AK Press

AK Press is a worker-managed, independent publisher and book distributor that specializes in publishing books about anarchism and the radical left. Operated out of Chico, California, the company is collectively owned.

AK Press
Founded1987
FounderRamsey Kanaan
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationChico, California
DistributionConsortium Book Sales & Distribution (US)[1]
Turnaround Publisher Services (UK)[2]
Publication typesBooks
Nonfiction topicsRadical left and anarchist literature
Official websitewww.akpress.org and www.akuk.com
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They describe their mission as:

A key component of our struggle is the sharing of knowledge, history, and information. Through our publishing and distribution efforts, we see ourselves as part of a long tradition of getting the word out by any means necessary. In many historical periods, books, pamphlets, and other forms of written communication were clandestine, relying on networks of individuals keeping revolutionary ideas alive with secret printing presses, tattered facsimiles, and underground distribution systems. Our mission is to keep circulating these important texts, while producing new analyses and documenting the history of our struggle as it unfolds. We’re proud to call ourselves propagandists and hope that the materials we provide both agitate and provoke.[3]

History

AK was founded in Stirling, Scotland by Ramsey Kanaan in 1987 as a small mail-order distribution outlet, eventually expanding into independent publishing and moving the Scotland base of operations to Edinburgh, Scotland and opening a US base of operations in Oakland, California. The press was named for Kanaan's mother, Ann Kanaan.[4] Kanaan and several other members of AK Press left in 2007 to form PM Press.[5]

After operating out of the Bay Area for decades, in March 2015, a deadly fire at a warehouse complex in West Oakland, California, damaged AK Press' warehouse and prompted the press to relocate to their present base in Chico.[6] [7]

In 2020, AK Press joined as a founding member of the Radical Publishers' Alliance, a group of politically oriented book and magazine publishers around the world.[8]

Operations

AK Press is organized as a workers' co-operative. The press is owned by all members of the collective, works without bosses or hierarchy, and uses collective decision-making processes, following anarchist principles.[9]

Works published by AK Press include reprints of radical classics as well as works on the history of anarchism as well as topics related to contemporary anarchism, such as globalization, and animal rights.[10][9]

AK Press regularly publishes in collaboration with the Institute for Anarchist Studies, the Kate Sharpley Library, and World War 3 Illustrated. In addition, AK Press publishes the Emergent Strategy Series edited by adrienne maree brown and inspired by her book of the same name, and the Black Dawn series of speculative fiction with political themes.

In both the US and UK, the business also sells books in person at anarchist bookfairs, conferences, activist gatherings, and literary festivals. The company also sells clothing, buttons, stickers, and various other related items.

See also

References
  1. "Consortium Book Sales & Distribution | Our Publishers". Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  2. "Publishers Representatives | Publishers Distributors". Turnaround Publisher Services. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  3. "About – AK Press". akpress.org. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  4. Kanaan, Ramsey. "Part 1: What's Wrong With the American Anarchist Movement?". Melbourne Indymedia. Archived from the original on 27 April 2005. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  5. Carroll, Tobias (26 August 2008). "I've Got a Name: Music, Radical Politics, and AK Press". yourbestguess.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  6. "Oakland's AK Press sustains fire damage". Los Angeles Times. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  7. BondGraham, Darwin (13 December 2016). "Former AK Press Warehouse Sold to 'Tech Co-Op' Developer Who Demolished 1919 Market". East Bay Express. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  8. Milliot, Jim (29 April 2020). "Left-Wing Indie Publishers Form Coalition". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  9. "About – AK Press". akpress.org. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  10. "Animal Rights – Published by AK Press – AK Press". akpress.org. Retrieved 17 January 2017.

Further reading
  • Biel, Joe (2012). "AK Press". Beyond the Music: How Punks Are Saving the World with DIY Ethics, Skills, and Values. Portland, Oregon: Cantankerous Titles. pp. 129–133. ISBN 978-1-62106-472-5. OCLC 793573868.
  • Lefebvre, Sam (April 22, 2015). "AK Press Defies Expectations—Again". East Bay Express. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  • Rosen, Judith (April 28, 2008). "Anarchy Reigns at AK Press". Publishers Weekly. 255 (17): 14–15. ISSN 0000-0019. EBSCOhost 31951472.
  • Shaw, Megan. Interview with Craig Gilmore, Ramsey Kanaan, and Craig O'Hara of AK Press. Punk Planet March/April 2000, 59.


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