'Origins' is the essential collection of anarcho-primitivist John Zerzan's groundbreaking work on the roots of our modern ecological, social, and psychological crisis. These essays, spanning over three decades, have shaken anarchist thought and discussion to its core, moving beyond the state to a larger understanding of the impact civilization has had upon our lives and our planet.
Meshing emerging philosophy, anthropology, social and ecological critiques, Zerzan opens up an entirely new set of questions regarding how society went from the universal egalitarian gatherer-hunter society to the oppressively distanced technosphere. No stone is left unturned as our most basic understandings of the world and means of interaction are drawn into question.
From symbolic thought through agriculture and onto industrialization, the questions asked within demand that we no longer remain passive observers of our created reality, and that we break the mold of domestication and turn against this civilization that has taken so much from us. This book contains Zerzan's most fundamental attacks on the roots of civilization and its dehumanizing impacts.
John Zerzan is an anarcho-primitivist writer, thinker, and speaker. His books include 'Elements of Refusal', 'Future Primitive', 'Running on Emptiness', and 'Twilight of the Machines'. Zerzan has edited the anthology 'Against Civilization' and is an editor of Green Anarchy Magazine.