“Bevins chronicles the protest movements that made the 2010s the most politically active in history, considering why such unprecedented mass protests so often had the opposite effect from what the protesters intended. Still, rather than focusing solely on these losses, he tracks the small wins, as well as the lessons learned and edifying counterfactuals disseminated…
Category: democracy
Kristin Ross interviewed: The commune as a form of life
“For me, Les Soulèvements de la Terre are a contemporary example of a Commune form because they have managed to create a common front, and they have created it from very different groups and people. It’s a very specific form. It’s not a political party, it’s not a class- or ethnicity-based organisation, and yet it’s…
Silvia Federici: “The revolution is now”
“Enough with this idea of the revolution which has become in the future, so one day the children of my children will live better. No. The revolution is now. We have one life. Every day is precious. We cannot think of the revolution in the future. If we struggle, it is because the life that…
Laura Vicente: “Mujeres Libres: A genealogy of anarchist feminism”
‘This was “their revolution of life”, a long-term transformation that began to change ways of life, personal relationships, work, “care” and an endless number of other aspects, paying attention to the small, to the quiet, to the intimate, to the breath of each body. These women glimpsed other possible worlds and, despite the defeat, they…
Catherine Malabou: Two video interviews on anarchism and philosophy
“We revisit the arguments for ontological anarchism and attempt to elucidate a bridge between anarchy in philosophy and politics. Catherine also shares her views on cryptocurrency, AI, and other technological trends as they relate to the prospect of a “dawning anarchy”. Moreover, we explore the distinction between liberatory and libertarian anarchisms as they both emerge…
Hall Greenland: “After Independence, Algeria Launched an Experiment in Self-Managing Socialism”
“Local democracy wasn’t always perfect: there were many examples of local bigwigs, mafia, and armed mujahideen doing side deals with emigrating European owners or seizing European property. However, in the latter cases, there were often ongoing struggles between the usurpers and local workers for control. The spontaneous reality of the summer of 1962 set the…
Mona El-Ghobashy: “The Arab Uprisings and the Many Meanings of Revolution”
“After ten years as the Arab region’s only functioning democracy, Tunisia is now imperiled by a presidential strongman who in 2021 dissolved parliament and attacked the judiciary, and in 2022 rewrote the constitution to reflect his plebiscitary conception of direct democracy. Egypt is governed by a personalized military dictatorship that incarcerates or eliminates all forms…
“Economic Neglect and Political Instability Unraveled Tunisia’s Democracy”
“Tensions across the religious-secular fault lines in the country could not be reconciled, and freely elected leaders failed to deliver on the 2011 uprising’s cry for bread, freedom and dignity.”
Steve Ellner: “The impasse of the Latin American left”
“As the left returns to power across Latin America, the lessons of the Pink Tide have become increasingly relevant. ” A review of The Impasse of the Latin American Left. Franck Gaudichaud, Jeffery R. Webber, and Massimo Modonesi, eds. Duke University Press, 2022.
‘What Have We Done With Democracy?’ A Decade On, Arab Spring Gains Wither
“Tunisia, birthplace of the pro-democracy uprisings that swept the Arab world, now looks to many like a final confirmation of failed promise.”