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. Republished from Aftoleksi. Democratic confederalism is the contrasting paradigm of the oppressed people. ~ Abdullah Öcalan in Prison Writings: Roots of Civilisation The bombing and invasion of Gaza continues in full force, bringing death and destruction to countless civilians. These attacks should immediately stop, the siege of Gaza must be lifted and […]
Read More Voices for an Israel-Palestine Confederation
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
We present to you the new publication from TRISE, entitled Asking questions with the Zapatistas: Reflections from Greece on our Civilizational Impasse, authored by TRISE members Theodoros Karyotis, Ioanna-Maria Maravelidi, and Yavor Tarinski. Editor: Matthew Little | Cover: Apollon Petropoulos | Design: George Chelebiev Publisher: Transnational Institute of Social Ecology (TRISE) | Year: 2022 […]
Read More New book: “Asking questions with the Zapatistas” (free e-book)
By Yavor Tarinski We have become a civilization based on work – not even “productive work” but work as an end and meaning in itself. ~David Graeber (Bullshit Jobs, 2018, pXXIV) Free time has been, for some time now, undergoing a steady reduction. With the increasing “uberisation” of economies worldwide, people find less and less […]
Read More Time, Leisure, Work: De-bureaucratizing Everyday Life
Written by Yavor Tarinski To take no part in the running of the community’s affairs is to be either a beast or a god! ~Aristotle[1] When exploring social change, one has to examine all aspects of it. Developing strategies and institutions that will help facilitate the coming into being and functioning of a democratic and […]
Read More Re-Embedding Citizenship in Revolutionary Politics
Urban researcher Nikos Vrantsis interviews Yavor Tarinski, author of Common Futures: Social Transformation and Political Ecology [co-authored with Alexandros Schismenos] (Black Rose Books, 2021), on the current bureaucratic state of cities and the democratic perspectives offered by autonomous urban movements. Nikos Vrantsis: Day by day, state oppression turns into the new normal. Governmemts invested in […]
Read More Cities beyond bureaucracy: Exploring commons-based strategies
Video from the book launch of “Enlightenment and Ecology: The Legacy of Murray Bookchin in the 21st Century”, edited by TRISE member Yavor Tarinski. The event took place on 14th of January, date that marks 100 years from the birth of Murray Bookchin, founding theorist of social ecology and one of the most profound […]
Read More Video from “Enlightenment and Ecology” book launch
Written by TRISE member Yavor Tarinski. Originally published on Aftoleksi, here. The greatest achievement of these human beings was the creation of cities. Dimitrios Roussopoulos[1] As Hannah Arendt has suggested, “To be political, to live in a polis, meant that everything was decided through words and persuasion and not through force and violence“[2]. […]
Read More Public Assemblies in Early Cities