INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-FINLAND:

MUSTA PISPALA:

Molly came across this announcement in the English language section of the Polish anarchist news site Centrum Informacji Anarchistcznej. The festival/bookfair that it announces has its own website, as given below. What piques Molly's curiosity is the following question. Anarchist bookfairs are proliferating across the world as the movement expands. Is 'Musta Pispala' the furthest north example of its kind ? What do you think ?

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Musta Pispala - Black Pispala: Anarchist counter-cultural festival in Tampere, Finland, 10.-12. July 2009:
The 4th Musta Pispala will offer practical and theoretical workshops, parties, sauna, book fair and children's activities in the unique setting of Pispala.

For us anarchism means for example the critique of all forms of domination and hierarchy and on the other hand creating non-oppressive, egalitarian culture. We see domination not only in large structures of society, but also in oppressive customs among ourselves. Our analysis is not limited only to human relations. It also includes our relationships with non-human beings. Our aim is to strengthen critical views and empowerment in the form of taking control of our lives. Kill the police within!

Through the workshops in the festival you can get familiar with topics such as basics of anarchism and anarcha-feminism. There will be a couple of workshops on anarchist parenting and unschooling. Anti-psychiatry criticizes mainstream views on mental problems, and offers alternatives for mental care. Environmental themes are approached practically and theoretically through worm-composting, edible wild plants, climate change and the environment and technology thinking of anarchists. We also have workshops about specifically local struggles such as anti-gentrification/yuppification and a counter campaign against the city council's efforts to clean the streets of Tampere from street art and posters of small scale events.

We are consciously trying to work to ensure a safe anti-oppression atmosphere. In order to do this, we come up with guidelines for situations of harassment, and we'll have a specific conflict resolution / anti-harassment group. This doesn't mean we wouldn't encourage everyone to take responsibility to ensure that the atmosphere would be positive. We have a conscious anti-oppression policy including but not limited to anti-sexism, anti-heterosexism and anti-racism.

If you need a sleeping place and/or help with child care, please get in touch via mustapispala (at) takku (dot) net beforehand so we can prepare. You can also get in touch if you want to offer your help in organising, hold a workshop or come to the book fair with your distro. The workshops are in Finnish with English translation.

We are sorry that we are so late with our announcement, which makes it pretty much impossible for people who need visas to arrive. We'll try better next time.

More detailed descriptions of the workshops, timetables and other additional information: http://mustapispala.takku.net