Zoe Baker
Historian of political thought. Trans woman (she/her). Author of Means and Ends: The Revolutionary Practice of Anarchism in Europe and the United States. For all my work see linktr.ee/zoebaker
- Am struggling with rad libs in gender history. Today I read an academic say that women weren't passive victims of the expanding Aztec empire which demanded cloth (made by women) as tribute because they *checks notes* started making stew so they could make other stuff like cloth whilst it cooked.
- 75% of the gender studies/queer theory stuff I read was so bad that I realised for my book on gender I'd have to start from scratch and build up an empirical model from a systematic evaluation of global human history. Anyway, this is why I'm currently reading a book about the domestication of dogs.
- Good article summarising Anarchist Communist Federation's (ACF) first year as an org in Australia. We need more stuff like this if anarchism is gonna grow and thrive. ancomfed.org/2026/01/one-...
- Have been reading lots of prehistory and learned that prior to the emergence of agriculture 12,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers invented ceramics, sewing/weaving, and sea-worthy boats. Don't think they get enough credit for amazing innovations that still impact our lives today.
- The more I read about the division of labour in hunter-gatherer societies the more I want to hit anyone who says that men evolved to hunt and women evolved to gather eg til that among the Yamana women regularly hunted birds and sometimes used dogs to hunt guanaco, the largest prey in the area.
- Have finally been diagnosed with ADHD. So should get on meds soonish and can then go super saiyan on history of gender/trans liberation book.
- New big video debunking four myths about anarchist views on democracy and collective decision-making. youtu.be/9I-TueoyeOY?...
- My long essay debunking myths about historical anarchist views on democracy and collective decision-making will be released early next week. Covers their critiques of democracy, views on majority voting, and usage of democratic language in exhaustive detail.
- There's a subgenre of medieval lit that features god turning women into men. The result is incredible passages like this from the 14th century: "Jesus, who made the world, now asks you which you prefer – speak honestly: to remain a woman, as he created you, or to become a man? The choice is yours".
- Keep finding links between patriarchy and prohibition of cross-dressing eg in 1843 authorities in Osaka banned the custom of parents dressing girls as boys in order to avoid the expense of buying women's clothing. They argued it harmed a girl's ability to perform 'womanly duties' later in life.
- Kropotkin's analysis of women's domestic labour remains relevant over a century later.
- Me whenever my best friend complains about her toxic ex boyfriend:
- What abolishing the state meant to anarchists in the past.
- Great article on @intrrgum.bsky.social about how engaging in precarious jobs impacts migrant labourers. interregnum.ghost.io/from-the-gro...
- Today I read Jesuit descriptions of Wendat Indigenous communities in the 17th century. They claim that chiefs, who they call captains, "do not govern their subjects by means of command and absolute power; they have no force at hand to compel them to their duty".
- Found an interesting example of a medieval woman's perspective on patriarchy. In the 15th century the Duchess of Brunswick said “I have a hard husband (as you know) who has scarce any care or inclination towards women. Have I not been in this castle even as it were in a cell?”.
- Essay I'm writing got too long. So now it's two essays! The first will debunk the myths that (1) anarchism only rejects representative democracy, (2) no anarchists advocated democracy prior to the 1960s, (3) anarchists only use consensus, and (4) all advocates of federations endorse majority voting.
- Bakunin's hatred of Germans is so bizarre: "the Germans have since become so odious to me that I could not speak calmly to any of them; I could not hear their language, not even a German voice, and I remember when a German beggar asked me for alms once, and I had to restrain myself from hitting him"
- I have once again written a 15,000 word essay by mistake. It debunks five myths about historical anarchist views on democracy and collective decision making. 5,000 words are just on what Malatesta thought about voting in anarchist orgs. Should be finished by the end of the month.
- Marriage guides in Europe have often just been men telling women that the ideal marriage is an abusive relationship eg the 14th century merchant who informs his teen wife that she should always obey her husband, never do anything he had forbidden her to do, and never answer back or contradict him.
- Re-read the 1868 programme of the Alliance by Bakunin, which both Marx and Engels read. It claimed that "all the political and authoritarian States of today must scale down their functions to the simple administration of the public services" and "merge into the universal union of free Associations".
- In 1877 Engels claimed that with the abolition of the state "the government of persons is replaced by the administration of things". This is typically framed as a Saint Simon reference. I also think it might be a nod to anarchist ideas from the first international that he was likely familiar with.
- One of my fav history books is now on the anarchist library. Strongly recommend reading it. theanarchistlibrary.org/library/keny...
- During the early 19th century a Japanese woman named Take ran away from her job as a maid, started wearing men’s clothes, and sought work as a man under the male name Takejirô. She not only adopted the physical appearance and mannerisms of a man, but also joined a gang of young men.
