John Edward Zerzan ( ; born August 10, 1943) is an American anarchist and

primitivist Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that either emulates or aspires to recreate a "primitive" experience. It is also defined as a philosophical doctrine that considers "primitive" peoples as nobler than civilized peoples and was an o ...

ecophilosopher and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. His works criticize agricultural

civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). ...

as inherently oppressive, and advocates drawing upon the ways of life of hunter-gatherers as an inspiration for what a free society should look like. Subjects of his criticism include

domestication Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. ...

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

, symbolic thought (such as mathematics and

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

) and the concept of

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

. His six major books are ''Elements of Refusal'' (1988), '' Future Primitive and Other Essays'' (1994), ''Running on Emptiness'' (2002), '' Against Civilization: Readings and Reflections'' (2005), ''Twilight of the Machines'' (2008), and ''Why hope? The Stand Against Civilization'' (2015).

Early life and education

Zerzan was born in Salem, Oregon, and is of

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

and Slovakian descent. He received his bachelor's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from Stanford University in 1966. From 1967 to 1970, Zerzan worked as a

union organizer A union organizer (or union organiser in Commonwealth spelling) is a specific type of trade union member (often elected) or an appointed union official. A majority of unions appoint rather than elect their organizers. In some unions, the orga ...

for the Social Service Employee's Union in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Zerzan returned to school and received a master's degree in History from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

in 1972. He completed his coursework towards a PhD at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

but dropped out in 1975 before completing his Thesis, dissertation.

Activism

In 1966, Zerzan was arrested while performing civil disobedience at a Berkeley, California, Berkeley anti-Vietnam War march and spent two weeks in the Contra Costa County county jail, Jail. He vowed after his release never again to be willingly arrested. He attended events organized by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters and was involved with the psychedelic drug and psychedelic music, music scene in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. In the late 1960s he worked as a social worker for the city of San Francisco Welfare (financial aid), welfare department. He helped organize a social worker's trade union, union, the SSEU, and was elected vice president in 1968, and president in 1969. The local Situationist International, Situationist group Contradiction denounced him as a "leftist bureaucracy, bureaucrat". In 1974, Black and Red Press published ''Unions Against Revolution'' by Spanish ultra-left theorist Grandizo Munis that included an essay by Zerzan which previously appeared in the journal ''Telos (journal), Telos''. Over the next 20 years, Zerzan became intimately involved with the ''Fifth Estate (periodical), Fifth Estate'', ''Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed'', ''Demolition Derby '' and other anarchist periodicals. He began to question civilization in the early 80's, after having sought to confront issues around the neutrality of technology and division of labour, at the time when Fredy Perlman was making similar conclusions. He saw civilization itself as the root of the problems of the world and that a hunter-gatherer form of society presented the most Egalitarianism, egalitarian model for human relations with themselves and the natural world. Zerzan became more widely known during the trial of Ted Kaczynski. After reading the Unabomber manifesto, Zerzan went to Colorado to experience the trial and meet with Kaczynski in-between proceedings. A ''New York Times'' reporter took interest in Zerzan's sympathies and published an interview that raised his national profile. Kaczynski eventually split from Zerzan and the anarcho-primitivists with the belief that leftist causes were a distraction. In a 2014 interview, Zerzan stated that he and Kaczynski were "not on terms anymore." He criticized his former friend's 2008 essay "The Truth About Primitive Life: A Critique of Anarchoprimitivism" and expressed disapproval of Individualists Tending to the Wild, Individuals Tending Towards the Wild, a Mexican group influenced by the Unabomber's bombing campaign. Zerzan was associated with the Eugene, Oregon anarchist scene.

Thought

Zerzan is an anarchist philosopher, and is broadly associated with the philosophies of anarcho-primitivism, green anarchism, anti-civilisation, post-left anarchy, Neo-Luddism, neo-luddism, and in particular the critique of technology.

Criticism

In his essay "Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism: An Unbridgeable Chasm", Murray Bookchin directed criticism from an anarchist point of view at Zerzan's anti-civilizational and anti-technological perspective. He argued that Zerzan's representation of hunter-gatherers was flawed, selective and often patronisingly racist, that his analysis was superficial, and that his practical proposals were nonsensical. Aside from Bookchin, several other anarchist critiques of Zerzan's primitivist philosophies exist. The pamphlet, "Anarchism vs. Primitivism" by Brian Oliver Sheppard criticizes many aspects of the primitivist philosophy. It specifically rejects the claim that primitivism is a form of anarchism. Some authors such as Andrew Flood have argued that destroying civilization would lead to the death of a significant majority of the population, mainly in poor countries. John Zerzan responded to such claims by suggesting a gradual decrease in population size, with the possibility of people having the need to seek means of sustainability more close to nature. Flood suggests this contradicts Zerzan's claims elsewhere, and adds that, since it is certain that most people will strongly reject Zerzan's supposed utopia, it can only be implemented by authoritarian means, against the will of billions. In his essay "Listen Anarchist!", Chaz Bufe criticized the primitivist position from an anarchist perspective, pointing out that primitivists are extremely vague about exactly which technologies they advocate keeping and which they seek to abolish, noting that smallpox had been eradicated thanks to medical technology.

Selected works

Books and pamphlets

* ''When We Are Human: Notes From The Age Of Pandemics'', July 2021. * ''A People's History of Civilization'', April 20, 2018 * ''Time and Time Again''. Detritus Books, 2018. * ''Why hope? The Stand Against Civilization''. Feral House, 2015. * ''Future Primitive Revisited''. Feral House, May 2012. * ''Origins of the 1%: The Bronze Age'' pamphlet. Left Bank Books, 2012. * ''Origins: A John Zerzan Reader''. Joint publication of FC Press and Black and Green Press, 2010. * ''Twilight of the Machines''. Feral House, 2008. * ''Running On Emptiness''. Feral House, 2002. * ''Against Civilization'' (editor). Uncivilized Books, 1999; Expanded edition, Feral House, 2005. * ''Future Primitive''. Autonomedia, 1994. * ''Questioning Technology'' (co-edited with Alice Carnes). Freedom Press, 1988; 2d edition, New Society, 1991, * ''Elements of Refusal''. Left Bank Books, 1988; 2d edition, C.A.L. Press, 1999.

Articles

* ''Telos'' 141, ''Second-Best Life: Real Virtuality''. New York: Telos Press Ltd., Winter 2007. * ''Telos'' 137, ''Breaking the Spell: A Civilization Critique Perspective''. New York: Telos Press Ltd., Winter 2006. * ''Telos'' 124, ''Why Primitivism?''. New York: Telos Press Ltd., Summer 2002. * ''Telos'' 60, ''Taylorism and Unionism: The Origins of a Partnership''. New York: Telos Press Ltd., Summer 1984. * ''Telos'' 50, ''Anti-Work and the Struggle for Control''. New York: Telos Press Ltd., Winter 1981–1982. * ''Telos'' 49, ''Origins and Meaning of World War I''. New York: Telos Press Ltd., Fall 1981. * ''Telos'' 28, ''Unionism and the Labor Front''. New York: Telos Press Ltd., Summer 1978. * ''Telos'' 27, ''Unionization in America''. New York: Telos Press Ltd., Spring 1976. * ''Telos'' 21, ''Organized Labor versus The Revolt Against Work: The Critical Contest''. New York: Telos Press Ltd., Fall 1974.

References

External links

* *
Guide to John Zerzan's papers at the University of Oregon
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