Wednesday -- 3.26.14 -- Commons Beyond Capitalism -- Week 17
CONTENTS:
0. About Wednesday
1. Reading for Wednesday
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0. About Wednesday's Common(s) Course
What: Common(s) Course Meeting / Conversation
When: Wednesday, March 26 (from 5:00 to 7:00)
Where: 16 Beaver Street, 4th floor
Who: Free and open to all
One of the questions that has riddled our common(s) inquiry together is the anti- and antagonism which is called for to defend, reclaim, reinvent the common(s). Even as we have discussed non-monetary forms of exchange or other currencies which could withdraw from and undermine the social power and force exerted by the community of money; we have run into this basic question: How can our lines of flight from capitalist relations also contain within them something more than alternatives in an existing soup of capitalist reality? In other words, how can these processes of reinventing common(s) and reclaiming the means of our reproduction have as their horizon and logic - the demise of capitalist relations, exploitation, economies, reality.
In a recent text by Silvia Federici and George Caffentzis published in the Canadian Journal Upping the Anti, they formulate the following questions:
What do we mean by anti-capitalist commons?
How can we create, out of the commons that our struggles bring into existence, a new mode of production no longer built on exploitation of labour?
How can we prevent commons from being co-opted - that is, instead of providing an alternative to capitalism, becoming platforms on which a sinking capitalist class can reconstruct its fortunes?
We are happy to be joined this week by Silvia and George to discuss these questions and their positions. We encourage everyone attending to read their text. We also hope to cook some food after the meeting together. Please feel free (but not obliged) to bring something to drink, cheese, bread, salad or other nice things you would like to share.
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1. Suggested Reading for Wednesday
George Caffentzis and Silvia Federici, "Commons Against and Beyond Capitalism," Upping The Anti, Issue 15 (September 2013) pp. 83-91.
http://sduk.us/money/sg_commons_againstbeyond_capitalism.pdf
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16 Beaver Group
16 Beaver Street, 4th fl.
New York, NY 10004
for directions/subscriptions/info visit:
http://www.16beavergroup.org
TRAINS:
4,5 -- Bowling Green
2,3 -- Wall Street
J,Z -- Broad Street
R -- Whitehall
1 -- South Ferry
