Hakim Bey

Peter Lamborn Wilson (b. New York, 1945) is an American political writer, essayist, and poet, perhaps best known for first proposing the concept of the Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ), based on a historical review of pirate utopias. He sometimes writes under the name Hakim Bey. The pseudonym may or may not have been a name-of-convenience or collective pseudonym used by other radical writers since the 1970s and is a combination of the Arabic word for 'wise man' and a last name common in the Moorish Science Temple. Bey, originally a Turkic word for "chieftain," traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled bey, beg or beigh. They are all the same word with the simple meaning of "leader." Also in Turkish, Hakim means judge and Bey is a generic word for a gentleman (mister) generally used after a name.

Life & work

Wilson spent two years in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and seven years in Iran (where he was affiliated with the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy), leaving during the Iranian Revolution. In the 1980s, his ideas evolved from a kind of Guénonist neo-tradionalism to a synthesis of anarchism and Situationist ideas with heterodox Sufism and Neopaganism, describing his ideas as "anarchist ontology" or "immediatism". In the past he has worked with the not-for-profit publishing project Autonomedia, in Brooklyn, New York.

In addition to his writings on anarchism and Temporary Autonomous Zones, Wilson has written essays on such diverse topics as Tong traditions, the utopian Charles Fourier, the fascist Gabriele D'Annunzio, the connections between Sufism and ancient Celtic culture, sacred pederasty in the Sufi tradition, technology and Luddism, and Amanita muscaria use in ancient Ireland.

Wilson's poetic 'texts' and poems have appeared in: P.A.N.; Panthology One, Two, and Three; Ganymede; Exquisite Corpse; NAMBLA Bulletin; the various Acolyte Reader paperbacks. Many of these poems, including the 'Sandburg' series, are collected in the as-yet unpublished DogStar volume. Currently his works can be found regularly in publications like Fifth Estate and the NYC-based First of the Month.

He has also published at least one novel, The Chronicles of Qamar: Crowstone (a sword and sorcery boy-love tale) (Coltsfoot Press, 1983).

Wilson, especially through his TAZ work, has often been embraced by Rave culture. Ravers have identified the experience and occasion of raves as part of the tradition of "Temporary Autonomous Zones" that Wilson outlines, particularly the "free party" or Teknival scene. Wilson has been supportive of the rave connection, while remarking in an interview, "The ravers were among my biggest readers... I wish they would rethink all this techno stuff—they didn’t get that part of my writing."

Criticism

Wilson is a controversial figure within the anarchist milieu. Many social anarchists denounce his ideas as "lifestyle anarchism", seeing his ideas as a kind of extreme individualist anarchism that is ultimately apolitical. Many atheist and materialist anarchists dislike the tendency toward mysticism, occultism, and irrationalism in his work.[1]

He is also a paedophile. Supporters of Wilson have consistently skirted around this issue.[2] For example, this article was copied more or less verbatim from Wikipedia's article on Wilson, only with all references to his paedophilic tendencies removed.[3] Furthermore, when attempts were made to add such information to Anarchopedia's article, the edits were subsequently reverted.[4]

Writings

• The Winter Calligraphy of Ustad Selim, & Other Poems (1975) ISBN 0-903880-05-9
• Science and Technology in Islam (1976) (with Leonard Harrow)
• Traditional Modes of Contemplation & Action (1977) (editor, with Yusuf Ibish)
• Nasir-I Khusraw: 40 Poems from the Divan (1977) (translator and editor, with Gholam Reza Aavani) ISBN 0-87773-730-4
• Kings of Love: The Poetry and History of the Nimatullahi Sufi Order of Iran (1978) (translator and editor, with Nasrollah Pourjavady)
• Angels (1980, 1994) ISBN 0-500-11017-4 (abridged edition: ISBN 0-500-81044-3)
• Weaver of Tales: Persian Picture Rugs (1980) (with Karl Schlamminger)
• Loving Boys: Semiotext(e) Special (editor as Hakim Bey) New York: Semiotext(e), 1980
• Crowstone: The Chronicles of Qamar (1983) (as Hakim Bey)
• CHAOS: The Broadsheets of Ontological Anarchism (1985) (as Hakim Bey)
• Semiotext(e) USA (1987) (co-editor, with Jim Fleming)
• Scandal: Essays in Islamic Heresy (1988) ISBN 0-936756-15-2
• The Drunken Universe: An Anthology of Persian Sufi Poetry (1988) (translator and editor, with Nasrollah Pourjavady) ISBN 0-933999-65-8
• Semiotext(e) SF (1989) (co-editor, with Rudy Rucker and Robert Anton Wilson)
• TAZ: The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism (1991) (as Hakim Bey; incorporates full text of CHAOS) ISBN 0-936756-76-4, ISBN 1-57027-151-8
• Immediatism (1992, 1994) (as Hakim Bey; originally published as Radio Sermonettes) ISBN 1-873176-42-2
• Aimless Wandering: Chuang Tzu's Chaos Linguistics (1993) (as Hakim Bey)
• Sacred Drift: Essays on the Margins of Islam (1993) ISBN 0-87286-275-5
• The Little Book of Angel Wisdom (1993, 1997) ISBN 1-85230-436-7 ISBN 1-86204-048-6
• O Tribe That Loves Boys: The Poetry of Abu Nuwas (1993) (translator and editor, as Hakim Bey) ISBN 90-800857-3-1
• Pirate Utopias (1995, 2003) ISBN 1-57027-158-5
• Millennium (1996) (as Hakim Bey) ISBN 1-57027-045-7
• "Shower of Stars" Dream & Book: The Initiatic Dream in Sufism and Taoism (1996)
• Escape from the Nineteenth Century (1998) ISBN 1-57027-073-2
• Wild Children (1998) (co-editor, with Dave Mandl)
• Avant Gardening: Ecological Struggle in the City & the World (1999) (co-editor, with Bill Weinberg) ISBN 1-57027-092-9
• Ploughing the Clouds: The Search for Irish Soma (1999) ISBN 0-87286-326-3
• rain queer (2005) ISBN 0-9766341-1-2
• Orgies Of The Hemp Eaters (2004) (co-editor as Hakim Bey with Abel Zug) ISBN 1-57027-143-7
• Gothick Institutions (2005) ISBN 0-9770049-0-2

See also

• Autonomedia
• pirate utopias
• Temporary Autonomous Zones (TAZ)
• Reclaim the Streets

External links

• Many of his books and articles are available online here: The Writings of Hakim Bey
• Most of Wilson's political books are published by Autonomedia
• Article on EvolutionZone
• July 2004 interview from the Brooklyn Rail
• Audio of 1993 talk featuring Hakim Bey
• Mystical and Irrationalist Anarchism - Murray Bookchin - social anarchist criticism of Hakim Bey's mysticism
• Leaving Out the Ugly Part - An article on the cover-up job done by Wilson apologists regarding his paedophilia.

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