Written by Yavor Tarinski Today, plenums are talking about a new type of direct democracy. ~Dalibor Petrović[1] We see that in different temporal and spatial realities, in moments of social upheaval, that societies begin to move and self-organize. There is a common trait that often connects such experiences – the emergence of grassroots institutions that […]
Read More Plenums in the post-Yugoslav space
Written by Cindy Milstein. This essay first appeared in the Spring of 2000—as a contribution to the Bringing Democracy Home booklet, which was distributed at the A16 demonstrations against the IMF and World Bank in DC—and most recently in an updated form, as chapter 3 in Cindy’s book Anarchism and Its Aspirations in 2010. These […]
Read More Democracy Is Direct
A month and a half after the criminal incident at the Novi Sad train station in Serbia, where part of the roof collapsed and killed 15 people, the Serbian people continue to organise, with the students being at the heart of the mobilizations! It all started at the Novi Sad Drama School, where students […]
Read More Self-organize and start practicing direct democracy now! | Letter from the occupied universities of Serbia
Written by Jean-François Filion The life of the Social Ecologist, Murray Bookchin, was exemplary. His political and theoretical commitment is a model of depth and courage. Regardless of the fate the future holds for his doctrine, regardless of the memory of the intellectual disputes in which he participated, Murray Bookchin will remain a major reference […]
Read More The Unique Contribution of Murray Bookchin to Political Thought
Written by Yavor Tarinski Housing is absolutely essential to human flourishing. Without stable shelter, it all falls apart. ~Matthew Desmond[1] The issue of housing is of fundamental importance that has a direct connection, among other basic rights, to democratic participation. Despite that (or because of it) it is being contested by capitalist forces worldwide. Capitalist […]
Read More Right to housing and its relation to democracy
Written by Marco Deriu from the Department of Political and Social Studies of the University of Parma. Originally published in the journal Futures, Volume 44, Issue 6, August 2012, Pages 553-561. The debate surrounding the theme of democracy and degrowth covers many different questions from the reflections on sustainability and ecological democracy, to the discussion […]
Read More Democracies with a future: Degrowth and the democratic tradition
A Report of the People’s Assemblies Forum held in the Mathare Social Justice Centre’s Creative Hub on August 11, 2023. Cross-posted from the Mathare Social Justice Center. Why People’s Assemblies? The people’s assemblies arise from the need of the people to administer and generate solutions to the problems ailing their society. The concept is a people’s […]
Read More Tackling Social Injustice in Kenya with People’s Assemblies?
Written by Yavor Tarinski [C]itizens today no longer even approximate the high and eminently human standard of citizenship that was established in the Hellenic world—a meaning that must be recovered, as well as the personal and social training, or paideia, for producing citizens. ~Murray Bookchin[1] Often, when people advocate for the reinvigoration of citizenship in […]
Read More From citizens of nations to citizens of cities
Written by Yavor Tarinski We don’t aim to seize colonial state power but to abolish it. We seek nothing but total liberation. ~Indigenous Action[1] Colonialism is still an issue today, as patterns of colonial exploitation continue in different parts of the world. Although the form might have changed, it is nonetheless still there. But the […]
Read More Anti-colonialism and direct democracy
Written by Yavor Tarinski A vote, even a free vote, may be only – and often is only – a parody of democracy. Democracy is not the right to vote on secondary issues. Real [democracy] lies in being able to decide for oneself on all essential questions in full knowledge of the relevant facts. ~Cornelius […]
Read More On why Referendums aren’t synonymous with Direct Democracy