Category Archives: governance

Yavor Tarinski interviewed on “Direct democracy and the passion for political participation”

Posted on November 19, 2019 by

‘If we want create a radically democratic and ecological society, we will have to abandon all bureaucratic and exploitative means. It is not enough to consume ethically or vote for the lesser evil. We have to build democratic and resilient communities capable of confederating with each other so as to tackle large-scale issues. As Castoriadis has said, “an autonomous society cannot be instaurated except through the autonomous activity of the collectivity.” This might sound too general or abstract, but the direct democracy of which we are speaking represents such a paradigm shift, that must surpass both globalization and localism and can lead towards genuine social emancipation.’

Posted in anarchism, autonomy, Castoriadis, democracy, founding, freedom, governance, Nota Bene, the Left

Jeffery R. Webber & Forrest Hylton interviewed on the Coup in Bolivia

Posted on November 17, 2019 by

“In a regional perspective, we might situate the Bolivian coup more or less mid-way between the “hard” military coup in Honduras in 2009, and the “soft” parliamentary coups against Fernando Lugo in Paraguay in 2012 and Dilma Rousseff in Brazil in 2016, with a crucial difference—in Bolivia, the far right co-opted and hijacked mass centrist protest by urban middle classes that preceded the coup, pushing it in a violent direction.”

Posted in democracy, emergency, governance, hubris, Nota Bene, resistance, rights

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“Chronicle of an insurrection: Lebanon”

Posted on November 14, 2019 by

“Since October 17, Lebanon has experienced countrywide demonstrations that have toppled the prime minister and transformed Lebanese society. These demonstrations are part of a global wave of uprisings including Ecuador, Chile, Honduras, Haiti, Sudan, Iraq, Hong Kong, and Catalunya, in which the exploited and oppressed are challenging the legitimacy of their rulers.”

Posted in gender, governance, In The News, power, revolt, rights, violence

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Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan: “A Worldwide Revolution is Underway”

Posted on November 2, 2019 by

“Puerto Rico. Hong Kong. Ecuador. Haiti. Lebanon. Iraq. And now, Chile. People are rising up around the world against austerity and corruption, defying police forces unleashed to suppress them.”

Posted in governance, justice, Nota Bene, power, revolt

“Latin America and the Caribbean are in flames”

Posted on October 30, 2019 by

“Ecuador, Chile, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Costa Rica, Bolivia… and counting.  The triggers might be different but they all have more than our blood in common. Every struggle in the region is connected.”

Posted in freedom, governance, justice, Nota Bene, revolt

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Dimitrina Petrova: “The Egalitarian Promise of 1989—and Its Betrayal”

Posted on October 27, 2019 by

“The paradox of 1989 is that communism was stormed and brought down from the left, by people with unfulfilled egalitarian aspirations, but the revolutionary road led to a new society that has been experienced as more unfair than communism.”

Posted in governance, Nota Bene, revolution, the Left, tragic politics

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Richard Youngs: “After Protest: Pathways beyond Mass Mobilization”

Posted on October 24, 2019 by

‘The case studies show that the standard criticism that activists singularly fail to move “from protest to politics” is no longer entirely fair—even if this might have been valid to some extent a decade or more ago. Yet they also suggest that maintaining effective postprotest activism can be far harder than organizing an influential protest and that all postprotest pathways easily encounter serious obstacles.’

Posted in disobedience, emergency, founding, governance, Nota Bene, revolt

“From Chile to Lebanon, Protests Flare over Wallet Issues” (NYT)

Posted on October 24, 2019 by

“Small pocketbook items became the focus of popular fury across the globe in recent weeks, as frustrated citizens filled the streets for unexpected protests that tapped into a wellspring of bubbling frustration at a class of political elites seen as irredeemably corrupt or hopelessly unjust or both. They followed mass demonstrations in Bolivia, Spain, Iraq and Russia and before that the Czech Republic, Algeria, Sudan and Kazakhstan in what has been a steady drumbeat of unrest over the past few months.”

Posted in emergency, fraternity, governance, In The News, resistance

“Ecuador: Finding direction in an insurrection”

Posted on October 21, 2019 by

‘Raúl Zibechi’s reading of the most recent revolt in Ecuador unveils a shift in the radical politics of the Americas (and perhaps beyond) – one announced earlier, embryonically, in the movements-insurrections of this century – and which we might wish to call a post-hegemonic politics of revolution; a politics that has greater affinity with tactics of direct action and mutual aid, than with the strategies of more traditional labour and political organisations of the “Left”.’

Posted in fraternity, governance, In The News, revolt, rights

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“Catalonia: Trapped between nationalisms”

Posted on October 19, 2019 by

‘While both the Spanish and the Catalan regional governments, and their respective parliaments, are divided and paralysed over what to do next, anarchists find themselves again in the uncomfortable position of siding with neither, while opposing and fighting against state violence, and defending more radical forms of autonomy, beyond “national sovereignty”.’

Posted in anarchism, autonomy, governance, Nota Bene, power, resistance, rights

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