INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:

ANARCHIST STUDIES CONFERENCE:

Here's one for the academically inclined amongst you. The North American Anarchist Studies Network (NAASN) will be holding their annual conference in Toronto next January. I could think of better places on the continent to visit in January given that this is a continent wide network. On the other hand I can think of far worse places like Winnipeg for instance. In any case brush off that dusty old thinking cap and head down TO way early next year. Here's the announcement.

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North American Anarchist Studies Conference

CALL FOR PAPERS!!!

North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference

Toronto, Canada
January 15-16, 2011
Deadline for Proposals: November 1, 2010

The North American Anarchist Studies Network is currently seeking presentations for our second annual conference to be held at the Steel Worker’s Hall in Toronto, Canada. We are seeking submissions from radical academics, independent researchers, community activists, street philosophers and students. We invite those engaged in intellectual work within existing institutions, such as universities, but also those engaged in the production of knowledge beyond institutional walls to share their ongoing work. From the library stacks to the streets, we encourage all those interested in the study of anarchism to submit a proposal.

In keeping with the open and fluid spirit of anarchism, we will not be calling for any specific topics of discussion, but rather are encouraging participants to present on a broad and diverse number of themes- from the historical to the contemporary to the utopian. For inspiration, we have included a number of suggested themes that have been of interest us; we invite you to suggest and submit your own topics, papers, themes, panels and workshops:

* Theorizing Anarchism: Perspectives on Anarchist Studies

* Greening Anarchy: Anarchism and the Environment

* Bridging the Marxist/Anarchist Divide: Is Black and Red Dead?

* Race, Class & Solidarity: Migration Politics

* Indigenous Rights and Politics in (Occupied) North America

* Expanding the Anarchist Canon: Non-Western Anarchism(s)

* The South American ‘New Left’ and Anarchism

* ‘Queering’ Anarchy: Anarchism and LGBTQ Issues

* ‘Revolution’ in the 21st Century: The Meaning of Social Change Today

* Militant Research: Connecting Activism and Academia

* Practicing Anarchy: Organization, Insurrection and Anarchist Social Movements

* Envisioning Alternatives: Anarchist Utopias

* Anarchism and Radical (Dis)ability Politics

* The Greek ‘Crisis’ and Anarchist Responses

* Post-G20 Toronto: Learning from Toronto’s G20 Mobilizations

* Anarchist Cultural Perspectives and Practices

* The Post-Anarchist Challenge?

* Anarchists and Academia: The Perils, Pitfalls and Potentialities of the University

It is our sincere hope that this conference will, to the greatest extent possible, accurately represent the diversity of North American anarchist politics and thought; to that end, we encourage submission(s) in English, French, Spanish and in any other language or on any other topic you feel relevant to this experience and this community.

Send your proposal, including a short abstract, a working title and three keywords that describe your project to the Toronto NAASN Crew at naasntoronto@gmail.com .

For more information on the North America Anarchist Studies Network check out our website at www.naasn.org.

We look forward to hearing from you, organizing with you and, of course, learning from you!

Related Link: http://www.naasn.org

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT- SPAIN:

CONFERENCE ON SELF MANAGEMENT:

Self management refers to the libertarian socialist and anarchist idea that workplaces can and should be run democratically by the people working in them without managers of any other bosses. There have been numerous historical experiments using this idea. This coming April the Spanish CNT, along with others will be holding a conference on the history and principles of this idea. The details from the Anarchist Black Cat discussion board follow below.

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ALTERNATIVES TO CAPITALISM: SELF-MANAGEMENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Within the framework of the CNT-AIT centenary (1910-2010), a series of conferences brought together under the name of “Alternatives to Capitalism: Self-management in the spotlight” will take place in Barcelona (Spain). These conferences will be held throughout April 2010. The contents will be organized in three blocks of lectures: theoretical, historical and a broader one, based in more current experiences.

The theoretical block draws up a program of lectures on how the capitalist system works, focusing on the present moment of economic and social crisis. Anarcho-syndicalist proposals facing the crisis will also be debated. This theoretical perspective is completed with several papers which shall offer a wide vision of economic and social literature on the subject of socialism and libertarian-communism models.

The historical block tries to put forward two strong models that may serve as an alternative to the capitalist system. On the one hand, that of the anarchist collectivization during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), for which lectures will be included to explain how it worked in the different regions where it was implemented (Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Aragon, Castile, Andalusia). On the other hand, explanations will be offered on the Yugoslav co-management model (1950-1990) with the purpose of assessing this experience both in the light of a possible model for the development of impoverished countries and from the limits imposed on socialism by the five-year plan, the market and the One Party State, along with a strictly libertarian vision of the whole process.

With the present block we intend to gain an insight on different organizational experiences that fight against capitalism nowadays from a self management point of view. In this sense, the contribution of the CNT-AIT (labour and socioeconomic aspects) is included, as well as those of other specific anarchist organizations (socio-political aspect), of some models of cooperatives with a radical perspective (labour and socioeconomic management aspect) or of cultural and study centres (cultural aspect). Finally there’s place for initiatives linked to local and municipal fields, such as those of squat social centres and apartments, municipalism or local assemblies (local-political aspect). Finally, from a wider geographical, and in some cases, thematic point of view, live experiences from other places in the world will be debated, such as social movements in Latin America, Chiapas, Brazil (Landless Workers Movement, MST), Argentina (enterprises recovered by their workers), Venezuela and Greece.

More info:

http://www.autogestion2010.info/

Organizing:

CeNTenary (Barcelone) Comission

Collaborating:

Fundación Anselmo Lorenzo – FAL (http://www.cnt.es/fal)

Institute of Economic and Self-management Sciences – ICEA (http://iceautogestion.org/)Fundació d'Estudis Llibertaris i Anarcosindicalistes – FELLA (http://www.nodo50.org/fella) PROGRAM

Friday 9th April. Capitalist system: exploitation, conflict and destruction

-4 p.m. Introduction to the conferences. CNT Barcelona

-4.15 p.m. Where do we stand in the crisis? Miren Etxezarreta. Economist, lecturer at Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) for 35 years and member of the critic economic seminar TAIFA

-5.30 p.m. Capitalism today: crisis or downfall? Some thoughts. Toni Castells. Economist.

-6.45 p.m. Anarcho-syndicalist proposals in the face of the economic crisis. Gaspar Fuster. Economics teacher in Secondary Education and member of the Institute of Economic and Self-management Sciences (ICEA).

-8 p.m General debate and conclusions

Saturday 10th April – Morning. Studies on self-management and models on socialism and libertarian communism (I).

-10 a.m. Socialism and libertarian communism in economic thought until 1939. Lluís Rodríguez Algans. Economist and member of the Institute of Economic and Self-management Sciences (ICEA).

-11.15 a.m. Self-management, an up-to date debate: participative planning or re-conceptualization of the market. Endika Alabort Amundarain. Economics lecturer at Basque Country University (Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea) and member of the Institute of Economic and Self-management Sciences (ICEA).

-12.30 p.m. Institute of Economic and Self-management Sciences: study and technical support for widespread self-management. Members of the ICEA.

-1.45 p.m. General debate and conclusions

Saturday 10th April – Evening. Studies on self-management and models on socialism and libertarian communism (II).

-4 p.m.The economics of freedom: creating abundant lives for all (in English). Jon Bekken. Member of the editorial collective of Anarcho-syndicalist Review, former general secretary and treasurer of Industrial Workers of the World.

-5.15 p.m. Inclusive Democracy as a political project for a new libertarian synthesis: rationale, proposed social structure and transition (in English). Takis Fotopoulos. Political philosopher and ex-senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of North London (UK) where he taught Political Economy for over twenty years. He has been the editor of the theoretical journal Democracy & Nature, The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy since 1992 and founder of the Inclusive Democracy movement.

-6.30 p.m. Anarchist Planning for Twenty-first Century Economies: A Proposal (in English). Robin Hahnel. Professor Emeritus at American University where he taught Political Economy for thirty-three years, and is currently Visiting Professor of Economics at Portland State University. He is best known as co-creator along with Michael Albert of an economic model known as “participatory economics” which is widely discussed as an alternative to capitalism (PARECON).

-7.45 p.m. General debate and conclusions

Friday 16th April. Anarchist collectivization during the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 (I)

-4p.m. Historical background and social aspects of the Civil War. Paco Madrid. Historian.

-5.15p.m. Face to face against the state: the 1936 revolution and agrarian collectivism in Catalonia. Marciano Cárdaba. Historian. Researcher in the social, economic and political factors of agrarian collectivization in Catalonia (1936-1939).

-6.30p.m. Collectivist transformations in the industry and services in Catalonia (1936-1939). Toni Castells. Historian.

-7.45p.m. General debate and conclusions

Saturday 17th April – Morning. Anarchist collectivization during the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 (II)

-10a.m. "Agrarian collectivities in Aragon (1936-1939). Between revolution and reaction." Walther L. Bernecker. Professor of the History of Spain, Portugal, and Latin-America at Friedrich Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany).

-11.15a.m. Coup-d’etat, war and social transformation in Andalusia and Castile (1936-1939). José Luis Gutiérrez Molina. Historian. Researcher in contemporary social history, particularly in Andalusia.

-12.30p.m. Collectivities in the Valencian Community. Ending with the typical topics. Manuel Vicent. Historian and archivist.

-1.45 p.m. General debate and conclusions

Saturday 17th April – Evening. Yugoslavia 1950-1990

-4 p.m. Unequal development as a limit to the self-management process. The Yugoslav case. Ramón Franquesa. Lecturer of World Economy at University of Barcelona (UB). Researcher in management of natural, renewable resources and on Social Economy and non-capitalist economic organization processes

-5.15p.m. The Yugoslav selfmanagement squeezed by the plan, the market and the single party : is the suppression of institutions the solution? (in English). Catherine Samary. Professor and Researcher specialist of the Yugoslav and East European transformations; activist in internationalist networks.

-6.30p.m. Yugoslav Self-Management: An Anarchist perspective (in English). Andrej Grubačić. Historian and anarchist sociologist. Researcher in the subject of anarchism and the history of the Balkans. Member of Industrial Workers of the World.

-7.45p.m. General debate and conclusions

Tuesday 20th April. Organizational models as an alternative to capitalism: anarchism and anarcho-syndicalism.

-4p.m. CNT: syndicalism for social change. Genís Ferrero. Member of the CNT Barcelona.

-5.15p.m. Libertarian organizations: Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI), Iberian Federation of Anarchist Youth (FIJA), Federation of Libertarian Students (FEL).

-6.45p.m. Uruguayan Anarchist Federation. Specific anarchism, anarchist direct action: towards the construction of the Popular Power. Mario Remedios. Secretary of Affairs of FAU. Militant of the Germinal Ateneo in the Villa Colón neighbourhood (Montevideo).

-8p.m. General debate and conclusions

Wednesday 21st April. Organizational models as an alternative to capitalism: cooperativism and municipalism.

-4p.m. Solidarity economy: the embryo of a new economy? Jordi García Jané. Cooperativist, professor and writer on subjects related to solidarity economy and social alternatives in general. -5.15p.m. Cooperatives: production, finances and consumption. Mol-Matric, Coop57, and Germinal.

-6.45p.m. Libertarian municipality on the way to self-management. Manel Aisa. Historian.Assembly of the neighbourhood of Sants. Mireia Rosselló.

-8p.m. General debate and conclusions

Thursday 22nd April. Organizational models as an alternative to capitalism: anarchism, culture and social movements.

-4p.m. House squatting and social centres. Jesús Rodríguez. Activist of the squat movement.

-5.15p.m. Libertarian Ateneo. Popular Encyclopaedic Ateneo and Libertarian Ateneo of Sants. Xavier Oller, historian and members.

-6.45p.m. Libertarian Centre of Studies: Foundation for Libertarian and Anarcho-syndicalist Studies (Barcelona), Libertarian Centre of Studies, Federica Montseny (Badalona), Libertarian Centre of Studies, Francesc Sàbat (Terrassa), Foundation Anselmo Lorenzo (Madrid). Members.

-8p.m. General debate and conclusions

Saturday 24th April – Morning. Nowadays experiences (I): Social Movements in Latin America, Chiapas y Brazil.

-10 a.m. Social movements in Latin America: you can’t fight progressivism. Raúl Zibechi. Thinker and activist, professor and researcher in social movements, journalist and international analyst for La Jornada (Mexico) and Brecha (Uruguay).

-11.15 a.m. Indigenous rebellion in Chiapas. Committee of Solidarity with the Zapatist rebellion.

-12.30p.m. Landless Workers Movement from Brazil, the struggle for land, Agrarian Reform, and a fairer society. María Carballo. Anthropologist and member of the MST Support Committee of Barcelona since 1996.

-13.45. General debate and conclusions

Saturday 24th April – Evening. Nowadays experiences (II): Argentina, Venezuela and Greece

-4p.m. From crisis to self-management: origins and perspectives of the recovery of firms in Argentina. Luis Buendía. Economist and pre-doctoral researcher at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), and member of the Institute of Economic and Self-management Sciences (ICEA).

-5.15p.m. Imperialism, social reform and popular power in Venezuela. Luis Baños. Libertarian militant active in organizational, education and popular struggle processes in the rural environment and the city. Historian and member of the Institute of Economic and Self-management Sciences (ICEA).

-6.30p.m. Tracking down social antagonism and anarchist-antiauthoritarian movement in Greece. Anarchist companions from Greece.

-7.45p.m. General debate and conclusions

-8.15p.m. End of the program. CNT Barcelona

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-BARCELONA:

ANARCHA-FEMINIST CONFERENCE:

This March 8 marks International Womens' Day and this year marks the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo, the anarcho-syndicalist CNT of Spain. It is thus quite appropriate that this weekend will signal the start of a month long anarcha-feminist conference in the heartland of international anarchism, Barcelona. The following is the announcement from the CNT Centennary Commission. The English language version below comes from the Anarkismo website.

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Barcelona: Anarcha-Feminist Conference
Martha Ackelsberg, Ana Sigüenza, Antonia Rodrigo, the Colectivo Juana Julia Guzmán from Colombia, Mujeres Libres... just some of the participants in this festival of feminism and anarchism organized by the CNT in Barcelona in March. [Castellano]

Barcelona: Anarcha-Feminist Conference

This year - 2010 - the CNT celebrates 100 years since it was founded, in a context very different from today's. For this reason, we want to analyze and reflect on the path that this class-struggle union has followed throughout its history and examine its role today. There is no doubt that the people who have been members of the CNT have mostly been women and men with a capacity for critical thought, sometimes well ahead of their time, and there have been times when the CNT has played a vital role, as in the social revolution of 1936. Today we ask ourselves how it sees itself as a union that fights against every form of authority, and especially against something as important as patriarchy which, along with capitalism, inhibits the freedom of many living beings and is destroying the planet.

So, this Feminist Conference arise from the need of various female members of the CNT to visualize the vital role that women play in the anarchist movement, to reflect on the connection between anarchism and feminism, to challenge traditional gender roles, female and male, on which patriarchy are based.

The Conference on Women and Anarchism will be an opportunity to get closer to the realities of female militancy. We intend to analyze, discuss and highlight the participation and organization of women who identify with libertarian principles without giving up their gender identity. We want to see the problems that affect us as women in the various areas where we operate: labour, educational, organizational, health, emotional, etc., and the problems arising from a patriarchal and capitalist society such as ours that affects us and our comrades, male and female alike.

To this end, we will try to deal with the subject on two levels: one level is our own situation as female workers and union activists in a class-struggle, revolutionary and libertarian union, covering the historical perspective and the needs that we see today. The second level is feminist women's participation in the various organizations that seek to contribute to social change. We are interested in highlighting these daily struggles, the projects that result from them, the difficulties that exist and the contradictions that we encounter. We also wish to work on these aspects by collecting multiple experiences from the past and others that are in progress today all over the world.

To try to cover these objectives, we have organized five topics:

1. Women, work and the union

2. A historical reference: the Mujeres Libres

3. Anarcho-feminism: organized women

4. Women in the press and propaganda of The Idea

5. Sexual diversity and anarchism.

Everyone is invited to participate in these reflections on our/your part so that we can try to get closer to achieving our/your utopian society.

Let our thoughts become action.
PROGRAM

- Saturday 6 March 11.00 a.m.

Women and Anarcho-syndicalism: with Ana Sigüenza (first Secretary General of the CNT) and Laura Vicente (Doctor of Contemporary History at the University of Alicante), author of "Teresa Claramunt. Pionera del feminismo obrerista anarquista".

Venue: Centre Cívic Drassanes - Sala d'Actes. C/Nou de la Rambla 43. ( L-3: Liceu, Drassanes ó Paralel).

- Sunday 7 March 5.00 p.m.

Workshop - Self-managing our health (women-only event - prior registration required: libertariascnt@hotmail.com )

Venue: Casa de la Solidaridad. C/Vistalegre, 15. ( L-2: Sant Antoni)

- Wednesday 10 March 7.00 p.m.

Cine forum: "Adrift (by casual women workers)" Authors: precarias a la deriva.

Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)

- Friday 12 Marzo 7.00 p.m.

Anarcho-feminist Theory & Practice, with La Katino Anarkista (member of the Red Anarcofeminista de Mujeres and creator of the publication "Alejandra") and Vanessa Ortíz, from the Juana Julia Guzmán collective (Bogota).

Venue: Fundació d'Estudis Llibertaris i Anarcosindicalistes - FELLA. C/Joaquin Costa 34. ( L-3: Catalunya ó L-1 i L-2 Universitat).

- Saturday 13 March 5.00 p.m.

Anarchist women propagandizing The Idea, with María Ángeles García Maroto, anarcho-feminist journalist and writer, member of the Alcoi SOV, and Antonina Rodrigo, writer, author of the book "Amparo Poch y Gascón, médica y anarquista".

Presentation of feminist publications. RAG (Ireland), Herstory (Barcelona), Histeria (Barcelona), Mujeres Preokupando 8 (Barcelona) and others...

Venue: Centre Cívic Pati Llimona. C/Regomir 3. ( L-3: Liceu ó L-4 Jaume I).

- Sunday 14 March 5.00 p.m.

Feminist self-defence workshop. Organized by a Barcelona self-defence group (women-only event - prior registration required: libertariascnt@hotmail.com ).

Venue: Casa de la Solidaridad. C/Vistalegre, 15. ( L-2: Sant Antoni)

- Friday 19 March 7.00 p.m.

Animal liberation, liberation of the land and liberation of women. Natalia, Maria, Isabella and Clara.

Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)

- Saturday 20 March 5.00 p.m.

Mujeres Libres, yesterday and today, with Martha Ackelsberg, professor of Political Science and Women's & Gender Studies at Smith College, Northampton, MA (USA) and author of "Free Women of Spain: Anarchism and the Struggle for the Emancipation of Women", together with comrades from the Mujeres Libres in Extremadura and Madrid.

Venue: CCCB – Aula 2. C/ Montalegre, 5 ( L-3: Catalunya ó L-1 i L-2 Universitat).

- Friday 26 March 7.00 a.m.

Gender, race and class. Carla.

Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)

- Saturday 27 March 11.00 a.m.

Sexual Diversity and anarchism: debate organized by D-género, a pro-sexual liberation libertarian collective from Madrid, Karolina, Filipo Brenda and Maricarmen.

Venue: Centre Cívic Barceloneta. C/Conreria 1 – 9. ( L-4: Barceloneta).

* Workshops are for women only. Prior registration is required - write to: libertariascnt@hotmail.com . Dates for the workshops are subject to change, and in this case participants will be advised by email. Further workshops may be organized if the maximum number of participants is exceeded.

Organized by:
Comisión del CeNTenario (Barcelona)

English translation by FdCA-International Relations Office
Related Link: http://www.cnt.es/centenario

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SWITZERLAND:

CONFERENCE IN WINTERTHUR:

For Molly's European readers here's news of an interesting anarchist conference coming up in Winterthur Switzerland next year. The original source is the Libertäre Aktion Winterthur site. In came Molly's way via the A-Infos site. Seems like another one of those "machine translations", and, unfortunately, I can't fix it for my readers as I don't read German. I went to the original hoping that, being Switzerland, they might have a French version, but no such luck. The city of Winterthur (pop ~100,000) is located in northeast Switzerland, and about 83% of the population lists German as their language. French speakers fall below the number of Albanian ! speakers in that part of Switzerland. Still, I presume that a good proportion of the comrades in the city itself speak French. Therefore I have made minimal editorial changes in the following aside from the first sentence which made little sense in the A-Infos version.

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Switzerland, 6. Anarchy Days in Winterthur:

For the sixth time the Libertarian Action Winterthur (your local contact person for anarchist theory and practice) comes to the long-awaited "anarchy days." On the weekend of 11 to 13 February is waiting for you a wellness program for mind and soul that can compare with any Luxuskurprogramm too( I think I get the sense of this-Molly ).

-- Accompanied by culinary delights and rounded off by a musical evening program will once again make this year a handful of high-quality presentations for highlights in the political Winterthur's annual calendar. Presented to you is nothing less than the most interesting developments in the international class struggle. Prominent political figures from around the world will you answer questions about worker resistance, indigenous movements, Marxism, anarcho-syndicalism, Council Communism, and more.

This is the opportunity to finally wiedermal (???-Molly ) adults can enjoy entertainment at the highest level and for nothing! Hardly believing sowas? During the conversation, it will not remain, however. Alone has the power of the collective dynamics of social change debate should arise. Come on over, inform yourself, networked you criticize, mach mit! All interested people are welcome!

PROGRAM

Friday 12 February 2010

19h Old Barracks, Technikumstrasse 8

Vegan vokü

20:30 Old Barracks, Technikumstrasse 8

On the concept of social change in the (anarchist) syndicalism.

Holger Marcks, lecture and discussion

>> More info

Saturday 13 February 2010

ab 10h Old Barracks, Technikumstrasse 8

Brunch

12h Old Barracks, Technikumstrasse 8

Libertarian and Communist critics compared

Gerhard Hanloser, presentation and discussion

15h Old Barracks, Technikumstrasse 8

The revolutionary self-destruction of the proletariat

Carnation Group, Unit and discussion

ab 18h ggs31, General-Guisan-Strasse 31

Vegan vokü

20h ggs31, General-Guisan-Strasse 31

LAW-Solikonzert

With SamKanalratte (HipHop, SO) & Fritz the tractor driver (TrashElectroRap, BE)

Sunday 14 February 2010

ab 10h ram Metzggasse 8

Brunch

12h ram Metzggasse 8

The architecture of the neo-liberal power and indigenous struggles in Venezuela

El Libertario, lecture and discussion

15pm ram Metzggasse 8

Workers' resistance against the plans of capital

Rainer Thomann, lecture and discussion

Related Link: http://www.anarchietage.ch

by Libertarian Action Winterthur LAW

WATER/CANADIAN LABOUR:

AND NOT A DROP TO DRINK:

Molly has blogged on the subject of water in the past. Here's a report from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) on an ongoing (at this time) conference in Ottawa, talking about this matter.

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Blue Summit tackles key water issues:
The opening day of the Blue Summit highlighted major challenges to public water systems and resources, and drew lessons from winning campaigns.

The two-day conference has drawn more than 300 participants from across the country and internationally, including a group of more than 80 CUPE delegates from every province.
CUPE and the Council of Canadians organized the summit, being held in Ottawa, to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of Water Watch.

CUPE national president Paul Moist’s opening speech celebrated how the water movement has grown over the last decade.

He stressed the importance of working in coalition at the community level, as well as nationally and internationally. Key to that work is strengthening solidarity with First Nations communities, to support their struggles for safe drinking water and proper sanitation services.
The economic crisis creates a moment for change, says Moist.

“We don’t accept a society built on greed and private profit, we want a country and a world built on public services and community values, and we won’t rest until that happens,” he told the plenary.

An opening panel moderated by Morna Ballantyne set the stage for the conference by examining the state of Canada’s water.

Council of Canadians national chairperson Maude Barlow dismissed the Canadian government’s “bogus arguments” for continuing to oppose the right to water at the United Nations. The real reason, she says, is it would conflict with the government’s position that water is a tradable good under NAFTA.

Canada is actively promoting new trade deals – such as a Canada –European Union agreement under negotiation - that put our water services in jeopardy, says Barlow. The Canada EU deal is “more dangerous than NAFTA in terms of everything we hold dear in this country,” she said. This deal, along with changes to the Agreement on Internal Trade, are part of a ‘perfect storm’ of trade deals which seek to open up the $100 to $200 billion in provincial and local spending on public services, including water.

Water policy expert Ralph Pentland outlined how Canada is “in a state of general confusion and gridlock just when a sense of national direction is urgently needed.” He emphasized the need for strong legislation and a national water policy to protect Canada’s water resources.

Assembly of First Nations water expert Irving Leblanc painted a stark picture of the challenges facing many First Nations communities. Poverty, underfunding, a massive infrastructure deficit and the absence of legislation dealing with on-reserve water and wastewater issues have combined to create a First Nations water crisis.

Over 120 First Nations communities live with undrinkable water today. Some of those reserves haven’t had safe water for nearly 15 years, Leblanc told the plenary. He called for full consultation and participation in a planned federal First Nations safe water act – something which has not yet happened.

CUPE researcher Blair Redlin reminded delegates that Canada’s public water and sewage systems were established in the wake of widespread public health problems in the late 1800s and early 1900s. These fledgling services were initially privatized, but were taken over by governments when they failed to deliver.

Redlin criticized how the federal government forces communities to privatize by making funding contingent on P3s. Corporatization of some public utilities is a growing concern he said, pointing to the activities of Edmonton-based EPCOR as well as recent moves to corporatize Winnipeg’s water services.

During the mid-day break, participants rallied on Parliament Hill, saying bold action on climate change can’t wait any longer, and that countering the global water crisis must be part of the solution.World leaders will soon travel to Copenhagen for the UN Climate Change Conference on December 7-18.

CUPE and the Council of Canadians will bring a banner signed by summit delegates to Copenhagen.

“Our government’s climate record speaks for itself, said CUPE National Secretary-Treasurer Claude Généreux. We rank 59th out of 60 countries. And it keeps getting worse. A prime example is the pollution and destruction spewing out of the Tar Sands.”“That’s why we must stand our ground. Together. For water, for the planet, and for our children’s future. The message on our banner makes it crystal-clear: ‘Climate justice is water justice,’” concluded Généreux.

Delegates also participated in workshops and heard an afternoon panel focusing on organizing to win.

The conference opened last night with a party celebrating Water Watch’s birthday. CUPE members, including a number of water and wastewater workers, also held a lively afternoon caucus to share their experiences and strategize about CUPE’s water work.

Couldn’t make it to the summit? Listen in at cupe.ca in the coming weeks for podcasts from the weekend.

UPCOMING EVENTS-USA:

PORTLAND ECONVERGENCE:

Coming up soon in Portland Oregon...the EConvergence. See their website for further details. Not a specifically anarchist events, but with anarchist input and some anarchist speakers. Here's their intro...

ECECECECECECEC

Economic and Ecological Crises:
Our nation and the world face two great crises. The financial crisis of 2008 triggered the worst economic slump since the Great Depression. Foreclosures, bankruptcies, and layoffs continue as older generations watch hard earned savings vanish, younger families live in fear of layoffs and bills they cannot pay, students despair of finding jobs when they graduate, and immigrants face detention and deportation. Meanwhile, the government lavishes trillion dollar bailouts without conditions on the Wall Street banks whose reckless behavior brought on the crisis, but vacillates when it comes to launching aggressive programs to help those who live on Main Street.

The greatest ecological crisis humanity has ever faced continues unabated. Temperatures rise, ice melts, and rain forests disappear as the planet lurches forward into dangerous, uncharted waters. Meanwhile, well-heeled lobbyists for fossil fuel industries and global agribusiness gear up in Washington DC and State legislatures across the country to stymie attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Northwest region of the United States has pioneered effective responses to environmental and economic problems in the past. A decade ago the “Battle for Seattle” during the World Trade Organization Ministerial meetings sparked a critical reevaluation of neoliberal globalization. Now that this model has been discredited, it is time for us to collectively determine what comes next.

This October, a group of internationally known speakers headed by Noam Chomsky will join academics, activists, and visionary thinkers from the Northwest region in Portland, Oregon to explore the way forward out of the twin crises challenging humanity. The gathering will take place in downtown Portland at the First Unitarian Church, whose ministries have a long history of aiding campaigns promoting social justice and environmental preservation, and at nearby Portland State University.

More than forty environmental, labor, human rights, social justice, student, peace, and community organizations from all over the Northwest have been working together since the beginning of the year to organize the conference. The program committee received over a hundred exciting proposals for panels, workshops, and cultural events in response to its RFP. Each day there will be plenaries as well as scores of panels and workshops exploring how we can make positive changes within our communities and push national leaders to respond more effectively to the economic and environmental crises.

If you would like to know more, or get involved in planning the conference as an individual or as a participating organization, visit the “contact” section of the web site.

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-RUSSIA:
AUTONOMOUS ACTION GENERAL ASSEMBLY-RUSSIA:


The following report was originally written for the Anarkismo website. In the last few days it has also been published in numerous other places, including the Avtonom website in Russia and the A-Infos website. It is important because it shines a spotlight on the recovery of anarchism in what was once one of its heartlands-Russia. Since the fall of Marxist dictatorship anarchism in Russia, like in much of the rest of the world, has become pretty well the only credible radical alternative to business as usual and the rule of the kleptocracy. There is still, however, a long way to go, but the following shows how anarchists in Russia are overcoming their initial disorder and forming working organizations.

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Report from 8th General Assembly of Autonomous Action:
by Ellenor Hutson - Liberty & Solidarity

( Molly Note- Liberty and Solidarity is a recently formed British platformist organization )
The setting of the assembly
Earlier this year, Anarkismo.net decided to send a delegate, as an observer representing the organizations which run the Anarkismo project, to the 8th annual conference of Autonomous Action (AD), a libertarian communist organization with branches across Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine. Present at the conference were delegates from 12 different branches of AD, together with observers from the Union of Autonomous Youth and the youth wing of the Siberian Federation of Labour.







The conference was held at a secret location in the Ural Mountains where a campsite was set up from resources laboriously carried uphill over a 6-hour hike. This was a necessary precaution police attention and in addition provided economical conference accommodation in a country were poverty is widespread.
Report from 8th General Assembly of Autonomous Action

This year I was privileged to attend the 8th annual conference of Autonomous Action, an anarchist group with branches across Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine as an observer representing the Anarkismo project.







The conference was held at a secret location in the Ural Mountains where a campsite was set up from resources laboriously carried uphill over a 6-hour hike. This was a necessary precaution police attention and in addition provided economical conference accommodation in a country were poverty is widespread.







The campsite was beautiful; nestled in unspoilt conifer forest teeming with wildlife, much of it unfortunately of the insect variety. The comrades were the most fantastic hosts, going out of their way again and again to make me feel welcome, introduce me to people, find me translators, put me up in their homes before and after the conference and generally take very good care of me during my stay.







During the lengthy journey to the campsite the comrades were able to explain something of the recent history of Russian Anarchism to me which I found very interesting. After having been totally crushed by the Bolshevik movement following the Russian Revolution, Anarchists in Soviet Russia faced the task of rebuilding a movement from scratch in the 1980’s when Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy of Perestroika once again permitted political opposition. This was no easy task given that the number of living anarchists in a country larger than Europe could literally be counted on one hand. The first task of anarchists in the eighties was therefore propaganda initiatives to inform others of the anarchist philosophy.







As in other countries, the anarchist movement has been influenced by sub cultural movements such as punk. The environmental movement has also been a large influence. In particular the Rainbow Keepers, a Russian equivalent of Earth First active in the 1990’s was influenced by anarchist ideas and organisational principles and has been instrumental in popularising anarchist ideas amongst activists.







Coordination of groups leading to the formation of Autonomous Action began around 2000, as an attempt to organise the diffuse elements of anarchist activity into a federation capable of defending itself and coordinating in a more organised way.







Autonomous Action now has around 120 members. 12 branches sent delegates to the General Assembly representing Tyumen,Ufa, Nizhni Novgorod, Moscow, Irkutsk, Magnitogorsk, Novosibirsk, Barnaul, and Minsk. In addition two new groups based in Cheboksary and Kazan were admitted to the federation during the assembly and an individual member attended from St. Petersburg.






Also attending as guests were the Union of Autonomous Youth, the youth wing of the Siberian Federation of Labour, a syndicalism union with approximately 6000 members, mainly in air traffic control, healthcare and public transport. 48 individuals were present in total.







Within the Autonomous Action, individuals and groups must agree to abide by the manifesto and organisational principles. A proposal passed during the conference also requires members to refrain from publicly voicing opinions that contradict agreed AD positions. Beyond this, groups have a large degree of autonomy to adapt their activity to local conditions.







Joint projects and Campaigns are decided through conference but participation by local groups is not compulsory. Resolutions on joint activity have the status of recommendations. The conference resolved several joint projects including the publication of a “how to” activist guide and a national campaign against the Centre for the Prevention of Extremism, a national police initiative targeting activists.





Decisions are made on a national level in three ways: by a vote or the reaching of consensus between group delegates, by conference or by a referendum of members.




Delegates councils are held every two weeks using the internet. Each group is expected to meet regularly in order to discuss the agenda and mandate a delegate. The delegates council have limited powers compared to the conference, for example they are not able to change any rules, or admit collective members or expel members.





Conference makes decisions by consensus if possible and by 2/3rds vote if not. Members not present can send mandates.





The referenda of members allows decisions to be taken on any important issues that come up between conferences. They can be initiated by any group and decided within one month. As with conference consensus is sought first. The period allowed for attempting to reach a consensus is one month after which a 2/3rds majority vote is accepted. This period is shorter than previously as the spread of the internet across the region has now reached the point where all groups have at least one member who is able to obtain internet access. This is improving the efficiency of decision making.





The conference began each morning with physical training. I’m ashamed to say I never found out what this involved, considering that the hike up the mountains on the first day was quite physical enough and preferring to spend my mornings dipping my feet lazily in the river.






The programme then continued with discussion on various subjects often lasting well into the night. Topics included Anti Fascism, Anarchist Black Cross, the economic crisis and training in how to deal with the police.







There was also decision making on national proposals. These were mostly of an administrative nature but also included a proposals for a shared programme of action. There was also discussion of strategy and the direction Autonomous Action should take in the future.





A large amount of the conference was given over to reports from each group on their activity and the situation in their region, followed by discussion and suggestions. This provided an extremely interesting overview of activity and an insight into the working culture of Autonomous Action. I was impressed by the respectful and comradely tone of discussions and the willingness of participants to listen to constructive criticism.







The overwhelming majority of the groups gave significant time in their reports to an account of antifascist and Anarchist Black Cross Activity. The fascist movement in the region is very large although the exact numbers are obscure as many fascists are organised in a decentralised fashion into street gangs.







The neo nazi movement adopts a radical rather than a parliamentary approach and aims at establishing superiority on the street and crushing political opposition as a precursor to seizing state power. The popular slogan “Russia for the Russians” is given effect by regular attacks on migrants. The existence of these movements clearly necessitates a militant response from the anarchist movement. Comrades reported that violence is escalating, frequently involving the use of knives where previously only fists had been used.







Nationally, 9 comrades have been killed by fascists in the last few years: Nikolay Girenko, Timur Kacharava, Aleksandr Ryukhin, Stanislav Korepanov, Ilya Borodaenko, Fyodor Filatov, Stanislav Markelov, Anastasia Baburova and Ilya Dzhaparidze.







Of these, Timur Kacharava and Ilya Borodaenko and Anastasia Baburova were anarchists, and Ilya and Anastasia also members of Autonomous Action.







There is a great deal of racism in wider society against people from the Caucasus and central Asia which the fascists are able to exploit. One comrade told me that more people would probably be involved in fascist movements were it not for the fact that the soviet years had engendered a sense of cynicism towards political expression of any sort!





Only a few groups were able to report superiority on the streets or progress in preventing the fascists from organising. The more common anarchist experience is of being outnumbered locally by fascists. The level of state attention on anarchists is also high. The movement has political prisoners and many groups had experienced harassment from the Centre for Prevention of Extremism. This partially reflects on the militant tactics employed by antifa but is not wholly explained by this. Although the delegates from Ufa reported that general political activism is distinguished from militant anti fascism and is tolerated locally this experience is unrepresentative and in any case is only a recent development there.







Unsurprisingly therefore, participation in the Anarchist Black Cross is a very popular activity for members of Autonomous Action. Anarchist Black Cross activities include collecting money for lawyers fees, collecting and publishing information about prisoners, educating activists in basic legal rights and tactics when dealing with the police and supporting resistance by prisoners.





Anarchist Black Cross activity is coordinated over the Autonomous Action email list. This is apparently not wholly efficient and some difficulty was reported in obtaining accurate information. A proposal was made to delegate responsibility for some tasks to named individuals but this was decided against on the basis of wishing to avoid the creation of an elite of ABC activists and in favour of generalised responsibility shared by all.





Apart from Anti Fascism and the ABC, groups reported a large range of other activities including, animal rights campaigning, environmental campaigns, propaganda production and movie clubs, food not bombs initiatives and attempts to organise factory workers and tenants and student unions and to campaign on bread and butter issues such as the price of public transport.







Anarchists, particularly in Ufa are also involved in LGBT issues, Russia is quite socially conservative and the rights of LGBT people are not always respected. For example a Gay Pride march in Moscow was subject to a counter demonstration by members of the Russian Orthodox church amongst other reactionaries.





Anarchists appear to have achieved the greatest public support for environmental campaigns, understandably so as many of the projects opposed are harmful to local people as well as to the environment more generally.





It would be fair to say, however, that the pursuit of social organising and campaigning work is often overshadowed by the pressing need for survival and self defence. This is not to criticise Autonomous Action, which struck me as successfully maintaining a decent organisation under tremendous pressure. One delegate, in a particularly beleaguered region reported that “All we do is just hang banners and fight for survival.”





Other delegates commented on increased organisation challenges facing their groups as a consequence of repression from police or neo nazi’s. For example groups may find that membership suffers as individuals become dissuaded from remaining in the movement. This prompts a need for greater recruitment activity and a relatively high turn over of activists, leading to a greater requirement for internal education and training.





Autonomous Action appears capable of responding effectively to these challenges although solidarity from abroad is of course always welcome! The conference gave the impression of a small movement but one which is focused and well organised. One comrade commented that although membership had been steady at around 100 people for the last few years but that the quality of participants had increased terms of serious and self discipline.





All in all a fantastic bunch of comrades! I can only end the report by thanking them all for their hospitality over an inspiring and informative week.
Ellenor Hutson
Liberty & Solidarity
Report written for Anarkismo.net
Autonomous Action's website:
http://avtonom.org/
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RUSSIAN ANARCHIST SITES:

In addition to Avtonom mentioned above there are a number of other Russian anarchist links in this blog's Links section. The following is a quick list, and excludes a number of links in other ex-Soviet republics such as Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia. A general overview of anarchism in the ex-Soviet bloc, including numerous links can be found at the Abolishing the Borders From Below website.

**Indymedia Russia http://ru.indymedia.org/

**Indymedia St. Petersburg http://piter.indymedia.org/

**Indymedia Siberia http://imc-siberia.org/

**Moscow Anarchist Black Cross http://www.myspace.com/abcmsc

**Praxis Research and Education Center Moscow http://www.praxiscenter.ru/

**Free Trade Union confederation of Tomsk http://kulac/narod.ru/mainpeng.htm

**KRAS http://www.aitrus.narod.ru/

**Federatsiya Anarcho-Kommunistou http://fakrostov.narod.ru/





There are numerous other links in the Russian language which are listed HERE at the Avtonom website. Most of these are simply email addresses. Some are no longer current. the interested reader is urged to consult that list for a fairly complete listing as of earlier this year.

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:

NORTH AMERICAN ANARCHIST STUDIES NETWORK CONFERENCE:

A special "tip of the Molly tail" to DP Alex here in Winnipeg for passing this notice on to me.

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North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference

FIRST EVER!:
Host:
NAASCN
Type:
Meetings - Convention
Start Time:
Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 8:00am
End Time:
Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 5:00pm
Location:
Charter Oak Cultural Center
Street:
21 Charter Oak Avenue
Hartford, CT
Email:
anarchiststudies@hotmail.com
Description
Call For Papers, Presentations, Panels!!

The 1st North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference

Association Nord-Américain des Etudes Anarchistes

Asociación Norteamericana de Estudios Anarquistas

When:

November 21st and 22nd, 2009

Where:

Hartford, Connecticut USA: at Charter Oak Cultural Center (21 Charter Oak Ave.)

We are pleased to announce the beginning of the North American Anarchist Studies Network (NAASN). We see this as a space to develop theoretical and empirical work that pays critical attention to anarchism and items of interest to the anarchist milieu. Likewise, we see the creation of this network as a way for North American anarchists who do scholarly work to be able to support each other in our endeavors and create a space for critical dialogue and reflection.

This conference, then, is not only a place for us to discuss our research, dialogue with one another in panels, and educate ourselves through presentations. It is also a place for discussing the development and future course of the NAASN–so if you would like to be involved, please do so! As well, this provides us with a venue for discussing the role of the theoretician and the researcher in the larger project of dismantling capitalism, the state, and domination in all of its forms.

We are calling for papers, panels, and presentations to be given at the founding conference. Creativity in format and presentation is encouraged, as are submissions from people who may not currently have a university affiliation. As anarchists, we want to disrupt rather than perpetuate the lines drawn between the official academy and the production of knowledge. Papers, panels, and presentations should focus on work on anarchism or topics of interest to the anarchist milieu. Importantly, we see this as an occasion for dialoguing with one another to learn and grow, and would like to avoid sectarianism, personal attacks, and debating-to-win.

Please send proposals and/or abstracts with a brief bio to the conference organizers: Jesse Cohn, Luis Fernandez, Nathan Jun, Deric Shannon, and Abbey Willis at anarchiststudies@hotmail.com . Please keep descriptions and/or abstracts under 500 words. All proposals and abstracts are due by October 10, 2009. Likewise, vendors and organizations may email us at the above address to arrange for table space.

For a new world, free of institutionalized coercion and control! And for a present living and organizing in ways that embody that future as best we can!

The Organizers for the 1st North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference

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MOLLY NOTE:

If the uninformed (like me) reader of the above is rather puzzled about the connections to other such anarchist events and organizations...welcome to the club. This much I can tell you. This event has no connection to the upcoming 'Reimaging Society' conference which is an entirely Z Communications sponsored meeting. As to the connection with the British Anarchist Studies Network and the now-cancelled 'Renewing the Anarchist Tradition' conference previously slated for next October and being sponsored by the Institute for Anarchist Studies your guess is as good as mine. I have to say that, as I tried to track this down, I felt one of those massive headaches that are an occupational hazard for anyone trying to track the "political differences" amongst anarchist groups in France or Trotskyist groups anywhere in the world coming on. I'm only going to go so far in this sort of search. Whether the new North American Anarchist Studies Network is a reinvention of the Institute for Anarchist Studies as an attempt at renewal or a bizarre expression of the petty nature of internal academic "politics" where personal differences are everything and actual program is less than nothing is beyond me. Perhaps others could enlighten me.

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:

COMMON CAUSE CONFERENCE:

This just in from the website of the Ontario platformist organization Common Cause.

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Report: 2009 Common Cause Conference:

On August 1 and 2, 2009, in the city of Toronto, Common Cause, an Ontario anarchist organization, held its third annual Ontario-wide conference. In attendance were members from our Ottawa, Toronto and Hamilton branches and several new members from London.

The first day began with reports from Ontario officers and local branches giving us a good overview of our second year as an organization. The 2008/2009 year saw us focus on both internal and public education. Internally, highlights included holding our first internal Day School in Hamilton in late June, a big step in developing a common vision and strategy across the organization. We also continued to be active in the international anarchist movement, sending a delegate to Anarkismo.net and to the organizing committee for the North American Class Struggle Anarchist Conference.

Externally, branches successfully organized the second Hamilton Anarchist Book Fair, (June, 2009), the first Organizing4Justice conference (Ottawa, October 2008) and participated in the first Toronto Anarchist Gathering (April, 2009). The Hamilton branch continued to host well-attended monthly anarchist discussion groups while the Toronto branch laid the groundwork to begin organizing public discussion groups in that city. We also developed a presentation, titled “The Role of the Anarchist Organization” which was presented in three cities. (Anyone interested in hosting the talk in their city should contact the Ontario secretary. Contact information is listed below).

Common Cause members also continued to be active in a wide range of struggles including queer and women's groups, indigenous solidarity, unions, anti-war, prisoner support work, anti-security certificates organizing and anti-racism work. Members were part of two important victories this year: the release of the last person held on national security certificates and the organizing of the first ever post-doctoral fellows union in Canada.

Following reports we discussed and voted on a number of resolutions. Key resolutions that were passed included: empowering Delegate Council to pass strategy papers in between annual conferences, upping the share of members' dues sent to the Ontario treasurer from 50% to 60% percent in order to fix the imbalance between local accounts and the provincial treasury, and creating a literature working group. Importantly we passed a new publishing plan and format for our newspaper, Linchpin. It will now be published bi-annually, but with more content and in greater numbers. It was hoped that this will set the newspaper on a more sustainable and effective path after publishing was put on hold over the summer as funds ran out.

The day ended with Ontario officer elections. With the exception of the Out of Province Secretary, all positions were rotated repeating a similar pattern as last year. We were encouraged to see newer members take on some of the positions.

After an evening of socializing, the second day of the Conference was taken up with a set of strategy sessions. The 5 topics were: building Common Cause, collective campaigns, the labour movement and community organizing, political education/developing our ideas and media, journalism, outreach. The sessions included both break outs into small groups as well as a closing plenary.

By the end of the conference we felt that a lot has been accomplished this year both internally and externally for what still remains a small political organization. However it was recognized that we still have a long way to go before we can play the kind of role that we envision for an anarchist organization in Ontario. Specifically, members expressed the desire to see us organize campaigns at the Ontario level, doing a better job of popularizing anarchist ideas via our newspaper and website, and making more progress on developing strategy for specific areas of organizing. It was the common feeling of the members that taking these steps will depend on our ability to attract new members as well as increase the skills and knowledge of current ones.
A lot of work awaits us in what is likely to be a key year for Common Cause. With a well-organized and productive conference we begin the year with a good start.

If you are interested in learning more or getting involved with Common Cause please contact us at: commoncauseontario[at]gmail[dot]com, or use the contact form on our website at http://linchpin.ca/ or write to us at P.O. Box 347, Station E, 772 Dovercourt Rd., Toronto, ON, Canada, M6H 4E3

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-GUELPH ONTARIO:

DEEPENING OUR ROOTS:

Fresh from their recent victory at preventing development at the Hanlon Creek Business Park (see the Hanlon Creek Business Park Occupation News) anarchists in and about Guelph Ontario are planning a conference for this August 29. Here's the lowdown from their website.

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DEEPENING OUR ROOTS:DEVELOPING NETWORKS OF RESISTANCE IN GUELPH AND SOUTHERN ONTARIO:

This event is organized by participants in the HCBP occupation as an opportunity to move forward, now that we are no longer on the site. So many people came by the occupation, to camp, hang out and talk, or donate supplies, and so many other people have emailed or phoned us with expressions of support and solidarity. We would like to get to know all of you better, and discover ways we can work together on the HCBP and issues that others are involved with.

As we have made clear from the beginning of the occupation, this is about more than just the HCBP site, and there are so many interconnected issues and similar struggles that we are, or want to be, in active solidarity with. The success of the HCBP occupation helped restore faith in all of us that there are a lot of people out there who want to help make the world a better place, and who want to be a part of some kind of action that makes a difference. This event is one attempt to strategize together about where to go from here.

There will be many people coming to this event who are doing amazing work in Guelph, including people working to protect the land in other parts of the City, and others working on community food security and creating a sustainable way of life. There will also be people coming from the movement to stop Dump Site 41, as well as Land Defenders from Six Nations of the Grand River, and the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory (for some info see this support page).
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Here’s some info:
Deepening our Roots: Developing Networks of Resistance in Guelph and Southern Ontario
Saturday, August 29, 11-4
Free, family friendly, childcare provided
Potluck lunch (please bring your own dishes, and don’t worry if you can’t bring any food)
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Come share free food and take part in discussions on:
* developing networks that can support each other in protecting the land,
* working towards creating sustainable and free/autonomous communities, that can address our collective needs for food, medicine, shelter, and safety, without reliance on the industrial economy and the government,
* moving forward and broadening the scope of the efforts to prevent the HCBP,
and more.
Contact us by email at hcbpoccupation@gmail.com with any questions.
*****************
This event is open to contributions… if you would like to present on an issue you are working on, please get in touch! If you would like to distribute info, speak on an issue, or offer any other contribution, please get in touch, we are open to your ideas. This will be a fairly informal event, with time to socialize outside of prescribed workshop/discussion periods.

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AND MORE:

There is also a fundraising concert in Guelph on the 29th. Here's the info.

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Also on August 29 – Fundraising concert at Ed Video, downtown Guelph:
Some good folks have organized a fundraising concert for Saturday August 29, the same day as the Deepening our Roots event, posted below. The concert’s funds will go towards legal fees.

There will be speakers, and music from Phone Went West, 6:1, Kelly Rose, First Rate People, and more. Tickets $7 at the door, plus pay-what-you-can donations are welcome. Starts at 7pm, at Ed Video, 40 Baker St.

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-BELLEVILLE:

A PARTIAL SUCCESS IN BELLEVILLE:

I must admit that I had some trepidation about reprinting the following article from the A-Infos website. It's a report done for the local news media about a recent conference of the Ontario Common Front, and its tone is, to say the least, somewhat mocking. I guess that there was something to mock, as the conference hardly operated like a well-oiled machine. But, in the interests of perhaps learning something, here is the article. Maybe one of the first things to learn is not to invite the media unless you are sure that all is going as well as can be expected. Perhaps another thing is not to be overly ambitious and not to depend too much on others.

Canada, Belleville, MEDIA, Ontario Common Front (OCF) conference at the Organic Underground coffee shop:

Chaos at anarchist event

---- Anarchists from across southern Ontario gathered in Belleville Saturday, and the result was, well, anarchy.

---- Even organizers of the event laughed about the irony of anarchists organizing a meeting.

---- "It's not an oxymoron," Belleville activist Samuel Kuhn said with a smile. He explained even anarchists need to network, particularly with several major global events planned for 2010.

---- The OCF was created in the 1990s during the years of Premier Mike Harris's Progressive Conservative government. The network's member groups include Belleville's Tenant Action Group, the Belleville Against Social Injustice Collective (BASIC) and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty.

---- Kuhn and Terry Douglas, an OCF member from Picton, were among the organizers of Saturday's meeting.

Douglas said the current local membership of the OCF fluctuates between about six and 12 members .He said he'd been working for the last month to "regenerate an interest in working with the OCF because there are so many upcoming issues."

Advocacy is a big part of what we do," Douglas said, recalling past involvement in First Nations protests in Tyendinaga and Caledonia.

Numerous speakers were invited to present their views and calls for action on a variety of subjects, from indigenous peoples' issues -- including disputed land claims on both the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory and British Columbia's 2010 Olympic Winter Games site -- to next year's G8 summit and a meeting of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. The 2007 SPP summit in Montebello, Que. resulted in large protests.

"This is ... left-progressives making mutual plans for 2010," said Kuhn, describing the conference as a rare chance for activists from British Columbia to Ottawa to exchange ideas.

The original plan called for a 10 a. m. start, with morning discussions on various causes. A closed afternoon session would then allow activists to start planning demonstrations.

But from the beginning, Douglas said with a laugh, "it was anarchy." By noon, several speakers had yet to arrive, including all of the speakers intended for the indigenous peoples' workshop.The Mohawk delegate hadn't yet arrived, the Chilean delegates had cancelled, and the Palestinians were stranded because, as Kuhn said, "one person had their car confiscated for speeding."

Speaking to the first dozen audience members to arrive, Kuhn couldn't help but smirk as he conceded some anarchy had indeed happened and apologized for the late start. Douglas said up to 40 people attended eventually and many workshops ran as intended, but there was no time for the afternoon planning session. He said he was pleased by the turnout and workshops.

Among the participants was Belleville's Patti Gillman. She's lobbying against the use of Tasers, especially in law enforcement. Her brother, 44-year-old Robert Bagnell, died June 23, 2004 after being Tasered by police in British Columbia. She arrived at Saturday's meeting with a list of 403 people who since 1999 have died in North America after being shocked by the stun guns.

"I'd like to see a moratorium on Tasers until we can figure out why they're killing people," Gillman said, adding she wanted to meet like-minded activists. "I think we have cells of people across the country that are horrified by this, and I don't know how to gather them. This seems like a good place."

Douglas and Kuhn said activists want to "resist the state" because of the current recession and issues such as the conflicts in Afghanistan and Gaza. "You're seeing the radicalization across North America, and we're a sign of that," said Kuhn. He told the group "there is lots of talk about disrupting" the Olympic torch route through the Quinte region.

Anarchists had slated an information picket for one of Halla Climate Control Canada Inc.'s Belleville plants. Halla's parent company, Visteon Corp., has laid off hundreds of workers in Europe, resulting in worker occupations of plants there.

"We've been asked to do an action against the local plant," said Kuhn. Kuhn said OCF members would hand out information on Visteon's labour situation and the protests to Halla workers."We want to make sure the workers know what's happening to their brothers and sisters in Europe," Kuhn said.

He and Douglas said the protest could escalate depending on the workers' response. There was no plan to stage a sit-in like those in Europe, they said, but that's up to the workers."We're not going to go in and take it on ourselves if they're not interested," Douglas said.

He said Sunday the activists will likely meet Wednesday to discuss their plans and a protest date."That will be up to the consensus of the group," he said.

Asked again why anarchists needed a consensus before acting, Douglas let out a big laugh."It's got to go through legislation," he joked. (This seems like a good takeoff for one of Molly's infamous "trick polls"-see later)