Mass Market Anarchism

In the 1960s and ’70s, anarchism jumped from underground circles to the shelves of drugstores, supermarkets, and newsstands, packaged in cheap, mass market paperbacks.

In this latest installment of Pound the Pavement publication series, Josh MacPhee digs into the covers of those books, unpacking how publishers tried, and often failed, to visually represent a politics they barely understood. With sharp historical insight and eye for design, MacPhee reveals both the resurgence of anarchist thought and the strange compromises of mass circulation.

Printed in four-color risograph, this pamphlet features 17 full-size reproductions of rare paperback covers alongside 21 additional illustrations, an arresting blend of cultural history and visual analysis.