Against Civilization, Readings and Reflections by John Zerzan

“. . . a new anthology edited by the anarchist philosopher John Zerzan, Against Civilization: Readings and Reflections. The book is composed of excerpts from the works of a wide range of authors who’ve offered radical critiques of industrial society. . . . Among my favorite excerpts is a darkly cynical piece, “Civilization is Like a Jetliner,” by T. Fulano. . . . Against Civilization is not all poetic rage; the various contributions include reasoned analyses of the inherent contradictions of industrial capitalism, celebrations of vernacular culture, and inspiring visions of worlds beyond systematic domination and exploitation. As Kirkpatrick Sale has said of the book, ‘It is its collective refusal to say ‘Here is civilization: just accept it’ that makes this volume so important. Read it and you will never think of civilization in the same way again.'” — Richard Heinberg; MuseLetter, January 1999

“A provocative anthologypresenting the likes of Freud, Friedrich Schiller, William Morris, and the Unabomber, along with bright contemporary thinkersthat raises the question of whether our elaborately structured, technology-driven society creates more problems than it alleviates.” — Jay Walljasper; Utne Reader, March/April 1999

“Twist the popular Earth First! slogan from “Visualize Industrial Collapse” to “Actualize Industrial Collapse” and you have the gist of this new anthology from John Zerzan. To many it has seemed that John has been alone in his attack on the totality of civilization. Now the reader can see a chronology: diversity and passion from hundreds of years of resistance against the nightmare we have inherited today. This book will introduce ecologists to anarchists and anarchists to ecologists; intellectuals to activist perspectives; and vice-versa. I think Chellis Glendinning’s description in her Foreword is accurate when she says “Herein the reader will discover the questions that need to be asked and insights that beg to be nurtured if humankind and the natural world as we know it are to thrive in the future. This book is that important.” — Chris Kortright; Feral: A Journal Toward Wildness, Spring 1999

From Hesiod on through to the “primitivists” of today, by way of Rousseau, William Morris, and Fourier, among others51 selections in all. Here’s a reader that throws light on the inner logic of civilization and its devouring course. In these times of desolation for individual, society, and biosphere alike, such a collection (including commentaries by Zerzan) is urgently needed. Why does every culture have its longing for a lost Golden Age? How have History and Progress brought us such vast separation and emptiness, such a sense of no future? Is it civilization itself that has brought us here? Schiller, Paul Shepard, Kirkpatrick Sale, Fourier, Perlman, Sahlins, Bahro, Zerzan, the Unabomber, etc. etc.visionaries and theorists exposing the foundations of today’s crisis.