Astra Taylor Explained

Astra Taylor
Birth Date:30 September 1979
Birth Place:Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Relatives:Sunaura Taylor (sister)

Astra Taylor (born September 30, 1979) is a Canadian-American documentary filmmaker, writer, activist, and musician. She is a fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation for her work on challenging predatory practices around debt.[1]

Life

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Taylor grew up in Athens, Georgia,[2] and was unschooled until age 13 when she enrolled in ninth grade.[3] At 16 she abandoned high school to attend classes at the University of Georgia; at the university she studied Deleuze and Guattari under Ronald L. Bogue.[4] She has described herself as a "teenage Deleuzian."[5]

Taylor enrolled at Brown University, 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 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?"[6] Taylor completed a Master of Arts in liberal studies at The New School, though stated that she ultimately "wearied" of academia.[7]

Taylor has taught sociology at the University of Georgia and SUNY New Paltz. Her writings have appeared in numerous magazines, including Dissent,[8] n+1,[9] Adbusters,[10] The Baffler,[11] The Nation,[12] Salon,[13] and The London Review of Books.[14] Taylor is the sister of painter and disability activist Sunny Taylor,[15] and is married to Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel.[16] She joined Neutral Milk Hotel onstage for a number of shows in 2013 and 2014, playing guitar and accordion.[17] She is a vegan.[18] She lives in New York.[19]

Activism

Taylor was active in the Occupy movement and was the co-editor of Occupy!: An OWS-Inspired Gazette with Sarah Leonard of Dissent magazine and Keith Gessen of n+1.[20] The broadsheet covered Occupy Wall Street in five issues over the course of the first year of the occupation and was later anthologized by Verso Books.[21] Taylor is a co-founder of Debt Collective, a debtors' union fighting to cancel debts.[22]

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[23] and on the Progressive International council.[24]

Works

Films

Writing

Projects

Other works

Taylor occasionally performs with her husband's band, Neutral Milk Hotel.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Astra Taylor. shuttleworthfoundation.org. September 2015. 2018-05-23. May 7, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190507235018/https://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/fellows/astra-taylor/. dead.
  2. http://www.hiddendriver.com/about Astra Taylor's official bio, accessed February 8, 2009
  3. Web site: Interview with Unschooled Filmmaker, Astra Taylor. Michelle. Drew. CitizenShift. https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001357/http://citizenshift.org/node/21634%26term_tid%3D100004. December 3, 2013. October 5, 2019. live.
  4. Web site: Interview: Astra Taylor, Director EXAMINED LIFE. 2021-11-21. Still in Motion.
  5. Web site: Toro. Lauren Boyle, Solomon Chase, Marco Roso, Nick Scholl, David. Astra Taylor Digital Democracy and Direct Action. 2021-11-21. DIS Magazine.
  6. News: 2014-01-16. The Unschooled Life: Astra Taylor's Story. en-US. PopularResistance.Org. 2017-04-24.
  7. Web site: Interview: Astra Taylor, Director EXAMINED LIFE. 2021-11-21. Still in Motion.
  8. Web site: Authors: Astra Taylor. Dissent Magazine. February 14, 2016.
  9. Web site: Astra Taylor - Authors. n+1. October 26, 2014.
  10. Web site: Astra Taylor. Adbusters. October 26, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141026181829/https://www.adbusters.org/authors/astra-taylor.html. 2014-10-26. dead.
  11. Web site: Astra Taylor - The Baffler . 2023-06-03 . The Baffler . June 5, 2014 . en-US.
  12. Web site: Author Bios: Astra Taylor. The Nation. April 2, 2010. October 26, 2014.
  13. Web site: Astra Taylor. Salon.com. October 26, 2014.
  14. Web site: Astra Taylor. The London Review of Books. October 26, 2014.
  15. Web site: Brown . A.L. . January 2002 . Aardvarks, Armadillos, and an Artist in Greenpoint - Sunny Taylor: A Profile . dead . https://archive.today/20130103042102/http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/january_2002/sunny.html . 3 January 2013 . 8 February 2009 . Free Williamsburg.
  16. http://www.gloriousnoise.com/articles/2008/jeff_mangum_married.php Article from Glorious Noise, accessed February 8, 2009.
  17. News: Jarnow. Jesse. Neutral Milk Hotel's First Show in 15 Years Was Ragged, Glorious. October 26, 2014. Spin.com.
  18. Web site: Jeff Mangum Benefit for WFAS. October 28, 2011. Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. June 14, 2016. April 5, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180405214546/http://woodstocksanctuary.org/news/jeff-mangum-benefit-for-wfas/. dead.
  19. Book: Taylor. Astra. The People's Platform. 2014. New York.
  20. Web site: Read Our New Gazette. n+1. October 21, 2011. en-US. 2016-03-06.
  21. Book: VersoBooks.com. December 2011. Verso Books. 9781844679409. 2016-03-06.
  22. Web site: You are not a loan • Debt Collective. 2021-05-14. 609c55978fdc1b00076efb96--tdc-home.netlify.app. en.
  23. 1424465602547232770. DemSocialists. .@astradisastra quotes Richard Trumka and talks about the importance of organization for socialists. August 8, 2021.
  24. Web site: New council member Astra Taylor United States . 2023-09-19 . X (formerly Twitter) . en.
  25. News: Phillips . Charlie . What Is Democracy? review searing analysis of who's really in control . . 2018-06-11 . en-GB . 0261-3077 .
  26. Web site: Brown . Drew . The Epic Conversation About Democracy We Need Right Now . Vice . 2018-09-11 . en-CA . 2018-09-15 .
  27. News: Dougherty. Sally. Book Review Examined Life: Excursions with Contemporary Thinkers edited by Astra Taylor.. October 26, 2014. Theosophy Northwest. December 2009.
  28. Book: Occupy!: Scenes from Occupied America. December 2011. Verso Books. 9781844679409. October 26, 2014.
  29. News: Wu. Tim. Content and Its Discontents. September 2, 2014. The New York Times. July 18, 2014. "The People's Platform" should be taken as a challenge by the new media that have long claimed to be improving on the old order. Can they prove they are capable of supporting a sustainable cultural ecosystem, in a way that goes beyond just hosting parties at the Sundance Film Festival?.
  30. Web site: Field Guide to the Future of Work: Essay collection - RSA. 2019-01-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20190109144001/https://www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/reports/field-guide-to-the-future-of-work-essay-collection. 2019-01-09. January 9, 2019.
  31. Web site: Can't Pay, Won't Pay. HayMarketBooks.org.
  32. Book: Remake the World: Essays, Reflections, Rebellions. May 4, 2021. Haymarket Books. 9781642594546.

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