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Workshops finalized for this year's BASTARD conference
This year's BASTARD (Berkeley Anarchist Students of Theory And Research and Development) conference has finalized its schedule of workshops.
The theme for this conference is Organization: Beyond False Dichotomies. The anarchist community has a long tradition of organizing according to both anarchist and non-anarchist principles. We are interested in exploring the many forms of organization that anarchists have created and taken part in over the years. Through theoretical overviews of various forms (federations, councils, networks, coalitions, affinity groups, households and other) and active discussion about the tools we use to organize (including decision-making processes: direct democracy, mandated delegates, consensus, etc.) we hope to further discussion about what kinds and forms of organizing are helpful and sustainable. Our purpose is not to engage in the debate about whether organizations in the abstract are good or bad, but to engage in helpful and insightful criticism of the organizations we form, our historical patterns and our current and future efforts.
The theme for this conference is Organization: Beyond False Dichotomies. The anarchist community has a long tradition of organizing according to both anarchist and non-anarchist principles. We are interested in exploring the many forms of organization that anarchists have created and taken part in over the years. Through theoretical overviews of various forms (federations, councils, networks, coalitions, affinity groups, households and other) and active discussion about the tools we use to organize (including decision-making processes: direct democracy, mandated delegates, consensus, etc.) we hope to further discussion about what kinds and forms of organizing are helpful and sustainable. Our purpose is not to engage in the debate about whether organizations in the abstract are good or bad, but to engage in helpful and insightful criticism of the organizations we form, our historical patterns and our current and future efforts.
So come join us on Sunday March 14th (the day after The Anarchist Bookfair) at UC Berkeley Campus, Valley Life Sciences Building, second floor, 10 am to 5 pm.
You can read the full text of these proposals at our conference website.
We will have two panel discussions this year and 11 additional workshops. We will also have a 'free' space where you can have discussions related to anarchist theory and practice.
Panels:
Audrey, John Burnett, Rot’n, Adam, Kapila panel discussion – Organization: Beyond False Dichotomies - panelists will address the question “How does your favorite organizational form reflect your goals?”
Greg Dunnington, Gifford, Aragorn! After the Situationists: anti-state communists and post-left anarchists hash it out
This panel will revisit a conference held between these two constellations of tendencies, and will highlight areas of contention, agreement and possible joint projects.
Workshops
(I)An-ok Ta Chai Unions of Egoists: An Application of Stirner's Ideas to Contemporary Anarchy What the hell are we doing?! Why are we even bothering with the whole "anarchy" thing?! I'm serious here. It is my belief that, as anarchists, we often lose sight of why we are into anarchy and why we engage in anarchist projects. All too often I think that it either becomes another ideology to defend or another habit or role to thoughtlessly perpetuate. I believe that an understanding of the ideas of Max Stirner (the author of the classic anarchist book "The Ego and Its Own") combined with an attempt to seriously apply them to our own personal anarchist practice can go a long way towards building an effective anarchist social revolution.
Jason McQuinn Organizing for Anarchy: Anarchist theory and critique of organization An examination of anarchist organizing and organization from theoretical, historical and immediately practical perspectives.
1) Theory: Anarchist Individualism, Mutualism, Collectivist Anarchism, Anarchist Communism, Libertarian Municipalism, Post-left syntheses. Discussion and critique of the various anarchist theories of organization.
2) History: Paris Commune, Propaganda of the Deed/Italian Insurrectionists, French and Spanish Anarcho-Syndicalism, the Makhnovist Movement, the Baja insurrection and the Mexican Revolution, the Spanish Revolution, Paris in May '68, recent anti-war and anti-globalization demos. Discussion and critique of these particular instances.
3) Practical here-and-now: Alternatives in organizing infrastructure projects, street protests, workplace resistance, local affinity groups, and anarchist federations.
Discussion and critique of practical alternatives in anarchist organizing today.
Jory Gender Issues in Anarchist Organizations: This presentation will review how anarchists are an ideological subculture of their respective mainstream cultures. Socialization therefore causes gendered communication patterns that still apply to anarchist groups. Also explored will be the decision making technologies/methodologies used in meetings. Do these methodologies extract agreement through participation? Positive change in mixed groups can occur when the people involved see and acknowledge the differences in styles and gender disparities. Following the talk, discussions will follow in two areas: a) gender and power in groups, and b) empowerment as social influence through articulating a positive vision which can frame a project or set parameters.
Lawrence Jarach The Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI); From affinity groups to governmental anarchists This workshop will briefly outline the history of the FAI from its origins as a coordinating effort of various affinity groups in 1927 through its bureaucratization and full collaboration in a bourgeois government by 1936. More detailed discussion will be given to the actual form of its organization, roughly divided into two periods: 1. 1927-1931. The years of adherence to federalist principles, and 2. 1931-1937. The years of centralization and organizational mutation. Interpretive discussion about the various possible reasons for the degeneration of the FAI will be encouraged.
Leona Peer Groups Against Intimate Violence: A discussion workshop on intimate violence, requiring that people bring at least one close friend (preferably not a romantic partner) with whom they will discuss questions/topics related to dealing with intimate violence in their communities/friendship circles. This is a workshop on practical anarchy - direct action - using the specific topic of intimate violence as a focus. One of the underlying premises is that we need viable ways to deal with conflict that do not include the state.
Lew Cipher Laudable Emulation
The wild, ribald Renaissance novel, Gargantua, shows the “Affinity Group” as the basic unit of organization, in which the tension between individualism and collectivism can be resolved. For personal project or for political direct action, the method seems to be “taking turns” that could be styled as “paradoxical anarcho-monarchism”. I want to warn that everyone in an affinity group must know and trust each other. Then I want to propose a sort of Surrealist game that perhaps ignores the previous warning. 52 cards are handed out and whoever gets the Queen of Spades says “OK, lets all ----(fill in the blank).” When explaining the game I might mention that a dude who gets the Queen and says “Let’s all have an orgy” will not be successful. But if he said “I’ve got the mat, let’s play nude twister” he might spark something interesting…
Mike E., Ulla, Aragorn! The Household as Organizational Form
Many of us either are in, or want to be in, households composed of friends who share our politics. What are the best ways to extend that model? How would it look to actually organize from the base of our own current (or desired) living situations?
Mitchell Halberstadt When the Anarchists Win, Who'll Be For the Outsider? This workshop will focus on an insidious mutation that arises persistently in human organization (particularly endemic to phenomena of collectivism) -- the concentration of power -- and its inevitable counterparts, hierarchies and systems of privilege and oppression that distort and mock the principles and structures that spawn them, but that are still acclaimed as fundamental bulwarks of freedom and justice.
Red Hughs Language, Ideology and Revolutionary Theory
An analysis of ideology and language from the point of view of the Situationist International and Neurolinguistic Programming; Presentation and Discussion (no postmodernism included).
Sunfrog Bonobo, Fifth Estate Tendencies or Tribe, Factions or Family: the case for ecumenical anarchy
The notion “Ecumenical anarchism” is concerned with establishing or promoting unity among anarchists. Militant, mystical, vegan. Class war, lifestylist, atheist. Primitivist, postmodernist, opportunist. Green, red, and pink. Syndicalist, pacifist, individualist. Eco, commie, techie. Are there as many tendencies of anarchism as there are anarchists? This participatory workshop will discuss the strengths brought by the varying factions and make cases for and against ecumenical thinking for anarchists.
Wolfi Landstreicher Autonomous self-organization and anarchist intervention In this workshop I will briefly explain what I mean by autonomous self-organization and anarchist intervention. I will explore the tension that anarchist consciousness produces in the course of struggle. I will look at examples of specific incidents of struggle – struggles against specific projects of capital and the state, the current wildcat strike in Italy, recent uprisings in Argentina and Algeria (possibly also the 1997 uprising in Albania) – both in terms of the practice of self-organization and in terms of ways anarchists can intervene.
I will argue that organizing our own activities informally on the basis of affinity rather than through formalized structures offers the best method for intervening in specific struggles and situations we encounter in a truly anti-political manner, not based on a program that we want to promote but on our desire to determine the conditions of our existence on our own terms.
You can read the full text of these proposals at our conference website.
We will have two panel discussions this year and 11 additional workshops. We will also have a 'free' space where you can have discussions related to anarchist theory and practice.
Panels:
Audrey, John Burnett, Rot’n, Adam, Kapila panel discussion – Organization: Beyond False Dichotomies - panelists will address the question “How does your favorite organizational form reflect your goals?”
Greg Dunnington, Gifford, Aragorn! After the Situationists: anti-state communists and post-left anarchists hash it out
This panel will revisit a conference held between these two constellations of tendencies, and will highlight areas of contention, agreement and possible joint projects.
Workshops
(I)An-ok Ta Chai Unions of Egoists: An Application of Stirner's Ideas to Contemporary Anarchy What the hell are we doing?! Why are we even bothering with the whole "anarchy" thing?! I'm serious here. It is my belief that, as anarchists, we often lose sight of why we are into anarchy and why we engage in anarchist projects. All too often I think that it either becomes another ideology to defend or another habit or role to thoughtlessly perpetuate. I believe that an understanding of the ideas of Max Stirner (the author of the classic anarchist book "The Ego and Its Own") combined with an attempt to seriously apply them to our own personal anarchist practice can go a long way towards building an effective anarchist social revolution.
Jason McQuinn Organizing for Anarchy: Anarchist theory and critique of organization An examination of anarchist organizing and organization from theoretical, historical and immediately practical perspectives.
1) Theory: Anarchist Individualism, Mutualism, Collectivist Anarchism, Anarchist Communism, Libertarian Municipalism, Post-left syntheses. Discussion and critique of the various anarchist theories of organization.
2) History: Paris Commune, Propaganda of the Deed/Italian Insurrectionists, French and Spanish Anarcho-Syndicalism, the Makhnovist Movement, the Baja insurrection and the Mexican Revolution, the Spanish Revolution, Paris in May '68, recent anti-war and anti-globalization demos. Discussion and critique of these particular instances.
3) Practical here-and-now: Alternatives in organizing infrastructure projects, street protests, workplace resistance, local affinity groups, and anarchist federations.
Discussion and critique of practical alternatives in anarchist organizing today.
Jory Gender Issues in Anarchist Organizations: This presentation will review how anarchists are an ideological subculture of their respective mainstream cultures. Socialization therefore causes gendered communication patterns that still apply to anarchist groups. Also explored will be the decision making technologies/methodologies used in meetings. Do these methodologies extract agreement through participation? Positive change in mixed groups can occur when the people involved see and acknowledge the differences in styles and gender disparities. Following the talk, discussions will follow in two areas: a) gender and power in groups, and b) empowerment as social influence through articulating a positive vision which can frame a project or set parameters.
Lawrence Jarach The Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI); From affinity groups to governmental anarchists This workshop will briefly outline the history of the FAI from its origins as a coordinating effort of various affinity groups in 1927 through its bureaucratization and full collaboration in a bourgeois government by 1936. More detailed discussion will be given to the actual form of its organization, roughly divided into two periods: 1. 1927-1931. The years of adherence to federalist principles, and 2. 1931-1937. The years of centralization and organizational mutation. Interpretive discussion about the various possible reasons for the degeneration of the FAI will be encouraged.
Leona Peer Groups Against Intimate Violence: A discussion workshop on intimate violence, requiring that people bring at least one close friend (preferably not a romantic partner) with whom they will discuss questions/topics related to dealing with intimate violence in their communities/friendship circles. This is a workshop on practical anarchy - direct action - using the specific topic of intimate violence as a focus. One of the underlying premises is that we need viable ways to deal with conflict that do not include the state.
Lew Cipher Laudable Emulation
The wild, ribald Renaissance novel, Gargantua, shows the “Affinity Group” as the basic unit of organization, in which the tension between individualism and collectivism can be resolved. For personal project or for political direct action, the method seems to be “taking turns” that could be styled as “paradoxical anarcho-monarchism”. I want to warn that everyone in an affinity group must know and trust each other. Then I want to propose a sort of Surrealist game that perhaps ignores the previous warning. 52 cards are handed out and whoever gets the Queen of Spades says “OK, lets all ----(fill in the blank).” When explaining the game I might mention that a dude who gets the Queen and says “Let’s all have an orgy” will not be successful. But if he said “I’ve got the mat, let’s play nude twister” he might spark something interesting…
Mike E., Ulla, Aragorn! The Household as Organizational Form
Many of us either are in, or want to be in, households composed of friends who share our politics. What are the best ways to extend that model? How would it look to actually organize from the base of our own current (or desired) living situations?
Mitchell Halberstadt When the Anarchists Win, Who'll Be For the Outsider? This workshop will focus on an insidious mutation that arises persistently in human organization (particularly endemic to phenomena of collectivism) -- the concentration of power -- and its inevitable counterparts, hierarchies and systems of privilege and oppression that distort and mock the principles and structures that spawn them, but that are still acclaimed as fundamental bulwarks of freedom and justice.
Red Hughs Language, Ideology and Revolutionary Theory
An analysis of ideology and language from the point of view of the Situationist International and Neurolinguistic Programming; Presentation and Discussion (no postmodernism included).
Sunfrog Bonobo, Fifth Estate Tendencies or Tribe, Factions or Family: the case for ecumenical anarchy
The notion “Ecumenical anarchism” is concerned with establishing or promoting unity among anarchists. Militant, mystical, vegan. Class war, lifestylist, atheist. Primitivist, postmodernist, opportunist. Green, red, and pink. Syndicalist, pacifist, individualist. Eco, commie, techie. Are there as many tendencies of anarchism as there are anarchists? This participatory workshop will discuss the strengths brought by the varying factions and make cases for and against ecumenical thinking for anarchists.
Wolfi Landstreicher Autonomous self-organization and anarchist intervention In this workshop I will briefly explain what I mean by autonomous self-organization and anarchist intervention. I will explore the tension that anarchist consciousness produces in the course of struggle. I will look at examples of specific incidents of struggle – struggles against specific projects of capital and the state, the current wildcat strike in Italy, recent uprisings in Argentina and Algeria (possibly also the 1997 uprising in Albania) – both in terms of the practice of self-organization and in terms of ways anarchists can intervene.
I will argue that organizing our own activities informally on the basis of affinity rather than through formalized structures offers the best method for intervening in specific struggles and situations we encounter in a truly anti-political manner, not based on a program that we want to promote but on our desire to determine the conditions of our existence on our own terms.
For more information:
http://sfbay-anarchists.org
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