Anarchy: The Journal of Desire Armed 17

Anarchy is an independent, not-for-profit publication produced by CAL Press (C.A.L.—California Anarchist Liberation). It’s a long-running, fiercely DIY, unapologetically political magazine rooted in the American anarchist tradition, but with a modern, sharp-edged sensibility. Instead of bland theory or academic distance, Anarchy dives straight into the guts of lived resistance: direct action, radical community organizing, anti-authoritarian philosophy, and critiques of state power, policing, prisons, and capitalism.

The magazine often blends essays, interviews, historical analysis, and polemic writing with a layout style that feels closer to classic anarchist zines than polished mainstream political journals. It highlights autonomous movements, anti-fascist efforts, street-level resistance, and the day-to-day realities of building alternatives to hierarchical systems. You’ll typically find pieces on anarchist history, current struggles, tactical thinking, counter-culture art, and critiques of the left itself—especially when it drifts toward bureaucracy or authoritarianism.

Because CAL Press operates outside commercial structures, the publication stays true to its ethos: no advertising, no corporate funding, no softened edges. It’s built for readers who want anarchist ideas presented clearly, passionately, and without compromise.

Fall–Winter 1988–1989

This issue opens with editorial notes and brief commentary on current tensions around censorship, including a prison’s confiscation of Anarchy #15 for supposedly promoting “governmental hatred.” The editors treat it as both absurd and revealing, highlighting how state institutions instinctively react to anti-authoritarian ideas. They also announce the creation of an Anarchy Contact Network, a directory meant to connect individuals and groups building a post-situationist, anti-ideological revolutionary tendency.

From there, the magazine moves into radical news and environmental direct-action coverage, including Mikal Jakubal’s piece “Stumps Suck!” about struggles in the Okanogan, and Lev Chernyi’s report from the California Earth First! Rendezvous. These sections track forest defense, grassroots ecological actions, and the political tensions surrounding them.

A series of media and press reviews follows, surveying underground, alternative, and anarchist publications, with commentary by Chernyi and Kansas Slim. There’s also critical writing like Bill Blank’s “Why Working Girls Doesn’t Work,” which interrogates cultural production from an anarchist lens.

The international section reports on anarchist riots in Athens, letters from Greece describing local disturbances, and a snapshot of the broader global anarchist scene.

The magazine’s feature section dives deeper: reflections on The Papalagi; critiques of civilization and industrial ideology; Zerzan’s essay “Who Killed Ned Ludd?”; and poetic, biocentric writing by Lone Wolf Circles, followed by Chernyi’s response challenging ideological traps in ecological thinking.

A focal point of the issue is the discussion on anarchy and religion, featuring essays by Feral Faun and Feral Ranter exploring spirituality, flesh-spirit dichotomies, and anti-authoritarian approaches to meaning.

The back of the issue includes letters, responses, and regular columns, including Toni Otter’s “News to Me” and Zerzan’s “The Nihilist’s Dictionary” entry on “Niceism.” The closing pages present more letters and ongoing community dialogue.