I spent a good part of the last three days at a conference entitled Humanity and the Earth: The Legacy of Élisée Reclus (1830-1905). It was put together by John Clark at Loyola University. Topics included “Classical Anarchism in the Age of Reclus,” “Kropotkin and Reclus’ Friendship and the Cross-fertilization of Ideas,” “The Future of Green Anarchy,” “Abstracting Anarchism: Élisée Reclus, Frentisek Kupka and the Project of Modernist Art,” “Élisée Meets the Big Easy” and others. I got to meet Peter Marshall, author of Demanding the Impossible, which we used as a text in the study group John organized a couple years ago. I also met Aragorn! (the exclamation mark appears to be a part of his name) who helps edit and produce the magazine Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed. I also saw some old friends and acquaintances, and Saturday night there was a “Reclusian banquet” at John’s house featuring Paul Gailunas and Ukelele Against the Machine. All in all it was a stimulating and provocative and inspiring event, and a welcome respite from the Katrina recovery issues that dominate my daily life.
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Scott, I only wish I had time to say more! Unfortunately I still have very limited internet access… But I guess I should say that Reclus was a 19th century French geographer and anarchist whose importance was forgotten in the English speaking world but who has recently been experiencing a bit of a revival.
Oh, and here’s a picture of Ukelele Against the Machine:
That’s funny about “Aragorn!” When I used to pick up print copies, circa 1989, the magazine was called Anarchy! A Journal…, so maybe he wanted his name to match the title.
It also sounds like Lynda Barry’s character Marlys. The book about her is called The! Greatest! Of! Marlys!