Do people still flip tables at anarchist bookfairs? Or is this a meme from like ten years ago that I totally missed the boat on participating in?
@rechelon i feel like you might have an answer to this question
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@riotmuffin For decades bookfairs were organized by an aging generation of boomers who were staunch "but free speech and pluralism" sorts, and thus they'd continually let in some dude tabling literal nazis or like pro-Israel shit or anti-feminist shit either for wingnut reasons or "to make a point" and this led to a lot of the conflicts as folks took out the trash for ourselves. I feel like there's been a generational turnover where folks are more willing to draw lines (however imperfectly).
@rechelon yeah, i think - although i haven't been to any bookfairs in the last few years in order to gather evidence on this - that there is definitely a higher understanding that tankies and other ne'er do wells ought not be welcome at such events. although the drama can be entertaining from afar, this is surely on the whole a good thing :D
@riotmuffin I haven't seen a full table flip in a few years, but I feel like that kind of drama at the bookfair is eternally recurrent, it's just not an "every bookfair" sort of thing. I would also say it's dependent upon bookfairs letting in outright monsters -- folks pretty aggressively frown on fucking with someone over minor personal/sectarian beef -- but like, tankies? We were dumping gatorade coolers on their books over two decade ago. And I think bookfair organizers are letting fewer in.