Author Description

This anthology of many of Sakolsky’s essays contains chapters in a dynamic collage of ideas and action. Born at the beginning of a new century, this vibrant collection glows with flames of discontent and defiance and flows with waves of laughter and possibility. Ranging widely from Mayday to Utopia, from Refusal to Autonomy, and from Insurrection to Imagination, this compilation is in turn defiant, reflective, and playful—a brick for hurling through the windows of despair and a doorway to creating an anarchy that is not afraid to dream. Ron Sakolsky is a rare anarchist for a variety of reasons, including his longevity, his intellectual pursuits (especially challenging academia), and his embrace of art and the surrealists. Creating Anarchy is a collection of his writings (and art pieces by some surrealist friends), reflecting his interests and thinking over the past couple of decades. This new edition includes more recent pieces (including the particularly relevant “My Life in the Academic Gulag”, in which he discusses how and if one can maintain anarchist positions within the academy) and a new introduction.