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City of purposes: free life and libertarian activism in L ondon
Author(s) -
Reed Adam
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of the royal anthropological institute
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.62
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1467-9655
pISSN - 1359-0987
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9655.12152
Subject(s) - power (physics) , sociology , ethnography , action (physics) , politics , centrality , political action , value (mathematics) , collective action , epistemology , environmental ethics , law , political science , anthropology , philosophy , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , combinatorics , machine learning , computer science
This essay looks at the ideas and practice of libertarian activists in L ondon. It focuses on the value placed on purposefulness, and on the city as the terrain for a free life. These libertarians' activism is explored through an engagement with the centrality of ‘freedom’ in the emergent anthropology of ethics, and by reference to alternative theories of power or action. In particular, attention falls on the challenge of representing subjects who seem to embody and profess overly familiar theories of individual freedom and responsibility. The essay is meant as a contribution to political and urban anthropology, and the ethnography of B ritain.