Comrades, accomplices, friends.
Though his spirit has left his body, the spark Alfredo Bonanno carried through his life continues to catch new kindling, burning away what he hoped we could live without, and illuminating the worlds that would be possible.
Born in 1937, Alfredo Bonanno was an Italian anarchist philosopher and writer. He is best known as a prominent theorist and proponent of contemporary insurrectionary anarchism. This branch of anarchism emphasizes the importance of direct action and violence in the struggle against authority and oppression.
In his seminal work, Armed Joy, Bonanno critiques work as a tool of capitalist domination, advocating for a joyful insurrection that reclaims control and pursues individual passions. Anarchy and Insurrection expands this vision, outlining a strategy for dismantling the current system and building a new society based on individual autonomy, mutual aid, and direct action, rejecting traditional revolutionary movements in favor of a decentralized and spontaneous approach to achieving liberation.
Bonanno's writings were deeply influenced by the work of Max Stirner, an individualist anarchist who argued that individuals should create their values and norms, rather than submit to the authority of the State or any other external force. Bonanno also drew inspiration from the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, whose ideas about the "will to power" resonated with Bonanno's belief in the potential for human beings to overcome oppression and create a new world.
For many of us, Bonanno's writings were more than mere words on paper – they were a call to arms, a defiant scream against the shackles of work, authority, and the State. His words resonated deeply with me, growing a smoldering fire that had been smothered by the ashes of colonialism and oppression.