Michael, Day 20 BPSDB

Michael talks about various aspects of the Fast, such as

• the stages he has been experiencing
• the risks involved
• where the determination comes from (the “why”)

Very useful if you are planning to fast for Copenhagen Dec 6th – 18th.

If you don’t know about the Climate Justice Fast hunger strike you can learn all about it here and in these posts (most recent first):

• Hunger Strike Day 13, retrospectives and reflections
• Days of doubts and fears
• The Climate Justice Fast Six
• Climate Justice Fast, ripples and waves
• Climate Justice Fast – Change is now!
• Climate Justice Fast is to be … indefinite
• Climate Justice Fast begins Nov 6th, how will you be helping?

Paul, Day 19

Paul makes the very important point that statements of support mean a lot to the Fasters, so please take a moment and share what you feel.

Interview with Paul on Radio 2SER-FM 107.3

Martha

A drop of water blood

Mother

Are you crying?

Forgive us our sins

For we know not what we have done

Forgive me

So I can give the last drop to my brother

Horizontal

Because he is your son

And I am not your daughter.

Maybe I forgot

Your daughters feed the world.

They say I am

Mother, how did it happen

Your wounds?

Hungry for justice.

“Climate change is not caused by human activity:  it is caused by a certain type of human activity, namely, the pursuit of superprofits and the plundering of the Earth.  This wasn’t possible without a view of the world as providing endless resources (particularly stupid in the case of non-renewables), or a view of relations that sees human beings as superior to other beings, men superior to women, one group of people superior to another…

The world’s poor, and especially women and children, will suffer the most from climate change.  They already are:  the threshold has already been crossed in some regions.

The men who deny climate change (for they are almost exclusively men, and the majority of people running the corporations and leading the industry lobbies are men) are unreceptive to facts, and apparently don’t mind the disappearance of a few million women.  Nor do they seem to feel any responsibility for the care and protection of children.  It’s not a surprise to me that so many climate change deniers also argue that the world’s main crisis is a ‘population explosion’.

I thank deniers for making it so clear to me that climate change is a social justice issue.

Mother, I am your daughter.  And he is not your son.”

—-

The Punch published this article:

It’s our fault not enough’s being done on warming

The Climate Justice Fast!, an international hunger strike for action on the climate crisis, is currently on day 17.

Look up!

Let’s be frank. Australia’s response to climate change so far is a disgrace. It is well understood, by even Kevin Rudd and Penny Wong, that the emissions reduction targets of the carbon pollution reduction scheme (CPRS) are scientifically inadequate to effectively respond to climate change.

and Paul discusses civil disobedience and how the Fast is inspiring people:

“Over the 20th century, ocean temperatures in the North Atlantic main development region warmed during peak hurricane season, with the most pronounced warming occurring over the last four decades.”  Earth Gauge

We give our consent every moment that we do not resist.

IMAGE CREDITS:

Ripple by ~~Tone~~

Comment Policy

Comments that are not relevant to the post that they appear under or the evolving discussion will simply be deleted, as will links to Denier spam known to be scientific gibberish

• The “Mostly” Open Thread” is for general climate discussion that is not relevant to a particular post. Spam and abuse rules still apply;
• The “Challenging the Core Science” Comment Thread is for comments that purport to challenge the core science of anthropogenic climate change.

http://www.podomatic.com/podcast/embed/1026661/11605381160538

What I am thankful for…..2009…

Besides what I would have been thankful for in my pre-LAM life…..enough money for our family to live on….a shelter from the elements that is home and a place for us to enjoy and rest….food to eat…heat when it’s cold outside and ways to cool off when it’s blistering hot……a community to enjoy the cycles of life with…..friends….family….the beauty of nature….books and movies and the other myriad of ways to entertain ourselves…..good work to be involved in….

I’m also thankful for these things: another year with stable pft tests……a trip to the mountains and a long ride up a chairlift where the air is thin and I can barely breathe but no pneumothorax happens……not having to explain to my kids what that oxygen machine in the closet I breathe out of sometimes when I have colds is REALLY all about (please let them keep their innocence about mom having a fatal disease as long as possible)…..only 4 lung infections instead of 5, or 6, or 10…..LAM research making great strides due to the hard work of organizations like the LAM Treatment Alliance and The LAM Foundation….reaching out through words across the world and making contact with other LAM patients from here to places like Australia…..a fabulous doctor who is warm, incredibly intelligent, always available and just a joy to work with if one has to have a chronic illness….the ability to write and communicate and hopefully make some kind of a difference with words….

There’s much to say about ego’s.
Of course it ain’t bad to have an ego. It is good to have a sense of self being, a sense of self preservation. It is good to know the person you are and what you can achieve. It is even necessary to live in today’s world. To be yourself. Completely
But pretending to be something you’re not. To not know who you are. To not self-reflect. To not know your limitations. To not think of others. To not take into consideration that part or whole of society you ‘re a part of.
Well. To say the least. That just ain’t healthy.
Not for you. Nor for whatever you’re a part of.

And of course it takes a heavy load to take these things into account. But isn’t all this the right thing to do when you want to live the life as a complete human being? Or is it that much better to live in a reality that just isn’t that.
As it is what seems. Not what is.
And what is might be the thing that is needed to be acknowledged for whatever we consider utopia to become true reality.

International Solidarity….. are not just words but ACTION. One cannot expect every justice minded person to put their lives on hold (and risk) and board the next mercy ship to Gaza. To even expect this of people is totally unrealistic. There are family commitments, work or school responsibilities, umpteen situations….

Thanks to L.S. for calling it what it is.

In Amman, I had the chance to interview two cases of exposure to SH where it most commonly occurs, on the main road or in the workplace. My first case Kate (not her real name) was an American-Asian woman in her 30s. Her incident happened in the evening around 8:00pm. She was walking by herself on a foot bridge at 3rd circle. The perpetrator was walking from the other side of the bridge, and when he passed her, he turned around then groped her from behind. Kate said: “When the perpetrator harassed me, I told him ‘haram aleik’ (what you did is prohibited).” He calmly smiled and walked away. After the incident, Kate expressed that she felt sick to her stomach. For many months, Kate became afraid to walk by herself, particularly at night, and she felt hatred for males, seeking to avoid contact with them for over a month after the incident.

Another case Nadine (not her real name) was walking in the early morning around 8:00am up some steps leading onto Rainbow Street in Jabal-Amman, and a man was waiting there. Nadine mentioned that when she walked past him, he placed his hand on her breast – she immediately smacked it off and screamed. The perpetrator turned around and calmly walked down the steps and acted as if nothing had happened. Nadine stated that she screamed “haram!” at him, “but that would not mean anything to someone as Godless as he was – so even using that word was futile.”

These two cases are examples for other women and girls who are victims of SH in Jordan. Unfortunately, these result from a socio-cultural heritage and a weak legal framework in which a woman’s body is treated as property. Jordanian laws provide little or no protection for female victims of violence. Jordan’s penal codes classify SV as against public morals and ethics, explaining that any crime against an individual is a crime against the norms and values (Amnesty International, 2005). The legal and social barriers (culture of silence) and discriminatory legislation in force in Jordan does not act as a restriction to violence, nor does it provide victims with adequate rights for the abuse they have suffered. Therefore, these risks should be taken into serious consideration when confronting the phenomenon of SV.

http://www.7iber.com/2009/11/a-legal-framework-against-sexual-violence/

I picked this up over the summer at the Greenbelt festival, where Alastair McIntosh was speaking. I should have read it earlier really, as it’s book as deep and beautiful as the lochs described in its pages. A strange but compelling blend of politics and poetry, prophecy and protest.

McIntosh begins with a rich and detailed depiction of his childhood on the Isle of Harris, with stories of hunting and fishing, local lairds and bards, Celtic legends and histories of both triumph and atrocity. Foremost among these are the clearances, which saw the Scottish highlands cleared of farmers and crofters and given over to a landowning nobility. Countless thousands moved to the cities or took passage to America, and hundreds of years later Scotland’s feudal system remained. 80% of the land was owned by just 900 families.

A second strand running through this opening section is the creeping force of globalisation and its impact on Hebridean culture. The Islands had a ‘vernacular economy’ based on reciprocity and sufficiency, and this was gradually replaced work and money. “We were classed as poor because nothing went through the cash economy” writes McIntosh, raising the question of what we value, what wealth really is. Instead of sharing and cooperation came wages and consumption, and with them a gradual erosion of identity, community, and responsibility. ‘Progress’ came to the islands, but much was lost in the process.

In spiritual terms, feudalism and globalisation are similarly idolatrous, placing profit before people – “that’s the problem with old-style imperialism and modern corporate globalisation: both serve money before love”. Not that McIntosh suggests a return to the past – rather, we need to ask “how and why and who and what do these things serve? Do they free the spirit and feed the hungry? Do they honour the diversity of life on Earth? Or do they, somewhere or or somebody or something, mean enslavement?”

Part two of the book explores responses to these powers through two case studies. The first is the Isle of Eigg Trust, a group who contested and finally bought back their island homeland from the international playboy lord, kicking off land reform in Scotland in the process. The second is the story of how Redland Aggregates was thwarted in its attempt to create the world’s largest quarry out of the Isle of Harris’ Mount Roineabhal. The public enquiry for the superquarry was the first to include theological arguments, and included the testimony of a native American chief on the sacredness of place and the duty of care for God’s earth. Both are amazing stories and remarkable victories, full of hope and humanity, and well worth the reading.

It’s worth mentioning that not everyone is going to get on with Soil and Soul. McIntosh can reference a Celtic faerie story, a Bible verse, a newspaper article and a psychology study all on the same page. I think that’s wonderful, but I’m reminded of a comment that I got back on one of my essays at university: that it was interesting, but I “should avoid the metaphysical flights of fancy”. That lecturer would miss the point of Soil and Soul entirely, because the message of the book is inseparable from the style in which it is written. It is only in the wellspring of tradition that grounds us in a place, in the metaphor of poetry, in love for each other, for the earth and for God, that we find effective responses to the cold calculation of corporate power.

• Rekindling Community, by Alastair McIntosh

But at the same time I have been very busy (I know, excuses excuses…).  We’re in the midst of ‘Join the Fight Fortnight’, a label  we have given to the two weeks running up to World Aids Day on December 1^st.  I won’t give you an event by event breakdown, mainly because I’ve been spending a lot of my time in the office doing that for press releases, briefing packs and website updates.  So if you’re interested, see http://www.wakeuppune.org/site/index.php/events/past-events. By the way, the World Aids Day banner on the homepage is one of my first experiments with photoshop.  Be proud.

A lot of what we’ve been doing has been very much within my comfort zone – manning stalls, handing out leaflets, explaining the campaign to people and trying to attract their support.  All things which I have been doing for various different causes over the past few years.  There are a few differences though.  The language barrier is perhaps the first; most people here speak English, but it is their second or third language.  (After Hindi, and the language of the state which they grew up in.  Here in Maharashtra it’s Marathi, but Pune is full of people from all over India).  Several times I’ve launched into my spiel about what we’re doing and how people can help only to be faced with a blank look when I’ve finished and a ‘Sorry, can you say that again slowly please?’

The other is that talking about sex, and therefore about HIV, is still very taboo.  After growing up in the UK, it’s amazing to see men in their twenties and thirties getting really embarrassed if you mention condoms, let alone try and give them some free ones.  They stand in a group nudging each other and giggling.  On occasions such as this it is interesting and a little amusing to see the effects of a schooling without any form of sex education.  But the lack of knowledge surrounding sex and STI’s has a darker side too.  According to a recent study, 40% of Indian women have never heard of HIV, let alone how they can protect themselves from it.  Eight out of ten women with HIV in India catch it from their husbands, but it’s a common story for the husbands family to blame the wife and cast her out of their home for infecting their son.  There is still a massive stigma surrounding HIV, manifesting itself in discrimination against those who admit to being HIV+.  Last week I visited the Sahara Aalhad Rehabilitation and Residential Care Centre for people with HIV related illnesses and AIDS, and a lot of their stories were depressingly similar.  Abandoned by friends and family, cast out by their community, it is easy to see how people lose the will to live and stop taking care of themselves.  HIV is classed by the World Health Organisation as a ‘chronic’ condition, like diabetes – without a cure but one which can be managed with treatment and lifestyle choices.  It can take up to twenty years for HIV to develop into full blown AIDs and HIV+ are capable of living full and healthy lives.  But people are dying because they lack the access to this information, or because stigma prevents them from coming forward to get tested or treated.  Visiting a place like Sahara puts it into perspective.  Wearing a charity t-shirt and telling people to wear condoms might sound like trivial activities but here it is a matter of life and death.   Education is the only vaccine we have for HIV, yet in too many places (including “developed” countries like the U.S.) moral conservatives are fighting to keep sex education off the curriculum for good.

<b>THE FREEDOM TO CREATE</b>

Freedom to Create (<a href=”http://www.freedomtocreate.com” target=”_blank”>www.freedomtocreate.com</a>) is an initiative that seeks to improve lives by addressing society’s ability to support and sustain creativity. The initiative focuses on those societies in greatest need.

Directly from their website:

<i><b>A celebration of courage and creativity</b>
Established in 2008, the Freedom to Create Prize is a celebration of the courage and creativity of artists around the world who use their talents to build the foundations for open societies and inspire the human spirit. It is open to artists in all creative fields.

<b>Support for frontline artists</b>
Each year, US$125,000 in prize money is awarded across three categories: Main, Youth and Imprisoned Artist.
The winners of this year’s Prize will be announced at our awards ceremony to be held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, on 25 November 2009. Human rights activist Bianca Jagger, leading human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC and acclaimed documentary maker Nick Broomfield will present the awards.

<b>A growing presence</b>
The Prize has been embraced by artists on the frontlines, the global arts in development sector and the human rights community. This year there were more than 1,000 nominations from over 100 countries.</i>

Last year the Art Action Union promoted this prize in it’s fundamental year, to a very modest and new group of artists. We even ran our own <a href=”http://www.redbubble.com/groups/art-action-without-violence/challenges/134-activism-for-activism-and-freedom-to-create#all-entries%20challenge” target=”_blank”>challenge</a> in parallel with the ideals.

It was with honour and surprise that this year the Art Action Union was identified by this growing prestigious prize and invited to the awards ceremony at the V&amp;A Gallery in London.

<a href=”http://api.ning.com:80/files/sW2Jjkr5K1e7YuCSVh6jF6YgWM4INKX5O5lpHTt76rs_/freedomtocreateprizeinvitation.jpg” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://api.ning.com:80/files/sW2Jjkr5K1e7YuCSVh6jF6YgWM4INKX5O5lpHTt76rs_/freedomtocreateprizeinvitation.jpg?width=425″ alt=”" width=”425″ height=”600″ style=”float: left;”/></a> Unfortunately, I couldn’t go Because I don’t live anywhere near London … and after a frantic mail around couldn’t get anyone there either even though we were very lucky to have the invitation extended to our “colleagues in London” … ho hum! I’ll have to meet Bianca Jagger another day!

What is more important about the awards being in a state of “growing prestige”, is that not only are they attracting the likes of:
<i>HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE BIANCA JAGGER,
AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY MAKER NICK BROOMFIELD
AND HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERT, GEOFFREY ROBERTSON QC</i>
to present the winners, the growing number of entrants on the front line of human need regarding expression have embraced the awards. This year over 1000 entries from over 100 countries has marked <a href=”http://www.freedomtocreateprize.com/The-Prize.asp” target=”_blank”>The Freedom to Create Prize</a> as a special and magical celebration of voice, but contrasted against the dire need to raise community expectations and standards in educating our richest world communities about the sacrifices made by others in their struggle against oppression.

The stories of the finalists themselves are enough to inspire … <a href=”http://api.ning.com/files/YsV3QVgT9J6YZRThQryyahhSJLgGCCW0SZ3c7C0UByE_/2009FreedomtoCreatePrizeshortlistannouncement.pdf” target=”_blank”>please find the press release for the Awards</a> and read their biographies.

The winners will be announced tonight Wednesday the 25 November 2009 … alas without the real time cheers and tears of the Art Action Union’s physical presence, but we are there in spirit and will be advocating the change that these artists need to see in the world.

Boy, did I preach me up a storm today.

*sigh*

It is exhausting.

I was talking with a very interested man from the ACLU, I mean he was interested once we established that NO, I am not asking the ACLU to find my parents for me, NO, I am not concerned that AB372 will LET adoptees get their birth certificates, quite the contrary, YES, I am sure that my birth certificate is sealed, and YES not to everyone but to me, to my natural mother and father but NO, NOT to my adoptive parents. YES, it is different for those adopted in Marin County vs. San Francisco, Orange Vs. Los Angeles. NO, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

We had to go through the whole thing about how does this relate to civil liberties. I find when you use the word discrimination, one group, through no self-selected behavior of their own is denied what everyone else enjoys, that is more understandable. I mean to me the idea is obvious, but then I have lived with this my whole life.

I had this really awesome teacher in grade 7, and I always remember her saying that when you are giving someone new information on average it takes seven repetitions for them to be able to understand it. It didn’t take this guy that long, but hey he works for the ACLU. He was very sympathetic and gave me some direction for their organization. The guy I talked to in Philly said that the ACLU was in the process of coming up with national policy vs. the chapter by chapter stuff, but then again I also had to inform him that the ACLU had in fact supported discrimination against adoptees.

I talked to a couple of other people, one a very smart guy with a lot of activism experience, another a very smart guy with a lot of adoption experience. They kept saying the same thing, “you guys have no money” which we don’t. Am I aware that there are 2 wars, 27 bankrupt states, people with real problems? Yeah, I am. I do notice.

I swear to God, I mean for crying out loud, all day long I deal with negotiations, money, business, I am all about efficacy. I bring that idea to my activism, the economy of resources. I don’t know why people don’t understand that about me. Professionally, people don’t question me, and my clients tease me about being a soft-spoken ball-buster.

Though, my demeanor has been a something of a detriment, I am soft-spoken and bubbly in real life, that can create the perfect climate for a sucker punch however. It is not translating at this point for me in my activism life.

When I was speaking to one gentleman, trying to glean what I can from his experience and he was telling about the big bad world, don’t tell anyone, but I actually live in it. At one point anyway, I could feel the tears in the back of my eyes, I don’t know if he could see them. Not the kind that fall or even make your eyes water, but as he was detailing obstacle after obstacle.

I said, quietly, becasue I really try to avoid the personal in activism work, “Yes, but there are reasons that people are activists, there is a personal story that fuels the passion, I have one of those. I have no choice. I know this may be impossible, but I still have to do this.”

He agreed with me.

It sucks that I can’t convey, the truth of the matter is for me, denying someone their own birth certificate is telling them their life doesn’t matter as much as the next persons. Oh that is just my feeling, not cold hard fact so no need to argue me that, that is another reason you can’t bring it up, it doesn’t translate.

It is weird, it is as if I have this debt to pay. If I can just do this one thing, or not even me, I don’t need to do it. If I can just help right this one injustice, I feel like I could walk away from a memory with the satisfaction that I tried to make it right.

Oh, I know I can lose. The thing I am referring to, my friend’s suicide. I have blogged a lot about suicide becuse it has been a big part of my life. There is one in particular though that I blogged about just a couple of posts ago. The other part of that loss, which I don’t think I have blogged about. Is that how I came to know that guy’s story. Cara brought him to me, she told him I could help him.

I never said I could. I never claimed to be the adoptee -helper -makes- your- hamburger- make- a -great- meal. Still I tried. I could listen, I could care. His mother was not like my mother however, she was awful. I can’t change that. I lost.

I am not trying to say adoptees are suicidal or paint us as pathetic. This is one story of a million adoptee stories I know, it is just this is the one that makes me feel like, goddammit. Goddammit, I tried and failed and the only thing I can do now is get your goddammed birth certificate unsealed, because your birth was not a crime, you were not a crime you were just as worthy as any other bastid with married parents.

It sucks.

I call my mom, she good with stuff like this. She bounces things back to me, “oh that was just glib” on his part. “You should write a cover letter”

“How do I make a cover letter short enough?” I ask.

“Practice and editing” she retorts.

I call one of the most sparkly bastids in the universe across the miles. I complain about being told today again that if a contact veto can get 98% of bastids their birth certificates, who am I to oppose that? Who am I with my cozy, cooperative mother who would call the NCFA if I asked her to. That the NCFA really believes they are protecting her, I have a hard time believing that, but still. My mom would totally go to bat for me and her, and she has.

She tells me the counter that I have heard so many times before but she says it better than anyone else. “Okay, what if we let 98% of women vote? If their husband isn’t okay with it, he can just send a note.”

I laugh, “Well you know it may cause problems in the marriage if she votes, He may have to drive himself into a lake” Thinking, if that is the case, I’d like to be the one to warm up the car for him or the beemommy who can’t get her crap together.

She made the point, there is more equality in states that allow zero access over tiered access.

Yes, I know there a problems that concern the general population that seem much more pressing, I know that compromisers tug tremendously at my heart strings but I still cannot find it in my heart to participate in discrimination against myself or my poor old dead friend, because guess what?

He would have a contact veto.

I am bouyed by the wonderful people in my life. “I love you” my adoptee friend says, “I love you too” I respond and it warms my heart how much she feels like my tribe.

I remember the saying from the artworld of the 90’s “the personal is political”

I got asked today, “Do you know this is a movement that bakes its own babies?”

Yes, I know. I have been baked myself so many times that I can’t keep track. If I cared more I would create a widget, if I knew how to create a widget and archive all the personal attacks against me.

All I can say to those who know better, who can do better, please do. The only thing you will get from is heartfelt thanks and perhaps one of those awful David and Co. gift baskets. You have direction for me? I am happy to follow it. I want results. It is 2009, I was born a long time ago, even though I have had my birth certificate, if I want another copy I have to go through my adoptive parents. Remember though, doing better means no one is left behind. No one gets a redacted certificate.

I don’t WANT to be doing this.

I finger my mail, which of course has the holiday beg from one of the only charitable organizations I support AFSA, and can I just say it is rude of my mom to laugh at the birthday card I get from them every year?

I pick up the phone again and dial, “Hello, yes, my name is Joy XXXXXX, I am calling to talk to…Yes, I will hold”

In the general blaze of activity of other things I managed to forget mentioning the public consultations on the Bonaventure/Dalhousie Corridor project Tuesday night. Round 2 is tonight.
24 11 09 Les consultations publiques commencent ce soir / Public consultations begin tonight – 19h, Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde, 1110 rue Mansfield .
Gazette review of Round 1 here.
Have to say these public consultations have moved quite a ways from kitchen tables, community centres, and coffee shops.

Mercy (right) and Melissa (left) are sisters sponsored by Tariro

In this week’s post, I’d like to introduce Mercy and Melissa, two sisters sponsored by Tariro.   Mercy and Melissa lost both of their parents to AIDS-related illness in 2004, and currently live with their mother’s elder sister.

Exceptionally talented academically, both Mercy and Melissa passed entrance exams at Makumbe Visitation, a boarding school located just outside Harare.  Tariro’s small size and flexibility enables us to accommodate the needs of gifted and talented students such as Mercy and Melissa, who are benefiting from this chance to obtain a truly outstanding education through Tariro.  By working with young women who have outstanding potential, Tariro empowers young women to become future leaders, encouraging them to contribute back to their communities.

Melissa, who is in Form 2,  enjoys accounts and science in school.  She plays basketball, and is on the school team.  She dreams of going to university after finishing high school.  Her younger sister, Mercy, is in Form 1.  She enjoys singing, and hopes to join the school choir. She enjoys all her of subjects, and recently received two prizes for being the best student in her year in agriculture and Shona.  Mercy hopes to be an accountant when she grows up.

In addition to caring for Mercy and Melissa, their aunt also cares for another orphaned child, her brother’s daughter.  Overwhelmed with the responsibility of caring for three orphaned children in addition to her own family, Mercy and Melissa’s aunt depends on Tariro’s support to keep Mercy and Melissa in school.  The story of these two sisters illustrates the huge burden faced by families affected by HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe, and the importance of providing assistance for families caring for orphaned children.  As we approach World AIDS Day on December 1st, I encourage all readers to think about how we can connect with and support communities deeply affected by HIV/AIDS, including the communities that Tariro works with in Zimbabwe.

Tariro’s sponsorship of Mercy and Melissa has been made possible by an amazing group of women from Santa Fe.  In the coming weeks, I will be posting more information on how these women connected with Tariro, and with these two sisters, as well as links and information about World AIDS Day.  Please revisit our blog on World AIDS Day, which is December 1st, for the next post!

Anna –

Tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, Americans across the country will sit down together, count our blessings, and give thanks for our families and our loved ones.

American families reflect the diversity of this great nation. No two are exactly alike, but there is a common thread they each share.

Our families are bound together through times of joy and times of grief. They shape us, support us, instill the values that guide us as individuals, and make possible all that we achieve.

So tomorrow, I’ll be giving thanks for my family — for all the wisdom, support, and love they have brought into my life.

But tomorrow is also a day to remember those who cannot sit down to break bread with those they love.

The soldier overseas holding down a lonely post and missing his kids. The sailor who left her home to serve a higher calling. The folks who must spend tomorrow apart from their families to work a second job, so they can keep food on the table or send a child to school.

We are grateful beyond words for the service and hard work of so many Americans who make our country great through their sacrifice. And this year, we know that far too many face a daily struggle that puts the comfort and security we all deserve painfully out of reach.

So when we gather tomorrow, let us also use the occasion to renew our commitment to building a more peaceful and prosperous future that every American family can enjoy.

It seems like a lifetime ago that a crowd met on a frigid February morning in Springfield, Illinois to set out on an improbable course to change our nation.

In the years since, Michelle and I have been blessed with the support and friendship of the millions of Americans who have come together to form this ongoing movement for change.

You have been there through victories and setbacks. You have given of yourselves beyond measure. You have enabled all that we have accomplished — and you have had the courage to dream yet bigger dreams for what we can still achieve.

So in this season of thanks giving, I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to you, and my anticipation of the brighter future we are creating together.

With warmest wishes for a happy holiday season from my family to yours,

President Barack Obama

[Thanks to Reclaiming Spaces for sending this down the line.]

We are squatters from the Netherlands. We are asking you to organize a protest (for example by dutch embassy) in your country against squatting prohibition in the Netherlands. We suggest to organize your protests between 26 and 28 of November, because Eerste Kamer (First Chamber of dutch parliament) will vote about squatting prohibition beginning of December.
To all the people who are against squatting prohibition, 
to all the squatters, 
to all ex-squatters, 
to all young people who would like to become squatters in the future, 
to all the friends of the squatters, 
to all political activists, 
to all antifascist activists, 
to all artists who create art and/or perform in the squats, 
to all bandmembers and DJ’s that play in the squats, 
to all people who enjoy parties and concerts in the squats, 
to all travellers who visit and stay in the squats, 
to all of you who are not mentioned above. 

As you probably might know dark days are coming for the squatting movement in the Netherlands. On 15.10.2009 the Tweede Kamer (Second Chamber of the dutch parliament) voted for a squatting prohibition. Please remember this would not have happened without the support of racist and xenophobic politicians as Rita Verdonk and Geert Wilders. From 1st January 2010 squatting can be illegal in the Netherlands. Beginning of December Eerste Kamer (First Chamber of the dutch parliament) will discuss and vote about squatting prohibition. If First Chamber of the dutch parliament approve this law, persons that try to occupy an empty building, will be considered a criminal and punished by dutch authorities. Penalties are very high and range from one year up to two years of prison! 

This is very serious threat! Don’t let politicians destroy squatting movement in the Netherlands! We can’t wait! We must act now! 

The future of the dutch squatting movement is in our hands. It is a big responsibility as well. We should show respect to those previous squatting generations who made squatting possible in the Netherlands. They sacrified a lot of time and energy for us. We should think about all the youth who would like to have the possibility to live in squats in the future. 

Mass media and politicians say that we are few, but our spirit is stronger then this rotten and unhumane law that politicians have created! We are willing to show politicians and police forces our determination in the defence of our rights for housing. There is lack of cheap houses in the Netherlands. For example in Amsterdam price of renting one room range from 300 till 550 euros a month!

Mass media and politicains say that we are violent, but those christians from CDU (Christian Democratic Party), CU (Christian Union) and SGP (Orthodox Protestant Party) are violent. For them empty buildings are more important than human beings searching for a house. Those christians decided that police will come to arrest us, if we try to occupy a house after 31st December 2009. 

We are proud of who we are and we are willing to defend our rights to occupy empty buildings. We won’t give up without struggle! Some of you remember those proud and angry youth from Kopenhagen who were fighting for Ungdomshuset and dignity. Some of you probably have joined the struggle. If will be necessary, we are willing to bring the spirit of youth from Denmark and Greece to our streets! 

Politicians did not leave us another choice! From 1st January we have to choose between being homeless or criminals. This choice is not suitable for us! We won’t live on the streets or in the prison! We are human beings and we deserve respect! 

There is few hundreds squats in the Netherlands. We can’t afford to lose this enormous infrastructure! There are houses, autonomous centers, places for cultural activities. In all those buildings we live and/or practice and promote our political ideas. We use that space to promote independent art and underground counter culture in opposition to mainstream pop culture and art. 

Let us be a bit sentimental. For many of us to be a squatter is way of life. A lot of us spent the best times living in the squats. We had unforgettable adventures together. We have plenty of invaluable experiences, like living in self-organized communities or housing collectives. Many of us met their best friends in the squats. Yet another reasons to struggle against squatting prohibition. 

Don’t ignore serious threats for squatting movement in the Netherlands! Use your imagination, open your eyes, stand up and act! 

Our struggle is for a world without capitalism, race and gender differences, poverty and war! 

We are going to be very thankful for all your support. Solidarity is our weapon!

You can write your complaint to Eerste Kamer, e-mail address:
postbus@eerstekamer.nl. 

“Spirit of the unity” collective.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, decreed by the UN General Assembly in 1999. In the words of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

“Women around the world are the very linchpin keeping families, communities, and nations together. On this International Day, let us reaffirm our commitment to women’s human rights; let us invest more resources in countering [violence against women]; and let us do all it takes to end these horrific assaults once and for all.”

Today also marks the first of this year’s 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women, which itself will conclude on December 10th, Human Right’s Day.  Interstingly, Australia has independently themed the day White Ribbon Day, and urges Aussie men to take the following oath:

I swear:
never to commit violence against women,
never to excuse violence against women, and
never to remain silent about violence against women.
This is my oath.

Pretty basic, huh? If you want clarification about what constitutes violence against women, the White Ribbon Foundation says,

“In simple terms, violence against women is violence directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects a woman disproportionately.” [Em. mine]

This last is important because many of these abuses happen to men and boys as well, but the rate of occurrence and global levels of tolerance for these kinds of behaviors overwhelmingly validate this as a women’s issue.  Consider 

• domestic violence, family violence, wife-beating, intimate violence, intimate homicide, femicide
• sexual violence, sexual assault, rape, marital rape, gang rape, date rape, acquaintance rape, indecent assault, sexual harassment, sex-based harassment
• genital mutilation
• enforced prostitution
• enforced sterilisation, enforced abortion, killing of unwanted female babies, enforced motherhood

Earlier this month the UN began Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence Against Women, an initiative that “records what individuals, organizations and governments worldwide are doing to end violence against women.” Say NO strives to reach 100,000 actions by March 2009 and 1 million actions by November 2010. They count volunteering, donations, outreach, advocacy, and even individual instances of helping someone in need.  If you’re doing something, stand up and be counted.

I’ve spoken to too many people (men and women, incidently) who roll their eyes upon what they think are “women’s issues” or “feminist” complaints in a world they like to view as more or less equal by now. The finer points of sexism, discrimination, and gender politics aside,  according to UNIFEM:

Violence against women and girls is a problem of pandemic proportions. Based on country data available , up to 70 per cent of women experience physical or sexual violence from men in their lifetime – the majority by husbands, intimate partners or someone they know. Among women aged between 15 and 44, acts of violence cause more death and disability than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined. Perhaps the most pervasive human rights violation that we know today [...] It takes many forms and occurs in many places – domestic violence in the home, sexual abuse of girls in schools, sexual harassment at work, rape by husbands or strangers, in refugee camps or as a tactic of war.

I highly recommend reading the factsheet in its entirety (all stats documented), but here are a few nuggets:

• In the United States, one-third of women murdered each year are killed by intimate partners. Perhaps the most pervasive human rights violation that we know today, violence against women devastates lives, fractures communities, and stalls development. It takes many forms and occurs in many places — domestic violence in the home, sexual abuse of girls in schools, sexual harassment at work, rape by husbands or strangers, in refugee camps or as a tactic of war.
• In South Africa, a woman is killed every 6 hours by an intimate partner.
• In India, 22 women were killed each day in dowry-related murders in 2007.
• Women and girls constitute 80 percent of the estimated 800,000 people trafficked annually,7 with the majority (79 percent) trafficked for sexual exploitation.
• Approximately 100 to 140 million girls and women in the world have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting, with more than 3 million girls in Africa annually at risk of the practice.
• In São Paulo, Brazil, a woman is assaulted every 15 seconds.
• Approximately 250,000 to 500,000 women and girls were raped in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Further Info:

WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women

Violence Against Women – We Can’t Look Away: Blogging and Updates from the International Rescue Committee

Ending Violence Against Women: What Works – 2006 Report from the UN’s WomenWatch (pdf)

I never post this often, but this pissed me off.

Advocate.com has run a reader poll asking whether one would support ENDA if gender identity protections were taken out of the bill again. Now, at last check 93% or so said no, but before anyone starts patting themselves on the back consider what is happening – the human rights of trans people are being openly debated by people who are not trans, suggesting our rights are at the whim of a majority. We are being reminded that our position is second-class and never secure. The gay hypocrisy of suggesting trans rights must wait while they complain Obama cannot act incrementally with gay rights is deeply frustrating.

Contact Advocate.com and let them know debating the human rights of a group of people is crass and deplorable.

I’ve been on the road and haven’t had much of a chance to type up any updates on the ongoing Iowa grand jury resistance (mentioned earlier here), much less any reflections on this targeted repression of activist communities. Frankly, time constraints and internet availability aside, I haven’t much had the stomach for it. It would be reasonable to assume that watching friends ushered off to jail for no damn reason at all would unleash a torrent of rants; in this case, I just felt exhausted. Angry, for sure, but tired. And sad for those loved ones nearby who felt all of this even more acutely, I’m sure.

Instead of some long thing, I’m just posting links for further info below. Stay tuned to TC Indymedia in general for updates. Send Carrie books (per their support site, she wants math and sci-fi especially). Write letters — to Carrie and Scott, to those with the power to call this bullshit off, and to those who have that power but almost certainly won’t. Make phone calls. Talk about grand juries with everyone you know. They thrive on secrecy and the fact that most of us are clueless about just how Kafka-esque they truly are. The Grand Jury Resistance Project is a good start.

Resist. Organize. Fight back.

1. Will Potter, Green is the new red, on Scott’s AETA charge and support efforts for both resistors
2. Quad City Times on Carrie and Scott being taken into custody
3. Quad City Times’ quite confused editorial on Scott and Carrie
4. Quad City Times LTE
5. Quad City Times on Scott’s AETA charge
6. Quad City Times article on Scott pleading “not guilty” to the AETA charge
7. Infoshop on Scott & AETA
8. Anarchist News
9. MN Daily article about Scott

I’ll update and add to the links on this post when appropriate.

First, an important announcement:

Dmitry Vilensky & Alexei Penzin from Chto Delat/What Is to Be Done?
Lecture: Tuesday, December 1st at 6.00 pm
Small Hall / Cinema (to the side of Loafers)
Richard Hoggart Building
Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London SE14 6NW

Organised by Marxism in Culture and the Micropolitics Research Group, Goldsmiths, and supported by the Open University.

Second, to give Londoners a taste of what they might be hearing at the December 1 lecture, we are reprinting here Alexei Penzin’s essay “Under Suspicion,” from a recent issue of our newspaper entitled Another Commons: Living/Knowledge/Action. Sadly, what Alexei wrote this past summer has only gained in relevance and timeliness since then.

Alexei Penzin: Under Suspicion

When we peruse the timeline of the “merry month of May” 2009 in Russia—a laconic chronicle of arrests, detentions of activists, intellectuals and artists, but also of protests against these actions of the authorities—many difficult questions arise. Of course, the fragmentary and brief comments given below do not claim to be a definitive diagnosis. The incomplete and sketchy quality of these comments is rather a part of the problem itself. A fuller analysis will be possible when there is a systematic understanding of the post-Soviet political experience, which for now is a thing of the future. 

1. In medias res

It is very difficult to understand what is going on in medias res, from the inside: these are events that are in the process of development, that affect us personally and assail us from all sides without allowing us to assume the stance of a dispassionate observer. These events affect many of us, sometimes in the literal, physical sense. The command “Hands against the wall!” A stunning blow to the head in a bus filled with people nabbed at a demonstration. Or, for example, the indescribably grotesque intrusion of a detachment of armed, shouting men during the showing of a Godard film at a peaceful leftist seminar. For about a year now the solidarity networks have been constantly delivering reports of new arrests, unlawful summonses for “discussions,” and beatings of activists. It is possible, however, that we should not be so focused on ourselves. The bad news concerns not only the minority of activists and intellectuals. The news also comes from those who are not involved in politics, education or research—from “average citizens.” The very texture of post-Soviet society in recent years has been steeped in anonymous, free-floating violence committed by the “forces of law and order.” Violence against civilians has become a kind of collateral damage, an excess of the existing system of political management. Sometimes this anonymous violence takes on personal and transgressive features. For example, in the person of a police officer who shoots at customers in a supermarket with the cold-bloodedness of a character in a computer game.

2. Local and Global

The pressure of traumatic violence causes an introversion that is common to victims and occasionally forces us to overestimate how exceptional our own experience is. But should we see in these events only a local process dictated by a distant and recent pre-history? Here we immediately conjure up images of some “eternal” despotic Empire that treated its population as subjects rather than citizens who have a legal status and are capable of defending their human dignity. We are reminded of scenes of violence and mass reprisals during various historical periods. Notions of a fatal backwardness vis-à-vis the “west” in terms of a general level of “civilization,” rights and liberties, the public sphere, civil society, etc., are seemingly given fresh content. Such notions suit the liberals, who see post-Soviet society as a result of “failed reforms” or a constantly delayed modernization. They also suit the local nationalists, who think that post-Soviet societies actually are incurably different from the community of “developed countries.” Unlike the liberals, however, the nationalists are in favor of this difference.

Undoubtedly, these notions and positions should be critiqued. They must be historicized. For example, grim imperial images that present themselves as “eternal” conceal experiments in radical revolutionary politics, periods when—at very least, as during the early twenties in the USSR—major breakthroughs were made in rebuilding society on principles of justice and emancipation. The violence we are witnessing now is at first glance an almost “feudal” holdover. But it appears that this violence conceals a quite modern system of administration that is consistent with the latest forms of capital accumulation that have taken shape throughout the world in the neoliberal age.

So the many arrests on suspicion of “extremist” activity should not be seen merely as inventive tricks of a local authoritarianism (rooted in a centuries-long “despotic” tradition) seeking ever-newer excuses to block all grassroots protest movements. Only post-Soviet intellectual and political provincialism (in the negative sense of a narrow view of the situation) would affirm that this is the case. Progressive post-Soviet leftists must maintain a dialectical position on the question. It is important to understand how the mainstream of global capitalism is transformed in a specific way in our local context.

3. “Extremism” and Securitization

One undeniable worldwide tendency in recent times is the politics and ideology of securitization. Under the pretext of imagined or real threats (“terrorism,” military conflicts, migration, environmental catastrophes, epidemics, etc.) and, of course, “on behalf of and for the safety of citizens themselves” ever-newer emergency measures of control and management are introduced. At the same time, the list of “threats” grows longer. Securitization should be understood as a process of the continuous production of the sphere of the “dangerous” itself and, at the same time, of new techniques of “crisis” management. The politics of emergency measures has more and more influence on society, both on the public arena and on private space. In certain situations the action of formal legal institutions (presumption of innocence, civil liberties) is entirely suspended. Consequently, the authorities and law enforcement are given ever-greater powers, as well as technical capabilities for control and surveillance.[1]

The politics of security in its newest form was called into being by societal transformations that occurred under the influence of neoliberal capitalism. First, they are connected with the need to protect investments and the financial sphere in general, especially amidst the current economic crisis. Second, the anxiety of the ruling elites has a direct influence on the initiation of new emergency measures, for they are afraid of mass protests due to the consequences of the global economic collapse. Third, securitization is programmed on a deeper—structural, productional or even ontological—level. Increased workforce turnover, the rise of the uncertainty factor in all labor processes, precarization—i.e., the lack of minimum “social security,” stable labor relations, and living conditions—have become stakes in the political game. New conditions of exploitation give rise to particular types of subjugated subjectivity that seek reassurance, the conversion of the anxiety provoked by uncertainty. They cannot recognize the causes of this apprehension, and it is easily transformed into a specific fear that is linked to one or another specific figure of the “other,” the “enemy” (“terrorists,” “migrants,” “extremists”). Whereas classic nineteenth-century capitalism inflicted suffering only on the worker’s body (hunger, lack of sleep, poor housing and living conditions), the modern form encroaches on the entire person, operating on the affects, fears, and cares that capitalism itself creates. Martin Heidegger elaborated an “existential analysis” of this subjectivity during the severe economic crisis of the Weimar Republic and on the eve of the Great Depression. But now it seems that these existential structures are becoming the “fate” of all those who live amidst constant uncertainty and securitization. Government administrations, by introducing additional security measures and conducting ever-newer “anti-extremist” campaigns, propose and effectively use the symbolic compensation of the agonizing real uncertainties engendered by the very relations of production of modern capitalism.

Finally, the governance strategy that makes this politics so popular consists in the fact that from now on, any specific social, political or class antagonism expressed in a grassroots protest movement is presented as a threat to the state and public security and is equated with phenomena of a completely different nature (epidemics, manmade disasters). Hence the particular breadth and vagueness of the term “extremism,” which the authorities use with such abandon in order to legitimize their “special operations.”

4. “Managed Democracy” in Crisis

Having outlined these tendencies we can look at the situation from the perspective of how things stand on the local level. In post-SovietRussia the mantra of “stability” undoubtedly represents the local version of the politics of securitization broadly understood. In official rhetoric, the current “stability” is set against the uncertainty and “chaos” of the nineties as a genuine achievement of the current regime. It represents itself as the conqueror of “terrorism,” “extremism,” “armed separatism,” as well as the political and economic turbulence of the “transitional period.” The mythical narrative of the transition from “chaos” to “order” aspires to structure the popular perception of the historical moment. However, “stability” is an absolutely empty sign that is chiefly supported only by the images and rhetoric of the official mass media. This is the effect of a strategy of limitation that brackets off all elements that do not fit into the picture of the new order from media representation. Images of “stability” are produced in abundance even now. After all, as the state propagandists say with remarkable voluntarism, “The crisis isn’t in the economy, it’s in our heads.” These images are created via exclusion—exclusion of workers in state enterprises, pensioners, precaritized cultural and educational workers, as well as other “low-income” individuals.

The general political form of “stability” is a regime that, until recently, almost officially called itself “managed democracy.” In this model, the president and his administrative apparatus are seen as “crisis managers” of sorts whose main task is to maintain the manageability of the system by any means, including emergency measures. The managerial model spreads to the whole of the political arena, attempting to manage all political forces with whom it is “possible to negotiate.” Politics is just a “business” that has its own paid administrators and contractors. All other political forces that cannot be managed through “investments” and “projects” and who cannot be “negotiated” with are severely marginalized. How could it be otherwise? After all, those “unmanageable” elements dare to have their own projects for changing society! All situations in which violence is used in this system arise in zones of such “unmanageability.” Everything that cannot be managed, everything that contradicts this consolidated bureaucratic-administrative system causes the state to become aggressive and intervene. All that is unmanageable must be crushed: that is the maxim according to which law enforcement operates. It is possible to negotiate with everyone else.

A consequence of “stability” and “managed democracy” is the politics of normalization which, in recent times, has been penetrating to an even deeper social level. There are the “normal people” who make up a homogenous society, the “loyal majority.” But there are also those who are “abnormal.”[2] These people cannot be managed; they are incomprehensible, they criticize, they are frightening even in their small numbers. They are a grim reminder of the “bad conscience” of “managed democracy.” We can observe the rise of an entire group of new “abnormal” activists of grassroots civic and political movements, young subculture “freaks,” politicized intellectuals who are seen as a dangerous and incomprehensible “bohemian” crowd because of their complex language and way of life. At the same time, they are able to publicly make their voice heard. Their activity clearly doesn’t fit into a business model that a manager can understand. With their behavior they undermine the unspoken rules of loyalty, obedience, and the new, incredibly cynical post-Soviet “realism” and “pragmatism.”

So “stability” is actually only proof of greater consolidation and reinforcement of the “security” apparatus itself. Police interventions are intended to demonstrate a “monopoly on violence” as signs of the ubiquitous presence of a “strong state.” Anyone who disputes “stability” by virtue of their very existence, thinking, and behavior; anyone who openly casts doubt on it; anyone who expresses disagreement with it as the only possible order is potentially suspect. The recently launched campaign to identify “sources of destabilization” was the first reaction of this system to signs of the growing economic crisis and, as its consequence, the narrowing of the zone of manageability.

5. Violence as a Commodity

The new paradigm of “security” has been established on both the legal and institutional levels. After 9/11, like some other countries, Russia passed a law “On the Prevention of Extremism” (in 2002). However, many distinctive features can be seen in measures related to the institutional support and implementation of the law.

The real start of the active campaign against “extremism” was the creation, on the wave of crisis expectations in 2008, of a special network of “anti-extremist” centers throughout the country. They were formed from armed units previously used to fight organized crime, with all the methods typical of such units. In effect, those who fall under suspicion are treated by these new law enforcement agencies as non-citizens and preventively stripped of any legal status; the new units act against them essentially the way they used to act against the criminal mafia. Recently, independent political and trade union activists, organizers of antifascist rock concerts, engaged intellectuals, and artists have become objects of suspicion as “extremists.” The transition from the potentially troubling status of “unmanageable” to the status of persons stripped of civil rights during police raids and detention has been swift and sometimes shocking.

The operational logic of the “anti-extremist” centers grows out of the overall managerial strategy of “managed democracy.” This strategy creates innovations in the field of police-administrative control in the form of a “project” with a certain budget that has to prove it is “competitive” in a limited amount of time. The “anti-extremist” centers must quickly show the products of their work: inspections, raids, and acts of violence. And these have not been long in coming: in the past six months they can be counted in the dozens. In this situation, violence is a paradoxical commodity in a new segment of the “security” market. As a breakdown of the peaceful institutions of human society, as a brutal exposure of the “real,” and as the production of bare, vulnerable life, violence was always a means of demonstrating the prevailing balance of power without fail. In this case, it is also a sure means of showing the “efficacy” of the new police-administration project, of demonstrating its “competitive” edge over more traditional security services. We may suppose that the logic of this marketization and competition in the sphere of security politics should, in the final analysis, hasten the crisis of the very system of “managed democracy.”

6. Resistance, Activism, Subjectivity: What Kind of “Community” Do We Need?

When discussing the political contexts of the eventful “long May” of 2009 it is necessary to emphasize the significance of some other events. They had to do with resistance to the administrative “security” and “management” machine, which threw its disproportionately large and armed forces at the small and heterogeneous milieu of Russian leftist activists, intellectuals, and artists. Surrounded by constant news of detentions and beatings of people many of them know personally, the participants in these actions were also asymmetrical in their display of solidarity. Aside from well-known tactics, they were quite inventive in using the capabilities of modern visual and media culture while also circumventing the coarse filters of administrative control over access to the public arena (for example, getting permission for a picket). That is how the interesting experiments in translating political language into the language of engaged contemporary art practices arose—the hunger strike and street gatherings of artists that resulted in quite political works that very wittily unmasked “managed democracy” in action.

Theorists who have turned to an analysis of the leftist movements cropping up amid the ruins of former communist parties and socialist states note the dual nature of their formation, which is at once active and reactive.[3] On the one hand, there is a moment of identification with the resistance to the blatant violence, abuse of power, brute force, and reckless audacity of the new capitalist “masters.” It has a defensive, protective character. On the other hand, just as important is the moment of transformation of this reactive, defensive movement that arises for particular reasons into an active movement that constitutes and creates a new field of agency that is relatively autonomous and generates both its own universal political projects and specific subjectivities capable of supporting and implementing them.

Here I can also speak on the basis of my own personal experience, including my experience as the person in charge of an unusual discussion of “leftist philosophy” at the educational seminar in Nizhny Novgorod that was raided by the “anti-extremist” center. The seminar was conceived as a “human community,” as a temporary “commune” whose experiment in living could be joined by anyone who came to the seminar. Fully restoring the work of the seminar after this violent interruption was an elementary act of resistance, but it was also the moment that changed the entire situation of what we had been talking about. Thus, in addition to exchanging and developing our knowledge, the very means of running the seminar as a “community” raised the question of the practices and forms of transforming our lives and our own subjectivities. This transformation proceeds through practices of self-organization, self-education, cooperation, and self-valorization, i.e., through those human capacities that no “privatization” or politics of “security” can appropriate or completely control.

Confronted with extremely prosaic and cruel things in the everyday world of post-Soviet managed democracy, which is monstrously distant from the experiments of emancipatory thought and the revolutionary practice of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, activists clearly should not shrink from “high-flown” philosophical formulations. The question of activist subjectivity is directly related to specific and practical things: to expanding the movement, to heightening awareness of its problems, to its political power, to new forms of community, language, and coordination. It is related to a simple question: what kind of life, what kind of larger “community” do we want not only for ourselves, but for others? Given our specific conditions, what kind of cooperative transformation of our lives are we capable of desiring? These conditions often seem distant from the great historical exemplars of revolutionary practice, political texts, and works of “leftist philosophy” that we have inherited. This is not only a question of programs and arguments of one organization or another, with the language and methods of formulating tasks borrowed from the “eastern” or “western,” “new” or “old” leftists of the twentieth century. This is a question of creating a common life without naïveté, with a critical approach to an unduly emotional, starry-eyed understanding of it, but with a negation of that ostensibly “realistic” cynicism and skepticism in whose deadening language we immerse ourselves on a daily basis.

[1] Of course, the paradigm of securitization is not new. It is more likely a modern excess of state apparatuses that has gradually emerged since the start of the process of capitalist modernization. In his lecture series Security, Territory, Population (1977–1978) Michel Foucault makes the distinction between the techniques and arrangement of disciplinary power on the one hand, and the mechanisms of “security” on the other. “Security” as a power strategy arises in connection with the formation of notions of the state as a kind of “living” social organism that must be protected from internal and external threats while preserving the “national interest.” As the ideologists of the bourgeois state supposed, police and “police science” (as a field of systematic population registration and computation) were necessary to guarantee this interest.

[2] We use this term not in a judgmental sense, but in the analytical sense that Michel Foucault gave it in his eponymous 1974–1975 lectures.

[3] See, for example, Manuel Castells, The Power of Identity, 2004.