The Movement of the Free Spirit [Paperback]

Raoul Vaneigem (Author), Randall Cherry (Translator), Ian Patterson (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 1998

This book by the legendary Situationist activist and author of The Revolution of Everyday Life examines the heretical and millenarian movements that challenged social and ecclesiastical authority in Europe from the 1200s into the 1500s.Although Vaneigem discusses a number of different movements such as the Cathars and Joachimite millenarians, his main emphasis is on the various manifestations of the Movement of the Free Spirit in northern Europe. He sees not only resistance to the power of state and church but also the immensely creative invention of new forms of love, sexuality, community, and exchange. Vaneigem is particularly interested in the radical opposition presented by these movements to the imperatives of an emerging market-based economy, and he evokes crucial historical parallels with the antisystemic rebellions of the 1960s. The book includes translations of original texts and source materials.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The most striking aspect of Vaneigem's compendium of Free Spirit Loreis his ability to release the material into the present, to allow itto communicate on the same level of extremism and disruption as it didin the Middle Ages. Again and again, confronted with the likes ofMargaret Porete's ecstatic revisioning of being or John Hartmann'scoolly absolutist gnosis, you can almost feel the whole great edificeof social order - their Church, our capitalist democracy - gatheritself up, take a deep breath, and run." Greil Marcus , author of Lipstick Traces

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: Zone (February 6, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 094229971X
• ISBN-13: 978-0942299717
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #629,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I feel I must off-set the one-star ratings, January 19, 2007

By 

Michael Rohm (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Movement of the Free Spirit (Paperback)

Because, really, this is a great book - although as other reviewers have noted, it is NOT something that can be applied to modern-day life or anarchist thought. It is devoted almost entirely to obscure Christian heresies that possessed anarchist and free-love leanings. It's fascinating for that very reason (and as a student of such subjects, I loved the book) but it is pretty much only useful for the historical survey that it is. But what an interesting survey!