Program 2019

Zádruha Historical Association – Anarchists in Strike Struggle during years between 1880 and 1938

The lecture will introduce the strike movement and wage struggles of Czech anarchists from its beginnings in the early 1880s to the outbreak of II. World War, focusing mainly on the period of the Austrian monarchy. The wage struggles in the workplaces were led by the anarchists every day in different intensity, but in 1882, 1896, 1900, 1906 and 1912 they have become mass-like with the participation of several thousands of strikers. This time we will present mainly those in the mining north.

Presentation of the book “Precarietà Nova. Racconti di quotidiano sfruttamento tra università e lavoro” Collettivo Exarchia, Bologna, Italy

We’re a group of young students and workers from Bologna, Italy, who share an anti-authoritarian mindset and are active as an anarchist political group in the city. Through our book “Precarietà Nova”, we present the final results of a militant inquiry addressing university students’ and workers’ perceptions of their precarious lives. “Precarietà Nova” analyzes the outcomes of the university reforms of the last twenty years and the experiences of students who grapple daily with the many aspects of neoliberalism: university and school reforms, worsening working conditions and the transformation of the cities they live in. The picture that our analysis paints is one of a precarious world, in which people become increasingly isolated from each other thorough a process that intertwines exploitation and the atomization of social relations. The increase in demand for “flexibility” that affects the labour market is reflected within the university and, ultimately, characterizes all aspects of contemporary life in neoliberal societies.
Within this landscape, universities can appear to provide a specific type of training, by creating an environment in which students become accustomed to, and accepting of, the state of precariousness they will face once they step into the labor market, and that will also affect all other aspects of their lives. We have tried to investigate how this state of precariousness is perceived and narrated by the people we encounter day to day around the university, because we strongly believe that this shared experience should be the starting point of our political action. In our last chapter, we explore the form that our political actions should take and point to some possible strategies of counter-attack, specifically leading to the creation and development of networks of solidarity between exploited subjects.

Klára Lang - Tělo jako prostor anarchistické strategie

Že osobní je politické víme už z feministických sloganů 60. let. Ale naučili jsme se od té doby s politikou těla pracovat? Pro osvobození nestačí jenom rozmělnit vnější struktury nadvlády, ale zbavit se i vězení, které už máme zvnitřněné. A na druhou stranu osvojením subverzivních strategií můžeme vlastní tělesnost pojímat jako jeden z široké palety prostředků rezistence proti komplexním strukturám útlaku. Jak politizovat tělo a žít ho jako tvořivou součást subverzivní pozice?

Collectively Against Capital / Mouvement communiste – Social state versus workers’ self-organization

Appealing to the protection of a state that will be an ally of the “people” is not just an illusion that goes against the distant revolutionary perspective. For today, it is much worse that it stands in the way of defending immediate interests, wages and working conditions and workers’ confidence. We will show it on the experiences of fighting at workplaces in the Czech Republic.

ABC – About Phoenix case and others

Over the last 4 years, two police operations named Phoenix (1 and 2) are ongoing in this country. These operations, as well as in many other countries, are accusing people from anarchist and anti-authoritarian circles of various crimes.
There are many common points between these causes, such as the fact that they are ruining the lives of not just the convicted and investigated ones, but also their families and friends.
It persecutes them, makes them burning out.. let´s take a closer look to the Phoenix 2 cause, which is for the first time after four years getting to the Court proceedings stage, as well as to other similar police operations in Europe and let´s discuss in which way we can contribute to fight against the police terror in this capitalistic world.

Maria Barba – Permanent Hair Remover: Gender construction through hair removal techniques in Spain (s. XIX-XX)

“Depilación (definitiva). Un repaso por las técnicas depilatorias de finales del siglo XIX y principios del siglo XX en España” is a book written by the spanish writer María Barba and recently published by the spanish publisher Melusina. This publication analyzes the different hair removal techniques used by women in Spain since the end of the XIX century until the beginning of the 20th century. The research aims to reveal how these procedures and pharmaceutical formulas caused serious damage to women’s health, as well as to understand how the hairless norm was constructed long time Gilette’s razors became famous worldwide: women were in need of safer and better products to remove their body hair because they were forced to recreate and build an acceptable beauty and feminity that has been there for centuries.

Pavel Karous – Anti-Fascist Art in Czech Republic

The lecture is devoted to the history and presently engaged art against fascist and Nazi ideologies on the Slovak and Czech scene. The lecture connected with a discussion should address the question of how an engaged visual art against fascism should look today, when right-wing populism, racist and xenophobic tendencies are intensifying in our country and in the world in general, and whether it can have a broader social response as it had in the past.

Food Not Bombs

Presentation of new book about Prague Food Not Bombs and actual situation in CZ and US

New books by the Anarchist Federation Publishers

Peter Gelderloos: Anarchy Works. Examples of Anarchist Ideas in Practice

“This would never work,” usually say those to whom we try to explain the anarchist concept of human society. In their view, anarchy is no more than a utopian idea that couldn’t survive in real life. Peter Gelderloos proves them wrong. Using dozens of examples, past and present, from the whole world, he shows that anarchy, i.e. a social order in which human relationships are not defined by hierarchy and coercion, but by the principles of solidarity and mutual help, is not only viable, but also completely natural. Anarchy is the social order from which humankind emerged and in which it can still live and prosper; it is also the system in which we can best tackle the most poignant problems of our time, such as poverty, inequality and environmental destruction. Peter Gelderloos’s book takes us on a tour of different forms of anarchy that have ever existed; at the same time, it serves as a practical guide for anybody who acknowledges the sorry state of this world and would like to do something about it.

Radical Buddhism – a little reading book (not only) for Anarchists

In the esoterica-infested Czechia, the Little reading book of radical Buddhism is the first publication of its kind. It deals with the theoretical and historical foundations of contemporary radical Buddhism, both in the West and in Asia, where Buddhism is considered to be at home. Based on expert studies (Bondy, Fromm, Shields, Victoria) as well as authentic texts by committed Buddhists (Uchiyama, Har Dayal, Ambedkar, Snyder, Cafard), it proves the essential incompatibility of the Buddhist philosophy and the ideology of “real capitalism”; at the same time, it explores possible meeting points between Buddhism and the anarchist thought. (Selected, translated and footnoted by Max Ščur.)

Discussion about Prague Solidarity Network, anarchosyndicalism and other stuff

Lets talk about the activities of Prague Solidarity Network, work and working conditions in general, anarcho-syndicalism or anything at least a bit related. Discussion is open to anybody and to any topics. At the very beginning, we will introduce translation of a pamphlet called Solidarity networks by the Gods & Radicals.

Limity jsme my – Výzvy a strategie klimatického hnutí

Hnutí za klimatickou spravedlnost sílí, do březnové globální stávky se zapojilo milion a půl lidí a klimakempy rostou jako houby po dešti po celé Evropě. Fosilní paliva se ale pořád používají, globální jih je čím dál víc v pasti a mocní z toho pořád profitují. Čeští uhlobaroni například skupují uhelné doly a elektrárny po celém světě. Institucionální odpovědnost stojí na vládách národních států, které nejen, že k řešení krize nemají nástroje, ale navíc mají ze současného stavu samy prospěch. Tím mlčky podporují kumulaci problému. Proto je potřeba napnout imaginaci. Klimatické hnutí v této situaci sází na přímou akci. Dává zaměření na občanskou neposlušnost smysl? Na jaké cíle bychom měli mířit? Pojďte s námi diskutovat na základě teoretického backgroundu připaveného hnutím Limity jsme my.

Miloš Hroch, Viktor Palák – Miloš Hroch, Viktor Palák – I shout “That‘s me!” (Stories of Czech fanzines from the 80s till now)

The book I shout “That‘s me!” Stories of Czech fanzines from the 80s till now, published in November 2017 by PageFive, for the first time takes its readers through uncharted waters of the Czech fanzine scene, that is, of unofficial amateur magazines. It brings to light stories of those who fell for computer games or wrote sci-fi stories, who obsessively compiled their own metal music charts, who were driven to street demonstrations by hardcore punk music or who wanted to change the standing of women in society. And who then wrote about it freely in their magazines.

The bi-lingual publication I shout “That‘s me!” Stories of Czech fanzines from the 80s till now of over 230 pages features unique archival content and should be of interest to foreign readers too, as the fanzine culture outside of the Anglo-American scene is practically unmapped.

Publishing fanzines is an illness. The bug spread from American sci-fi fans, through British punks into a worldwide epidemic and reached Czechoslovakia even before the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. The symptoms and course of the fanzine fever in the local context are described by Miloš Hroch (Radio Wave) in the introductory essay. The book then tells the stories of the afflicted in seven chapters; among them is music publicist and writer Karel Veselý, who wrote the preface to the book.
Even though all of the book‘s heroes come from different backgrounds, have different opinions and different passions, they all share one common thing: fanzines are a means of self-expression and self-determination for them. “This type of publication has the advantage that you can wave it around and shout ’That’s me!’” a photographer, a protagonist of the youngest fanzine trend of photozines, explains the essence of fanzines in one of the chapters of the book. And while there is talk of the decline of printed media, the microcosm of independent printing is constantly expanding. The book I shout “That‘s me!”, edited by Pavel Kroulík (Respekt) is an entry gate into it.

Chapter authors: Miloš Hroch (hardcore punk), Ivan Adamovič (sci-fi), Jitka Kolářová (riot grrrl and feminism), Michal Nanoru, Pavel Turek (photozines), Jaroslav Švelch (computer games), Antonín Tesař (comics) a Viktor Palák (metal)

Bob Kuřík – Microphone is our bomb

Microphone is our bomb is a book about Czech subcultures and their political activism, it compares Prague with smaller towns. The book explores lyrics of various skinhead bands, ideology of contemporary hardcore scene, squatting in Prague, freetechno community and many more.

Fridays for Future

Jsme skupina českých středoškoláků a středoškolaček a na naší budoucnosti nám záleží více, než na našem vzdělání. Není nám jedno, že generace našich rodičů a prarodičů ničí naši zemi a naši budoucnost. Jsme znepokojeni postojem společnosti a politiků ke změnám klimatu. Požadujeme, aby se klimatická krize začala i jako skutečná krize vnímat. Napadne vás možná, že jsme mladí nezkušení a naivní, ale co potom ti, jež jsou schopni po takovou dobu úspěšně přehlížet zprávy a varování uznávaných vědců a vědkyň? Ne, nejsme naivní děti, kterým se nechce sedět ve školních lavicích, jsme mladí lidé, kteří nevidí jiné řešení, než jasně a zřetelně bojovat o to, co nám právem náleží. O naši budoucnost. Dokud nebudou klimatické změny odvráceny a udržitelnost nebude na každodenním pořádku, nehodláme přestat. Planetu máme pouze jednu a nemůžeme si dovolit ji zničit. Jsme součástí mezinárodního hnutí mladých lidí, kteří bojují za svou budoucnost. Každý pátek po celém světě vychází do ulic stávkovat tisíce studentů a studentek, kteří po politicích a dospělých požadují co nejrychlejší řešení klimatické krize.

Arnošt Novák – Apart From the State and Parties: Politics of the Autonomous Left

The lecture argues with certain conviction that takes place at the Czech “radical left” scene: social movement is just an immature phase of a political party and the real changes are made mostly through the institutionalised parliamentary way. However, it also argues with the conviction of orthodox anarchists, who see the only way through the revolutionary way of “to change everything”, without their politics being “contaminated” by the party one.
It questions the idea, that there’s only one left and develops a thesis, that there are two lefts (as ideal models), which have their own logics revealing in their political imagination, and also in their political praxis. One is the party, institutional one, which lies on vertical, hierarchical and representative models of organisation. It’s the left, which moves inside the limits of status quo, understands politics as above all as professionalised activity oriented at the technology of power and is targeted at seizure of power in the state. It’s the left, which, if it asserts social change, then only top down.

Apart from that there is an autonomous, non-parliamentary left, which works with horizontal participation, self-organization, diversity and direct action. It’s the left, which often explicitly questions and rejects the status quo and strives for radical changes from the bottom. It’s organising outside of the established state structures (political parties, trade unions and NGOs), harmony of means and targets is very important (prefigurative politics), it questions the ideas and praxis of representation itself and therefore it’s trying to develop alternatives to state and capitalism here and now. However, there’s always some kind of interaction with actors of status quo (state, police, corporations, political parties). The two logics listed are not interchangeable and introduce two kinds of “politics”. Specifically – as told by Ranciere – institutional left is moving in the hierarchical order of status quo, and on the contrary, autonomous left acts on the basis of presumption of equality and by that it presents Ranciere type of politics, which means everything that disturbs, questions and potentially radically changes the given order.

The lecture argues different forms of autonomous left politics and its struggle with institutional left and status quo. It’s not making a stand, that the two lefts are or can be independent from each other, that the autonomous left can’t and mustn’t contaminate itself, on the contrary, together with Ranciere sees the “borders” between the institutional left of police order and democratic politics of autonomous left as liquid and therefore argues also their interactions. It also tries to discuss the thesis, that radical social change of contemporary capitalist society is impossible without developing the autonomous left politics.

OTHER PROGRAM

Release gig A-písničky

The latest, a bit uncoventional publication from Publishing house of Anarchist federation is A-písnička (“A-Song”), subtitled “a guitar songbook of anarchist, antifascist and other anti-system songs”. It contains fifty diverse pieces from different parts of the world and time periods, connected by the desire for freedom and equality. It will be the Bookfair, where you can get the book for the first time, and there will be three of the czechoslovak folkpunx from the songbook coming to present it: Beltza Gorria, Dáša fon fľaša and OiOi Piratoi. Just this time they won‘t play their own stuff, but a few of the songs from the book they like best. Many of them you probably know, so get your vocal chords together and get ready for singalongs from beginning to the end!

D-Zona - Anarchist discussion: David Graeber on Bullshit Jobs

Discussion organized by D-zona during which we are going to talk about two texts by anthropologist David Graeber on "Bullshit job": On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant" (2013) and "A Brief Excursus on the History of Make-work and Particularly of the Concept of Buying Other People's Time" (2018). The first text is a 2013 article that Graeber published in an activist magazine Strike! After the publication, Graeber got very positive reactions of the readers, and decided to study more profoundly the phenomenon of bullshit jobs. As a result, he published a book Bullshit Jobs: A Theory in 2018. The second text – a part of this book – treats people's relationship to working hours and to the time in general. Please read the texts in advance to be able to participate actively at the discussion. You will find the pdf with both texts in this link. We will have some printed copies on the D-Zona table at the Anarchist Book Fair too. The discussion will be in English. In the occasion of this discussion, we organize a collection to which you can voluntarily contribute. The money will be used to buy the Graeber's book Bullshit Jobs: A Theory which will be then accessible for the public in the Radical Library.

“The Net” documentary screening

In Russia, the current radical leftist movement is facing an unprecedentedly wide and brutal repression by the local FSB secret police. Because of membership in a so-called Net, a supposedly terrorist organization, which was probably whole made up by the FSB, several Russian anarchists and anti-fascists have been in the arrest for many months. Moreover, the prisoners were forced to confess, by an especially brutal torture. The movie, which describes the whole case, will be accompanied by a talk about the Russian anarchist movement and the current situation regarding the whole case.
(Сети, The Net, 30 min., In Russian with Czech subtitles)

Zine workshop

What is a zine? and don’t you want to make one? people of all levels of zine making are welcome to come to this workshop, in which we will talk about the importance of your voice, the accessibility of zines and different ideas we have for making zines. supplies will be provided for everyone to make a six page zine. the challenge will be to finish it during the workshop (but it’s okay to take home to finish, too!) come with an idea, totally clueless, or somewhere in between.

Childrens corner

...TBA...

Freeshop of books, zines etc.

...TBA...

Food

...TBA... (100% vegan)

AFTERPARTY (Bike_Jesus)

Ctib – discoegopunk / Rožnov
Unicorn Partisans – discopunk vs. technocrust / Germany
Have you seen Jenny (Sharpen Your Fringe) – lipstick, crowbars, loud punk songs and queer zines
Dáša Fon Fľaša
Prach
DJ's: Dzony59 (techno), Conspira (techno)

Infocentrum Salé nearby will be open for chillout and food