Astra Taylor

Astra Taylor
Taylor in 2026
Born (1979-09-30) September 30, 1979 (age 47)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
EducationThe New School
Spouse
​
(m. 2005)​
RelativesSunaura Taylor (sister)

Astra Taylor (born September 30, 1979) is a Canadian-American documentary filmmaker, writer, activist, and musician. Taylor has written articles for a range of publications, and is the author or editor of seven books.

Early life and career

Taylor at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society in 2015

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Taylor grew up in Athens, Georgia, 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; at the university she studied Deleuze and Guattari under Ronald L. Bogue. Taylor enrolled at Brown University, where she attended classes for a year before dropping out. Taylor completed a Master of Arts in liberal studies at The New School.

Taylor has taught sociology at the University of Georgia and SUNY New Paltz. Her writings have appeared in numerous magazines, including Dissent, n+1, Adbusters, The Baffler, The Nation, Salon, and the London Review of Books. Her book The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction at the 2024 Governor General's Awards. The book was also a finalist for the 2024 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.

Activism

Taylor was active in the Occupy movement and was the co-editor of Occupy!: An OWS-Inspired Gazette with Sarah Leonard and Keith Gessen. 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. Taylor is a co-founder of Debt Collective, a debtors' union fighting to cancel debts. She is a fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation for her work on challenging predatory debt practices.

Taylor has resisted the label "activist" in her writing. She is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and is also on the Progressive International council. She supports a boycott of Israeli cultural institutions, including publishers and literary festivals. She was an original signatory of the manifesto "Refusing Complicity in Israel's Literary Institutions". She has been described as a Marxist in light of her concern with the political economy and the productive forces. In 2026, Taylor endorsed Avi Lewis in that year's federal NDP leadership race.

Personal life

Taylor is the sister of painter and disability activist Sunny Taylor, and is married to Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel. She joined Neutral Milk Hotel onstage for a number of shows in 2013 and 2014, playing guitar and accordion. She is a vegan. She lives in New York City.

Works

Film

Writing

References

  1. ↑ Taylor, Astra. "Rare personal post, seizing the moment to correct the record. Today I'm officially 21 yrs wed to my favorite most special human Jeff Mangum. For some reason the Internet/Wikipedia says we got hitched in Jan 2008, but it was June 9 2005. (Don't believe what you read online & always wear a lampshade.)". Bluesky. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
  2. ↑ Tortorici, Dayna, ed. (2013), "Group three", No Regrets: Three Discussions, Brooklyn, New York: n+1 Books, p. 71
  3. ↑ Dawson, Nick (February 25, 2009). "Astra Taylor, Examined Life". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
  4. ↑ Drew, Michelle. "Interview with Unschooled Filmmaker, Astra Taylor". CitizenShift. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Cohn, Pamela (November 1, 2008). "Interview: Astra Taylor, Director EXAMINED LIFE". Still in Motion. Archived from the original on January 16, 2009.
  6. ↑ Kaplan, Zachary; Taylor, Astra (March 9, 2015). "Digital Democracy and Direct Action". DIS Magazine. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  7. ↑ Taylor, Astra (January 16, 2014). "The Unschooled Life: Astra Taylor's Story". PopularResistance.Org. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Authors: Astra Taylor". Dissent Magazine. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Astra Taylor - Authors". n+1. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Astra Taylor". Adbusters. Archived from the original on October 26, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Astra Taylor". The Baffler. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Author Bios: Astra Taylor". The Nation. April 2, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Astra Taylor". Salon.com. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Astra Taylor". The London Review of Books. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  15. ↑ Drudi, Cassandra (October 8, 2024). "Canisia Lubrin, Danny Ramadan among 2024 Governor General's Literary Award finalists". Quill and Quire. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing". Writers' Trust of Canada. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Read Our New Gazette". n+1. October 21, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  18. ↑ Lim, Audrea (January 24, 2012). "A Roundtable with the editors of Occupy!". Verso. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Occupy!". Verso. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  20. ↑ Remake the World: (Part 1), May 4, 2021, archived from the original on December 15, 2021, retrieved May 14, 2021
  21. ↑ Appel, Hannah; Taylor, Astra (July 23, 2024). "'You Are Not A Loan!' Introducing the Nation's First Debtors' Union". In These Times. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  22. ↑ "About". Hidden Driver. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Astra Taylor". Shuttleworth Foundation. Archived from the original on May 7, 2019.
  24. ↑ Taylor, Astra (2021). Remake the World: Essays, Reflections, Rebellions. Haymarket Books. ISBN 978-1-64259-454-6.
  25. ↑ Taylor, Astra; Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta (August 31, 2023). "You Can't Be a Socialist Alone". In These Times. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  26. ↑ Progressive International [@ProgIntl] (September 19, 2023). "Astra Taylor (@astradisastra) is a political organizer, writer and documentary filmmaker. She is co-founder of the Debt Collective @StrikeDebt. Her latest book is The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart" (Tweet) – via X (formerly Twitter).
  27. ↑ "Council". Progressive International. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  28. ↑ "Letter: Refusing Complicity in Israel's Literary Institutions". Publishers for Palestine. October 28, 2024. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  29. ↑ Sheehan, Dan (October 28, 2024). "Thousands of Authors Pledge to Boycott Israeli Cultural Institutions". Literary Hub. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  30. ↑ Lovink, Geert (May 30, 2014). "Beyond digital discontent: A conversation with Astra Taylor". Eurozine. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2026.
  31. ↑ "Endorsements". lewisisleader.ca. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  32. ↑ Abrams, Kathryn (October 1, 2011). "Performing Interdependence: Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor in The Examined Life". Columbia Journal of Gender and Law. 21 (2): 73. doi:10.7916/CJGL.V21I2.2635.
  33. ↑ Brown, Jake (January 9, 2008). "Jeff Mangum, Astra Taylor Married". Glorious Noise. Archived from the original on July 12, 2010. Retrieved April 15, 2026.
  34. ↑ Jarnow, Jesse (October 14, 2013). "Neutral Milk Hotel's First Show in 15 Years Was Ragged, Glorious". SPIN. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  35. ↑ Taylor, Astra; Taylor, Sunaura (November 2021). "Our Animals, Ourselves". Lux Magazine. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
  36. ↑ Taylor, Astra (2014). The People's Platform. New York: Random House Canada.
  37. ↑ Scott, A. O. (November 18, 2005). "Sampling the Churning Mind of a Celebrity Philosopher". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  38. ↑ Mattin, David (April 27, 2007). "Zizek! (2007)". BBC. Archived from the original on October 6, 2009. Retrieved September 13, 2026.
  39. ↑ Nussbaum, Martha (January 3, 2010). "Inheriting Socrates". The Point Magazine. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  40. ↑ Phillips, Charlie (June 11, 2018). "What Is Democracy? review searing analysis of who's really in control". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
  41. ↑ Brown, Drew (September 11, 2018). "The Epic Conversation About Democracy We Need Right Now". Vice. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  42. ↑ Dougherty, Sally (December 2009). "Book Review Examined Life: Excursions with Contemporary Thinkers edited by Astra Taylor". Theosophy Northwest. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  43. ↑ "Occupy!: Scenes From Occupied America". Publishers Weekly. January 23, 2012. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  44. ↑ Wu, Tim (July 18, 2014). "Content and Its Discontents". The New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  45. ↑ Taylor, Astra (January 14, 2019). "The faux-bot revolution". The RSA. Medium. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  46. ↑ "Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone by Astra Taylor". Publishers Weekly. March 22, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  47. ↑ Taylor, Jaime (March 3, 2021). "Can't Pay Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition. Debt Collective. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books, 2020. Paper, $15 (ISBN: 978-1-64259-262-7)". College & Research Libraries. 82 (2). ISSN 2150-6701.
  48. ↑ Thier, Hadas (October 16, 2021). "Ten Years After Occupy, We Have a Left That Matters". Jacobin. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  49. ↑ Timpf, Lisa (May 29, 2024). "The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart By Astra Taylor". The Miramichi Reader. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  50. ↑ Lee, Sophie (September 13, 2026). "A New Book Explains Why Today's Brand of Fascism May Be the Most Pernicious Yet". Cultured Mag. Retrieved September 13, 2026.