Excerpted from EWAN ROBERTSON: “the experience of worker control in the Grafitos factory is one of a number of worker control experiments across Venezuela. This article investigates the development of this movement in recent years, in particular through the Plan Socialist Guayana, and what Venezuela’s experience of worker control means for the Bolivarian revolution and… Continue reading
Video of the Day: Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo on popular protest in Andalucia, Spain
Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo has become the face of the growing protest movement in Spain. The mayor of a small town in Southern Spain called Marinaleda, he has become well-known for leading combative protests and sit-ins, including a protest in a supermarket in which food was taken and redistributed to the poor. But Sánchez Gordillo… Continue reading
On the Dispersal of Power from the State to Society
Excerpted from James Livingston: “By now we can also see that Gramsci was right: as the relation between state and society changed in the twentieth century, so did the nature and scope of politics, and with these the meaning of revolution as such. Accordingly, we can adopt a new perspective on the transition from capitalism… Continue reading
The Relational-Cultural Model of the Self
Growth-fostering relationships are a central human necessity. Chronic disconnection, whether on an interpersonal or societal scale, is a primary source of human suffering. “Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) posits that people grow through and toward relationships throughout the lifespan, and that culture powerfully impacts relationship.” An explanation from the JBMT.org website: “Naming Relational and Cultural Power Structures… Continue reading
On the issue of linguistic imperialism and the use of Esperanto as a wedge issue
Recently, I had a spat with our friends of Las Indias, around the use of Esperanto. Here is what they write: “Recently, we were asked to help organize a meeting of groups for the commons in Madrid. Our proposal is to create a simultaneous interpretation system using volunteer Esperanto-speakers so that everyone can speak his/her… Continue reading
Will App.net change the social media apps landscape?
App.net, according to their FAQ, is “A framework for real-time social media interactions based on open standards with an ad-free, subscription-based business model, which aims to distinguish itself from the field by respecting 3rd-party developers as equals and not commoditizing its users.” The initiative is still in alpha mode, but according to Dalton Caldwell, it… Continue reading
What happened to our supermarkets: negative consequences of errors of scale and financialization
Excerpted from David de Ugarte: “Didn’t it ever seem strange to you that, if you bought your ticket ahead of time, your travel agency obviously sold it to you below cost? Did you really think that the jet fuel to the Riviera Maya plus the all-inclusive hotel could cost 100€? And what can we say… Continue reading
A Few Thoughts On The Structure of Revolution 2.0
Republished from Suresh Fernando: (see also his text on Re-Occupation 2.0) “A movement is a social phenomenon. As such there are no limits to what can be organized, who can participate and how they can participate. In virtue of the absence of constraints, there is a much greater opportunity to scale participation than through traditional… Continue reading
A proposal for a R2R Research Process Protocol Project
An open invitation by Thomas Olsen and Nicolas Mendoza, “To the world’s up-and-coming ‘r2r community’.” See here for more info. The P2P Foundation intends to introduce a new and hopefully sustainable avenue for research and knowledge enhancement, differing from what universities and think tanks represent. Universities are, although often populated by people full of good… Continue reading
On the nature of systemic transitions without ‘conscious vanguard forces’
Kevin Carson wrote an intriguing comment on this thought-provoking essay. He writes that “the equation of “socialism” to external constraints on the market –or the US Army!–is obvious nonsense. But the discussion of post-capitalist productive relations emerging within capitalism spontaneously, and not as the result of some highly visible political revolution, reminds me a lot… Continue reading