I’m not sure anarchy as skaters use it (‘fuck the cops!’, ‘Do what you want!’, ‘No rules!’) is or ever was political position. More like an attitude that is popular with teenagers.
I can see some examples where Anarchism as a theory and practice has a bit of an influence, not not a huge one.
Like making DIYs. People getting together, reimagining public spaces and making something rad and free to use without much of a hierarchy, and usually without permission from the authorities.
As for the practicality of Anarchism as a real force… many people have pointed out that we spend much of out free time in non-hierarchical groups, like with friends. And we manage to get things done without official leaders, or a minimizing of the roles.
People have experimented with expanding that reality into other spheres of life, but it usually brings us into direct conflict with capital, bosses, and other authorities, who have more resources to squash such competition.
but i believe its not just possible, it needs to exist if the human species are going to have any kind of large-scale society worth living in in the future.
I think this is very well said.
The only part I take exception to is the first paragraph, I feel like it's an outsider perspective that skaters sometimes adopt unconsciously because its so prevalent in popular culture, the "skater as rebel" stereotype .
Ask yourselves: did you or anyone you know start skating as a way of rebelling? or was it instead, because you enjoyed it and thought it was cool and fun?
My experience was the latter, and I don't think you could get anywhere with skating unless you really loved doing it, it's so demanding.
I believe that the social conflict that arises from skateboarding mostly highlights the rigidity of our social structures, rather than any particular desire on the part of individual skaters to battle them.
Even in the case of the classic skater vs. security guard, the conflict generally arises because the skater is so comitted to the act of skateboarding that they won't allow law or threat of physical aggression to interrupt them. People who think the skater in this situation is trying to "stick it to the man" simply lack a basic appreciation of how comitted to skateboarding the skater is.
My point is not that the skater in this conflict is "right", but rather to point out that their position isn't reactive. To interpret the skater's activity through the lens of social norms, to the exclusion of the individual's own agency, is reductive. It's an imposition of the social on the individual.
So yes, the individual position is an anarchic one, but it is so by virtue of being active rather than reactive.
To follow a playful and creative impulse that makes you feel good and creates community may be anarchic, but it isn't inherently an act of rebellion.
Topic: Is anarchy still cool? (Read 722 times)