The fellowship supported Spencer’s research and writing for his dissertation, entitled “Love and Rage: American Anarchism in the Late Twentieth Century.” The dissertation explores how anarchists have articulated (and put into practice) an expansive, intersectional vision of peace, justice, democracy, and freedom that necessitates building a new society without hierarchy and domination. This history offers lessons for those committed to peace and justice today, particularly in the face of the contemporary global spread of fascism.

The Bluestone Fellowship enabled Spencer to conduct research at the Brooklyn Interference Archive, a volunteer-run archive of social movements. He also conducted thirty interviews which will be included in the Anarchist Oral History Project housed at the University of Michigan’s Labadie Collection.

In addition to his archival and oral history research, Spencer worked on publishing his research for both scholarly and public audiences. His article “From the Ashes of the Old: Anarchism Reborn in a Counterrevolutionary Age (1970s-90s)” was recently accepted for publication by the Anarchist Studies journal. Another article, “‘We’re Pro-Choice and We Riot’: Anarcha-Feminism in Love and Rage (1989-98),” was accepted to the Coils of the Serpent journal’s upcoming special issue on Anarchism and Feminism.

Spencer also submitted an article “Radical Americas: A Hemispheric History of the Left” to the Left History journal, and he is writing an article on anarcha-feminism, violence, and the state to submit to the Radical History Review. Finally, Spencer writes regularly for his blog Empty Hands History on a range of topics including the revitalization of American anarchism in the 1980s, anarcha-feminist defense of abortion clinics, and the role of white workers and race treason in revolutionary struggle.

During the fall of 2021, Spencer also organized a number of public history events and staffed weekly open hours at the archive. He organized and spoke on an online panel at the Boston Anarchist Bookfair called ‘Feminism Practices What Anarchism Preaches’: Anarcha-Feminism in the 20th Century. In addition, he ran a monthly virtual “Socialist Night School” series with the Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America, which included an event on the history of Ithaca’s socialist mayor in the 1990s and a talk that Spencer gave called “The Zapatistas: Democracy and Autonomy in Chiapas, Mexico.” As he continues writing his dissertation in the coming semester, Spencer is also planning a forthcoming online series called “Reimagining Anarchism” with the Institute for Anarchist Studies, organizing a panel on post-war fascism and anti-fascism for next year’s American Historical Association conference, and launching an oral history project on Ithaca’s radical history.