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Astra Taylor

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Astra Taylor
Taylor in 2014
Born(1979-09-30)September 30, 1979(age 44)
Winnipeg, Manitoba,Canada
Alma mater
Spouse
​
(m.2008)​
RelativesSunaura Taylor(sister)

Astra Taylor(born September 30, 1979)[1]is aCanadian-Americandocumentaryfilmmaker,writer, activist, and musician. She is a fellow of theShuttleworth Foundationfor her work on challenging predatory practices arounddebt.[2]

Life[edit]

Born inWinnipeg,Manitoba,Taylor grew up inAthens,Georgia,[3]and wasunschooleduntil age 13 when she enrolled in ninth grade.[4]At 16 she abandoned high school to attend classes at theUniversity of Georgia;at the university she studiedDeleuzeandGuattariunder Ronald L. Bogue.[5]She has described herself as a "teenage Deleuzian."[6]

Taylor enrolled atBrown University,where she attended classes for a year before dropping out. Reflecting on her decision to leave, Taylor stated "Why had I felt compelled to enroll in anIvy Leagueschool, to excel by the standards of conventional education and choose a 'difficult' major, instead of making my own way? What was I afraid of? "[7]Taylor completed a Master of Arts in liberal studies atThe New School,though stated that she ultimately "wearied" of academia.[8]

Taylor has taughtsociologyat the University of Georgia andSUNY New Paltz.Her writings have appeared in numerous magazines, includingDissent,[9]n+1,[10]Adbusters,[11]The Baffler,[12]The Nation,[13]Salon,[14]andThe London Review of Books.[15]

Taylor at theBerkman Klein Center for Internet & Societyin 2015

Taylor is the sister of painter and disability activistSunny Taylor,[16]and is married toJeff MangumofNeutral Milk Hotel.[17]She joined Neutral Milk Hotel onstage for a number of shows in 2013 and 2014, playing guitar and accordion.[18]She is avegan.[19]She lives in New York.[20]

Activism[edit]

Taylor was active in theOccupy movementand was the co-editor of Occupy!: An OWS-Inspired Gazette with Sarah Leonard ofDissentmagazine andKeith Gessenof n+1.[21]ThebroadsheetcoveredOccupy Wall Streetin five issues over the course of the first year of the occupation and was later anthologized byVerso Books.[22]Taylor is a co-founder ofDebt Collective,a debtors' union fighting tocancel debts.[23][24]

Taylor has resisted the label "activist" in her writing[25]and advocates organized movement building, which she says is a necessary supplement to activism which makes it more durable and effective.

She is also a member of theDemocratic Socialists of America[26]and on theProgressive Internationalcouncil.[27]

Works[edit]

Films[edit]

Writing[edit]

  • Examined Life: Excursions with Contemporary Thinkers(editor), The New Press, 2009,ISBN9781595584472[30]
  • Occupy!: Scenes From Occupied America(co-editor), Verso, 2012,ISBN9781844679409[31]
  • The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age,Henry Holt and Company, 2014,ISBN9780007525591[32]
  • "The faux-bot revolution", inA Field Guide to The Future of Work,RSA Future Work Centre, 2018[33]
  • Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone,Metropolitan Books, 2019,ISBN9781250179845
  • Can't Pay, Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition(forward), Haymarket Books, 2020,ISBN9781642594003[34]
  • Remake the World: Essays, Reflections, Rebellions,Haymarket Books, 2020,ISBN9781642594546[35]
  • The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart (CBC Massey Lectures),Anansi Press, 2023,ISBN1487011938

Projects[edit]

Other works[edit]

Taylor occasionally performs with her husband's band,Neutral Milk Hotel.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Tortorici, Dayna,ed. (2013),"Group three",No Regrets: Three Discussions,Brooklyn, New York, p. 71,retrievedDecember 30,2014{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^"Astra Taylor".shuttleworthfoundation.org.September 2015. Archived fromthe originalon May 7, 2019.RetrievedMay 23,2018.
  3. ^http:// hiddendriver /aboutArchivedJanuary 3, 2018, at theWayback MachineAstra Taylor's official bio, accessed February 8, 2009
  4. ^Drew, Michelle."Interview with Unschooled Filmmaker, Astra Taylor".CitizenShift.Archivedfrom the original on December 3, 2013.RetrievedOctober 5,2019.
  5. ^"Interview: Astra Taylor, Director EXAMINED LIFE".Still in Motion.RetrievedNovember 21,2021.
  6. ^Toro, Lauren Boyle, Solomon Chase, Marco Roso, Nick Scholl, David."Astra Taylor | Digital Democracy and Direct Action".DIS Magazine.RetrievedNovember 21,2021.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^"The Unschooled Life: Astra Taylor's Story".PopularResistance.Org.January 16, 2014.RetrievedApril 24,2017.
  8. ^"Interview: Astra Taylor, Director EXAMINED LIFE".Still in Motion.RetrievedNovember 21,2021.
  9. ^"Authors: Astra Taylor".Dissent Magazine.RetrievedFebruary 14,2016.
  10. ^"Astra Taylor - Authors".n+1.RetrievedOctober 26,2014.
  11. ^"Astra Taylor".Adbusters.Archived fromthe originalon October 26, 2014.RetrievedOctober 26,2014.
  12. ^"Astra Taylor - The Baffler".The Baffler.June 5, 2014.RetrievedJune 3,2023.
  13. ^"Author Bios: Astra Taylor".The Nation.April 2, 2010.RetrievedOctober 26,2014.
  14. ^"Astra Taylor".Salon.RetrievedOctober 26,2014.
  15. ^"Astra Taylor".The London Review of Books.RetrievedOctober 26,2014.
  16. ^Brown, A.L. (January 2002)."Aardvarks, Armadillos, and an Artist in Greenpoint - Sunny Taylor: A Profile".Free Williamsburg.Archived fromthe originalon January 3, 2013.RetrievedFebruary 8,2009.
  17. ^http:// gloriousnoise /articles/2008/jeff_mangum_married.phpArticle from Glorious Noise, accessed February 8, 2009.
  18. ^Jarnow, Jesse."Neutral Milk Hotel's First Show in 15 Years Was Ragged, Glorious".Spin.RetrievedOctober 26,2014.
  19. ^"Jeff Mangum Benefit for WFAS".Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary.October 28, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon April 5, 2018.RetrievedJune 14,2016.
  20. ^Taylor, Astra (2014).The People's Platform.New York.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  21. ^"Read Our New Gazette".n+1.October 21, 2011.RetrievedMarch 6,2016.
  22. ^VersoBooks.Verso Books. December 2011.ISBN9781844679409.RetrievedMarch 6,2016.
  23. ^Remake the World: (Part 1),archivedfrom the original on December 15, 2021,retrievedMay 14,2021
  24. ^"You are not a loan • Debt Collective".609c55978fdc1b00076efb96--tdc-home.netlify.app.RetrievedMay 14,2021.
  25. ^Astra., Taylor,Remake the World: Essays, Reflections, Rebellions,ISBN978-1-6661-2886-4,OCLC1285604061,retrievedDecember 10,2021
  26. ^@DemSocialists (August 8, 2021).".@astradisastra quotes Richard Trumka and talks about the importance of organization for socialists"(Tweet) – viaTwitter.
  27. ^"New council member Astra Taylor United States".X (formerly Twitter).RetrievedSeptember 19,2023.
  28. ^Phillips, Charlie (June 11, 2018)."What Is Democracy? review searing analysis of who's really in control".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.
  29. ^Brown, Drew (September 11, 2018)."The Epic Conversation About Democracy We Need Right Now".Vice.RetrievedSeptember 15,2018.
  30. ^Dougherty, Sally (December 2009)."Book Review Examined Life: Excursions with Contemporary Thinkers edited by Astra Taylor".Theosophy Northwest.RetrievedOctober 26,2014.
  31. ^Occupy!: Scenes from Occupied America.Verso Books. December 2011.ISBN9781844679409.RetrievedOctober 26,2014.
  32. ^Wu, Tim (July 18, 2014)."Content and Its Discontents".The New York Times.RetrievedSeptember 2,2014."The People's Platform" should be taken as a challenge by the new media that have long claimed to be improving on the old order. Can they prove they are capable of supporting a sustainable cultural ecosystem, in a way that goes beyond just hosting parties at the Sundance Film Festival?
  33. ^"Field Guide to the Future of Work: Essay collection - RSA".January 9, 2019. Archived fromthe originalon January 9, 2019.RetrievedJanuary 9,2019.
  34. ^"Can't Pay, Won't Pay".HayMarketBooks.org.
  35. ^Remake the World: Essays, Reflections, Rebellions.Haymarket Books. May 4, 2021.ISBN9781642594546.

External links[edit]

External videos
video icon"Utopian Potential of the Internet": Astra Taylor on How to Take Back Power & Culture in Digital Age,Democracy Now,April 25, 2014
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