In Defense of Looting - Wyrmsign.org

hardcover, 288 pages

Published Aug. 25, 2020 by Bold Type Books.

ISBN:: 978-1-64503-669-2
OCLC Number:: 1191840698

(1 review)

Looting -- a crowd of people publicly, openly, and directly seizing goods -- is one of the more extreme actions that can take place in the midst of social unrest. Even self-identified radicals distance themselves from looters, fearing that violent tactics reflect badly on the broader movement.

But Vicky Osterweil argues that stealing goods and destroying property are direct, pragmatic strategies of wealth redistribution and improving life for the working class -- not to mention the brazen messages these methods send to the police and the state. All our beliefs about the innate righteousness of property and ownership, Osterweil explains, are built on the history of anti-Black, anti-Indigenous oppression.

From slave revolts to labor strikes to the modern-day movements for climate change, Black lives, and police abolition, Osterweil makes a convincing case for rioting and looting as weapons that bludgeon the status quo while uplifting the poor and marginalized. In …

Looting -- a crowd of people publicly, openly, and directly seizing goods -- is one of the more extreme actions that can take place in the midst of social unrest. Even self-identified radicals distance themselves from looters, fearing that violent tactics reflect badly on the broader movement.

But Vicky Osterweil argues that stealing goods and destroying property are direct, pragmatic strategies of wealth redistribution and improving life for the working class -- not to mention the brazen messages these methods send to the police and the state. All our beliefs about the innate righteousness of property and ownership, Osterweil explains, are built on the history of anti-Black, anti-Indigenous oppression.

From slave revolts to labor strikes to the modern-day movements for climate change, Black lives, and police abolition, Osterweil makes a convincing case for rioting and looting as weapons that bludgeon the status quo while uplifting the poor and marginalized. In Defense of Looting is a history of violent protest sparking social change, a compelling reframing of revolutionary activism, and a practical vision for a dramatically restructured society.

4 editions

Leaving_Marx reviewed In Defense of Looting by Vicky Osterweil

Review of 'In Defense of Looting' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Vicky did a fantastic job of laying out a history of riotous actions and the expropriation of property as a time honored tradition with anti-capitalism and anti-racist struggles within the US.

Each chapter laid out a fantastic list of sources and materials painting a compelling picture of the struggles in the streets and communities that labour, abolitionist, and black communities have engaged in since the establishment of the US.

I found some of the necessary chapters felt like review, specifically the origins of policing in the US to closely follow arguments made in Kristian Williams Our Enemy in Blue and Saralee Stafford & Neil Shirley's Dixie Be Damned. But if you haven't read either of those books then you'll find it a facinating look at the slave patrols to police timeline.

I really appreciated vicky's interjections laying out her critiques of racial-capitalism in the US, grounded in black liberation and …

Vicky did a fantastic job of laying out a history of riotous actions and the expropriation of property as a time honored tradition with anti-capitalism and anti-racist struggles within the US.

Each chapter laid out a fantastic list of sources and materials painting a compelling picture of the struggles in the streets and communities that labour, abolitionist, and black communities have engaged in since the establishment of the US.

I found some of the necessary chapters felt like review, specifically the origins of policing in the US to closely follow arguments made in Kristian Williams Our Enemy in Blue and Saralee Stafford & Neil Shirley's Dixie Be Damned. But if you haven't read either of those books then you'll find it a facinating look at the slave patrols to police timeline.

I really appreciated vicky's interjections laying out her critiques of racial-capitalism in the US, grounded in black liberation and feminist thought.

I wish this was a book I could offer parents, non-political friends or coworkers because her writing and train of thought throughout the book was compelling, concise, and not overtly speaking to an audience that already agrees with her. Unfortunately it still feels like it is a book having a conversation amongst the left around violence, spontaneity, and a diversity of tactics.

Therefore I would recommend it to anyone who sees themselves within a trajectory of seeking racial justice, wants to understand why the media and those in power only seem to pay attention when something in broken or burnt, or the circuits of the economy are prevented from flowing at top speed.