The Joy of Revolution and Related Texts

“It may seem absurd to talk about revolution. But all the alternatives assume the continuation of the present system, which is even more absurd.”

The Joy of Revolution has been translated into seven other languages and is widely considered Ken Knabb’s most significant work. While there have been countless histories of past revolutions and countless examinations of the many flaws of the present society and of the many methods proposed for reforming them, it would be difficult to name a single book that more clearly and concisely explores the problems and possibilities of a modern, situationist-type revolution.

Following a brief overview of the absurdities of the present social system and the failures of past efforts to change it, The Joy of Revolution examines the pros and cons of a wide range of radical tactics, first in the context of “normal” or “ordinary” conditions, then in the very different context of radical situations — those rare breakthroughs where masses of people start to call everything into question and real change becomes possible. It then concludes with some speculations on how a postrevolutionary global network of diverse liberated communities might work, and where we might go from there.

For this new edition, Ken has added some notes and updates to his original work and appended a number of his more recent texts — detourned comics; book reviews; a refutation of anarcho-primitivism; reports on two radical movements in France; a series of texts and talks on the Occupy movement (in which Ken was an enthusiastic participant); observations on the coronavirus shutdown; and analyses of the increasingly vicious and delirious Trump regime and the new forms of popular resistance it has inspired.