Disruption has been critical to the emergence of new subjects and subjectivities. Here you will find documents by subjects who rejected their given roles, descriptions, and functions in order to redefine themselves on new terms.
All
Black
Students
Colonized
Queer
Latino
Indigenous
Women
Workers
Subjects Redefined
All
Pre-Modern
1700-1830s
1840-1945
1946-1989
1990-2010
2011-Present
Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 by Karl Marx
These manuscripts were complied posthumously after Marx’s death in 1932. They analyze a variety of topics, including (in this excerpt) estranged labor, private property, communism, and the power of money in a bourgeoise…
“Eternal Vigilance” – Minneapolis Truckers’ Strike (1934)
This document was written by James P. Cannon on August 6, 1934 during the Minneapolis Truckers’ Strike. It describes the importance of resisting the violence and remaining persistent in their demands and needs.
Poor White Women (1970)
In this 1970 essay, author Roxanne Dunbar includes an intersectional analysis of the oppression of women, focusing on both gendered and class-based issues. Drawing on her own experience growing up in a poor farming commu…
The Philippine Communist Party: Establish Underground Local Governments (1950)
As a way to overthrow the imperialist rule by both American and Japanese governments that had persisted in the Philippines for years, the Philippine Communist Party encouraged citizens to form local underground governmen…
The Palestinian Revolution: The Right to Self-Determination and the Independent State (1977)
“The Palestinian Revolution: The Right to Self-Determination and the Independent State” was a 1977 publication by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The publication was a collection of infromation and…
The Grand Coolie Damn (1969)
Marge Piercy was an American novelist and activist who wrote this 1969 expose in order to expose the inherent sexism of the American left at the time. Following the chronological order of events and the general accelerat…
Covert Sex Discrimination Against Women as Medical Patients (1972)
In this speech originally given to the American Psychological Association, activist Carol Downer described her analysis of the medical field in the United States, and the way that male dominance within the field effectiv…
The Political Invention of the Feminist Strike – L. Cavallero & V. Gago (2021)
Luci Cavallero and Verónica Gago discuss the March 8th feminist strike in Argentina in both global and historical context. They argue that the strike disrupts multiple domains of patriarchal society – weaving together j…
Introduction to Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon (1952)
Black Skin, White Masks is an autoethnography, written by Frantz Fanon in 1952. Fanon shares his own experience while relating these experiences to a historical critique of racism and colonization.
Vimla Bahuguna on The Chipko Movement (2023)
This interview with Vimla Bahuguna touches on the Chipko Movement in India and how ecofeminism came to be today
Letter from the Strike Committee – Lawrence, Massachusetts (1912)
This letter is from the striking textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912. It is written to the president of the American Woolen Co. William M. Wood. The letter explains that workers can no longer bear the wor…
Bring the War Home by Students for a Democratic Society (1969)
This pamphlet from SDS is a call to action for people to protest in Chicago, a renewal of the protest at the Democratic Convention a year earlier. It calls for an end to imperalism, white supremacy, male supremacy, and f…
Occupation of St. Paul’s Cathedral (London)
“…incidents of urination and defecation on the land outside the cathedral had continued. This was harmful to the life of the cathedral. Employees were now often engaged in cleaning up after these incidents, which, said…
Abortion Protest (Redstockings, 1969)
This collection of documents illustrates an abortion protest held by the Redstockings group, a feminist organization. Their two main goals were to first, disrupt the mainstream legislative principles of male “experts” co…
Preamble of the Industrial Workers of the World (1908)
The Industrial Workers of the World is a worker-led union advocating for and working towards direct action, democracy in the workplace, and unionism. This preamble to their constitution updated their mission and struggle…
Democracy is Nothing if it is not Dangerous by Carl Oglesby (1965)
Carl Oglesby was the president of SDS from 1965 to 1966. He gave this speech in response to an editorial that criticized the SDS for “welcoming” communisits.
Philosophical Trends in the Feminist Movement (2006)
Anuradha Ghandy was a founding member of the Indian Communist Party, and strongly contributed to and drafted policy regarding the caste system in India, and the intersection between feminism and Marxism. As a salient par…
Protest the Infirmary! (Gainesville Women’s Liberation, 1997)
This protest leaflet is from the Gainesville Women’s Liberation movement and is part of a wider effort at the University of Florida to increase women’s sexual autonomy through disrupting the mainstream tactics of the hea…
The Woman Identified Woman
The Radicalesbians identified lesbianism as the result of a woman acting on natural impulses to deviate from society and instead pursue a more liberated form of existence. Lesbianism is the product of rage. Most importan…