AK Press

AK Press (2015)

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 out of Oakland, California.

History

AK was founded in Stirling, Scotland by Ramsey Kanaan in 1987 as a small mail order outlet, named after his mother Ann Kanaan.[1] The project soon expanded, venturing into independent book publishing, and AK Press also now has a branch in Oakland, California. Kanaan and several other members of AK Press left in 2007 to form a new radical publishing company PM Press.[2] AK Press is organized as a workers' co-operative; the Press is owned by all members of the collective and works without bosses, with every member partaking in each function of the organization.[3] It operates online through akpress.org[4] in the United States, and through akuk.com in Europe.[5] In the US, it manages a "Bookmobile" (which is not a physical automobile, but "an announcement, an opportunity") that sells books at various gatherings around the country (to protests, activist conferences, etc.).[6] In the United Kingdom, AK Press manages stalls at similar events. Works published by AK Press include reprints of radical classics as well as original works; its book topics include anarchism,[7] globalization,[8] and animal rights,[9] and are often difficult to find through mainstream outlets.[10]

AK Press has released spoken word albums by figures such as Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Jello Biafra, Arundhati Roy and Mumia Abu-Jamal and music by artists including David Rovics and Utah Phillips.[11]

The business also sells clothing, buttons, stickers, and various "anarchist props" like an upside down map of the world and the red and black flag of anarcho-syndicalism.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kanaan, Ramsey. "Part 1: What's Wrong With the American Anarchist Movement?". Melbourne Indymedia. Archived from the original on April 27, 2005. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  2. ↑ Carroll, Tobias (August 26, 2008). "I’ve Got a Name: Music, Radical Politics, and AK Press". yourbestguess.com. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  3. ↑ "About - AK Press". akpress.org. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  4. ↑ "Home page - AK Press". akpress.org. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  5. ↑ "Welcome to the AKUK Website - AKUK the European home of AK Press and Distribution". akuk.com. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  6. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions - AK Press". akpress.org. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  7. ↑ "Anarchsim - Published by AK Press - AK Press". akpress.org. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  8. ↑ "Animal Rights - Published by AK Press - AK Press". akpress.org. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  9. ↑ "Animal Rights - Published by AK Press - AK Press". akpress.org. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  10. ↑ "About - AK Press". akpress.org. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  11. ↑ "Audio - AK Press". akpress.org. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Miscellany - AK Press". akpress.org. Retrieved 17 January 2017.

Further reading

  • Shaw, Megan. Interview with Craig Gilmore, Ramsey Kanaan, and Craig O’Hara of AK Press. Punk Planet March/April 2000, 59.
  • Swan, Rachel. "Beyond Anarchy at PM Press". East Bay Express. Retrieved June 24, 2017. 
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.