Renewing the Anarchist Tradition is an annual conference

National Conference

National Conference may refer to:In India:*Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, the largest political party in Jammu and Kashmir, India.*Manipur National Conference, a political party in the Indian state of Manipur that was formed in 2002....

 of anarchist

Anarchism

Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...

 intellectuals. Started in 1997, it has brought together anarchists and anti-authoritarian scholars and activists desiring to critically engage both with the tradition itself and the world at large. Participants and presenters at the conference aim to foster a more rigorous contemporary theoretical framework for anarchism as well as a stronger foundation from which anti-authoritarian movements can organize and resist. The conference is co-organized by Institute for Anarchist Studies

Institute for Anarchist Studies

The Institute for Anarchist Studies is a non-profit organization founded by Chuck W. Morse following the anarchist-communist school of thought, in 1996 to assist anarchist writers and further develop the theoretical aspects of the anarchist movement...

 members Andrea Maria, Cindy Milstein

Cindy Milstein

Cindy Milstein is an anarchist activist and educator who talks at various anarchist and socialist gatherings. One such talk was the very informal but in-depth class, "Anarchism 101" at the National Conference on Organized Resistance, at the American University in Washington DC, in 2003 and 2004...

 and John Petrovato

John Petrovato

John Petrovato is a former Director of the Institute for Anarchist Studies and co-organizer of the annual Renewing the Anarchist Tradition conference. The RAT conference, which he co-organizes with Cindy Milstein, seeks to provide a scholarly space in which to both reexamine and reinvigorate the...

. The 2007 conference was held in Montpelier, Vermont

Montpelier, Vermont

Montpelier is a city in the U.S. state of Vermont that serves as the state capital and the shire town of Washington County. As the capital of Vermont, Montpelier is the site of the Vermont State House, seat of the legislative branch of Vermont government. The population was 7,855 at the 2010...

.
The conference intends to support and nurture "a new generation of anti-authoritarian

Anti-authoritarian

Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as a "political doctrine advocating the principle of absolute rule: absolutism, autocracy, despotism, dictatorship, totalitarianism." Anti-authoritarians usually believe in full equality before the law and strong civil...

 public intellectuals" from varied backgrounds and experiences. The conference is self-described as "a scholarly conference," in virtue of the claimed quality of the presentations and discussions rather than the professional identity of the participants, and being active in academia is not a requirement for participation, though notable radical academics are presenters.The conference has served as a fertile environment for organizers, scholars, writers, artists, educators, publishers, and students from a diversity of left libertarian and anarchist tendencies

Anarchist schools of thought

Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...

 to collaborate and develop long-term relationships.

Presentations at the conference have focused on topics ranging from the nature of social change and the changing nature of state

State (polity)

A state is an organized political community, living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Many states are federated states which participate in a federal union...

, technology

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

 and capital

Capital (economics)

In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...

 to anarchists' position in relation to the geopolitics of war and terrorism; from emergent forms of both domination and resistance in a globalizing world to the role and possibilities of anti-authoritarian art

Anarchism and the arts

Anarchism has long had an association with the arts, particularly in music and literature. It shares this trait with other political movements, such as socialism, communism, liberalism, conservatism, libertarianism and even fascism....

 and propaganda

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

; and from the persistent importance of concepts such as class

Social class

Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...

, community, and labor, to the challenges for anarchists of confronting issues of identity

Identity politics

Identity politics are political arguments that focus upon the self interest and perspectives of self-identified social interest groups and ways in which people's politics may be shaped by aspects of their identity through race, class, religion, sexual orientation or traditional dominance...

 such as gender, race and sexuality.

External links

• Current homepage at the Institute for Anarchist Studies
  Institute for Anarchist Studies
  The Institute for Anarchist Studies is a non-profit organization founded by Chuck W. Morse following the anarchist-communist school of thought, in 1996 to assist anarchist writers and further develop the theoretical aspects of the anarchist movement...
  
  
• Archive of previous conferences
• http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/johnpetrovato
• http://sojournertruth.blogsome.com/