Dancin' in the Streets!: Anarchists, Iwws, Surrealists, Situationists & Provos in the 1960s - As Recorded in the Pages of the Rebel Worker & He

Brief Description: While square critics derided them as "the left wing of the Beat Generation," the multi-racial, working-class editorial groups of The Rebel Worker and its sister journal Heatwave in London became well known for their highly original revolutionary perspective, innovative social/cultural criticism, and uninhibited class-war humor. Rejecting traditional left dogma, and proudly affirming the influence of Bugs Bunny and the Incredible Hulk, these playful rebels against work expanded the critique of Capital into a critique of daily life and developed a truly radical theory and practice, rooted in poetry, provocation, blues, jazz and the pleasure principle. Active in strikes, free-speech fights and other tumults, they also introduced countless readers to important writings by and about surrealists, situationists, IWWs, anarchists, libertarian Marxists, Provos, the Japanese Zengakuren, and other political/cultural revolutionary-minded individuals and movements from all over the world. This lavish tome provides dozens of selections from all the editions of both journals, with a wealth of related documents, communiques and articles, a bibliography, and detailed introduc tions by the original editors. What a book! What other work could Murray Bookchin, Sam Dolgoff and Guy Debord all agree was worthwhile and revolutionary!Publisher Marketing: Cultural Writing. Most books on the 1960's focus on large liberal organizations and reformist politics. This one is unabashedly devoted to the far left of the far left. DANCIN' IN THE STREETS is a collection of writings from two legendary but hard-to-find journals, The Rebel Worker and Heatwave, known for their highly original revolutionary perspective, innovative social/cultural criticism, and uninhibited class-war humor. "With its heady mix of surrealism, the [Industrial Workers of the World] heritage, free jazz, and Bugs Bunny... Look here for links between the Beat Generation 'Mimeo Generation' and later Underground Press, but also between traditional Marxist theory and the new 'critique of everyday life' developed by an increasingly defiant and countercultural young left that made Martha and the Vandellas' 'Dancin' in the Streets' its international anthem"--Paul Buhle.

Contributor Bio:  Rosemont, Franklin Franklin Rosemont was born on October 2, 1943, in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Henry, was a labor activist, and mother, Sally, a jazz musician. He edited and wrote an introduction for What is Surrealism?: Selected Writings of Andre Breton, and edited Rebel Worker, Arsenal/Surrealist Subversion, THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DIL PICKLE and Juice Is Stranger Than Friction: Selected Writings of T-Bone Slim. With Penelope Rosemont and Paul Garon he edited THE FORECAST IS HOT!. His work has been deeply concerned with both the history of surrealism (writing a forward for Max Ernst and Alchemy: A Magician in Search of Myth) and of the radical labor movement in America, for instance, writing a biography of Joe Hill. He died on April 12, 2009, in Chicago.