Some Notes on Insurrectionary Anarchism – MP3 – Read – Print – Print (Handout) – Archive – Torrent – YouTube “The state will not merely wither away, thus anarchists must attack, for waiting is defeat.” This short zine provides a brief introduction to insurrectionary anarchism. In a clear and concise manner it articulates the basic concepts of insurrectionary anarchism including, the necessity of…
On this day, 25 January 1911 Kanno Sugako, a Japanese anarchist feminist, was executed for her part in a plot to assassinate the Emperor. She remains the only woman to be executed in Japan for treason.
Radicalised at the age of 14 after being raped, she was one of Japan’s first female journalists and advocates of women’s rights, as well as a prolific writer of fiction and non-fiction. She was inspired by Sophia Perovskaya, who helped assassinate the Russian Tsar.
Sugako had admitted her guilt, as had her half-dozen or so co-conspirators. But 24 anarchists, who were mostly innocent, were sentenced to death, which enraged Sugako, who had accepted her own sentence.
In her prison diary she wrote: “I am convinced our sacrifice is not in vain. It will bear fruit in the future. I am confident that because I firmly believe my death will serve a valuable purpose I will be able to maintain my self-respect until the last moment on the scaffold. I will be enveloped in the marvelously comforting thought that I am sacrificing myself for the cause. I believe I will be able to die a noble death without fear or anguish.”
In her final entry she wrote of her happiness upon learning that 12 of her fellow defendants were reprieved, and whose lives were spared.
You can read her full diary here: https://libcom.org/history/reflections-way-gallowshttps://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1333727286812418/?type=3
We’re back from our break with Witches, Midwives, & Nurses: A History of Women Healers
This text dives into the connections between the medical industrial complex and patriarchy, posing the questions of why and how medicine and healing became fields dominated by men.
The reading begins with the European witch trials, then moves on to men’s medical practice in universities, which women were barred from. It then touches on the banning of midwives in the US, which ultimately barred women from any aspect of medicine until the rise of nursing, which we learn had many of its own problems regarding class and gender.
The piece is a good, brief history, but does have some blind spots regarding its Eurocentrism and lack of intersectionality.
Stay tuned for more recordings in the following weeks.
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