These are 9 video and audio recordings from the Dublin anarchist bookfair.
Video - Eyewitness Rojava Revolution - accounts from participants and Janet Biehl
In Northern Syria ISIS has been driven back by people fighting for a society based on principles of direct democracy, gender equality, and sustainability. From the their revolution in 2012 they have created a de facto autonomous region in which this ideas are being implemented. At this opening session of the 2016 Dublin Anarchist Bookfair we heard from eyewitnesses to the revolution including those from the region.
Watch the video at https://youtu.be/Ck585zuJnzA
Listen to the audio at https://www.mixcloud.com/workerssolidarity/revolution-i...fair/
Audio - Basic Income - the concept and the problems from an anarchist perspective
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in Basic Income. Basic Income is a payment from the state to every resident on an individual basis, without any means test or work requirement. Is Basic Income a progressive proposal or does it sound too good to be true?
Listen to the audio at https://www.mixcloud.com/workerssolidarity/basic-income...tive/
Video - Remembering 1916 Together: Anarchist Perspectives
When it comes to remembering the 1916 Rising, why do conservative politicians and historians want to convince us that it would have been better for us if Pearse and Connolly had stayed at home? This panel attempts to think through the meaning of 1916 for us today, and the politics at stake in how these events are remembered, forgotten, and mis-remembered.
Watch the video at https://youtu.be/drnxXE8JwRM
Audio - Struggles against racism - Traveller, migrant, and direct provision perspectives
From Trump in the US to Pegida in Europe, the recent resurgence of right-wing and fascist politics challenges all of us to develop stronger and stronger anti-racist social movements. From casual, everyday racism to state policies of border enforcement, racism comes in many forms in Ireland. In this panel we brought together a variety of activists from migrant, Traveller, and refugee solidarity networks to discuss experiences of challenging racism in everyday society and in state policy, and to share perspectives on developing solidarity in the struggle for survival, recognition, and respect.
Listen to the audio at https://www.mixcloud.com/workerssolidarity/struggles-ag...udio/
Video - Experiences of Feminist Struggle - past, present and global
This panel on Feminist struggles included
Elife Berk is an activist and member of the KJA (the Free Women's Congress).
Suzanne Lee is known for having an illegal abortion and once throwing eggs at Enda Kenny.
Claire Brophy research interests lie in contemporary Irish women's writing, cultural theory, and feminist philosophy.
Theresa O'Keefe researches and writes on feminist resistance
Watch the video at https://youtu.be/h5KfeZTM6hs
Audio - Rebuilding radical trade unions from below
In their present structure, are trade unions nothing more than an arm of the state and of the bosses? Do unions function more to control workers rather than advance their interests? Can the major unions be reformed from within, or should we start building new ones? Are militant trade unionists ‘wreckers’, or the future of the labour movement? Speakers from the Independent Workers Union (Ireland) and the Industrial Workers of the World (Scotland) discussed the current state of organised labour and propose possible ways to advance the interests of workers today.
Listen to the audio at https://www.mixcloud.com/workerssolidarity/rebuilding-r...2016/
Video - Environmental crisis, environmental struggles with Janet Biehl
The environmental crisis represents ‘one of the gravest and most severe existential threats to our species survival’.
Speakers:
Janet Biehl, a theorist and writer who has written on topics such as Social Ecology and Libertarian Municipalism, Ecofeminism, and the dynamics and threats posed by ‘Ecofascism’.
Erjan Ayboga is an active member of the Mesopotamian Ecology Movement and was involved in a campaign to oppose the damming of the Tigris river
Watch the video at https://youtu.be/ilXbKxYsg4Q
Audio - Bodily Autonomy at the Intersections
Sinéad Redmond is a pro-choice and maternity rights activist.
Eilís Ní Fhlannagáin has been active in radical trans women’s circles for the past two decades.
Catriona is a sex worker who is currently involved in the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland, but has been involved in other political campaigns in Ireland including sex workers rights and migrant rights.
Listen to the audio at https://www.mixcloud.com/workerssolidarity/bodily-auton...2016/
Video - Community Resistance & Grassroots Activism
Recent years in Ireland have seen growing community based resistance to the imposition of austerity programs: the introduction of regressive taxes such as the property tax and water charges, and the homelessness crisis as a direct consequence.
Panel participants
- Brian Fagan, has participated in community organising, centring on resistance to property taxes and Irish Water for the past three years.
- Mick O’Broin, an activist with the Dublin Tennant’s Association talked about the politics of self-organising in the context of the crisis in the private rented sector.
- Aisling Hedderman is part of the North Dublin Bay Housing Crisis Community, a grassroots community of parents and individuals directly affected by the housing crisis
Watch the video at https://youtu.be/jnmCucHTSlM