Ramsey Kanaan
Encyclopedia
Ramsey Kanaan is a Lebanese-Scottish singer and publisher of anarchist literature, best known as the founder of AK Press
, one of the largest distributors of anarchist and left-wing books in the world, named after his mother Ann Kanaan. He left AK in 2007 to found a new radical publisher PM Press
. He has played an important role in the intellectual life of the US and UK anarchist movements, republishing works of classical anarchist theory by Peter Kropotkin
, Alexander Berkman
, Rudolf Rocker
, Emma Goldman
and others, while encouraging the development of contemporary anarchist theory and analysis, such as libertarian socialist Murray Bookchin's Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism: An Unbridgeable Chasm
, which he commissioned for AK Press.
In the 1970s and 1980s, he was involved in the early UK
anarcho-punk
musical scene, which featured bands including Crass
, Conflict
, Poison Girls
, Rudimentary Peni
, The Mob, Zounds
, Omega Tribe
and Flux of Pink Indians
. He was the lead singer of the Scottish anarcho-punk band Political Asylum. He currently belongs to Folk This, a music group which performs folk songs from the past, including from the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, and the Paris Commune
, and hymns and anthems of the Industrial Workers of the World
. Kanaan is a music reviewer for the punk magazines Maximum Rock'n'Roll and AMP Magazine.
He was involved in the 1980s and early 1990s in the movement against the poll tax
in Britain. Community Resistance, the Edinburgh anarchist group with which Kanaan was an organizer, played a key role in the five-year anti-poll tax campaign that ultimately brought down Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
.
Kanaan is one of the founders of the San Francisco Anarchist Book Fair and is a member of Bound Together Books in San Francisco, a collectively run anarchist bookstore. He is married to broadcaster Sasha Lilley
, host and founder of Against the Grain
, the nationally syndicated radio program of radical ideas originating from Pacifica Radio
's KPFA
. Kanaan is a contributing host and producer at KPFA Radio and currently resides in Oakland
, California
.
AK Press
AK Press is a worker-managed independent publisher and book distributor that specialises in radical left and anarchist literature. It is collectively owned and operated.-History:...
, one of the largest distributors of anarchist and left-wing books in the world, named after his mother Ann Kanaan. He left AK in 2007 to found a new radical publisher PM Press
PM Press
PM Press is an independent publisher that specializes in radical, Marxist and anarchist literature, as well as crime fiction, graphic novels, music CDs, and political documentaries...
. He has played an important role in the intellectual life of the US and UK anarchist movements, republishing works of classical anarchist theory by Peter Kropotkin
Peter Kropotkin
Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin was a Russian zoologist, evolutionary theorist, philosopher, economist, geographer, author and one of the world's foremost anarcho-communists. Kropotkin advocated a communist society free from central government and based on voluntary associations between...
, Alexander Berkman
Alexander Berkman
Alexander Berkman was an anarchist known for his political activism and writing. He was a leading member of the anarchist movement in the early 20th century....
, Rudolf Rocker
Rudolf Rocker
Johann Rudolf Rocker was an anarcho-syndicalist writer and activist. A self-professed anarchist without adjectives, Rocker believed that anarchist schools of thought represented "only different methods of economy" and that the first objective for anarchists was "to secure the personal and social...
, Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....
and others, while encouraging the development of contemporary anarchist theory and analysis, such as libertarian socialist Murray Bookchin's Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism: An Unbridgeable Chasm
Social Anarchism Or Lifestyle Anarchism: An Unbridgeable Chasm
Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism: An Unbridgeable Chasm is a polemical essay written by Murray Bookchin and published as a book in 1995. It is a critique of deep ecology, bio-centrism and lifestyle anarchism...
, which he commissioned for AK Press.
In the 1970s and 1980s, he was involved in the early UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
musical scene, which featured bands including Crass
Crass
Crass are an English punk rock band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism...
, Conflict
Conflict (band)
Conflict is an English anarcho-punk band originally based around Eltham in South London. Formed in 1981, the band's original line up consisted of: Colin Jerwood , Francisco 'Paco' Carreno , Big John , Steve , Pauline , Paul aka 'Nihilistic Nobody' . Their first release was the EP "The House That...
, Poison Girls
Poison Girls
The Poison Girls were an English anarcho-punk band. The female singer/guitarist, Vi Subversa, was a middle-aged mother of two at the band's inception, and wrote songs that explored sexuality and gender roles, usually from an anarchist perspective...
, Rudimentary Peni
Rudimentary Peni
Rudimentary Peni are a British anarcho-punk/deathrock band formed in 1980.-Line-up:*Nick Blinko - guitar, vocals, artwork, lyrics*Grant Matthews - bass guitar, lyrics*Jon Greville - drums-History:...
, The Mob, Zounds
Zounds
Zounds are an English anarchist band formed in 1977 from loose jamming sessions around the Reading area. Originally they were part of the cassette culture movement, releasing material on the F**k Off Records label, and were also involved in the squatting and free festival scene...
, Omega Tribe
Omega Tribe
Omega Tribe was an English anarcho-punk band, formed in Barnet in 1981. Their first EP, Angry Songs, was produced by Penny Rimbaud and Pete Fender for Crass Records in 1982....
and Flux of Pink Indians
Flux Of Pink Indians
Flux of Pink Indians were an English anarcho-punk/post punk band, that originated from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England.-Biography:...
. He was the lead singer of the Scottish anarcho-punk band Political Asylum. He currently belongs to Folk This, a music group which performs folk songs from the past, including from the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, and the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
, and hymns and anthems of the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
. Kanaan is a music reviewer for the punk magazines Maximum Rock'n'Roll and AMP Magazine.
He was involved in the 1980s and early 1990s in the movement against the poll tax
Community Charge
The Community Charge, popularly known as the "poll tax", was a system of taxation introduced in replacement of the rates to part fund local government in Scotland from 1989, and England and Wales from 1990. It provided for a single flat-rate per-capita tax on every adult, at a rate set by the...
in Britain. Community Resistance, the Edinburgh anarchist group with which Kanaan was an organizer, played a key role in the five-year anti-poll tax campaign that ultimately brought down Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
.
Kanaan is one of the founders of the San Francisco Anarchist Book Fair and is a member of Bound Together Books in San Francisco, a collectively run anarchist bookstore. He is married to broadcaster Sasha Lilley
Sasha Lilley
Sasha Lilley born 1975 is an English-born writer, journalist, and radio broadcaster based in the San Francisco Bay Area, whose work focuses on social movements, intellectual history, and political economy...
, host and founder of Against the Grain
Against the Grain (radio program)
Against the Grain is a syndicated Pacifica Radio program of radical ideas and action. The show originates out of the studios of KPFA-FM, the flagship station in the Pacifica Radio Network...
, the nationally syndicated radio program of radical ideas originating from Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio is the oldest public radio network in the United States. It is a group of five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations that is known for its progressive/liberal political orientation. It is also a program service supplying over 100 affiliated...
's KPFA
KPFA
KPFA is a listener-funded progressive talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station signed on-the-air April 15 1949, as the first Pacifica Station...
. Kanaan is a contributing host and producer at KPFA Radio and currently resides in Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Partial bibliography
- Carroll, Tobias. "I’ve Got a Name: Music, Radical Politics, and AK Press" The Scowl, 2008.
- Prelinger, Megan Shaw. "An Interview with Ramsey Kanaan of AK Press." The Anti-Capitalism Reader: Imagining a Geography of Opposition Ed. Joel Schalit. Akashic Books, 2002.
- Solnit, David. "Poll Tax Rebellion How One Small Scottish Anarchist Group Toppled the Thatcher Government: An Interview by David Solnit with Ramsey Kanaan." Globalize Liberation: How to Uproot the System and Build a Better World Ed. David Solnit. City Lights Publishers, 2003.
- Swan, Rachel. "Beyond Anarchy at PM Press: Twenty-five years after launching AK Press, Ramsey Kanaan took his democracy elsewhere." The East Bay Express, February 18, 2009.