From Here to There: The Staughton Lynd Reader

From Here to There collects unpublished talks and hard-to-find essays from legendary activist historian Staughton Lynd.

The first section of the Reader collects reminiscences and analyses of the 1960s. A second section offers a vision of how historians might immerse themselves in popular movements while maintaining their obligation to tell the truth. In the last section Lynd explores what nonviolence, resistance to empire as a way of life, and working class self-activity might mean in the twenty-first century. Together, they provide a sweeping overview of the life, and work—to date—of Staughton Lynd.

Both a definitive introduction and further exploration, it is bound to educate, enlighten, and inspire those new to his work and those who have been following it for decades. In a wide-ranging Introduction, anarchist scholar Andrej Grubacic considers how Lynd’s persistent concerns relate to traditional anarchism.

Praise:

“I met Staughton and Alice Lynd nearly fifty years ago in Atlanta. Staughton’s reflective and restless life has never ceased in its exploring. This book is his great gift to the next generations.”
—Tom Hayden

“Staughton Lynd’s work is essential reading for anyone dedicated to implementing social justice. The essays collected in this book provide unique wisdom and insights into United States history and possibilities for change, summed up in two tenets:  Leading from below and Solidarity.”
—Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

“This remarkable collection demonstrates the compassion and intelligence of one of America’s greatest public intellectuals. To his explorations of everything from Freedom Schools to the Battle of Seattle, Staughton Lynd brings lyricism, rigour, a historian’s eye for irony, and an unshakable commitment to social transformation. In this time of economic crisis, when the air is filled with ideas of ‘hope’ and ‘change,’ Lynd guides us to understanding what, very concretely, those words might mean and how we might get there. These essays are as vital and relevant now as the day they were written, and a source of inspiration for activists young and old.”
—Raj Patel

“The Staughton Lynd Reader is a veritable treasure chest. Lynd shows unparalleled respect for rank-and-file movements. If you’re interested in broad social change and meaningful democracy, you simply must read Staughton Lynd.”
—Daniel Gross

About Staughton Lynd:

Staughton Lynd taught history at Spelman College and Yale in the 1960s and coordinated the hugely successful Freedom Schools during the Mississippi Summer Project of 1964. After moving to New Haven, Lynd became a spokesperson for opponents of the Vietnam War. As a result of these activities, Lynd was blacklisted as a university professor and he and his wife became lawyers. Since 1976 they have lived in Youngstown, Ohio, working with and representing local victims of deindustrialization, and prisoners confined at Ohio’s first super-maximum security prison.

Together with Marty Glaberman, Stan Weir, and Daniel Gross of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), he developed and publicized “solidarity unionism”: the idea that workers should rely on their own direct action and seek horizontal relationships with similar groups in other workplaces.

Staughton Lynd turned 90 in November 2019. Throughout his life, he has affirmed that another world is possible and sought means to get from here to there.

Andrej Grubačić is the Founding Chair of Anthropology and Social Change department at CIIS-San Francisco, an academic program with an exclusive focus on anarchist Anthropology. He is the editor of the Journal of World-Systems Research, and affiliated faculty at the Berkeley Center for Social Medicine, UC Berkeley. He is the author of several books, including Living at the Edges of Capitalism: Adventures in Exile and Mutual Aid (co-authored with Denis O’Hearn) winner of the 2017 American Sociological Association prize for Distinguished Scholarship. He is the editor of the PM Press Kairos editions.

See and hear author interviews, book reviews, and other news on Staughton Lynd's page HERE and Andrej Grubacic's page HERE.

Click here to download and print a product information sheet.