Kristian Williams

Around the country, and even around the world, cities have exploded in anger over police violence, triggered by the murder of George Floyd.  I’ve written a short essay for Roar examining the particular character of the unrest, and its relationship to concessions and reforms (on the one hand) and the goal of abolition (on the other).

I then elaborate on the theme in an interview with Hard Crackers.

I’ve also written a more personal essay, reflecting on the experience of losing my father in the midst of a pandemic.  That one is at the AK Press blog.

Cities across the country are burning, after police in Minneapolis killed an African-American man who was already in restraints.  Of course those in the streets have a very clear idea of why this is happening, but for the puzzled observer, Roar has published an excerpt from my book Our Enemies in Blue, discussing the function of riots as a response to police brutality.

And for those curious about the historical roots of policing and the structural role of police brutality, AK Press is offering Enemies at a deep discount for the next couple days.

I’ve written an essay for the current online issue of Perspectives on Anarchist Theory considering what Joseph Heller’s novel Catch-22 can tell us about large institutions and they various ways they have failed us during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rebecca Solnit’s A Paradise Built in Hell is an inspiring and optimistic study of the way communities respond when things go catastrophically awry.  I wrote a review of the book for Socialism and Democracy, a decade ago, soon after it came out.  The review has now been re-run at Three Way Fight, with a short comment from Matthew Lyons, concerning our current, global disaster.