Book Review: Try Anarchism for Life

Image: the cover of the book is a green background with a hot pink circle a in the center. Inside the symbol or green illustrations of leaves winding through the lines. On top of the symbol and lighter green cursive lettering is try anarchism for life. Around the top edge of the symbol and small black letters is Cindy Barukh Milstein. Along the bottom edge of the circle is the beauty of our circle.

Try Anarchism for Life is a break from Cindy Barukh Milstein's usual style, (which I like very much for the record.) It is more abstract in some ways, more playful, and more accessible, (though I do find their other books quite accessible as well.)

The book, published by Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness, is a lovely printed collection of artworks sent to the author paired with Milstein's short writings on various topics. There are lino and wood cut prints, illustrations, graphic design, and more. I really loved the images that they chose to include in this book and Strangers did a great job with the design and printing.

When I say this book is accessible, what I mean is that I think it could be handed to almost anyone, including youth within reason as well as older folks. It has a playful and simplistic way of talking about who anarchists really are and creating a much larger picture than the black bloc that some people may see on the news (which Milstein and I both also support for the record.) Many people do not connect the mutual aid efforts that they run into with anarchism due in part because in those situations, anarchists don't often call them anarchist events- they're more focused on getting the work done than branding. People often associate anarchists with what they're against. Given that the vast majority of anarchism is based on cooperation and taking care of one another, this sort of quick run through of various elements is very important.

There is the curmudgeon and me, who no longer organizes due mostly to health problems, but also for other reasons. I've seen some stuff go down that I and other anarchists should not be proud of. This part of me feels the need to remind the curious reader that anarchists, like all human beings, can have some really messy group dynamics and anti-aurhoritarian groups can attract people looking to exploit that. This book doesn't talk about that, nor am I saying it should. I'm saying that this book creates a beautiful picture of anarchy and I wish I could say that we could match that perfectly in real life all of the time. 

That said, one of the best messages of the book is that one can do anarchism day to day alone or with some friends in a variety of ways, regardless of if one joins an anarchist labeled group. Anarchistic things are happening all around us and many people don't even realize it. When a conflict arises or when something doesn't work, we can change and grow in new ways. Anarchism can only stay alive with said growth.

This book does an excellent job of showing that anarchism is not what reactionaries believe- either a structureless society full of harm, an authoritarian communist dictatorship (addressed directly in the book, by the way,) or a chaotic street party based purely on destruction. It is a consistent movement on a long journey with no end. It is a constant struggle to create better things in the place of the harmful structures that exist to take it all away. 

I believe that Milstein conveys these and more things in a way that is light and playful. The reader does not have to prepare themselves for a 800 page book full of dead anarchist theory one needs a background in or college degree to grasp. They can read this and know what anarchism actually looks like on a day to day basis, and get to enjoy some excellent artwork in the process.

This was also posted to my Goodreads.