Gabriel Kuhn


Gabriel Kuhn is a political writer and translator based in Sweden.

Background

Born in Innsbruck, Austria, Kuhn lived in a variety of countries during his childhood and youth, including Turkey, England and the United States of America. In the 1980s, Kuhn became political and, at the age of sixteen, straight edge and active in radical circles.
Following post-secondary studies in Austria and the United States, Kuhn lived in the Middle East and the South Pacific Islands.
Since 2005, Kuhn has lived in Sweden. Kuhn holds a PhD in philosophy with a speciality in poststructuralism. His thinking has been influenced by classical anarchism and Anglo-American Cultural Studies. The key focus of Kuhn's political activity has been on bridging the gap between theory and practice. Kuhn's conception of community is one based on solidarity with oppressed peoples. Alongside his political and social involvement, Kuhn has in the past played soccer semi-professionally.
In 2010, Kuhn was forced to cancel a three-month speaking tour of the United States after being denied authorization to travel by US authorities. Kuhn believes he had been placed on the "No Fly List."

Work

Kuhn has been politically active since 1989, and his written work, developed in that context, is directed towards left-wing activists and scholars. In the 1990s, he worked with the Austrian autonomist journal TATblatt and the Vienna anarchist publisher Monte Verita.
In 2000, Kuhn founded Alpine Anarchist Productions, a DIY publishing project that has released numerous pamphlets, many authored by Kuhn under different pseudonyms. The Anarchist Football Manual became the series' most popular work.
Since 2005, Kuhn has published extensively with German radical publisher Unrast Verlag. Tier-Werden, Schwarz-Werden, Frau-Werden. Eine Einführung in die politische Philosophie des Poststrukturalismus has become a standard left-wing introduction to poststructuralism, and the book Neuer Anarchismus in den USA. Seattle und die Folgen, an annotated anthology of contemporary US anarchism, with translations from David Graeber and the CrimethInc. Collective to John Zerzan and Ward Churchill, was named "Book of the Year" by Berlin's
Bibliothek der Freien. Vielfalt, Bewegung, Widerstand and Anarchismus und Revolution are collections of his writings on anarchism.
Since 2008, Kuhn has been collaborating on various projects with PM Press. Life Under the Jolly Roger: Reflections on Golden Age Piracy, continues his work on piracy. Sober Living for the Revolution: Hardcore Punk, Straight Edge, and Radical Politics, is an anthology documenting the radical currents within the straight edge hardcore scene. Revolution and Other Writings by Gustav Landauer and Liberating Society from the State and Other Writings by Erich Mühsam are collections of writings by two of Germany's most influential anarchists. Soccer vs. the State: Tackling Football and Radical Politics, Playing as if the World Mattered: An Illustrated History of Activism in Sports, and Antifascism, Sports, Sobriety: Forging a Militant Working-Class Culture explore the political dimensions of sports from a left-wing perspective.
In addition, Kuhn has contributed to various zines and journals, from Germany's Direkte Aktion to Sweden's Brand. His work has been translated into more than ten languages.

Selected bibliography