NEW-The Nation on No Map: Black Anarchism and Abolition

by William C. Anderson

The Nation on No Map examines state power, abolition, and ideological tensions within the struggle for Black liberation while centering the politics of Black autonomy and self-determination. Amid renewed interest in Black anarchism among the left, Anderson offers a principled rejection of reformism, nation building, and citizenship in the ongoing fight against capitalism and white supremacism. As a viable alternative amidst worsening social conditions, he calls for the urgent prioritization of community-based growth, arguing that in order to overcome oppression, people must build capacity beyond the state. It interrogates how history and myth and leadership are used to rehabilitate governance instead of achieving a revolutionary abolition. By complicating our understanding of the predicaments we face, The Nation on No Map hopes to encourage readers to utilize a Black anarchic lens in favor of total transformation, no matter what it’s called. Anderson’s text examines reformism, orthodoxy, and the idea of the nation-state itself as problems that must be transcended and key sites for a liberatory re-envisioning of struggle.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Race, History, Theory, Anarchism, Essays

120 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2021

Reviews

[JRT · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Black people’s entire lives are shaped by the implicit understanding that we are not a part of this society we’re born into. We are not really citizens, and our history tells us this without much ambiguity.” This quote sets the tone for this extremely insightful book on the revolutionary potential of Black Anarchism. Author William C. Anderson is surgical and unapologetic in his indictment of not just the white supremacist-capitalistic state, but all other state-forms, each of which fail to address the problems of unaccountable leadership, anti-democratic and hierarchal organization, and entrenched exploitation and oppression. Anderson challenges romantic notions of Black identity (i.e. “we were once Kings and Queens”) as being rooted in statist and oppressive forms of social organization flowing from the modern capitalist tendency to ascribe value to people based on the wealth they’ve amassed and the state power they’ve wielded. This led to Anderson’s criticism of the concept and attempted practice of “Black capitalism,” along with the notion that Black people are incapable of doing-for-self without an anointed “leader” or “vanguard” party pulling the masses along.

Throughout the book, Anderson warns against the perils of deifying individual revolutionaries (including and especially those that led nation-state formations or even radical organizations), as well as creating rigid dogma out of supposedly revolutionary ideologies. Anderson contends that such idealization and dogmatic thinking ultimately supports the continued existence of the state by masking its flaws and entrenching certain “authoritarian” impulses (Anderson cites some of the excesses of the Black Panther Party as an example). In critiquing the Black Power movement and the “Black Left,” Anderson essentially advocates for a type of “communalism” over “nationalism,” positing that collectivist development must be prioritized over statecraft and nationalism, as the latter will only lead to the replication and repackaging of systems of oppression and domination.

One of my favorite quotes of the book is “[F]or many Black people, sedition is survival and survival is seditious.” With this short but profound insight, Anderson hammers home one of the most basic points of the philosophy of “Black Anarchism”—that Blackness itself is an Anarchist category, as Black people are fundamentally anti-state because the state is fundamentally (and foundationally) anti-Black. With this insight into both the perpetual non-citizen status of Black people, Anderson sets out to show how this status can in fact unleash the revolutionary potential of the Black masses. In doing so, Anderson repeatedly details his issues with “Black Nationalism,” identifying it as a dead-end political project because nationalism in any form carries with it the possibility (inevitability?) of class oppression, slavery, and fascism. This of course is a controversial and highly contentious point in Black politics. Nevertheless, Anderson makes his position clear in his critiques of the Garvey Movement, the NOI, the Black Panther Party, and the more modern “ADOS” movement.

While I would have appreciated some basic definitions of the terms “state” and “nation”—especially as they relate to one another—and I’m still looking for an in-depth analysis of the relationship between Black Anarchism and Pan Africanism, I think Anderson makes clear that the Black Anarchist form of social organization contemplates mass responsibility and coordination, rather than class rule from an elite group people (whether white, Black, or otherwise). In order to carry this out, Black and other colonized peoples must make themselves “ungovernable” by cultivating and developing alternative socioeconomic, political, and cultural institutions, and subsequently preparing themselves for the inevitable conflict with the state. To this point, abolition isn’t just about dismantling systems of domination, it’s fundamentally about building something radically new in its place. Ultimately, this book is an urgent call to action. With the declaration that “[T]he white ethno-state is a fascist dream that cannot be reasoned with,” Anderson makes clear that the abolition of all state forms is a necessary condition for full decolonization, Black liberation, and the ultimately salvation of the planet. This is a must read!

[zara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anderson argues that abolition requires an end to statehood / nations, and that Black people need to be (and already are) building experiments in alternative ways of living and meeting each other’s survival needs outside of the state. I appreciate all of his points and the ways he pulls from and cites a variety of Black revolutionary thinkers - Lucy Parsons, Sylvia Wynter, Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin, Aime Cesaire, Angela Davis, Saidiya Hartman, Frantz Fanon, Huey Newton, the list goes on.

where I struggled with this book was the lack of deep dives and the lack of specificity. If you’re going to tell me to be cautious about authoritarian leftist movements I am so here for that critique but say more and be as specific as possible!! if you’re going to say that Black folks are already building experiments in survival outside the state, I’m so here for that and agree but would have loved to see an exploration of 1-2 of those experiments, what’s going well, what challenges they’re facing, how they’re navigating those challenges. If you’re going to tell me about the failures of the Marxist movement in Guayana, tell me what happened! I just felt like there was a lot thrown out there and I have my own ideas about the specifics of any of these points, which is why they so deeply resonated, but would have hoped the book would have gotten more specific about fewer things.

One thing I really liked is how Anderson touches on this question of the shortcomings of nationalism even within sovereignty movements, because that’s definitely something that I’ve been giving a lot of thought as I try to figure out how best to support sovereignty movements while holding critiques of nationalism and statehood, and also recognizing the need to resist colonization at least to some extent on the terms of the oppressor (eg I think about Hawai’i, and how the spoken language was banned and there had never been a written language, and colonizers emphasized the supremacy of the written language, and so to fight back Hawaiians developed a written language and a newspaper to counter colonial narratives). So I appreciated seeing this beginning to be explored but would have really loved a more in depth exploration.

Still really enjoyed this book!!!

[Corvus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed William C. Anderson's work in As Black as Resistance, with his coauthor Zoé Samudzi, so I was very excited to see a new title coming out with his name on it. ABAR is one of my favorite anarchist texts that I have read and thus, I had high hopes for his new book: The Nation on No Map. He did not disappoint, making this book an excellent edition to the anarchist milieu and required reading for anyone interested in anarchism and/or Black radical politics.

What struck me first off in reading this is how humble the author is. He clearly wishes for this book to be presented as a prompt for organization and discussion, rather than a Bible of how to think. This does not mean that Anderson is devoid of passion. On the contrary. He balances the intensity surrounding the topics at hand with the humility of knowing one does not have all of the answers and that times and minds change. Anderson wants to share what he has learned over time rather than indoctrinate the reader into a strict set of views.

The book tackles more wide ranging anarchist thought as well as niche specifics that many on the left struggle to parse out such as the celebration of elite and celebrity Black folks, Black nationalism movements, authoritarianism among leftists (even in anti-authoritarian movements,) and the spectre of history revisionism that many people feel drawn to in order to make their voices heard and causes attended to. Anderson shows that the truth is plenty and playing into systems of oppression in order to get ahead will never work in the long run, and usually doesn't in the short either.

While I did find the book to be repetitive in some sections, this is far outweighed by Anderson's way with words. He balances style with information in ways that make heavy texts flow more easily for the reader. The foreword and afterword by big names in the anti-authoritarian game also add to the draw of the book with Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin providing an excellent summary to wrap things up. The graphic design of the print version is extraordinary. I don't know who is on AK Press' design team, but I have adored the experience of so many titles on their list both for the text and the visual and tactile elements. Anderson's words are poetic and passionate while simultaneously being grounded in reality. This is a short read with a ton of information that I would most definitely recommend.

This was also posted to my blog.

[Bryce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is what's up

[jessi · Rating 5 out of 5]

the kind of book that makes me wish i was still in school, a book that begs to be interrogated collectively and by a range of perspectives, identities, backgrounds, etc. just made me so curious to see how different people would react to the same information. lots of new ideas for me to sit with… tldr i will read anything andrew raine tells me to read <3

[Dominique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-researched, immediate, and engrossing introduction to Black Anarchist thought. Click here for the full review.

[Madison ♡♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in 2023 and read digitally. Similarly to when I read As Black As Resistance, I didn't learn too many new concepts from this but I still believe it to be a very vital, thought-provoking, and comprehensive book on Black anarchism. I also feel like this book was able to go deeper into Black anarchism, the problems the modern left are struggling with (and the solutions to these problems), the history of Black people's fight for liberation being watered-down by respectability politics and white liberalism in America, and so on and so forth than in As Black As Resistance. One of my only critiques is that the book can be a bit repetitive. Highly highly recommend!

[Camille · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anderson is by no means a brilliant writer or scholar, but his writing does the crucial work of carrying black anarchist thinking and praxis forward.... if only just a little bit.

He has enough supporting material to keep you engaged and he has a clear message for all the false prophets in contemporary black America. I just wish he was more compelling and specific and less rambling and obtuse.

I can't really recommend this book or his last one but I'm happy they exist to remind people that we exist.

[Kelsey Huse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book definitely expanded my way of thinking about the purpose of nation states and what true liberation looks like. Left me with a lot of questions in a good way.

[Jacob Wren · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few short passages from The Nation on No Map:


*


People often won’t, and shouldn’t, join a movement that’s not truly meeting their needs. That’s what exploitation and manipulation look like. A thorough preparation for revolt requires the survival of the people who are supposed to be doing the revolting.


*


Without a functioning, organized mass movement to truly counter the increasingly violent institutionalized intolerance we face, we must simply start by maintaining our survival to sustain ourselves for the long fight ahead.


*


It’s been clear for generations now that one of the central barriers to overcoming our oppressive conditions is the popular idea of success. The notion that if we work hard enough things will be fine clouds the reality: under capitalism, in order to be at the top, many others have to be at the bottom. How we define liberation and freedom matters, and the fact that many people have been deceived into thinking accumulating vast amounts of wealth or fame means being free is something we must combat. Royalty, fame and celebrity to some degree dictate power in this society, but they are not liberation and can never bring freedom.


*


When something terrible happens, they are brought out to comment, provide insight, and speak for everyone by drawing from their bottomless wells of experience. They’re directly related to the disingenuous nonprofits and foundations with missions to tackle problems they have no interest in actually solving because their living depends on the problem continuing.


*


While authoritarian leftists like this embody many of the worst aspects of the church, they do so without achieving nearly as much. Like churches that compete to grow their tithe-paying memberships, leftist organizations vie with one another for the minds and dues of devoted adherents. They fight for leadership over movements that they often did not spark and prematurely for political control of the postrevolutionary society they envision but consistently fail to materialize. However, their incessant bickering weakens movements to the point that no one can gain enough ground to topple the oppressive forces we’re up against.


*


This is much bigger than us living and existing more ethically. It’s about building communities that actively challenge capital and the state every single day. Many among us today are already growing our own food, homeschooling, ready to defend ourselves, and practicing compassion in ways that resist capitalist ideas about how to structure daily life. Though they may not call themselves “anarchists” or anticapitalists,” the way we choose to live our lives doesn’t always demand a label. The action behind it can remain just as effective without it.

We do need a conscious intention to undermine and overturn the processes that oppress us. Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin has described such ways of building Black autonomy as simply a way to make ourselves ungovernable. Building functional collective structures to accomplish this requires the same gradual process as any attempt to end what’s not working for us. I cannot stress enough that Black people are already doing all of this, but it’s time to connect efforts and do this in an organized way in order to spread these practices as far as we can across the empire with explicitly politicized intentions.


*

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

capitalism=bad
the concept of states/bordered countries=bad
all governments and gov run establishments=bad
getting rid of them all= good

the reference list at the end of this book is so good, the actual content isn’t anything I haven’t seen conceptualised before BUT this pulls a lot of the main points of Black Anarchy together, BUT I think there could have been more focus on intersectionality in terms of oppression regarding Black non-men, queer people, and disabled people BUT I also don’t know if it would have been THIS authors place to comment too much on it hence the 5 stars still

[Janis Yue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated this book so much…William Anderson is a candid, undogmatic writer who interweaves his lived experiences, de-mythologized moments of history, and the words of thinkers of past, present, and future in order to cultivate a Black anarchism that is accessible, inviting, and necessary. I learned a lot from his framing of Black migration/statelessness in particular. My only critique is that I felt the book could have presented more thoughts about what Black anarchist praxis looks like on a day-to-day basis and how liberation can be achieved through Black anarchism.

[warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

very grounded, practical book. focuses on dropping the mythology, dogma, or romanticization and outlining the struggles and tactics needed for the here and now. his background in migrant justice organizing + his analysis of displacement, (internal) migration, etc. of Black ppls is very illuminating.

[Fiona McLary · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of many aspects that makes anarchism so compelling is the fact that it has emerged independently all over the world and all throughout history. I really enjoy reading from different anarchist traditions because it makes for an incredibly rich understanding of these similar, but not identical, and generally compatible sets of beliefs and analyses. It's a delight to see how people in such different circumstances and from such different cultures have come to the same conclusion: that the nation-state is where human progress and freedom go to die, and that the prime function of any social organization is to provide for all according to their needs.

In The Nation On No Map, William Anderson is very much in conversation with other leftists and Black radicals, people from all over the world spanning a period of 200 years. This book is short, concise, and makes no effort to be any kind of definitive text. It is very clear that it should be read as one of many. Personally, I'm now intrigued to read the work of Kuwasi Balagoon, who was not only a Black anarchist but also a queer elder who we lost to the AIDS crisis. His quotes in particular caught my attention.

I appreciated the resounding practicality of this book. Perhaps it's because I've read a lot of older anarchist works lately, but I felt that this small tome could easily be put into the hands of anyone without a ton of political knowledge but who knows things must change radically and has the beginnings of ideas as to how. This is a book that means it when it talks about revolution, and addresses that fact directly.

Much of the book is dedicated to exposing the flaws with other movements and ideological approaches, which is pretty common for any leftist text, but honestly I don't think that's a pitfall here because he does such a great job. The critiques of Black capitalism and nationalism, classical anarchism, and authoritarian leftism are pointed and honestly dead-on. I feel like I now have language to talk about things that have long bothered me but that I haven't quite been able to put into words, or felt that it was my place to do so.

This is a book written very much for Black people, and as a white person I feel that it was a privilege to get this perspective not created with me in mind. I hope I can go forward with this book, as well as the ones it's inspired me to read, and be an even more anti-racist and pro-Black leftist.

[Stevphen Shukaitis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Nation on No Map – Black Anarchism and Abolition pulses with the urgency and clarity of a tradition too often misread or dismissed: black anarchism as both refusal and generative horizon. In a manner reminiscent of Fred Moten and Stefano Harney’s undercommons, Anderson insists not on mapping a nation, but on unsettling the very cartographies of state, property, and legitimacy that anchor racial capitalism. His abolitionism is not a policy platform but a lived, insurgent poetics, a politics made in movement, not merely towards liberation, but from it. Anderson resists foreclosure through theory. He conjures a fugitive praxis, attentive to the everyday improvisations that make freedom feel possible, even if only momentarily. This is not the anarchism of musty manifestos or Eurocentric genealogies, but a thinking-with and thinking-through the black radical tradition, diasporic memory, and the spaces where survival becomes speculative fiction. It is a necessary text for anyone seeking to unlearn the state and dream otherwise: against the grain, and without apology.

[Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me outline just one of the philosophical points in this amazing book - I have long maintained that we can go weeks without lawyers, police, mayors, stockbrokers, etc... but the most important people in ANY city are the people who collect the garbage. Take them away and the city grinds into chaos.

"The wealthy flaunt what they amass so that we're reminded of what we don't have and what we need to supposedly work hard to get, as if most of us aren't already working incredibly hard. But this idea that everyone who's wealthy labored to become so is absurd and easily disproved. Wealth is regularly inherited and passed down...yet we are somehow expected to believe that (rich) people deserve to live longer, better, happier lives.

What of the... workers who tirelessly keep this society going every single day for meager earnings? Don't they work hard? Let the people who collect the garbage of a wasteful society stop for a week, and watch the world begin to slowly fall apart."

[Arthur Fields · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anarchy is not always violence

I did not like the book because it did not develop an effective method to deal with the state's intrusion on the individual especially Africans Americans. I found his solution to become an ungovernable people in order to be self governing not effective when they state has infiltrated all aspects of organized resistance in the USA. Moreover, he discusses the need to abolish institutions in America but gives no concrete method to dismantle oppressive institutions that target African Americans. For instance, are riots really a means to prevent the police from attacking African Americans indiscriminately? He leaves a lot of questions for the reader to ponder.

[Arushi · Rating 4 out of 5]

covered a lot of ground and engaged critically with other thinkers without being super jargony or cryptic. maybe as a result, his argument felt poorly supported in places: the case against the us state was compelling (lowest hanging fruit though), but against the state broadly not so much, which is what i was really interested in. but the unconvincing parts were still a good, useful read.

on the whole, interesting and well-written with some good nuggets (anti-ideology bit, nationalism chapter, yarborough album rec). great as an accessible overview for a sympathetic reader, just not exactly what i was looking for.

[Scott Would · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended for all anarchists and anyone interested in liberation struggle.

I’ve heard old white anarchists dismiss the idea of black anarchism as a contradiction in terms. They thought anarchism was already universally valid and nothing to do with the particularities of identity. According to Anderson, this is false. He demonstrates that black anarchism isn’t just a black perspective on anarchism, but a specific critical outgrowth of the experiences of black radicals fighting for black liberation. The book is full of fresh insights and important history and serves as a great introduction to the still relatively young movement - although it may be older than you realize.

[Muffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was great! I’ve read very little about Black anarchism so this was a useful introduction to some important ideas, envisioning a future where people’s human rights and well-being aren’t dependent on petitioning a white supremacist state. It was also very thoughtful about the necessity of a movement being self-critical and not allowing itself to obsess over icons or political ideology. I’ll be thinking about this for some time. Thanks to the No Name Book Club for this month’s read!

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s going to take something pretty special to dethrone this as my top read of the year. This book is short and concise, yet gripping in its realism and fluctuations of optimism and pessimism. A great primer for taking the next steps into anarchism as a philosophy and as a solution, this is urgent while at the same time being a phenomenal, digestible read. Highly recommend to anyone wondering about No Gods, No Masters, No Maps, and No Nations!

[Micah · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Change can cause fear, including the fear of losing what little you already have. But we have to press on because, as things currently stand, we're dying."

As the institutions of US empire crumble and any pretense of social contract evaporates, could Black liberation somehow reverse the process and find a real citizenship that has always been refused, or will it give an extra push by building up its autonomy, forgetting the ideology of "citizen" and empowering ordinary people?

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5!!

I do wish that the book answered more of its own questions with plans for direct action, but I think the way that Anderson brought in so much research about Black anarchist histories towards the creation of its futures was really accessible, and helps to arm people with information and provide useful points of attack.

[Gregory Stanton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic summary of black anarchists' point of view and their ideas. He identifies a number of key players in "black anarchism." He presents a few points that illustrate the anarchist theoretical landscape with regard to black life and makes an effort to explain how black people have always been anarchists.

[Daniela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I've read in this year. Very well written about black anarchism. I am very grateful for this brilliant read. This is a must read.

Thank you William C. Anderson, AK Press, Goodreads Giveaways for this book!

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gypsy, Uyghur, Basque, Kurds, Catalans, the world is full of nations on no maps. And that is today. People with their own language. Their own culture. Their own cuisine. And morons like Anderson still get published. He knows ”The Nation”.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manages to strip away all the BS that pervades many leftist spaces. Loved the point to look towards Indigenous Anarchism, all communities marginalized under white supremacy have so much in common and can learn so much from one another.

[tinaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This will radicalize you and make you ask questions about your beliefs that will make you uncomfortable. An introduction into black anarchism and the idea that there could and should be more to our society than just this

[zaynab · Rating 4 out of 5]

(It's closer to a 3.5 than a 4)

[New · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5