Radical Gotham: Anarchism in New York City from Schwab's Saloon to Occupy Wall Street ed. by Tom Goyens (review)

Radical Gotham: Anarchism in New York City from Schwab's Saloon to Occupy Wall Street is a collection of essays about anarchist history in New York City. Editor Tom Goyens, associate professor of history, argues the book "not only professes anarchism's distinctiveness but also demonstrates its endurance as a political ideology and movement in New York for nearly a century and half" (3). The book is composed of eleven chapters that provide a chronological overview of the anarchist movement's evolution from the 1880s to the present. The chapters are further united by three themes: prefigurate politics, culture, and space. These themes demonstrate how different anarchist groups approached the challenges of their times, such as practicing anarchism in a capitalist society.

Radical Gotham makes several important contributions to anarchist scholarship. Goyens contends that, despite the acceptance of social history, anarchist history remains marginalized. This collection combats that marginalization. The book reperiodizes anarchist history. Previous interpretations describe the decades in the United States from 1870 to 1920 or 1940 as the "classical" period, during which it was an "overwhelmingly a working-class and immigrant movement" (3). After the classical period, the spread of communism reduced the movement to small pockets. Radical Gotham demonstrates that, in NYC, anarchism never died. Instead, it evolved throughout the decades and remains influential in contemporary left-leaning social movements, namely Occupy Wall Street.

The book also uses a transnational approach. Goyens contends, "local and regional anarchist communities were linked to other hubs or individuals in different countries. New York was just such a hub"(9). The books chapters bear this out: they feature German, Yiddish, Spanish, Italian, and American radicals who had connections through their home countries and activism, speakers, and print media in the United States. This view creates a more complete picture of the often connected global anarchist movement.

The authors come from a variety of backgrounds, including academia and activism, and all the chapters are well done. Catlin Casey's chapter on the group Up Against the Wall Motherfucker stands out because of its contribution to the field. Casey postulates that the group challenges previous scholarship on both the New Left and counterculture movements of the 1960s. While drawing from both movements, the group viewed the Students for a Democratic Society as reformist, rather than revolutionary, and counterculture hippies as apolitical. Situating them this way pushes the historiography and shows why their aggressive tactics, including storming the Pentagon, led to their demise.

The book is well sourced. The chapters are supported by a wealth of primary sources, often in multiple languages. Kenyon Zimmer's essay on Yiddish anarchists uses Yiddish language documents from both Europe and the United States, as well as the writings of well-known figures such as Emma Goldman. His efforts support the transnational approach. Alan Moore analyzes many nontraditional sources, including Myspace and documents from his organization's archive to provide a feel for the constant turmoil, change, and energy found in ABC No Rio, an anarchist-influenced nonprofit on the Lower East Side.¹

Overall, the collection makes a good contribution to the study of radicalism. It breaks new historiographical ground and it is well written and cohesive. It is suitable for an undergraduate or graduate class on American social movements or anarchism. It also pushes the reader to think about radicals' and radicalism's constant need to evolve. As the anarchists in the book demonstrate, local circumstances are a major factor in shaping tactics, strategies, and outcomes of radical social movements.