Available material
The following issues published 1991-1996 – #18-25, #27-29.
Missing material
The following issues published up to the thirtieth – #1-17, #26, #30 – as well as all subsequent issues up to its 2000 discontinuation.

An institution of the 1990s anarchist movement, a time when anarchism was ascendent on the socialist left in Aotearoa, The State Adversary was arguably one of the most important such publications of the last half century. Started in Auckland around 1987 by anarchist prankster Bruce Grenville (infamous for the Occussi-Ambeno hoax in the 1970s), the initial run of 22 issues up to 1993 was primarily the vehicle of Grenville with the help of some young punks he’d drafted for the project (and who ironed out many of the eccentricities introduced by Grenville). This run was manually typeset, giving it a substantially different look to the later run (which was laid out on a computer), and marking a clear difference between the two runs of the publication. The later run, beginning with issue 23 in 1994, was produced by a Wellington based collective who would be the main drivers for the remaining six years of its life.

At a few points, the publication would have some association with the long-defunct Anarchist Alliance of Aotearoa, but it largely ran as an independent project produced by a core editorial collective. With an impressive 13 year run, The State Adversary was published during a small boom for independent anarchist publishing which saw the emergence of other publications like Thr@ll, Sekhmet, and Savage State (among others). It’s really a vital resource for anyone looking into the legacy of anarchism in Aotearoa, especially in its era of publication. It also gives an insight into the political and social preoccupations of the movement in the 1990s, a look into those who refused to demobilize in the short “end of history”.

The State Adversary

The State Adversary #18 (September 1991)

The State Adversary #19 (December 1991)

The State Adversary #20 (April 1992)

The State Adversary #21 (December 1992)

The State Adversary #22 (April 1993)

The State Adversary #23 (Spring 1994)

The State Adversary #24 (Summer 1995)

The State Adversary #25 (Summer 1996)

The State Adversary #27 (Winter 1996)

The State Adversary #28 (Summer 1997)

The State Adversary #29 (Winter 1997)