battery. Black promptly turned the device in to the police. Black believes this is because of criticism Black made of the Church, and he has repeatedly brought up the incident in his writings concerning the Church. Ivan Stang and other members of the Church have denied any involvement in this incident, and no one else was charged. Black received criticism from anarchists, again for using the police. Black responded that he never said he would not use the police and asked why he should lose his eyes because someone did not like what he wrote.

On a previous occasion a member of Processed World allegedly assaulted him by slamming his head against a sidewalk because he did not like his writing. Black responded by suing him and represented himself in court. Police records show it was Black who was arrested for assault.

Quotes

"Free time is a euphemism for the peculiar way labor as a factor of production not only transports itself at its own expense to and from the workplace but assumes primary responsibility for its own maintenance and repair."

"Cleansed of its leftist residues, anarchy – anarchism minus Marxism – will be free to get better at being what it is."

External links

Categories: Anarchists