2010 Presentations, Panels, Workshops and Skillshares

Click on highlighted workshop titles to listen

Workshops & Discussions at the 2010 NYC Anarchist Book Fair

Location details are at the bottom of the page. This workshop list is in alphabetical order by title. There is also a schedule at a glance of the workshops and discussions (PDF) in order by time slot.

ABC’s of Squatting in New York City
Sunday, 2:00-3:30
Judson Garden Room

Picture the Homeless is engaged in an organizing project that has to do with the occupation, renovation and defense of vacant though habitable spaces throughout NYC with the goal of creating homes for its members and forcing the powers that be to shift policy in the direction of providing more funds, legal means and availability of affordable housing for the very poor. This workshop will explain the rationale and methodologies (ABC’s) of such an endeavor while seeking to galvanize support for ongoing work.

Frank Morales is Housing Organizer at Picture the Homeless.

Anarchism and Intersectionality
Saturday, 4:15-5:45
Judson Balcony

This talk focuses on the theory of intersectionality that emerged from feminism and its relationship to anarchism. We’ll talk about ways that intersectionality might inform anarchist theory and practice, as well as ways that anarchism might inform intersectionality. Next, we will open the space up for a community discussion of the complex intersections of social class, multiple identities and subjectivities, and their place in social struggle for a free and egalitarian world.

Deric Shannon is an anarchist organizer living in Connecticut who has worked within the anarchist milieu for over 15 years. In the past, he has worked with groups like Anti-Racist Action, Food Not Bombs, and Indymedia. Currently, he is a member of the Workers Solidarity Alliance.

Abbey Willis is an anarchist militant who is currently organizing around reproductive freedom in central Connecticut. She is studying identity formation, queer praxis, and the intersections of race, class, and gender. She opposes hierarchy of all forms on the basis that it is constraining, harmful, and, importantly, boring as shit. She is a member of Queers without Borders.

Another Year of the Economic Crisis
Saturday, 11:00-12:30
Tamiment Library

The economic crisis is an energy crisis is an ecological crisis. Two years into the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression, our so-called leaders are declaring victory and preparing to move on – mainly because they’ve successfully bailed out the biggest U.S. financial institutions. But for millions of unemployed, the Crash isn’t going away. In fact, it highlights the need for a new economic order that addresses the human, environmental, and energy-related damage wrought by the state-capitalist system. Eric Laursen and Wayne Price update the overview of the post-Crash economy that they presented at last year’s book fair and lay out the elements of an anarchist response.

Eric Laursen is a longtime anarchist activist and organizer. As an independent journalist, he has covered Wall Street and the economy for more than 20 years. He is co-author of Understanding the Crash, forthcoming from Soft Skull Press.

Wayne Price is a longtime political activist and currently a member of the U.S.-Northeastern Federation of Anarchist-Communists (US-NEFAC). He is author of Anarchism and Socialism: Reformism or Revolution? and The Abolition of the State.

APOC (Anarchist People of Color) Caucus
Sunday, 3:45-5:15
Judson Assembly Hall

The APOC caucus is intended as a safe space open only to those who identify as anarchist people of color. This session will be a shared opportunity to address some of the important issues and tactical debates that have surfaced in various struggles over the past year or so, most recently (but NOT limited to!) the day of action for public education on March 4. These debates touch on political and racial identity, militance, insurrection, and accountable community organizing, all in relation to the race, class and gender dynamics within the movement. We hope to use this space to open up critical, constructive conversation toward the goals of collective liberation.

Between the Social and the Public: Dialogic Action in Third-Space
Saturday, 3:30
Judson Gym

Recent theoretical shifts in relation to a collective perception of social engagement have underlined a growing distinction between social and public spaces, bringing new attention to the importance of singular difference. In contrast to a growing prescribed urban design whose aim is on trivial consumption, the presence of a collective of similitude has become a representation of the global collective, an anonymous mark in the urban flux. With that in mind, the aim of many contemporary artists today is to address this place of in-between-ness as crucial for a critical rethinking of social space. It is through the collective mechanisms of insertion, interference, intervention, action, performance and projection that artists have fostered contingency within public social awareness and participation. These mechanisms, originated in the language of media culture, have since their inception become the official representatives of the corporate society, and their mission is simply that of marketing projections of excessive consumption, while monopolizing the public space. The corporate monopoly of public space, which replaced the “middle space” of dialogue between the people and the city, produced an offspring: the concept of membership. Now, we no longer choose to participate in public space, we have been summoned to become members, to pay dues, to act same; all in the name of entertainment, of trivial consumption, of a passive participation of culture. Our intention in this panel is to highlight this “middle space,” to reclaim and articulate it through a growing discursive awareness, and through artistic disturbances and interferences in space.

A panel discussion with Denise Carvalho, Iain Kerr (Spurse), Jill McDermid (Grace Exhibition Space), Petia Morozov (Spurse), Sara Reisman (Department of Cultural Affairs’ Percent for Art), Chen Tamir (Flux Factory), Mierle Laderman Ukeles and Alex Villar. Moderated by Ginger Shulick.

Defending Our Land, Air, and Water: Unconventional Gas Drilling in the Marcellus Shale
Saturday, 12:45-2:15
Judson Assembly Hall

New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and eastern Ohio sit atop the third largest deposit of natural gas in the world. Previously inaccessible, a new, heavily water-intensive and toxic technology called High Volume Slick Water Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” promises billions for the world’s largest energy companies (Halliburton, Exxon-Mobil, etc.). Already deployed in 31 states, with poisoned air and water and fractured communities in its wake, and not yet approved in NY, fracking demands a radical connect-the-dots response that understands how class and race intersect with environmental threats. Anyone who drinks water needs to know about this major threat to all of us.

Presented by Silent City Distro and friends.

Dow’s Toxic Lies: Greenwashing Bhopal, Agent Orange, and Dioxin
Saturday, 11:00-12:30
Judson Garden Room

Featuring The Yes Men, environmental health and solidarity activists, and conscious kids! From the Bhopal disaster in India to Agent Orange in Vietnam, from poisoning the Tittabawassee River in Michigan with dioxin to killing dolphins in Texas, Dow Chemical’s ruthless greed has destroyed lives around the planet. This Sunday, Dow, in conjunction with Al Gore’s Live Earth organization, will hold the “Dow Live Earth Run for Water,” a shameless attempt to rebrand Dow with a green image. Learn why we can’t let the world’s largest plastic producer get away with this – and how we intend to stop them!

Aquene Freechild (moderator) works with the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal.

Whitney Black and Rocco Ferrer work with The Yes Men.

Brian Mooney works with the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal.

Dawn Reel works with the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign.

Akash Viswanath Mehta is 12 years old and attends St. Anns school in Brooklyn. When he was 7, he founded Kids for a Better Future (KBF), a kid-run organization dedicated to children’s rights all over the world. In December 2008, Akash traveled to Bhopal with his family, volunteered at Sambhavna Clinic, and met many Bhopali kids including the members of Children Against Dow Carbide. In 2009, KBF raised $12,000 for a new playground and the healthcare for 900 Bhopali children at Sambhavna Clinic. Akash and KBF also participated in many 25th anniversary activities, and held a rally outside Dow’s Manhattan office on December 3rd, 2009.

The Exponential Function: How Simple Math Is Taking Down Capitalism and New York City
Sunday, 3:45-5:15
Judson Balcony

In this workshop, we will discuss how the 3 E’s of Economy, Environment, and Energy are affected and endangered by the simple mathematics of the exponential function. Exponential growth is when change happens at a constant proportional value, and on a graph will look more like a hockey stick than a gentle incline. Over the last century, our population has grown exponentially, along with our oil consumption, inflation (deflation of the dollar), debt, and carbon emissions. The economy, obviously relies on natural resources. So, what does exponential growth look like when it hits a ceiling? You have a peak or bubble, like the dot com bubble, or the housing bubble…but what we’re talking about here is the Capitalism bubble. We hit the peak of our production of cheap oil, globally, from 2005 to 2008, and are now on the decline. Because economic production relies on the energy slaves of oil and coal, we are headed to a greater depression than we’ve known throughout history.

Many scientists believe we are past the point of no return in runaway climate change. The ice shelves in both West Antarctica and Greenland both independently have the potential of raising the global sea level up 7 meters. This puts many coastal cities like NYC in serious danger. New York City relies almost exclusively on imports, and produces very little. At any time, NYC has only three days supply of food. We will also look at what an energy descent, climate change, and economic collapse future might look like and discuss the opportunity it provides for creating a local, cooperative, and socially just society without the use of money.

Abe Karl-Gruswitz is actively part of the founding efforts of an ecovillage in Northwest New Jersey and The Emerson Lily Free School. He was previously involved with another democratic school, The Greenwood Sudbury School in CT, for four years. Abe was a co-editor of the Grassroots Economic Organizing Newsletter, a quarterly publication for worker cooperatives and democratic workplaces. He has closely studied Consensus decision-making and Quaker process and is presently organizing and editing a book on Consensus. He is actively involved with the permaculture movement. Abe is a husband and a stay-at-home, unschooling father to four children.

Philip Botwinick is the founder of Local Energy Solutions. In 2005-2006 he took on the role of Conference Coordinator for the three day Local Solutions to the Energy Dilemma Conference held at Cooper Union in April 2006. He holds a Permaculture Design Certificate from the Permaculture Research Institute. He’s in the process of transforming his life to leave as small an impact on the planet as possible by reducing his consumption and buying seasonal and locally grown food.

Form and Content in Recent Anarchist Organizing: A Facilitated Conversation
Sunday, 2:00-3:30
Judson Balcony

Anarchism has long advocated a relationship between form and content, or, to put it another way, a consistency between means and ends as we prefigure a world from below. Everything from the tactics that anarchists utilize to the structures they create have usually been shaped by the ethics within anarchism, even as anarchist values have been fleshed out in embodied forms. Has this changed within contemporary anarchism, though? Is there now a separation between form and content, or are anarchists trying to bring the two even closer together? Is prefiguration an outmoded concept or more important than ever? Is something new afoot in regard to form/content, and if so, does it bode well or ill for transforming social relations and social organization in increasingly liberatory ways? Cindy will start off by framing a conversation around form/content, using recent examples such as the No Olympics on Stolen Native Lands convergence and Occupy Everything actions, and then facilitate a discussion among those present.

Cindy Milstein is an Institute for Anarchist Studies board member and a co-organizer of the Renewing the Anarchist Tradition conference. For many years, she taught at the anarchist summer school known as the Institute for Social Ecology. Her essays have appeared in several anthologies, including Realizing the Impossible, Confronting Capitalism, and Globalize Liberation.

Fuckin’ (A): Radical Sex!
Saturday, 6:00-7:30
Judson Garden Room

At Fuckin’ (A), we believe that radical sex positivity is a crucial step towards the revolution — and when we include rad sex in our politics, we’ll have a lot of fun working to get there! In this workshop, we’ll lead a conversation about tools that are important for radicals of all genders, sexes and sexualities to have in their sexy toolkit: communication, good consent practices, safer sex, maps to the tasty bits, and techniques for turning them on!

We stand behind a radical prefigurative politics – that is, that we must strive to put our ideals into practice in our own lives as we participate in struggles toward a society free of oppressive systems. We believe that the body is a major site upon which these power struggles take place. Within radical and anarchist communities, we can all benefit from thinking much more thoroughly about sex and sexuality: how to communicate more effectively, how to be more considerate and less oppressive in our sexual and gendered practices, how to take care of ourselves and other members of our community in our sexual practices, and how to keep human connection and joyful mutual support in mind through all these practices. Sex takes places in the social realm as much as it does in any “private” realm, meaning that sex is a social issue and an anarchist issue! Let’s address and consider radical sexual politics in this radical social setting!

Fuckin’ (A) is a NYC-based political collective that exists to promote, support and facilitate radical sex positivity as a crucial aspect of liberating ourselves and our communities!

Marta Lapczynskigrew up in Cleveland, Ohio, nourished on good old-fashioned DIY punk ethics. She has brought these sensibilities to New York City with much enthusiasm.

Lee Naught is a radical genderqueer organizer who has participated in a variety of collective, feminist & sexuality-focused projects, including coordinating Erósfera, Centro para las Sexualidades in Puebla, Mexico, working as a sex educator at Babeland, and filling a handful of roles at Bluestockings Radical Bookstore.

Dziga volunteers at Bluestockings and is an author of poetry and short fiction. He is an avid techno-anarchist, and spends most of his time developing web sites and technologies that act as tools for resistance. As an anarchist, he is firmly committed to feminism and fighting manarchy!

Sophia Matsu is a young anarchist (she’s 16!) who is the assistant bookkeeper at Bluestockings Radical Bookstore. She was also a member of Student Sexuality Awareness Club at her school before it was dismantled, and she hopes to bring it back. She was born and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Guantanamo on the Hudson: The Case of Fahad Hashmi
Saturday, 4:15-5:45
Judson Assembly Hall

The case of Fahad Hashmi, a 30-year-old Muslim American who has been in severe solitary confinement in lower Manhattan (in the Metropolitan Correctional Center) for almost three years (May 2007-present) while awaiting trial for alleged material support of terrorism should be of concern to all Americans of conscience and especially New Yorkers. We hope to educate people about his case and about the Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) under which he is held, which allow for indefinite solitary confinement and his Kafka-esque conditions of detention. These SAMs were renewed by Attorney General Eric Holder in October 2009. We will also speak about the violations of Fahad’s basic due process rights and the civil liberties issues also at play in his case. We hope that more people will join and help to build the bi-monthly vigils around this case after learning more. Unfortunately, Fahad’s case is not an aberration, and the US media has failed to report on his case and others like his ,which reveals a domestic judicial system in grave violation of international law and human rights norms.

Suzanne Hayes Kelly is an actress, activist or “artivist,” dedicated to using theater and art to promote awareness and educate. She is a Steering Committee member of THAW, Theaters Against War and is the chair of Peace Action for Diplomacy, a NYC chapter of Peace Action New York State. Among her projects is participation in the Lysistrata Project a 2003 theatrical protest of the Iraq War, inspired by THAW and she is an active participant in V-Day, the past two years, Eve Ensler’s project of raising money and awareness of violence towards women by performing her “Vagina Monologues” and other works. THAW’s current project is their vigil series of outdoor theater called “Radio Free Fahad” benefiting a Muslim-American unconstitutionally detained here in NYC.

Michael Patrick Kelly is a filmmaker and writer/producer/director here in NYC and the writer/director of the award-winning “Operation Lysistrata” a documentary film chronicling the Lysistrata Project, the largest theatrical protest in our history, consisting of simultaneous readings of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata on one day, 3/3/03, to protest the then-upcoming war in Iraq. Also having produced several award-winning shorts and features, his company Aquapio Films Ltd. works to produce films about subjects that matter, and he is working with THAW to produce film about Fahad Hashmi’s case called Five Mondays, designed to bring attention to the injustice faces by this Muslim-American young man. His current film in the works was shot on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall called “Behind the Wall.”

Hack Your Library: Information Is Power, Find out Where It Is
alternate link
Saturday, 12:45-2:15
Tamiment Library

Some say we live in the Information Age – a lot of the time it can feel like we’re drowning in the stuff. Libraries exist to collect and organize information in print, electronic and other formats, and librarians are trained to know what’s in there. Librarians from the NYC collective of Radical Reference want to let you know how to educate yourself by taking advantage of specialized resources and collections in support of the struggle for a better world. From archives of anarchist and oppositional organizations to sources for corporate research, local information and government publications, to hidden wireless hotspots and other means of access to academic libraries, this workshop will provide pathways to information power.

Radical Reference is a collective of volunteer library workers who believe in social justice and equality. We support activist communities, progressive organizations, and independent journalists by providing professional research support, education and access to information. We work in a collaborative virtual setting and are dedicated to information activism to foster a more egalitarian society. The NYC collective has been active since the group’s founding in response to the RNC Convention’s takeover of the city in 2004. Members have been involved with presentations and organizing for the NYC Anarchist Book Fair, Books Through Bars, the Grassroots Media Coalition, Indymedia and other grassroots activist groups.

Hella Occupy: The California Education Crisis Revolt
Sunday, 2:00-3:30
Judson Assembly Hall

Since September of 2009, students, faculty, and workers on campuses throughout the state of California have been in a state of revolt. Following massive budget cuts, tuition hikes, furloughs, and layoffs in the public university system, people have organized walkouts, sit-ins, building occupations, strikes, riots, and freeway blockades. They have continually been met with state repression further intensifying and radicalizing their struggle. On March 4th, 2010, this expanded into a national movement encompassing all sectors of public education as community colleges, high schools, and even elementary schools joined in to protest the massive wave of austerity measures sweeping across the state and country.

Tim Simons and Brandon Jourdan have been at the center of California’s emerging student and worker based movement participating in, documenting, and helping to popularize the growing struggle in California. They will be leading a multi-media discussion on the situation in the Bay Area with movies, propaganda, photos, and communiqués from the front lines of the movement.

Tim Simons is a graphic artist based out of the Bay Area and an anti capitalist organizer since 1999. He is a collective member of Inkworks Press in Berkeley and is currently active in struggles against neoliberal austerity measures and police brutality. He recently helped to design and publish After the Fall: Communiques from Occupied California. For more information on Tim’s design work, visit www.timsimonsgraphics.net.

Brandon Jourdan is an award-winning independent filmmaker, journalist, and writer. He has contributed to the NY Times, CNN, the Huffington Post, Babelgum, Reuters, Deep Dish TV, Democracy Now!, the Independent Media Center, Now with Bill Moyers, Foreign Exchange, and Free Speech Television. For more information visit www.brandonjourdan.blogspot.com.

How Do Anarchists Respond to Travel Bans?
Saturday, 11:00-12:30
Judson Assembly Hall

Gabriel Kuhn was supposed to speak at the 2010 Anarchist Book Fair in New York City while visiting the US for a three-month speaking tour. His visit had to be canceled when Gabriel was denied authorization to travel to the country. In this video conference he will explain what happened, talk about the complex of immigration and anti-terrorism legislation, and address the topics he meant to discuss with US audiences during his tour: the recent PM press releases on golden age pirates, straight edge, and Gustav Landauer; and current anarchist and autonomous politics in the German-speaking world.

Gabriel Kuhn (born in Innsbruck, Austria, 1972) has been active in anarchist and autonomous politics and numerous publishing projects since the late 1980s. His publications in German include the award-winning ‘Neuer Anarchismus’ in den USA: Seattle und die Folgen (Unrast, 2008). In English, his most recent publications are Life Under the Jolly Roger: Reflections on Golden Age Piracy and Sober Living for the Revolution: Hardcore Punk, Straight Edge, and Radical Politics (both PM Press, 2010).

Human Rights on the Line: Direct Action in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands
Sunday, 5:30-7:00
Judson Garden Room

With 213 bodies recovered in the Sonoran desert this fiscal year alone and 4,000 deaths in the desert since 1994, with 13 humanitarian aid workers facing criminal charges in southern Arizona, with immigration reform looming in Washington’s docket for 2010, never before has the humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border been so dire and thus in need of so much attention, education, and action. It is in this spirit that a group of young volunteers with No More Deaths – an on-the-ground, direct action-focused, humanitarian aid group in Arizona – are conducting a tour of the East Coast. Presenting direct action responses and alternatives with regard to U.S. immigration policy and constructs for change, their tour provides an opportunity to mobilize a wide range of allies in an important humanitarian movement of our time. Offering a workshop on the history of the region and the attendant border militarization industry, No More Deaths volunteers will use multimedia resources and personal accounts of their experiences providing aid along the Arizona-Mexico border to illustrate the necessities of challenging dominant constructions of “the border” and humanitarian aid. In doing so, they seek to illustrate how direct action in the service of human rights can provide a necessary link between critical analysis and tangible social change in resisting the militarization of the borderlands and the dehumanization of people on both sides of the line.

Karen, Gabe, Craig, and Jessica are four young members of No More Deaths who, together, cover diverse areas of experience and operations of the organization. Immigrant voices are central, as two come from first generation Central American immigrants. Through their combined efforts and experiences they’ve covered media, abuse documentation, desert aid, and facilitation of local organizing, logistics, and hospitality.

IMF/WB: Anticapitalathon
Saturday, 12:45-2:15
Half Pint Bar

With the spring IMF/WB meetings nearly upon us, Anticapitalathon participants are gearing up to meet, greet, and voice our dissent against these institutions and the neoliberal policies they employ. This workshop will focus on the history of neoliberalism in relations to the IMF/WB, and our plans and logistics for the spring meetings, as well as outreach for the fall.

The Self Described Anarchist Collective is a regional collective of individuals dedicated to creating a stronger anarchist movement along the eastern seaboard. By organizing large, vibrant actions that create a visible expression of anti-capitalist and anti-state ideas, we hope to create an environment where resistance and insurrection is possible.

The Insurrectionary Hypothesis
Saturday, 11:00-12:30
Judson Balcony

With recent works by the like of Badiou and Zizek, there is return of the “communist hypothesis,” namely that there exists better ways of organizing social relations than is possible under capitalism. However, the problem with this communist hypothesis is that it tells us nothing about how to get from capitalism to something different.

One hypothesis is that after years of being side-lined by movements around justice (global, social, economic, environmental, climate, or otherwise), a certain kind of insurrectionary politics returned to the center of the historical stage in Greece in 2008 and with the student revolts in 2009/2010 in the USA. The lineage of this form of politics is not in the radical democratic “anti globalization” movement (such as Copenhagen in 2010, as well as the organizing efforts around the RNC in 2008) but in older events (Hungary 1956, Spain 1936, France 1871, amongst others). The panel will explain the vast and even conflictual differences between insurrection and activism.

This panel will relate the recent waves of activity around both New York City and the wider United States to current activities in Europe, and would help convey to a wider audience a historical and material approach to insurrectionary politics that will attempt to go beyond any particular form of identity.

The presenters will include people involved in the Greek revolt in 2008, the NYC student movements in 2009/2010, and the summit demonstration in Copenhagen in 2010, amongst others of varying backgrounds.

Introduction to Anarchism: Anarchism and Its Aspirations
Saturday, 12:45-2:15
Judson Balcony

From nineteenth-century newspaper publishers to the participants in the recent Greek uprising, “occupy everything” milieu, and No Olympics on Stolen Native Lands convergence, to innumerable utopian experiments in self-organization, anarchists have been inspired by the ideal of a free society of free individuals – a world without hierarchy or domination. But what would that look like, and how might we get there? Join Cindy for a talk related to her just-released book Anarchism and Its Aspirations (AK Press).

Cindy Milstein is an Institute for Anarchist Studies board member and a co organizer of the Renewing the Anarchist Tradition conference. For many years, she taught at the anarchist summer school known as the Institute for Social Ecology. Her essays have appeared in several anthologies, including Realizing the Impossible, Confronting Capitalism, and Globalize Liberation.

Introduction to the Theater of the Oppressed Image Theater: Approaches to Consensus-Building
Saturday, 8:00-9:30pm
The Living Theatre

Image Theater is an interactive approach to theatrical expression created by Brazilian director, popular educator and human rights activist Augusto Boal. It emphasizes physical dialogues, non-verbal imagery, consensus-building and problem-solving processes, and techniques for developing awareness of both external and internalized forms of oppression. In Image Theater, the body is used to create images that help participants explore power relations and group solutions to concrete problems. This workshop will begin at 8:00pm sharp. There will be no observers; all are expected to actively participate. In order to insure the creation of a safe, inclusive and supportive space for all, participants are asked to arrive by 7:45pm, and are expected to stay until the end.

Facilitated by Marie-Claire Picher, founding member of Theater of the Oppressed (TOPLAB).

The Politics of Disaster: The Earthquakes of Haiti and Chile in Context
Sunday, 5:30-7:00
Judson Gym

This workshop will explore how disasters are made, dealt with, and exploited. In their wakes we have seen the opening up of devastated communities to predatory development, and only rarely an opening for a community to rebuild itself on its own terms. We will present an anarchist framework to examine how disasters can be created and manipulated to facilitate the spread of capitalism through historical and contemporary examples. We will place a particular emphasis on the aftermath of the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. We will engage participants in a discussion on radical disaster preparedness in our own communities and how to act in solidarity with disaster relief in a global context that doesn’t replicate the same authoritarian and colonial structures already in place.

Aftershock Action Alliance is an anarchist emergency preparedness collective in New York City.

Radical Childbirth
alternate link
Sunday, 3:45-5:15
Judson Meeting Room

In this workshop, we will explore childbirth from a radical feminist, DIY perspective. Today, many women resist the dominant, patriarchal view of childbirth in a variety of ways, both big and small. This workshop will examine the history of childbirth in America and will show folks, especially those who are parents or think they may want kids in the future, ways to reclaim childbirth and parenting. We will go over pain relief techniques, natural childbirth and reproductive justice, alternatives to hospital birth, and labor support. These tools are useful in creating childbirth alternatives to capitalist medical systems that encourage viewing the female body as “pathology.”

Erica Varlese is an organizer that lives in DC. She is a member of the Dream City Collective, a worker-run collective that is fundraising to open a radical space in DC. Erica also works at the National Abortion Federation, an organization that provides funding to low-income women who need assistance paying for abortions, and volunteers as a doula at the Family Health and Birth Center in DC. She’s also busy nursing an addiction to “16 and Pregnant” and hanging out with her pet bunny.

Radical Parenting: Raising Kids and Creating Community
alternate link
Saturday, 2:30-4:00
Judson Garden Room

A discussion of parenting creating community from a radical/activist perspective, including the need for parenting allies, and the importance of diversity to combat mainstream images and values towards parenting. Matt Meyer will discuss the nexus between radical parenting and radical teaching and the ways in which the current trends towards privatized education make it more difficult for parents/guardians to navigate the educational systems. Vikki Law will share stories from her survey of anarchist mamas and discuss concrete examples of how movements, groups and activists can support – and have supported – the families in their midst. Tomas Moniz will talk about the daily practices of radical parenting and the need for allies. Jennifer Silverman will present on raising kids with special needs in the counterculture.

Matt Meyer has spent over twenty years as a teacher and teacher trainer with the NYC Department of Education, including ten years as the Multicultural Coordinator for NYC’s Alternative High Schools and Programs (chronicled in his 2007 book, Time Is Tight). His nine years as a student of his son, and three years as a student of his daughter, have – nevertheless – taught him just as much.

Vikki Law is a writer, mother, and photographer. Since 2002, she has worked with women incarcerated nationwide to produce Tenacious: Art and Writings from Women in Prison. Her writings have appeared in Hip Mama, off our backs, make/shift magazine and Left Turn. Her new book, Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women is the culmination of eight years of research, writing and listening to the stories of women incarcerated nationwide.

Tomas Moniz is a writer for and editor of Rad Dad, a zine on radical parenting. It is comprised of writings from everyday parents and is always open to submissions. It won Utne Magazine’s 2009 independent media award for zine of the year.

Jennifer Silverman is a recovering journalist, mama of two rambunctious sons, co-founder of m*a*m*a (a collective of radical mothers) and a co-editor of My Baby Rides the Short Bus: The Unabashedly Human Experience of Raising Kids with Special Needs (PM Press, 2009). Her writing about mothering her son with autism has appeared in Hip Mama, off our backs, and the ‘zine version of Short Bus, among others. She resides in Queens, NY.

Radical Parents Caucus
Saturday, 4:15-5:45
Judson Garden Room

A space for parents to connect with other parents to find and offer support, share experiences, form community and explore ways of organizing together. This space has no set agenda, and instead the content of our discussion will be determined by the participants. Children of all ages welcome!

Carter Klenk-Morse is a queer, female-identified mother living in Brooklyn, NY. A longtime organizer, Carter has been a member of a broad range of groups including the All Nations Alliance, Colorado Street Medics, the Red Earth Women’s Alliance, NYMAA and the Breakdown Book Collective. For five years she served on the Board of YouthAction, supporting young people organizing in their communities. She represented community members calling for police accountability as part of the Denver Taskforce on Police Use of Force. Carter began providing trainings on consensus decision-making three years ago as a Signals Collective member. With a background in queer anti-violence work, she is a an ally volunteer with the Audre Lorde Project’s SOS Collective. Carter has provided security and de-escalation of conflict services at numerous community events. She is currently a member of the Queer Liberation Working Group of the 2010 USSF. Carter is a facilitator, trainer and consultant.

Radical Sobriety
Saturday, 2:30-4:00
Judson Balcony

Is there an anarchist critique of alcohol’s use in society? What is it? Are anarchists particularly vulnerable to alcohol? Are substances holding our movement back? What are the benefits and drawbacks of using alcohol for fundraising? Explore these topics and more in a structured discussion.

Kate – Anarchist.

Dan – Local New York anarchist organizing. Prefers bike rides to bars.

Safety and Accountability in Activist Spaces
Sunday, 5:30-7:00
Judson Assembly Hall

A community discussion on safety and accountability focused specifically but not exclusively on solutions to combat gender-based violence in radical communities, incorporating the perspectives of the facilitators and participants.

Sex Worker Organizing in Central America
Saturday, 2:30-4:00
Judson Assembly Hall

Claire Thorne will discuss her in-progress documentary centering on interviews conducted with sex worker organizers in Central America during the spring of last year. Their experiences highlight the complexity of anti-trafficking organizing and the institutional and economic road blocks to the empowerment of women and Trans communities, as well as the incredible powerfulness of the grassroots organizing undertaken by individuals experiencing multilayered oppression.

The conversation surrounding sex worker organizing, anti-trafficking movements, and Third World sex work is located in the overlapping spheres of social justice, economic justice, gender- and sexuality-based justice, and racial justice. The subject matter directly tackles autonomy over one’s body by people experiencing oppression in multiple ways, and the types of organizing and fighting back that are being undertaken worldwide.

Claire Thorne is an queer anarchist intellectual and organizer working on a documentary featuring interviews done with sex worker organizers in Central America, specifically Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. She is a volunteer at ABC No Rio, an organizer with the Sex Workers Outreach Project, an ESL teacher at the Urban Justice Center, as well as having intern and volunteer experience with the CAMBA rape crisis hotline, the Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center, Picture the Homeless, and Food Not Bombs.

Spreading the Anarchist Response to Broken and Frozen Government
Sunday, 2:00-3:30
Judson Gym

Anarchists should take the opportunity to express our hopes and proposals for a better society. While the U.S.A. parties debate the errors of too-big government and society controlled by money seeking companies, we anarchists are seeking solutions to both problems. This is a time to explain the anarchist solutions to the problems filling the media.

Robert Erler represents the Libertarian Book Club and has presented forums at previous book fairs and many other anarchist events.

Peter Lamborn Wilson will be familiar to you all for his books and anarchist activities over decades.

Also with Jim Feast.

Staying Strong throughout Political Imprisonment and Movement Repression
alternate link
Saturday, 2:30-4:00
Tamiment Library

Join members of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement Political Prisoner Committee and the Anarchist Black Cross Federation for a presentation and discussion on what every anarchist should know about Political Prisoner and Prisoner of War support as well as current repressive measures against individual anarchists and the movement as a whole. The presentation will cover several NY-held PPs/POWs and how to support them as well as grand jury resistance.

The NYC chapter of the Anarchist Black Cross Federation (ABCF) provides reliable support to political prisoners and prisoners of war while also agitating and organizing for increased strategic and collaborative efforts on the part of activists, social movements, and concerned people toward freeing movement prisoners. We provide more intensive support to several prisoners, primarily NY-held prisoners; coordinate a national Anarchist Defense Fund; and host Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinners every other Tuesday. See nycabc.wordpress.com for more information.

The Political Prisoner Committee of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) does support work for Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War, particularly those held captive in New York State. We organize efforts to support their release and work to educate our ourselves and our community about their importance as well as what it actually means to be a Political Prisoner and/or a Prisoner of War. We realize that our liberation is bound with those who’ve fought for us to be where we’re at today and are still behind bars because of it. We have a clear understanding that we won’t be free until they all are free. *Free ’em All!

The Struggle to Make Education a Right and Not a Privilege
Sunday, 5:30-7:00
Judson Balcony

Join student activists in a participatory workshop. We’ll talk about our work in the struggle and where and how anarchists can get involved. Participants can then choose what to discuss in a more informal atmosphere where we can all learn from one another. Topics for the conversations will include:

– Discussion of tactics for the student movement: occupations, demonstrations, property destruction, etc. – when and how should they be used?
– The question of race within student struggles.
– Discussion of the disturbing trend of white males dominating (consciously or not) many of our radical circles – why, and what can be done about this?
– Movement building vs. direct action.

Kate Goff is a New School education activist.

Michael Synan is a Hunter Student activist and member of the NYC Anti War Coalition.

Andrew Orenzo is a student activist in the CUNY Campaign to Defend Education.

Synchronic Asymmetry: Non-Hierarchical Cooperative Improvisation
Saturday, 1:30
Judson Gym

Participants are invited to join in making music beyond conventional practices and norms and to discuss the essence of sound and sound art. We will experiment with synchronic asymmetry, simultaneity and linear development, rather than asking participants to conform to cyclical themes and variations.

The group will suspend conventional judgments of harmonies, and rhythms in order to explore the unexpected relationships of unusual sounds and rhythms. An important feature of this program is that participants will be asked to tolerate sounds that may not fit with their notions of what music should sound like.

This workshop encourages engagement with non-hierarchical and non structured cooperative behavior. We will examine the balance between individual expression and the collaborative spirit of the group. We will question whether formal musical structures are needed for ensemble playing and, if so, what kind.

Participants may bring an instrument or use any kind of found instrument. Small instruments will be available on a limited basis.

With Grady Gerbracht and John Loggia.

We Are an Image from the Future: The Greek Revolt of December 2008
Sunday, 3:45-5:15
Judson Gym

Two anarchist comrades and published writers from Void Network collective in Athens, Greece, will talk about the roots and current manifestations of the social insurrection that rocked Greece for over a month starting in December 2008 and that continues to empower social struggles against the misery of state and capitalism. They will also talk about the histories and possibilities of struggle in other countries, to demystify insurrection and offer an empowering analysis for anarchists worldwide.

Tasos Sagris and Sissy Doutsiou are from Greece and are the editors of the book We Are an Image from the Future: The Greek Revolt of December 2008. Information about Void Network is at voidnetwork.blogspot.com.

World War 3 Illustrated: Art and Politics
Saturday, 6:00-7:30
Judson Assembly Hall

World War 3 Illustrated is North America’s longest running political comic book. Founded in 1979-1980, WW3 is celebrating our 30th year and our 40th issue.

While there is no set ideology to WW3, the magazine has often been a platform for anarchist views and played a pivotal role in the Lower East Side squatters movement of the 1980s and ’90s. More recently we have provided props and street theater to the anti-war movement, worked with Common Ground in New Orleans, and are now starting work around foreclosures.

We are still independently published and collectively run. The magazine is organized by an editorial board of about 10 editors who are also artists for the magazine. Artists are eligible to join the editorial board on a sweat equity basis. Neither editors nor contributors are paid. All funds generated by sales go toward publishing future issues. This structure has allowed WW3 to be an independent but also stable and consistent voice in radical politics.

World War 3 Illustrated cartoonists will show slides of their work and discuss the intersection of art and politics.

Seth Tobocman was one of the founding editors of the political comic book World War 3 Illustrated in 1980, along with Peter Kuper and Christoff Kolhofer. This magazine challenged the politics and morals of the Reagan-Bush era. Tobocman is the author/illustrator of five graphic books: You Don’t Have to Fuck People over to Survive, War in the Neighborhood, Portraits of Israelis and Palestinians, Disaster and Resistance, and Understanding the Crash. His images have been used in posters, pamphlets, murals, graffiti and tattoos by people’s movements around the world, from the African National Congress in South Africa to squatters on New York’s Lower East Side.

Peter Kuper is a WW3 editor and the author of Diary of Oaxaca and other graphic books.

Fly is a WW3 contributor, squatter, punk musician, and author of Peops, Chronic Riot Spasm and other books.

Mac Mcgill is a frequent contributor to World War 3 Illustrated and other
publications such as…Progressive Magazine, Tikkun Magazine, Seven
Stories Press (Mumia Abu-Jamal “All Things Censored”), The Source, The
Quotable Rebel, Madburger and Warburger Magazine (Slovenia), HighTimes
Magazine and numerous other publications…

Mac has exhibited and performed slideshow presentations of his work at BD
Amadora (Portugal), Babel Festival (Athens, Greece) HUI9 Underground
Festival (Milano, Italy), Forte Presentino (Roma,Italy),School of Visual
Arts (NYC),San Francisco Art Academy, Theater for the New City and
ABCnoRIO (NYC)….

Mac is currently working on a wordless graphic novel about Hurricane
Katrina…called…”Song for Katrina”

Mac has been a Squatter on New York City Lower East Side and is a Counsler
for homeless youth at StreetWorks.

Mac can be contacted at….

Also with Ethan Heitner.

World War 3 Illustrated: Self-Publishing Radical Comics
Sunday, 3:45-5:15
Judson Garden Room

World War 3 Illustrated has been a collectively run, self-published radical comic book for 30 years. World War 3 artists will show slides of their work and discuss how and why they work together as a group.

Sandy Jimenez is an American comic book artist, writer and director, known for his long running series “Shit House Poet” in World War 3 Illustrated and his independent comic book “Marley Davidson.”

Rebecca Migdal is a WW3 editor, designer of the WW3 Web page, and the author of The Yes Men comic book.

Sabrina Jones created her first comics for World War 3 Illustrated, and contributes to this day. She wrote and illustrated Isadora Duncan, A Graphic Biography. She has created nonfiction comics for FDR and the New Deal for Beginners; Wobblies! A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World; Studs Terkel’s Working: A Graphic Adaptation; and The Real Cost of Prisons. She lives in Brooklyn and paints scenery for Saturday Night Live and other shows. www.sabrinaland.com

In 1980 Seth Tobocman was one of the founding editors of the political comic book World War 3 Illustrated along with Peter Kuper and Christoff Kolhofer. This magazine challenged the politics and morals of the Reagan-Bush era. Tobocman is the Author/Illustrator of five graphic books:

YOU DON’T HAVE TO FUCK PEOPLE OVER TO SURVIVE,
WAR IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
PORTRAITS OF ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS
DISASTER AND RESISTANCE,
and UNDERSTANDING THE CRASH

His images have been used in posters, pamphlets, murals graffiti and tattoos by peoples movements around the world, from the African National Congress in South Africa, to Squatters on New York’s Lower East Side.

Women in Prison: Improve Their Lives, Not the System
alternate link
Saturday, 12:45-2:15
Judson Garden Room

Despite the growing numbers of women in prison, discussions about prison abolition largely focus on the incarcerated male. Conversations about prison abolition often do not address the fact that there are over two million people currently behind bars who need immediate, tangible changes in order to survive. Conversely, many conversations about immediate prison reform (such as the recent lobbying in NYC to build separate jail housing for GLBTI pre-trial detainees) do not consider how proposed reforms could work to expand and strengthen the prison-industrial complex.

This workshop will challenge people to consider how imprisonment is a gendered experience, to look closely at the issues that affect incarcerated women, and to find ways to do concrete support work for those inside while not inadvertently expanding or strengthening the prison system. We will also discuss concrete ways (both big and small) that outside people, especially those dedicated to resisting and abolishing the prison-industrial complex, can provide meaningful support to women who are struggling inside.

Victoria Law is a writer, photographer, zinester and mother. In 1996, she helped start Books Through Bars – New York City, a group that sends free books to prisoners nationwide. In 2000, she began concentrating on the needs and actions of women in prison, drawing attention to their issues by writing articles and giving public presentations, culminating in her book Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women. She is also involved with ABC No Rio, a community arts center on the Lower East Side.

Locations

Half Pint Bar: 76 W. 3rd St (between Thompson St and LaGuardia Pl)
Judson Meeting Room: 55 Washington Square South (at Thompson St), 2nd floor
Judson Assembly Hall: 239 Thompson St (between Washington Square South and W. 3rd St), lower level
Judson Balcony: 55 Washington Square South (at Thompson St), accessible via stairs from the Meeting Room
Judson Garden Room: 241 Thompson St (between Washington Square South and W. 3rd St)
Judson Gym: 55 Washington Square South (at Thompson St), lower level
Living Theatre: 21 Clinton St (between Houston and Stanton Sts)
Tamiment Library: Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South (between LaGuardia Pl and University Pl), 10th floor

All locations are wheelchair accessible with the exception of the Judson Balcony. We apologize for any inconvenience!
When entering the Bobst Library to go to the Tamiment Library, speak with the security station to the left of the entrance. You do not need NYU identification to go to Tamiment.