EiS Short: Temporary Autonomous Zone

About this episode

The episode discusses the concept of temporary autonomous zones as articulated by anarchist philosopher Peter Lamborn Wilson, exploring their implications through personal anecdotes.

The late and mostly unlamented anarchist philosopher, Peter Lamborn Wilson, under the pseudonym Hakim Bey, wrote extensively about the pirate utopias of the 18th century and from them derived the concept that he labeled temporary autonomous zones. If you were at the Solstice party at my place a few summers back, you were in a rather excellent temporary autonomous zone or TAZ. The party was temporary in that it had a beginning and an end. If you showed up on the wrong night, you weren't in a TAZ, you were SOL. It was a zone, taking place entirely within the boundaries of my particular parcel. And most importantly, it was autonomous. Within the temporal and spatial boundaries of the party, you hopefully experienced a suspension of certain laws, a relaxing of legal, cultural, and even physical restraints. Perhaps you felt free to drink or smoke more than you usually do, or to give free rein to a flirtatious alter ego, or to talk and sing in an unusually loud voice. Perhaps, like me, you became convinced that you could dance, despite past experience to the contrary.

Topics covered

• anarchism
• temporary autonomous zones
• pirate utopias
• freedom
• cultural norms

Keywords

• temporary autonomous zone
• Hakim Bey
• anarchist philosophy
• freedom
• cultural restraints

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