Thu, Jun. 21, 2018 ⁄ 7:30–9:30pm

A Talk by Robby Herbst: Imagining A Different City/Llano Del Rio Rebel City Los Angeles

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City as Commons Group Presents:

A Talk by Robby Herbst: Imagining A Different City/Llano Del Rio Rebel City Los Angeles

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In this talk spanning sociology, movement theory, and urban practices, Robby Herbst of the Llano Del Rio Collective will introduce the new Rebel City Los Angeles guide; presenting the ideas behind the guide, the evolution of the collective’s work, and share their vision for what the city can be.

The Rebel City Los Angeles guide answers the question, what would Los Angeles look like if vertical power as we know it disappeared?. The illustrated two sided guide helps users visualize the city from below, providing details of a developing infrastructure of people-centered institutions supporting human activities outside corporate dominion; from electricity, housing, education, medicine, and banking. Los Angeles born saint Vaginal Davis said “riding on the subway system and buses,,, are the Southland’s true barometer and soul of the city” and the guide hopes to help you take the temperature. Publication lists over 60 sites, and includes essays by Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal and Robby Herbst. Rebel City Los Angeles is a part of the Llano Del Rio Rebel City Project.

Inspired by the 2015 movie Tangerine, the Spanish Municipalist Movement, and David Harvey’s book Rebel Cities, the illustrated two sided guide helps users imagine the city from below, providing details of an infrastructure of people-centered institutions supporting human activities outside corporate dominion; from electricity, housing, education, medicine, and banking. The publication lists nearly 100 sites and includes essays by Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal and Robby Herbst. It is a part of the wider Rebel City Los Angeles project.

Rebel City Los Angeles guide is the 6th guide to Los Angeles created by the Llano Del Rio Collective. Previous guides include: Power Points, Utopias of So.Cal., An Antagonists Guide to the Assholes of L.A., Scores For the City, and A Map For Another L.A.

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Links:
Llano Del Rio Collective https://ldrg.wordpress.com
Robby Herbst http://cargocollective.com/robbyherbst

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

Thu, May. 17, 2018 ⁄ 6:00–7:30pm

Laura Corcuera // The State of the Media in the Post 15M Spain

Join the City as Commons group, in collaboration with Palmar Alvarez-Blanco, as we host a presentation by writer, performer, and co-founder and member of the newspaper DIAGONAL, Laura Corcuera González de Garay.

Laura will speak about the media, performance, feminist activism and municipalist politics in post 15M Spain.

Located at Beyond Repair / Assembly
2854 Columbus Ave.

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Laura Corcuera González de Garay is a founder and member of the newspaper DIAGONAL, where she writes about science, sexual and gender diversity, LGBTQIA movements and performing arts, an area that she coordinates for the supplement Culturas. She has collaborated with the theater magazines Primer Acto and Artez. Since 2014 she has collaborated with the international magazine Punto y Coma.

She combines her work and communicative militancy with feminist activism and performance. She’s no taller than 5’2’’, but she has studied with great teachers like Jango Edwars, Phillipe Gaulier, Eric de Bont, Esther Ferrer, Antonia Baehr and el Odin Teatret, among others. Her last performative experience was realized in conjunction with the US collective La Pocha Nostra (Atenas, June 2015).

“I combine writing, journalism, performance, theater, and public dissemination of the sciences. I am a feminist activist of the interstellar precariousness, before being a salaried employee of highly respected State institutions. I demonstrate a spirit and vocation for public service; I am a creator of the imaginary institution of society, I can be a transformer for material and immaterial realities, I have a strong commitment to ethical practices, justice, beauty, and wealth distribution. I love the Mediterranean arc, southern Europe.”

Laura Corcuera González de Garay, has a degree in Journalism from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and a master’s degree in Semiotics of mass communication, with the thesis “The scene as a tool of sociopolitical dynamization.” She was the Press Officer at the National Museum of Natural Sciences (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, (MNCN/CSIC) between 2005 and 2007, founded the Periódico del MNCN and the science news agency SINC (FECYT), where she worked as coordinator and chief editor from September 2007 to December 22, 2010.

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

Our friend Robby Herbst at the Llano del Rio Collective & Speakers Bureau posted this amazing Municipalist Bibliography compiled by Alan Moore (who came out to MPLS this time last spring to begin our conversations on Municipalism). Check it out, it’s a fantastic resource!

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

Tonight’s the night, folks! Join the City as Commons group and Beyond Repair for the opening of What Can a City Be? A Municipalist Gathering. We will begin two days of conversations and workshops tonight at the Carlson School at UMN (info below) with a panel discussion considering “from below organizing” from international, national, and indigenous perspectives with our guests Carol Maziviero (São Paulo, Brazil), Daniele Tognozzi (Berlin, Germany), & William “Naawacekgize” Quackenbush (Ho-Chunk Nation / Wisconsin).

The conversations that we, as the City as Commons group, have been hosting over the last year have been invigorating. Opening up multiple avenues of thought regarding how we come together, building power across difference, and what it means to be “neighborly” in our present, deeply contentious moment. I’m extremely excited to bring more people into this conversation to see where it grows.

I hope to see you this evening, and if you can’t make it, please take a look at the schedule in full to see what other events you might attend.

(https://www.facebook.com/events/2050318378519995/)

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THURSDAY, MARCH 22

Panel Description

7-9pm
@ Carlson School 1-123
University of Minnesota (West Bank)

“Cities as Commons? Exploring Municipalist Movements in International and Rural Contexts”

Talks and panel discussion with Carol, Daniele, and Bill that will invite comparisons between international and rural perspectives on municipalism, including topics such as direct democracy, social power and reproduction, organizing bottom up movements, rural-urban divides, and the rise of democratic alternatives to the centralized state.

Carol Maziviero (São Paulo, Brazil) – Researcher on insurgent urbanism, and urbanism in the digital age from the Architecture School of the São Judas Tadeu University in São Paulo,

Daniele Tognozzi (Berlin, Germany) – Artist, activist and urban studies researcher from Spatial Strategies at KHB Weißensee (http://raumstrategien.com/) and Tesserae Urban Social Research (http://www.tesserae.eu/).

William “Naawacekgize” Quackenbush (Ho-Chunk Nation / Wisconsin) – Indigenous activist and scholar, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Ho-Chunk Nation (http://ho-chunk.com).

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

Thu, Mar. 22, 2018 ⁄ 7:00pm

What Can a City Be? (A Municipalist Gathering)

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Since the 2016 presidential elections, the Twin Cities based “City as Commons” group has been meeting to discuss, learn and find out more about municipalism, a form of political organization gaining popularity around the world, based on assemblies of neighborhoods, practicing direct democracy, as an alternative to the centralized state. A goal of the group has been to develop collaboration among academics, activists, and artists interested in urban governance and social reproduction in the Twin Cities and to put them in conversation with colleagues across North America, Europe, and South America who are studying, and/or experimenting with, municipalist forms of governance.
In a two day series of talks, panel discussions and workshops, learn more from local artists, academics, activists, and thinkers, along with three international and rural activists and scholars whose work has explored these issues:
Carol Maziviero (São Paulo, Brazil) – Researcher on insurgent urbanism, and urbanism in the digital age from the Architecture School of the São Judas Tadeu University in São Paulo.
Daniele Tognozzi (Berlin, Germany) – Artist, activist and urban studies researcher from Spatial Strategies at KHB Weißensee (http://raumstrategien.com/) and Tesserae Urban Social Research (http://www.tesserae.eu/).
William “Naawacekgize” Quackenbush (Ho-Chunk Nation / Wisconsin) – Indigenous activist and scholar, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Ho-Chunk Nation (http://ho-chunk.com).

 

THURSDAY   MARCH 22   7-9pm

Location: Carlson 1-123 University of Minnesota (West Bank)

“Cities as Commons? Exploring Municipalist Movements in International and Rural Contexts”

Talks and panel discussion with Carol, Daniele, and Bill that will invite comparisons between international and rural perspectives on municipalism, including topics such as direct democracy, social power and reproduction, organizing bottom up movements, rural-urban divides, and the rise of democratic alternatives to the centralized state.
Panel Discussion with: Carol Maziviero, William “Naawacekgize” Quackenbush, Daniele Tognozzi

 

FRIDAY   MARCH 23   1-3:30pm

Location: 1219 University Ave SE (University Baptist Church / http://www.ubcmn.org/)

 

“What is Possible? Sharing Housing Rights Strategies Across Rebel Cities”

Based on his experiences organizing neighborhoods against the commercial development of Berlin, Daniele will lead a workshop in collaboration with Twin Cities based neighborhood organizers that will demonstrate how international activists and artists can learn from each other about tactics for bottom up organizing of municipalist movements.
Workshop led by Daniele Tognozzi, Kristen Eide-Tollefson (Preserve Historic Dinkytown), Erich Wunderlich (community organizer)

 

FRIDAY   MARCH 23    3:30-6pm

Location: 2854 Columbus Ave (Beyond Repair – Assembly)

 

Social mapping with Carol Maziviero: 

Carol Maziviero will lead a workshop on collective mapping, where participants will use cartography to explore socio-cultural and urban issues of a particular urban area. In the workshop, through a collaborative process, participants will subvert the concept of the map and take ownership of their own territories, building local networks, and helping reveal new possibilities for social action and cooperation.

War is Trauma Pop-Up Exhibit:

War Is Trauma is a portfolio of handmade prints produced by the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative in collaboration with the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). This portfolio transpired out of a street poster project, from November 2010, which a number of Justseeds artists provided graphics for “Operation Recovery” – a campaign to stop the deployment of traumatized troops and win service members and veterans right to heal. Posters were pasted in public, replacing many corporate advertisements, to focus public attention towards the issues not being discussed – GI Resistance, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), sexual assault in the military or Military Sexual Trauma (MST), and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The action led to another collaboration between Justseeds and IVAW – an “Operation Recovery” booklet published by Printed Matter in NYC and currently the War is Trauma portfolio. For this project over 30 artists from Justseeds, IVAW, and our allies have each created a print that addresses “Operation Recovery,” its larger goals of supporting service member and veterans right to heal, GI resistance, challenging the culture of militarism in the US, and ending the war in Afghanistan. A total of 130 portfolios have been created that we hope inspire 130 exhibitions that can act as a starting point to bring different people together – veterans, civilians, Iraqis, Afghans, and others to dialogue on issues. – IVAW & Justseeds

 

FRIDAY   MARCH 23   6:30-8:00

Location: 3715 Chicago Ave. S (CTUL)

 

“Imagining the Just City: Movements Across Difference”

We all know that the city is an amalgam of subjects, but how is that played out, and how can we begin to move past certain powerful subjects objectifying others in an attempt to create a “common narrative?” With a nod towards pioneering queer activist Harry Hay and his ideas on subject-subject consciousness, our conversation considers the benefits of a heterogeneous city and how municipalists can create the conditions for subjecthood to thrive and for multiple narratives to flourish simultaneously.
Panelists: Jeremiah Bey Ellison (City Councilperson – Ward 5), Jennifer Newsome (Dream the Combine), Ginger Jentzen (15 Now, Socialist Alternative), Tina Sigel (Restorative Justice Community Action), Sarah Jane Keaveny (RN/BSN, mother, nurse, poet, activist, enthusiast)
Sam Gould (Moderator)

 

FRIDAY   MARCH 23   8:30 – 10:30pm

Location: 2854 Columbus Ave. S

 

After Party @ Assembly with Hello Psychaleppo

 

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SPANISH TRANSLATION

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Desde las elecciones presidenciales del 2016, el grupo “Ciudad como Comunes” [or “City as Commons not sure if you want to translate this] ubicado en las Ciudades Gemelas se ha estado reuniendo para reflexionar sobre el municipalismo, una forma de organización política que está ganando popularidad en todo el mundo. El Municipalismo se fundamenta en un modelo asambleario en los barrios para practicar la democracia directa como una alternativa al estado centralizado. Uno de los objetivos del grupo ha sido desarrollar la colaboración entre investigadores, activistas y artistas interesados en la gobernanza urbana y en la reproducción social en las Ciudades Gemelas; también es deseo de este grupo poner a estos grupos en contacto con personas en América del Norte, Europa y América del Sur que están estudiando, y/o experimentando con formas de gobierno municipalistas.
En un encuentro de dos días basado en lecturas, mesas redondas y talleres, aprenderemos con artistas locales, investigadores, activistas y pensadores. También contaremos con la colaboración de  tres investigadores y activistas internacionales y rurales cuyos trabajo han explorado estos temas:
Carol Maziviero (São Paulo, Brasil) – Investigadora en urbanismo insurgente y urbanismo en la era digital de la Escuela de Arquitectura de la Universidad São Judas Tadeu en São Paulo.
Daniele Tognozzi (Berlin, Germany) – Artista, activista e investigador de los estudios urbanos de Estrategias Especiales en KHB Weißensee (http://raumstrategien.com/) y  de la Investigación Social Urbana de Tesserae (http://www.tesserae.eu/).
William “Naawacekgize” Quackenbush (Ho-Chunk Nation / Wisconsin) – Activista indígena e investigador, Oficial de Preservación Histórica Tribal de la Nación Ho-Chunk (http://ho-chunk.com).

 

THURSDAY   MARCH 22   7-9pm

Location: Carlson 1-123 University of Minnesota (West Bank)

 

“Ciudades como Comunes? Explorando Movimientos Municipales en Contextos Internacionales y Rurales”

Lecturas y mesas redondas con Carol, Daniele, y Bill que invitarán a realizar comparaciones entre perspectivas internacionales y rurales sobre el municipalismo, incluyendo temas como: democracia directa, el poder social y la reproducción, la organización de movimientos ascendentes,las divisiones entre el campo y la ciudad y el ascenso de las alternativas democráticas al estado centralizado.

 

FRIDAY   MARCH 23   1-3:30pm

Location: 1219 University Ave SE (University Baptist Church / http://www.ubcmn.org/)

 

“¿Qué es posible? Compartiendo estrategias sobre el derecho a un hogar  en las ciudades rebeldes”

Basado en sus experiencias organizando barrios contra el desarrollo comercial de Berlín, Daniele dirigirá un taller en colaboración con activistas locales que defienden el derecho a una vivienda. Este taller explorará cómo los activistas internacionales y los artistas locales pueden aprender unos de otros sobre tácticas para organizar movimientos municipalistas ascendentes.
Taller dirigido por Daniele Tognozzi, Kristin Eide-Tollefson (Preserve Historic Dinkytown), Eric Wunder

FRIDAY   MARCH 23   3:30-6pm

 

Location: 2854 Columbus Ave (Beyond Repair – Assembly)

War is Trauma Pop-Up Exhibit & Social mapping with Carol Maziviero

FRIDAY   MARCH 23   6:30-8:00

Location: 3715 Chicago Ave. S (CTUL)

 

“Imaginando una ciudad justa: Movimientos a través de la diferencia”

Todos sabemos que la ciudad es una amalgama de sujetos, pero ¿cómo se desarrolla y cómo podemos salir de las dinámicas de poder que objetiviza y jerarquiza a la personas para crear una “narrativa común”? Teniendo en cuenta el gesto activista queer pionero de Harry Hay y de sus ideas sobre la conciencia del sujeto-sujeto, nuestra conversación considerareå los beneficios de la ciudad heterogénea y cómo los municipalistas pueden crear las condiciones para que prospere la subjetividad y para que narrativas múltiples florezcan simultáneamente.
Panelists: Jeremiah Bey Ellison (City Councilperson – Ward 5), Jennifer Newsome (Dream the Combine), Ginger Jentzen (15 Now, Socialist Alternative), Tina Sigel (Restorative Justice Community Action), Sarah Jane Keaveny (RN/BSN, mother, nurse, poet, activist, enthusiast)
Sam Gould (Moderator)

 

FRIDAY   MARCH 23   8:30 – 10:30pm

Location: 2854 Columbus Ave. S

After Party @ Assembly with Hello Psychaleppo

 

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SOMALI TRANSLATION

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Tan iyo markii ay dhacday doorashooyinkii 2016, koox ka dhisan Magaalooyinka Mataanaha oo la yiraahdo “City as Commons ama Magaaladu waa Meel la Wada Leeyahay” ayaa shirar yeeshay si ay u falanqeeyaan, si ay wax u bartaan iyo sida ay dowlad hoose ahaan isu dhisi karaan, oo ururkan waa mid ku shaqeeya si siyaasadeysan oo dunida oo dhan aad loogu riyaaqay, iyadoo degaannada dadka magaalada la isu keenayo si ay uga qeybqaataan dimuquraadiyad toos ah oo ka beddelan midda dowladda dhexe. Hadafka kooxdan waa in la horumariyo wada-shaqeyn ka dhaxeysa aqoonyahannada, qabqableyaasha, iyo dadka farshaxanka ah ee daneynaya maamulka magaalada iyo abaabulka bulshada ku dhaqan Magaalooyinka Mataanaha, iyo in ay wadahadal la yeeshaan dadka dhiggooda ah ee ku dhaqan Waqooyiga Ameerika, Yurub, iyo Koonfurta Ameerika, kuwaasoo u dhuun duleela barashada iyo/ama tijaabinta qaababka ay u shaqeyn karto dowladaha hoose.
Laba maalmood oo ah wadahadallo, doodo iyo tababarro gaar ah, oo aad ku baran doonto farshaxanka magaalada, qabqbleyaasha iyo indheer-garadka, kuwaasoo ay weheliyaan qabqableyaal ka socda caalamka, kuwa ka socda dhulka miyiga ah ee gobolka iyo aqoonyahanno sahamin ku sameeya arrimaha kor ku xusan oo kala ah:
Carol Maziviero (São Paulo, Brazil) – Cilmi-baare la socda kacdoonka magaaleyta magaalooyinka, magaalooyinka xilligan casriga ah, oo wuxuu ka socdaa kulliyad lagu barto naqshadeynta dhismeyaasha oo ku dhex taalla jaamacadda  São Judas Tadeu University, magaalada São Paulo iyo Sheybaarka Siyaabaha kala duwan ee Magaaleynta Magaalooyinka.
Daniele Tognozzi (Berlin, Germany) – Farshaxan, qabqable iyo cilmi-baare ka tirsan culuunta takhasuska magaalada, oo waxa uu ka yimid Spatial Strategies oo ku taalla KHB Weißensee (http://raumstrategien.com/) iyo Cilmi-baarista Culuunta Bulshada Magaalada ee Tesserae (http://www.tesserae.eu/).
William “Naawacekgize” Quackenbush (Ho-Chunk Nation / Wisconsin) – Qabqable iyo aqoonyahan u dhaqdhaqaaqa dadka dhaladka Mareykanka ah, waana Hawl-wadeenka Keydinta Taariikhda Qabiil la yiraahdo Ho-Chunk (http://ho-chunk.com).


 

KHAMIIS, 22-ka MAAJO

Faahfaahinta Doodaha

7-da ilaa 9-ka fiidnimo

Carlson 1-123 University of Minnesota (West Bank)

 

 

“Cities as Commons? Magaaladu waa Meel la Wada Leeyahay, Sahaminta Dhaqdhaqaaqa Magaalada marka laga fekero miyi iyo magaalo, Caalamka oo dhan”
Wadahadalka iyo doodaha ay sameyn doonaan martida kala ah Carol, Daniele, iyo Bill waxaa la isugu barbar dhigi doonaa sida fikradaha kala duwan ee magaalooyinka, caalamka oo dhan iyo miyiga, oo mowduucyada waxaa ka mid ah dimuquraadiyadda tooska ah, awoodda bulshada iyo wax soosaarkooda, dhaqdhaqaaqyada abaabulka ah ee hoosta laga dhiso, kala-duwanaanta miyi iyo magaalo, iyo arrimaha soo kordhaaya ee ah wax lagu beddelan karo dimuquraadiyadda ka jirta dhinaca dowladda dhexe.

 

JIMCE, 23-ka MAAJO

Faahfaahinta Tababarka

1-da ilaa 3:30 galabnimo

 

Goobta:

University Baptist Church

1219 University Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414

http://www.ubcmn.org/

 

 

“Maxaa u Qabsoomi kara? Wadaagidda Qorhseyaasha Xuquuqda Guriyeyta Magaalooyinka Gadoodsan”
Waaya-aragnimadeeda waxa ka mid ah abaabulka deegaanno ka tirsan magaalada Baarliin si ay uga biya-diidaan dhisidda xarumo ganacsi, Daniele ayaa hoggaamin doonta wada-shaqeynta tababarka  qabqableyaasha iyo farshaxannada arrimaha guriyeynta ee Magaalooyinka Mataanaha, waxay kala baran karaan qabqableyaasha caalamka kale, sida xeelado ah abaabul loo adeegsado in hoosta looga dhiso dhaqdhaqaaqyada dowladda hoose.
Tababarkan waxaa hoggaamin doona Daniele Tognozzi, Kristen Eide-Tollefson (Preserve Historic Dinkytown), Erich Wunder (meesha uu ka socdo? – weli lama oga)



 

3:30 ilaa 6-da galabnimo

@ Assembly
War is Trauma Pop-Up Exhibit
& Social mapping with Carol Maziviero


 

6:30 ilaa 8-da fiidnimo (Goobta waxay furnaan doonaa 6-da ilaa 9:30 fiidnimo)

Goobta:

CTUL

3715 Chicago Ave. S

6:30 pm

 

 


“Maskaxdaada ku sawiro Magaalo Caddaalad ah: Kala-Duwanaanta Dhaqdhaqaaqyada Jira”
Waxaan ognahay in ay magaalo kasta ku nool yihiin dadyow kala duwan, laakiin sidee bay u qabsan karaan dantooda, iyo sidee loo bilaabi karaa in laga tala baxo dadka awoodda sheeganaya ee dadka kale sandulle uga dhigaya in waxa la sameynayo ay yihiin “wax lay isku raacsan yahay?” Waa in loo jiheysto arrin uu bilaabay qabqable la yiraahdo Harry Hay iyo fikradihiisii oo ahaa qof kasta rabitaankiisa in la tixgeliyo, wadahadalku wuxuu manaafacaad u keeni doonaa dadka kala duwan iyo in ay dowladda hoose abuurto tixgelin uu qof kasta barwaaqo ku heli karo iyo in si isku mar ah loogu bullaalo waxyaabaha badan ee ay dadku isku raacsan yihiin.
Doodeyaasha:
Jeremiah Bey Ellison (City Councilperson – Ward 5)
Jennifer Newsome (Dream the Combine)
Ginger Jentzen (15 Now, Socialist Alternative)
Tina Sigel (Restorative Justice Community Action)
Su Hwang (Pending)
Sam Gould (Moderator)


After Party

Jimce

8:30 ilaa 10:30 fiidnimo

Goobta: 2854 Columbus Ave. S

@ Assembly w/ Hello Psychaleppo

 

 

 



 

 

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

Sun, Nov. 19, 2017 ⁄ 2:00–3:30pm

Municipalism and its Meanings: A Reading

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Everyday the thought becomes clearer and more urgent: we need a new way of doing politics, not just new politicians. That’s why you should join us at Assembly, the new space for local gatherings that strive to create realizable political alternatives.
We have lots of ideas for activities for this assembly. We will be distributing, reading and discussing Lumpen Magazine issue 130  (Chicago): The Municipalism Issue, a primer on international activities and activism around municipalism, especially focused on activities here in the US. In attendance will be a few locals who were involved in writing and organizing the issue. In addition, we’ll have updates about the Catalonian independence movement and the municipalists’ role in it, and news about upcoming lectures, gatherings and other activities around municipalist capacity building here in the Twin Cities.
We need a new way of doing politics, not just new politicians:
A politics that is really by and for the people.
A politics that works to combat economic inequality.
A politics that works for the common good.
A feminized politics, driven by collective intelligence and concrete action.
A politics with racial justice at its heart.
A participatory politics, where people have power more than once every four years.
An open source, flexible politics, that can be adapted to the contexts of our big cities and our rural communities.
An ethical politics, with zero tolerance for corruption and cronyism.

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

Folks, what are you doing tomorrow night at 7pm? Join us for our last Assembly Reading Group meeting, as well as the beginning of something new. PM for details.

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

Tue, Oct. 3, 2017 ⁄ 7:00–9:00pm

Assembly Reading Group

Lois workers assembly
Come join the Municipalism Research Group in reading Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s newest book, Assembly. We’ll be meeting at Beyond Repair for two evenings, with a lecture at Macalester College on the book, by Michael Hardt, in between.
The book relates to themes that we’ve discussed in the group so far, in particular, how to organize ourselves democratically outside of currently existing forms of representation? How do we build transformative forms of assembly and decision-making structures that rely on the broadest democratic base?
If you need a copy of the book get in touch. Also, we’ll have copies to give away of the new, municipalism centered, issue of Lumpen Magazine.
October 3, 7pm at Beyond Repair – Reading group (pgs 1 – 70)
October 6, 4:30 – Lecture by Michael Hardt (John B. Davis Lecture Hall, Ruth Stricker Dayton Campus Center at Macalester College)
October 10 at Beyond Repair – Reading group (add details)

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

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All municipalist meetings should be followed by a barbecue. Or, preceeded by, or take place during.

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

Another thoughtful and inspiring gathering around municipalist strategies yesterday as we read over the draft of the Barcelona en Comu International Committees statement for starting municipalist platforms in America. Much to unpack; from ideas around pluralism, difference, power, and notions of commonness, there’s obviously a lot of cultural and political translation to be done between a European and American municipalist model. And yet, so much to grab on to, desire, feel energized and inspired by. An aspect that stuck out for me which bridged this cultural divide was the necessity to begin and aggressively maintain a desire to build critical connections around ideas between people and existing publics, maintaining a close but healthy distance from the electorate. This isn’t to say that an “authentic” municipalist platform will avoid electoral politics, more so that it will access the electorate as a means and not an end. Much more to unpack, many more connections to form and sustain, and more barbecues to have after our get-togethers as well, because you know, those are where those critical connections take root.

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· Resident Weirdo· ∞

Sun, Jun. 18, 2017 ⁄ 2:00–4:30pm

Municipal Research Group: Second Assembly

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We need a new way of doing politics, not just new politicians:

A politics that is really by and for the people.

A politics that works to combat economic inequality.

A politics that works for the common good.

A feminized politics, driven by collective intelligence and concrete action.

A politics with racial justice at its heart.

A participatory politics, where people have power more than once every four years.
An open source, flexible politics, that can be adapted to the contexts of our big cities and our rural communities.

An ethical politics, with zero tolerance for corruption and cronyism.

Join us on Sunday, June 18 @ 2pm for our second meeting on Municipalism. We will be meeting at, of course, The Future (2223 E 35th St).

During this meeting, we’ll get to know each other and discuss a draft statement of principles (quoted above) being written by US activists working with Barcelona en Comú international to define municipalism in a way that’s relevant and responsive to the US context.

We’ll use this meeting to talk with each other and to read, discuss, reflect and critique the document. We’ll send this feedback back to the working group as an illustration of the participatory politics we are striving to create.

A full first draft is still being prepared. We will distribute it before the meeting.

Time / Location

When:

Sunday, June 18
2pm

Where:

The Future
2223 E 35th St
Minneapolis, MN 55407

See you at the Future!

*=================*

Didn’t get the memo? What is Municipalism?

As we slip deeper into a presidential crisis, we direly need new social and political ideas. Municipalism is a social movement inspired by the idea of creating a new relationship between people and power: Municipalism isn’t about electing better politicians. Municipalism is about changing the relationship between institutions, social movements and citizens. Elected representatives are just the institutional branch of a movement that is based in the streets and neighborhoods, where the real power resides. Municipal movements work both inside and outside of institutions, building dual power and creating concrete solutions. Municipalism depends on active, organized and independent social movements that support representatives to enact their demands – and push them when they don’t… Find out more by coming to the meeting.

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

A wonderful turnout on a beautiful spring afternoon for a talk about Spain’s Municipalism movement and the ways, and possible roadblocks, of energizing something similar here in Minneapolis. I am extremely excited to move forward; generating more questions, moving those questions around through publications and assemblies, and activating the thoughts and ideas which come to the surface through these processes. This will all take a tremendous amount of work, but the commitment and desire expressed by those who assembled along the Midtown Greenway this afternoon gave me confidence that it’s an achievable proposition. 


Much thanks to Alan Moore for his days and insights while here with us as the inaugural resident within the Beyond to the Future Neighborhood Residency Program. 


And another huge thank you to Marc Herbst, and to Fernando Canteli de Castro for sharing his experiences and considerations of working through municipal strategies in Spain with Barcelona en Comu. As we ended our gathering with today, “onward, to something!”

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

(http://municipalrecipes.cc/)

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

Dear Friends and Conspirators:

Our political system is hopelessly broken: corporate elites control the state, white supremacy has been mainstreamed, and democratic institutions do not represent the people. This is not just a description of our situation; it is also a global problem. Many around the world, including anti-fascists, workers, anarchists, and others seeking radical change, are working on alternative models for democracy and finding incredible success. One that excites us is the Municipalism movement in Spain under the banner of Barcelona en Comú (Barcelona in Common). The movement is working to ensure that public institutions respond directly to the will of the people and not to the interests of a handful of corporate or political leaders working behind closed doors. Going beyond the simple act of voting, it is a “politics from below” that invites citizens into the direct democratic management of the city in order to ensure that public institutions are always accountable to the people.

Over the next year (or more) a number of us who find interest and value in organizing, reflecting, and, most importantly, acting on these ideas have decided to convene a series of talks and workshops on Municipalism and direct democracy. Our conversations begin next week at Beyond Repair. We welcome you to attend, add your thoughts, and become collaborators in this process.

We have invited artist / theorist Alan Moore to Minneapolis to discuss his research and work with the Municipalist and self-governance communities in Spain and Europe and the anarcho-art punk scene of late 1970s lower Manhattan. From his work as a founding member of Colab, whose project The Real Estate Show is one of the best-known artist squat actions in New York history, to his research on anarchist squats and collectivity in Europe, Alan’s broad and rich history with critically and creatively engaging space and its politics serves as a productive bridge for the many of us; artists, activists and thinkers whose work engages the social and political landscape of our day-to-day lives with each other.

Below you will find the various events we have scheduled for next week, as well as opportunities for “critical downtime” while Alan is in town. Please feel free to join us for any and all of them. We are excited to invite you, and anyone else you feel would value inclusion, into this urgent conversation.

Sincerly,

Sam Gould, John Kim, Bruce Braun and a growing list of others…

· Resident Weirdo· ∞