[act-ma] 11/8 Tonight! Zibechi - State & Social Movements in Latin America (@encuentro5); Friday, Haiti Teach-In

[Suren Moodliar]

Join us this evening for a discussion of the state and social movements in
Latin America with Raul Zibechi; on Friday, we host a teach-in on Haiti;
then, next Monday (11/15) the Majority Agenda Project brings together a
roundtable on the elections and the One Nation Working Together network. See
below for event descriptions. All these take place at encuentro 5 (
http://www.encuentro5.org for directions; 33 Harrison Ave, 5th floor,
Boston, MA 02111)

1.

*Monday, November 8, 2010, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. *Join Uruguayan
activist-intellectual and journalist, Raúl
Zibechi<http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Zibechi>,
for a wide-ranging conversation about social movements and social change.
The point of departure is his latest work, *Dispersing Power: Social
Movements as Anti-State
Forces<http://www.akpress.org/2010/items/dispersingpower>
*. It considers the largely indigenous social movements organizing in El
Alto, Bolivia that both brought Evo Morales to state power and continue
their challenges to the state. This event is co-sponsored with Boston
Bolivarianos <http://bostonbolivarianos.org/>, theGlobal Economic
Alternatives Network <http://www.altecon.org/home/> and the journal Socialism
and Democracy <http://www.sdonline.org/index4.html>.

Recent Articles by Raúl Zibechi<http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Zibechi>
:

   - "Dilma Rousseff and the magic of
Lula<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/sep/29/brazil-lula-dilma-rousseff>"
   in The Guardian, September 29, 2010
   - "Chile: the other 9/11
anniversary<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/11/chile-coup-anniversary-pinochet>"
   in The Guardian, September 11, 2010
   - "New rifts in Latin America, but no
confrontation<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/17/social-rift-latin-america>"
   in The Guardian, August 17, 2010
   - "Bolivia and Ecuador: The State against the Indigenous
People<http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/2810>"
   in Americas Program, July 19, 2010
   - "Earthquake and Tsunami in Chile: The Militarization of Natural
   Disasters<http://www.fpif.org/articles/ie_taxing_wealth_for_the_common_good>"
   in Foreign Policy in Focus, March 26, 2010
   - "Interview with Raul Zibechi <http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=671>"
   in Seedling, January, 2010

 *Comments on Dispersing Power*: "Zibechi goes to Bolivia to learn. Like us,
he goes with questions, questions that stretch far beyond the borders of
Bolivia. How do we change the world and create a different one? How do we
get rid of capitalism? How do we create a society based on dignity? What is
the role of the state and what are the possibilities of changing society
through anti-state movements?... the most important practical and
theoretical questions that have risen from the struggles in Latin America
and the world in the last fifteen years or so.... The book is beautiful,
exciting, stimulating.... Do read it and also give it your friends."—John
Holloway, from the Foreword

"Raúl Zibechi recounts in wonderful detail how dynamic and innovative
Bolivian social movements succeeded in transforming the country. Even more
inspiring than the practical exploits, though, are the theoretical
innovations of the movements, which Zibechi highlights, giving us new
understandings of community, political organization, institution, and a
series of other concepts vital to contemporary political thought." Michael
Hardt, co-author of*Empire, Multitude, and Commonwealth*.

This, Raúl Zibechi's first book translated into English, is an historical
analysis of social struggles in Bolivia and the forms of community power
instituted by that country's indigenous Aymara. Dispersing Power, like the
movements it describes, explores new ways of doing politics beyond the
state, gracefully mapping the "how" of revolution, offering valuable lessons
to activists and new theoretical frameworks for understanding how social
movements can and do operate independently of state-centered models for
social change.

Raúl Zibechi is one of Latin America's leading political theorists, an
international analyst for Brecha (Montevideo, Uruguay), professor at the
Multiversidad Franciscana de América Latina, and author of Genealogía de la
Revuelta and Autonomías y Emancipaciones: América Latina en Movimiento.

Ramor Ryan is an Irish writer and translator based in Chiapas, Mexico. His
book*Clandestines: The Pirate Journals of an Irish Exile* was published by
AK Press in 2006.

Benjamin Dangl is author of *The Price of Fire* and *Dancing with Dynamite*.

John Holloway is author of *Change the World Without Taking Power* and *Crack
Capitalism*.

 *2.*
*Demanding Justice for Haiti: A teach-in for accountability in aid & U.S.
policy*
*
*

*Friday, November 12, 2010, 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. @ encuentro 5*

*
*

*Speakers, film clips, music & discussion on the major questions affecting
Haiti, 10 months on.  Despite the earthquake, cholera, and hurricanes, why
is aid money still held up?  What do Haitians see as a vision for their
future?  How can we support them?*

*
*
Come meet with a diverse group of students, Haiti activists, and community
members.  Discussion will focus on the key issues facing the 1.5 million
displaced living in camps, what they have to say, and what our government
has to do with it.  We will draw connections between historical policy and
the current aid effort.  We hope to emerge with action ideas on how, as a
group, we can work to effect concrete change.

 *3.*

 Where do we go from here? A Post-Election
Forum<http://www.majorityagendaproject.org/go/node/122>
 *When:* Monday, November 15, 2010, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
*Where: *Encuentro 5 • 33 Harrison Ave, 5th floor • Chinatown T • Boston

*Making sense of these crazy elections... Where do our social movements in
Boston go from here? What role might "One Nation **Working Together" play in
this dangerous time?*

**
 The "One Nation Working Together" rally brought together an unprecedented
progressive coalition in Washington on October 2. Nationally, One Nation
plans to continue its ambitious collaboration effort after the November
election - when such collaboration between labor, civil rights,
environmental, socal justice, housing, peace, and youth groups will be more
important than ever.

The speakers represent Massachusetts groups that collaborated on One Nation.
The forum will assess the election results and their impact on our
movements' political environment, suggest ways that our movements can
response together in 2011 to the many challenges we face, and examine
whether One Nation might play a role in our efforts to unite social
movements here in Massachusetts.

*
*

*
*

*
*

*Speakers*:

   - *Juan Cofield*, New England Area Conference NAACP
   - *Maria Elena Letona*, Immigrants Rights Activist
   - *Russ Davis*, Jobs with Justice
   - *Grace Ross*, Mass. Alliance Against Predatory Lending
   - *Steve Meacham*, City Life/Vida Urbana
   - *Lew Finfer*, Mass. Communities Action Network
   - *Enid Eckstein* (invited), SEIU 1199
   - *Peter Brooks*, Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety
   - *Mike Prokosch*, Fund our Communities/Cut Military Spending 25%
   - *Mark Solomon*, Majority Agenda Project

For more information visit www.majorityagendaproject.org
<http://www.majorityagendaproject.org/>or
call (617)482-6300

Download the flyer:
here<http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1042836/flyer-2010-11-15_one_nation_elections.pdf>
 or here<http://encuentro5.org/home/sites/default/files/flyer-2010-11-15_one_nation_elections.pdf>

*Sponsored by The Majority Agenda Project*
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