We are pleased to announce that an anarchist book fair will take place from September 5th to September 8th, 2024 at NewYorck at Bethanien 2 B, 10997 Berlin-Kreuzberg 36. The last time something like this took place in Berlin, to our knowledge, was in 2016, when the Days of Anarchist Ideas and Publications took place. Not only have too many years passed since then, but it is also important to organize a regular event in Berlin again in terms of the spread of anarchist and revolutionary ideas. The book fair should not be seen as something ephemeral, but as a continuous event that should take place every year. Since the early 2010s, anarchist book fairs across Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula to the Balkans, have contributed to a more than welcome revival of anarchist ideas and practices. The result was not only the connection and reference between companions across the globe, but also an internationalization of debates. And this is what we want to achieve with this book fair.

There are many reasons to hold anarchist book fairs in Berlin and elsewhere, to give more space to anarchist books, therefore anarchist ideas, but is that exactly what we want? Is it enough for us to set up a few book tables, do a few book readings, hang out a bit? No, it is not enough, because what we want above all is to intensify debates that have to result in practice. Books and all written products are therefore important vehicles that can connect us all, but books themselves are nothing, it is the content they carry that is useful, it is the practice that shapes a real movement. The content includes all sorts of topics and questions that must be discussed in a debate. The aim of this debate, these discussions that we have to have here and around the world, has only one goal: to put an end to the world of capitalism and to lift it out of its joints. This happens through the practice of insurrection, class war, social war to result in a worldwide social revolution. So the intensive debate among anarchists and all revolutionaries who will bring an immediate end to the state-nation, capital, and patriarchy.

Therefore, in addition to the need to intensify specific debates, we will also have content priorities for the book fair.

– The attitude towards war (in Ukraine and elsewhere)

– Dealing with the topic of nationalism-nation-people-state, which cannot be separated from each other.

– The spread of anarchist and revolutionary ideas via books, propaganda, practice, etc.

One might think that the anarchist movement has already come to a coherent answer/stance on many issues, but as the saying goes among some anarchists, there is nothing more radical than reality and this has been expressed again. A very misunderstood saying, because supposed anarchists still side with the state-nation, some of whom they supposedly think they are fighting. What are we talking about right now? Do we mean Catalonia, Kurdistan, the Mapuche, Palestine, Ukraine or so many other past and present examples? Are we talking about participating in elections, supporting parties, protecting democracy (i.e. the capitalist state), legitimizing the monopoly of violence, or everything at the same time? We could also see this in relation to the Corona virus, not only the “powerlessness” an anarchist movement is capable of falling into, but also the impetus with which it is capable of legitimizing the state. But what can all this have to do with anarchism, with an anarchist movement? Very simple, nothing at all.

But what are we trying to get at with all of this, what does this have to do with the saying mentioned above and what does this have to do with this Anarchist Book Fair? Quite simply, reality always catches up with those who are not clear about themselves, which leads them to defend positions that are not actually theirs. We see this best in the examples mentioned above. Reality is catching up with everyone who thinks they are so incredibly radical, when they have only built their positions on idealism and sand, and what results from this are positions and attitudes that only serve reformism and counter-revolution.

This leads us to the need for debates that must lead to practice to resolve the confusion of the present moment.

Therefore, the focus of the book fair should also be on questions about war in general and specific wars, both current and historical, and why these are inherent in the capitalist state-nation, why our relationship to it is only one of irreconcilable hostility. So not only the agitation, the propaganda, but also substantive positions are of immense importance and necessity. What does it mean for the anarchist movement, or what does it say about it, when people who call themselves anarchists take part in intra-bourgeois wars between the various factions of capitalism? Is this still anarchism or revolutionary? And what options do we have to be able to act revolutionary in wars? And certainly a thousand more questions that played and still play a role in this context.

Therefore, in order to discuss these questions and many others, we invite everyone who feels the need to address these topics to the Anarchist Book Fair from September 5th to September 8th, 2024 in Berlin-Kreuzberg.

The character of the book fair should also be international and internationalist and the call should be published in all possible languages, because the connection between anarchists and all revolutionaries must be strengthened.

If you want to organize an information table, if you want to initiate a discussion, get in touch here: abmb@riseup.net , further information at anarchistischebuechermesse.noblogs.org

Agitation, insurrection, anarchy!