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Introduction to
Secretos a Voces
The publisher [and
main translator, Luis Navarro] has suggested that I write
a brief introduction to clarify the background of
these texts, which have been selected from three decades of
ongoing activity.
I have lived in Berkeley (near San Francisco) since 1965, and
took part in many of the radical and countercultural
events of the 1960s. In 1969 I discovered the
situationists and began experimenting with situationist
tactics. The first text in this book,
On the Poverty of Hip Life (1972), is a
draft by one of the situationist-influenced groups in which I
participated (the group dissolved before the text was
completed). Our generally negative view of the
hip counterculture should be seen as an appropriate
but sometimes excessive reaction against the prevalent illusions
of the time. A somewhat more positive view is presented in my autobiography.
Double-Reflection
(1974) examines some subjective aspects of radical
activity that have unfortunately received little attention elsewhere. Most
radical texts concern themselves with more “objective” political issues
and pay little attention to personal ones, while those
that deal with personal issues usually do so in an
exclusively psychological way that ignores the
connections with social conditions. The importance of being aware of these
interrelations and of the processes of one’s own activity has been an
underlying theme of my writings.
The Society
of Situationism (1976) examines various nuances of
situationism — that is, of the ideologization and cooption of
situationist theories following the May 1968 revolt —
and some related tendencies in the society as a whole
(tendencies which have in some cases become much more
obvious now than they were 25 years ago).
The Realization
and Suppression of Religion (1977) has
stirred up more controversy than any of my other
writings because it challenged the situationist milieu
to confront its blind spots regarding this despised and
taboo topic. There are still people who refuse to speak to me because of
this text!
The Opening in Iran
(1979) was issued as a poster during the uprising
against the Shah (several hundred copies were distributed to radical Iranian
students in the United States). Needless to say, the revolution did not
turn out as I had hoped, but I believe that my
analysis of the possibilities that existed at the time
was accurate.
During the 1980s I translated a large collection of situationist
writings, wrote a small book about the anarchist
author Kenneth Rexroth, and began exploring Zen
practice.
The War and the
Spectacle (1991) examined the Gulf war and the various
forms of opposition to it in terms of the situationist notion of
spectacle.
Strong Lessons
for Engaged Buddhists (1993) and
Evading the Transformation of Reality (1999)
challenge Buddhists who
are beginning to be aware of
social issues to go further, to explore more radical
perspectives and tactics.
During the 1990s I wrote “The Joy of
Revolution” and an autobiography, both of which
are included in the book Public Secrets (1997).
All of my writings, including French and Spanish translations of
many of them, can be found at the Bureau of Public
Secrets website (www.bopsecrets.org).
I would like to thank the translators
for the care with which they have translated
these texts.
—KEN KNABB
September 2001
English version of the Introduction to
Secretos a Voces
(Spanish-language selection of BPS texts published in Madrid).
No copyright.
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