Given the popularity of the Rojava readings, we’ve decided to read about another group of present-day revolutionaries: The Zapatistas. Specifically, we’ll be reading “To Those Who Work It: Ricardo Flores Magón and the EZLN” by Ian Campbell and “The Zapatistas, Anarchism, and Direct Democracy” by Andrew Flood. They are available here:
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ian-campbell-to-those-who-work-it-ricardo-flores-magon-and-the-ezln.pdf
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/andrew-flood-the-zapatistas-anarchism-and-direct-democracy.pdf
The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a libertarian-socialist militant and political group that controls much of Chiapas, the southernmost province in Mexico. They gained a significant amount of territory after an uprising in 1994. They now control 24400 km^2 with a population of ~364000 people as of 2018. Now organized into a decentralized system of consensus-based popular assemblies (where anyone who want to participate can), The region enjoys extensive indigenous and women’s rights, universal healthcare, and a low crime rate. Our hope in these two readings is to learn a bit about the history (from the first) and current organization (from the second) of the Zapatistas.
As always, we will be meeting at 7pm (with doors open at 6:50pm) at 2620 Quadra Street in unceded Lekwungen territory.
On Tuesday, November 19, we will continue our exploration of the living experiment in autonomous self-rule in the region of Rojava, northern Syria. Our reading this week is Chapter 9, “The New Justice System: Consensus in the Key,” in REVOLUTION IN ROJAVA: DEMOCRATIC AUTONOMY AND WOMEN’S LIBERATION IN SYRIAN KURDISTAN:
‘s Fifth Estate journal (Winter, 1984) and pivots on a recurring paradox embedded in State-based ‘national liberation’ struggles. Israel’s brutal invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon (1982-2000) formed the backdrop for Perlman’s reflections.
On Tuesday September 24th, we will be reading a classic pamphlet by Algerian-French militant, author, theorist and Nobel Prize awardee Albert Camus (November 7, 1913 – January 4, 1960) titled “Neither Victims nor Executioners” (1946). This essay was first serialized in 1946 in the French Resistance newspaper Combat (founded, 1941) and addresses the issue of violence. 
This week we are reading “Through Separation to Community” by German anarchist Gustav Landauer (1870-1919). Landauer is best known for arguing the State is “a condition, a certain relationship between human beings, a mode of human behaviour; we destroy it by contracting other relationships, by behaving differently.” Novelist, playwright, author of three theoretical works and editor of the anarchist newspaper, Der Sozialist (intermittently published between 1893-1899; 1909-1915), he endured frequent stints in prison before the outbreak of World War One. Landauer anticipated the war would lead to revolutionary uprisings and, in November 1918, when workers and soldiers rose up and overthrew the conservative government of Germany’s second largest state, Bavaria, he joined the effort. 
This week, the circle decided to read a chapter from the acclaimed anarcha-femininst and witch, Starhawk. Starhawk is founder of the Reclaiming Tradition of witchcraft, which combines magickal practices with social and ecological activism, communialism, as well as sustainable land-based reclaiming techniques, such as permaculture gardening, and so on.
For the next reading, we are looking at the first part of The Coming Insurrection. You can find the whole text here – but remember, in preparation for Aug 13th, we are reading circles 1 to 4. 