Lectures on Tap - "An Argumentative Introduction to Anarchism"

📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email

🧠 Lecture: "An Argumentative Introduction to Anarchism"

🎤 Speaker: Jesse Spafford

Anarchists! They’re often in the news and on the streets—but what do they actually believe, and why do they believe it?

Join us for a clear, engaging introduction to anarchist political thought. Jesse Spafford will offer a brisk tour of the rich diversity within anarchism, explaining key ideas and distinctions in an accessible way. From classic anti-authoritarian critiques to contemporary debates, you’ll hear how anarchists understand power, freedom, and justice.

The lecture will then turn to the arguments for anarchism more broadly, with special attention to egalitarian anarchism: the view that social and political life should be organized without hierarchy or domination. You’ll leave with a sharper sense of what anarchists are for—not just what they’re against—and how their ideas challenge mainstream political assumptions.

Jesse Spafford is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. He is the author of Social Anarchism and the Rejection of Moral Tyranny (free on the Cambridge University Press website) and numerous articles on political philosophy (available at jessespafford.com).

Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌

Agenda

6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key.

6:55 PM – Host introduction

7:00 PM – Lecture begins

7:45 PM – Audience Q&A

8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round

8:30 PM – Wrap up.