CrimethInc. is a group of people promoting anarchy/anarchism that began in the mid 1990s, also called CrimethInc. Workers' Collective (or CWC). It is sort of an opposite of an organization — some members like to call it a disorganization — "that purport[s] to be a part of the culture industry that rules today, while secretly undermining it."1 The collective works as a group of individuials, doing what they want and seeking the input and help of others when it is wanted or needed. Matters are not decided upon democratically, or often at all; members will simply take action. Input and participation is sought and welcomed from others, but their approval is not required. "This means that, to date, there has been very little squabbling about what we should do and how... those who have ideas of what they believe CrimethInc. should do work on them together in small teams, in a constantly shifting net of responsibilities."1
"We want CrimethInc. to be something constantly evolving and changing, to be a vast, beautiful monster that contains the same contradictions within it that we do within ourselves as individuals, so little effort is made to 'police' the activities individuals do under the name. The identity of CrimethInc., if it must have one, can thus be described not by a set of characteristics or rules, but rather by the historical process which has been its development as new ideas and activities grew out of the old ones [...]."1 Generally speaking, CrimethInc. promotes the ideas that people can think for themselves; nothing gives one person the right to kill others; waste is no excuse for profit; the most important things in life aren't things; etc.
Because of the nature of the collective, it is impossible to say how many people are involved in or work under the name of CrimethInc., but one member says zie has worked with more than a thousand people on projects of varying natures.
One of the most active divisions of CrimethInc. Workers' Collective is CrimethInc. Far East, which seems to be responsible for or have done distribution for most of the publications available today. There are local "chapters" of CrimethInc. all over the world.
Print Publications:
- Days of War, Nights of Love: Crimethink for Beginners — a 292-page book full of "articles, essays, stories, interviews, posters, artwork, maps, myths, realities, fantasies, historical accounts, declarations, manifestos, and exclamations aimed at the revolution of your world."1 A few selections (like "Your Politics Are Boring As Fuck", "Why I Love Shoplifting from big corporations" and "Join the Resistance: Fall in Love") from the book can be read at http://crimethinc.com/library/libdays.html.
- Evasion — a narrative of one person's adventures in shoplifting and tresspassing across the country, escaping from the work week, security cameras and police.
- Stone Hotel — a collection of poems written by Raegan Butcher during his stay in prison for first degree armed robbery.
- Off the Map — this story of two women traveling wherever the world takes them started as a 98-page 'zine and, after one of the authors met some agents of CrimethInc. in a Kinko's in Olympia, grew to 146 pages and was published.
- Fighting for Our Lives — a 28-page pamphlet that "discusses [...] what is anarchist in everyday life, and how those spheres of cooperation can be expanded. It addresses common questions that often deter people from exploring anarchist ideas and approaches, and endeavors to help introduce new terms and possibilities into the public consciousness [...]."1
- Harbinger — a free propaganda tabloid published every now and then. The four issues that have been released are available from CrimethInc. at http://crimethinc.com/library/library.html.
- Hunter/Gatherer — the CrimethInc. Journal of Folklore and Folkwar. Self-described as "d.i.y. culture + autonomist technology, subversive prehistory + pioneer anachronisms, chaos theory + rhetorical tactics, folk science + martial arts, outrageous sem-antics + an/ti/aesthetics + font fetishism."1
- Inside Front — a now out of print zine that was around for 7½ years; the last three issues and a reunion issue are still available from CrimethInc. Stories, interviews, and articles.
- DIY — two collections of DIY instructions. Topics range from "how to cook large meals" and "making patches" to "how to give directions" and "herbal gynecology."
- Dropping Out — written by a girl who left high school and began living the way she wanted. After living with the author of Evasion for a little while, she wrote this.
For those interested in what CrimethInc./anarchism is, I recommend Fighting for Our Lives and Days of War, Nights of Love.
Video Publications:
CrimethInc. also sells Subversion Kits, which currently include stickers reading "THIS PHONE IS TAPPED" (thanks to the PATRIOT Act; to be stuck on the handles of pay phones) and "FORTIFIED WITH IRAQI BLOOD" (to be stuck on gas pumps). Other subtervise-related suggestions are to write "LIES" on stacks of newspapers, use a white paint pen to alter stop signs (to "STOP polluting the environment" or "STOP Bush" or things like that), or get stickers reading "Warning: this package contains the decomposing corpse of a drugged and tortured bird" (for poultry in grocery stores), "Ask me why I'm destroying the environment!" (for SUVs), and even "cripples not welcome" (for buildings without elevators or access ramps).
References:
1: CrimethInc.: http://www.crimethinc.com/
2: CrimethInc. Cyberian Market: http://www.buyolympia.com/crimethinc/