University as factory
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What role do colleges and universities play in the global capitalist order? How does escalating student debt fit within broader political-economic trends and tendencies? What does the Edu-factory Collective mean when it claims that "what was once the factory is now the university"? C.S. Soong of Pacifica Radio's "Against the Grain" plays Max Haiven navigating through these issues in a recent talk.
Listen here.
The Edu-factory Collective, Toward a Global Autonomous University Autonomedia, 2009.
Barcelona diary: Celebrating radical history
Submitted by thegonzokid on Oct 26 2012 20:04
Recently I was lucky enough to take part in a meeting of radical historians in Barcelona. The event was billed as “a meeting of colleagues and comrades, all active in interpreting and bringing out the radical history of the place where they live”.
As well as sharing experiences and having a good time, the gathering was aimed at establishing “a more or less formal network/platform for the future. An international network of independent tour guides, street storytellers and historical activists”.
The stalemate of two economic models - Robert Kurz
In this 2012 article, Robert Kurz discusses the crisis management strategies implemented by the US and Europe, their seemingly paradoxical reversal of roles (neoliberal policies vs. welfare state) and the ineluctable fate they will ultimately share: “Whoever wants to save the financial system has to eliminate demand, and whoever wants to save demand has to ruin the financial system”.
The Stalemate of Two Economic Models - Robert Kurz
The Bonnot Gang: The story of the French illegalists - Richard Parry
Submitted by wojtek on Apr 22 2012 05:43
This is the story of the infamous Bonnot Gang: the most notorious French anarchists ever, and the inventors of the motorized get-away. It is the story of how the anarchist taste for illegality developed into illegalism - the theory that theft is liberating. And how a number of young anarchists met in Paris in the years before the first world war, determined to live their lives to the full, regardless of the inevitable - and tragic - consequences.
A gripping historical thriller, Parry narrates their lives and background - a Paris of riots, strikes and savage repression. A stronghold of foreign exiles and home-grown revolutionaries. Victor Serge and 'l'anarchie' the individualist weekly. Their robberies, daring and violent, would give them a lasting notoriety in France.
Worker Insurgency and Statist Containment in Portugal and Spain, 1974-1977 - Loren Goldner
Submitted by libcom on Mar 26 2012 21:14
An analysis of the end of the Salazar and Franco regimes and the transition crises that marked " the last major working class upsurges in the West in the era of the big factory".
Overview: The International Workers Association
This summary of the International Workers Association is an edited version of the article originally put together for the organisation's page on Wikipedia and includes some content not available on that site.
The International Workers' Association is an international federation of anarcho-syndicalist labour unions and initiatives located primarily in Europe and Latin America.
Recurring Dreams - the red heart of fascism
At the heart of the cancerous desires of today's left.
Prologue
The destructive origins of capitalism - Robert Kurz
Submitted by Alias Recluse on Jun 14 2011 14:10
Brief essay on the role played by the "military revolution" in 16th century Europe in the genesis of capitalism and, among other things, the historical status of the soldiers of the new standing armies of the emerging nation-states as the "first modern wage workers" and the condottieri as the "prototypes of the modern businessman".
Night of the living geeks - how I learned to start worrying and hate the cuties
Geeks are a nice species of creature. Cutely dressed, delicate, fragile, softly spoken to the point of mutism. Yet, they have managed to colonize the collective imagination of an entire generation. This generation. But who are the geeks? And how could this species of shy elves take over the innermost sanctums of the western cultural environment?
Until a few years ago, geeks didn’t exist. From the 1970s (some claim even since the 1950s) to the end of the 1990s, socially and physically awkward, yet often very intelligent people used to fall in the popular category denominated ‘nerds’.
Europe calling: it's just the beginning! from Rome to London
Submitted by Mark. on Dec 11 2010 13:17
A call from the Italian site uniriot for solidarity and coordination between the emerging European student movements.
…You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows: occupation of universities everywhere in Europe, blockage of the cities, manif sauvage, rage. This is the answer of a generation to whom they want to cut the future with debts for studying, cuts of welfare state and increasing of tuition fees.
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