Astra Taylor (born September 30, 1979) is a

Canadian-American Canadian Americans () are Citizenship of the United States, American citizens or in some uses residents whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadians, Canadian, or citizens of either country who hold dual citizenship. Today, many Canadian American ...

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

, writer, activist, and musician. She is a fellow of the

Shuttleworth Foundation Shuttleworth may refer to: * Shuttleworth (surname) * Shuttleworth, Greater Manchester (historically in Lancashire), a hamlet at the northeastern extremity of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, England * Shuttleworth (canvassing) * The Shuttleworth ...

for her work on challenging predatory practices around

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money Loan, borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by a sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Co ...

Life

Born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Taylor grew up in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

,http://www.hiddendriver.com/about Astra Taylor's official bio, accessed February 8, 2009 and was unschooled until age 13 when she enrolled in ninth grade. At 16 she abandoned high school to attend classes at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

; at the university she studied

Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze (18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes o ...

and Guattari under Ronald L. Bogue. She has described herself as a "teenage Deleuzian." Taylor enrolled at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, where she attended classes for a year before dropping out. Reflecting on her decision to leave, Taylor stated "Why had I felt compelled to enroll in an

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

school, to excel by the standards of conventional education and choose a 'difficult' major, instead of making my own way? What was I afraid of?" Taylor completed a Master of Arts in liberal studies at

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

, though stated that she ultimately "wearied" of academia. Taylor has taught

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

at the University of Georgia and

SUNY New Paltz The State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz or New Paltz) is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It traces its origins to the New Paltz Classical School, a secondary institution founded in 1828 and reorganized as an a ...

. Her writings have appeared in numerous magazines, including

Dissent Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...

n+1 N1, N.I, N-1, N=1, or N01 may refer to: Information technology * Nokia N1, an Android tablet * Nexus One, an Android phone made by HTC * Nylas N1, a desktop email client * Oppo N1, an Android phone * N1, a Sun Microsystems software brand now ...

Adbusters The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself as "a global network of artists, activis ...

The Baffler ''The Baffler'' is an American magazine of cultural, political, and business analysis. Established in 1988 by editors Thomas Frank and Keith White, it was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, until 2010, when it moved to Cambridge, Massachusett ...

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

, and

The London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Boo ...

Astra_Taylor_on_Taking_Back_Power_in_the_Age_of_Networks

Taylor is the sister of painter and disability activist Sunny Taylor, and is married to

Jeff Mangum Jeffrey Nye Mangum (born 24 October 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who gained prominence as the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well for his co-founding of The Elephant 6 Recording Comp ...

Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed by Jeff Mangum in Ruston, Louisiana, in 1989. They were active until 1998, and then from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock and psy ...

. She joined Neutral Milk Hotel onstage for a number of shows in 2013 and 2014, playing guitar and accordion. She is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

. She lives in New York. Her book ''The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart'' was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction at the

2024 Governor General's Awards The shortlisted nominees for the 2024 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 8, 2024, and the winners were announced on November 13.Cassandra Drudi"Jordan Abel, Niigaan Sinclair among 2024 Governor General’s award ...

. The book was also a finalist for the 2024

Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the best nonfiction book on Canadian political and social issues. It has been presented annually in Ottawa at the Writers� ...

Activism

Taylor was active in the

Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist Social movement, socio-political movement that expressed opposition to Social equality, social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of real democracy around the world. It aimed primar ...

and was the co-editor of Occupy!: An OWS-Inspired Gazette with Sarah Leonard of

magazine and Keith Gessen of n+1. The

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...

covered

Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a left-wing populist movement against economic inequality, capitalism, corporate greed, big finance, and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial ...

in five issues over the course of the first year of the occupation and was later anthologized by

Verso Books Verso Books (formerly New Left Books) is a publishing house based in London and New York City, founded in 1970 by the staff of ''New Left Review'' (NLR) and includes Tariq Ali and Perry Anderson on its board of directors. According to its webs ...

. Taylor is a co-founder of Debt Collective, a debtors' union fighting to cancel debts. Taylor has resisted the label "activist" in her writing and advocates organized movement building, which she says is a necessary supplement to activism which makes it more durable and effective. She is also a member of the

Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a political organization in the United States and the country's largest Socialism, socialist organization. Sitting on the Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left of the politic ...

and on the

Progressive International Progressive International (PI) is an international political organisation that unites and mobilises Progressivism, progressive Left-wing politics, left-wing activists and groups. The organisation works with over 70 member groups. This comprises ...

council. She supports a boycott of Israeli cultural institutions, including publishers and literary festivals. She was an original signatory of the manifesto "Refusing Complicity in Israel's Literary Institutions".

Works

Films

* '' Zizek!'', 2005 * ''

Examined Life ''Examined Life'' is a 2008 Canadian documentary film directed by Astra Taylor about philosophers. The film has eight influential modern philosophers walking around New York City, New York and other metropolises, discussing the practical applicati ...

'', 2008 * '' What Is Democracy?'', 2018

Writing

* ''Examined Life: Excursions with Contemporary Thinkers'' (editor), The New Press, 2009, * ''Occupy!: Scenes From Occupied America'' (co-editor), Verso, 2012, * '' The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age'', Henry Holt and Company, 2014, *"The faux-bot revolution", in
A Field Guide to The Future of Work
', RSA Future Work Centre, 2018 *''Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone'', Metropolitan Books, 2019, *''Can't Pay, Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition'' (forward), Haymarket Books, 2020, *''Remake the World: Essays, Reflections, Rebellions'', Haymarket Books, 2020, * ''The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart (CBC Massey Lectures)'', Anansi Press, 2023,

Other works

Taylor occasionally performs with her husband's band,

Notes

External links

* *
Astra Taylor - Writers' Trust of Canada Shaughnessey Cohen Prize for Political Writing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Astra 1979 births American documentary filmmakers American people of Canadian descent Brown University alumni Canadian democratic socialists Canadian documentary film directors Film directors from Winnipeg Homeschooling advocates Living people Members of the Democratic Socialists of America Musicians from Athens, Georgia Musicians from Winnipeg Net neutrality State University of New York at New Paltz faculty The New School alumni University of Georgia faculty Writers from Athens, Georgia Writers from Winnipeg Women technology writers American Book Award winners American women documentary filmmakers American women academics 21st-century American women Canadian women documentary filmmakers Canadian women film directors