Category Archives: Castoriadis

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

Mitchell Abidor: “1968: When the Communist Party Stopped a French Revolution “

Posted on April 20, 2018 by

“1968 was the definitive proof, if such proof were still needed, that the Communist Party had no interest in seizing power through revolution. But it also demonstrated that in this, the PCF was the perfect image of the class it represented, and vice versa. Cornelius Castoriadis … wrote in an essay published during the events:

In France in May ’68 the industrial proletariat was not the revolutionary vanguard of society, but rather its ponderous rear guard. If the student movement attacked the heavens, what stuck society to earth… was the attitude of the proletariat, its passivity in regard to its leadership and the regime, its inertia, its indifference to everything that was not an economic demand.”

Posted in anarchism, Castoriadis, defeat, Nota Bene, revolution, the Left

Yavor Tarinski: “The Commons: Beyond the State and the Market”

Posted on September 4, 2017 by
“The commons can be found all around the world in different forms: from indigenous communities resisting the cutting of rainforests and Indian farmers fighting GMO crops, to open source software and movements for digital rights over the internet. The main characteristics that they all share, are the direct-democratic procedures of their management, the open design and manufacturing, accessibility, and constant evolvement.”

Posted in anarchism, Arendt, autonomy, Castoriadis, democracy, founding, governance, Nota Bene, the common

Yavor Tarinski: “Individuals and minorities in the framework of direct democracy”

Posted on March 23, 2017 by

Choice between participation and civil liberties is false: “There is no inherent contradiction between individual freedom and broad civic deliberation. Instead the one contributes for the development of the other. By its very nature direct democracy requires constant polemical debate and questioning of the ‘now’, which demands the creation and maintenance of colorful and pluralist social amalgam.”

Posted in agonism, autonomy, Castoriadis, democracy, governance, Nota Bene, rights, the common, Uncategorized