{"id":31859,"date":"2012-08-06T14:28:37","date_gmt":"2012-08-06T04:28:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/?p=31859"},"modified":"2012-08-06T16:27:24","modified_gmt":"2012-08-06T06:27:24","slug":"melbourne-anarchist-bookfair-2012-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/?p=31859","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne Anarchist Bookfair 2012 (Review)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I went to the second annual Melbourne Anarchist Bookfair<\/a> on Saturday. It was noice, but not much different from last year<\/a> (other than in size — bigger) and not really unusual<\/a> in other respects.<\/p>\n

Of the stalls, there were something like 40, about a third of which could be described as anarchist. The presence of the Communist League (a local satellite of the US-based Socialist Workers Party, a Trotskyist organisation<\/a>) was exciting from a spotters perspective<\/a>, but very odd given their political antagonism.<\/p>\n

I dunno how many people attended the Fair but it was certainly many hundreds, and my impression was more folks attended this year than did last — I wouldn’t be at all surprised if next year’s attracted an even larger audience; there’s obviously a desire for gatherings such as this to discuss anarchy, organisation and social change. Speaking of which, the decision by the organisers to book several additional rooms to hold workshops was a good one and also indicative of the project’s broadening appeal, both in Melbourne\/Australia but also across the many other territories<\/a> in which bookfairs take place.<\/p>\n

I didn’t attend the workshops as I was busy doing other things. You can read some of Kieran’s thoughts on a handful of the workshops here<\/a>. Kieran’s comments have not been appreciated by all, some displeasure being expressed inre his reaction to Robbie Thorpe<\/a>‘s presentation (see also<\/em> : Anarchism and Aboriginal sovereignty<\/a>, July 16, 2008). Be that as it may, I dunno if anybody else has written any other critical or semi-critical reflections on the event but I may post links to these if\/when I find them.<\/p>\n

After the Bookfair I went to The Retreat<\/a>, ‘a warm and friendly pub with old world charm where they filmed The Sullivans<\/em>‘. The pub was not the MCG, but news outta the MCG only added to the warmth, and was a fitting end to a good day out:<\/p>\n