Astra Taylor (born September 30, 1979)
is a
Canadian-American
Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship.
The term ''Canadian'' can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadian ...
documentary filmmaker
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
, writer, activist, and musician. She is a fellow of the
Shuttleworth Foundation
The Shuttleworth Foundation was established in January 2001 by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth as an experiment with the purpose of providing funding for people engaged in social change. While there have been various iterations of ...
for her work on challenging predatory practices around
debt
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...
.
Life
Born in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...
,
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
, Taylor grew up in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
,
[http://www.hiddendriver.com/about Astra Taylor's official bio, accessed February 8, 2009] and was
unschooled until age 13 when she enrolled in ninth grade. At 16 she abandoned high school to attend classes at the
University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
; at the university she studied
Deleuze
Gilles Louis René Deleuze ( , ; 18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volu ...
and
Guattari under Ronald L. Bogue. She has described herself as a "teenage Deleuzian."
Taylor enrolled at
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
, where she attended classes for a year before dropping out. Reflecting on her decision to leave, Taylor stated "Why had I felt compelled to enroll in an
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...
school, to excel by the standards of conventional education and choose a 'difficult' major, instead of making my own way? What was I afraid of?" Taylor completed a Master of Arts in liberal studies at
The New School
The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...
, though stated that she ultimately "wearied" of academia.
Taylor has taught
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
at the University of Georgia and
SUNY New Paltz. Her writings have appeared in numerous magazines, including
Dissent
Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...
,
n+1 N1, N.I, N-1, or N01 may refer to:
Information technology
* Nokia N1, an Android tablet
* Nexus One, an Android phone made by HTC
* Nylas N1, a desktop email client
* Oppo N1, an Android phone
* N1, a Sun Microsystems software brand now most ...
,
Adbusters
The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself as "a global network of artists, activis ...
,
The Baffler
''The Baffler'' is an American magazine of cultural, political, and business analysis. Established in 1988 by editors Thomas Frank and Keith White, it was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, until 2010, when it moved to Cambridge, Massachuse ...
,
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
,
Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon ( ...
, and
The London Review of Books
The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews.
History
The ''London Review ...
.
Taylor is the sister of painter and disability activist
Sunny Taylor
Sunaura "Sunny" Taylor (born March 21, 1982) is an American painter, writer and activist for disability and animal rights. She currently resides in Oakland, California, and is Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Polic ...
, and is married to
Jeff Mangum
Jeff Mangum (born 24 October 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who gained prominence as the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well for his co-founding of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. M ...
of
Neutral Milk Hotel
Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock ...
. She joined Neutral Milk Hotel onstage for a number of shows in 2013 and 2014, playing guitar and accordion. She is a
vegan
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...
. She lives in New York.
Activism
Taylor was active in the
Occupy movement
The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...
and was the co-editor of Occupy!: An OWS-Inspired Gazette with Sarah Leonard of
Dissent
Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...
magazine and
Keith Gessen
Keith A. Gessen (born January 9, 1975) is a Russian-born American novelist, journalist, and literary translator. He is co-founder and co-editor of American literary magazine '' n+1'' and an assistant professor of journalism at the Columbia Unive ...
of n+1. The
broadsheet
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid–compact formats.
Description
Many broadsheets measure roughly ...
covered
Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest movement against economic inequality and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district, in September 2011. It gave rise to the ...
in five issues over the course of the first year of the occupation and was later anthologized by
Verso Books
Verso Books (formerly New Left Books) is a left-wing publishing house based in London and New York City, founded in 1970 by the staff of '' New Left Review''.
Renaming, new brand and logo
Verso Books was originally known as New Left Books. The ...
. Taylor is a co-founder of
Debt Collective, a debtors' union fighting to
cancel debts.
Taylor has resisted the label "activist" in her writing and advocates organized movement building, which she says is a necessary supplement to activism which makes it more durable and effective.
She is also a member of the
Democratic Socialists of America
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing Democratic Socialists of America#Tendencies within the DSA, multi-tendency Socialism, socialist and Labour movement, labor-oriented political organization. Its roots ...
.
Works
Films
* ''
Zizek!
''Zizek!'' or ''Žižek!'', is a 2005 documentary film directed by Astra Taylor. An international co-production of the United States and Canada, its subject is philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek, a prolific author and former candidate fo ...
'', 2005
* ''
Examined Life
''Examined Life'' is a 2008 Canadian documentary film directed by Astra Taylor about philosophers. The film has eight influential modern philosophers walking around New York and other metropolises, discussing the practical application of their ide ...
'', 2008
* ''
What Is Democracy?'', 2018
Writing
* ''Examined Life: Excursions with Contemporary Thinkers'' (editor), The New Press, 2009,
* ''Occupy!: Scenes From Occupied America'' (co-editor), Verso, 2012,
* ''
The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age'', Henry Holt and Company, 2014,
*"The faux-bot revolution", in
A Field Guide to The Future of Work', RSA Future Work Centre, 2018
*''Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone'', Metropolitan Books, 2019,
*''Can't Pay, Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition'' (forward), Haymarket Books, 2020,
*''Remake the World: Essays, Reflections, Rebellions'', Haymarket Books, 2020,
Projects
http://www.hiddendriver.com/archived
Other works
Taylor occasionally performs with her husband's band,
Neutral Milk Hotel
Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock ...
.
Notes
External links
*
What Is Democracy?*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Astra
1979 births
American documentary filmmakers
American people of Canadian descent
American women activists
Brown University alumni
Canadian democratic socialists
Canadian documentary filmmakers
Film directors from Winnipeg
Homeschooling advocates
Living people
Members of the Democratic Socialists of America
Musicians from Athens, Georgia
Musicians from Winnipeg
Net neutrality
State University of New York at New Paltz faculty
The New School alumni
University of Georgia faculty
Writers from Athens, Georgia
Writers from Winnipeg
Women technology writers
American Book Award winners
American women documentary filmmakers
American women academics
21st-century American women