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This Saturday, June 1, I’ll be speaking as part of the Resistance Ecology conference at Portland State University. I’ll be discussing counterinsurgency, its domestic applications, and the implications for social movements. Here are the details:

“Policing and Counterinsurgency”
Saturday, June 1, 11am-11:50
Portland State University

On related subjects:

A New World in Our Hearts has released my essay “Profiles of Provocateurs: Recent Case Studies; Warning Signs; Practical Advice” as a pamphlet. You can also still find the essay online.

I’ve also written some related reviews over the last year or so:

“The Politics of Security: Policing, Dictatorships, and Resistance.” Toward Freedom. March 9, 2012. (A review of the collection Anti-Security.)

“Weaponizing Anthropology.” Z Magazine. April 2012. (A review of David Price’s book on anthropology and counterinsurgency.)

“Power Concedes Nothing.” Z Magazine. October 2012. (A review of Connie Rice’s memoir, a case study in co-optation.)

Over at the Hooded Utilitarian, I have an essay relating V for Vendetta and Albert Camus’ The Rebel, specifically as they address the question of unjustifiable means.

That essay can be read, in a way, as a follow-up to my earlier piece on the same site, “Trial By Fire: Mad Max, Rorschach, and the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”

And here are some links to my other recent comics-related work:

“The Legacy of Anarchy Comics.” In These Times. March 5, 2013.

“The Graphic Canon, Volume I.” The Comics Journal. January 8, 2013.

“Milk and Cheese: Dairy Products Gone Bad!” Verbicide. October 26, 2012.

It’s been a year since Hurt was released. Here’s a small sample of reviews:

At the Portland Book Review, Sarah Alibabaie writes:

“One will not be able to help but react in accord or discord or at least question along with the arguments raised. . . . Hurt is a good publication that not only introduces but invites the reader to a debate on torture and to imagine alternatives.”

Chris Auman concludes his review for relgarwiglar.com:

“these writings are the result of well-reasoned and researched thinking and go a long way in educating the reader on the causes and underlying factors of torture in the 21st century.”

Meanwhile, Kurt Morris opines at Razorcake:

“It was good to see Williams not reverting to the familiar arguments on everything; tying in torture with police and the U.S. prison system really is quite interesting. However, the apex of Williams’s argument is that getting rid of the apparatuses that allow abuse and torture and working towards an anarchist system is what would solve this despicable practice. … I wondered who would be reading this beyond people who already agreed with the premise and conclusions. Don’t get me wrong: it’s still a very worthwhile topic to discuss, but this discussion needs to move from beyond anarchist circles and into some kind of action. How is that done? Beats me. I just review stuff.”

— So I guess you can’t please everyone.

In other news, The Macinator ran a retrospective review of Our Enemies in Blue:

“This is a book that anyone affected by law enforcement should read, and really, that’s everyone: Protesters, people in ‘urban’ neighborhoods, proponents of ‘community policing,’ officers themselves, and just ‘normal’ people.”

Tom Nomad wrote an interesting survey article of my major works:

“Toward a Counteroperational Theory: A Review of the Works of Kristian Williams.” Tom Nomad. Working USA: The Journal of Labor and Society. September 2012.

It can be found on Sci-Hub.

On Tuesday, February 12, I’ll be speaking on a panel discussing alternatives to the police.

Here are the details:
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
5 – 7 pm
PSU Smith Center room 327/328

If you want a preview of what I’ll be talking about, you can tune into KBOO 90.7 FM a day earlier. On Monday, February 11, some time between 9 and 10 am, I’ll be interviewed on The Old Mole.