Boston University alumna Katie Sheldon will be educating others about the Occupy Boston movement at the Boston Anarchist Bookfair at Simmons College this weekend.
“I think it’ll be a way to strengthen the Northeast’s radical community through knowledge, skill-sharing and community building,” Sheldon said, “as well as a way to bring in newer folks who are attracted to anarchism but looking for a concrete way to get involved with different area organizations.”
The Boston Anarchist Bookfair, running from Nov. 11 to 13, will offer more than books for anarchists and those curious to learn more, with other festivities including workshops, strategy sessions, panels, film screenings and band performances.
The Progressive Librarians Guild will sponsor the fair at Simmons College, kicking off the weekend with an Anarchist Bookfair Show at the Democracy Center on Friday.
Panelists include experts from Egypt, Spain, Israel, Occupy Oakland and Occupy Philadelphia.
Sheldon will also be a panelist at a forum about the Occupy movements on Sunday and said she looks forward to the “Fighting Fascism in the 21st Century” and “Summit Strategy” panels. She also said she is excited to talk with people involved with Occupy movements across the country.
“All college students should attend, because between the literature, workshops and academic paper presentations, they are likely to encounter ideas they won’t get in the classroom,” Sheldon said.
The fair is sponsored by the Boston Anarchist Bookfair collective, a group of people who have been planning and organizing together, without one specific leader, said Elisa Gill, a BU College of Arts and Sciences senior and member of the collective.
More than 300 people are expected to attend, Gill said, with visitors coming from throughout New England, Pennsylvania and Canada.
The festival includes an exclusive screening of the documentary “If a Tree Falls: A Story of Earth Liberation Front,” which raises questions about activism and philosophy, Gill said.
“The goal of the Boston Anarchist Bookfair is to bring together anarchists from all over the New England area and people who are just curious about anarchism,” Gill said. “Especially because of all of the Occupy movements, anarchism is something that is coming up a lot in politics lately. More and more people are becoming interested in using consensus-based decision-making processes and organizing horizontally, without having one leader.”
Anarchism, she said, is about creating a space where everyone’s voice can be heard, and the Occupy movement is a great example of this political philosophy.
“I think for people who are already vaguely familiar with anarchism, they could learn about all the ways that it is put into practice all over the country and the world,” Gill said. “Anarchism can introduce a potentially new way of thinking about things.”
She said that the Boston Anarchist Bookfair spans many different types of movements, from environmental advocacy to gay rights.
“There should be something for everyone,” Gill said. “Even if someone only comes for a couple of hours to see what the activism movement is and what it can be, that would be great.”
“I think that this book fair will be a great place for people to learn about ideas of anarchism, and may dispel many of the stigmas that are attached to the word anarchism,”added Zena Ozeir, a BU College of Arts and Sciences junior.
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