20 years of Balkan Anarchist Bookfair: Over the walls of nationalism and war!
---- We are excited to announce that next Balkan Anarchist Bookfair (BAB) willtake place from 7th to 9th of July 2023 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. This decision wasmade by the general assembly of the last BAB that took place between 24th and26th of June 2022 in Cluj, Romania (you can read the full statement of theassembly here). ---- This will be the 15th edition of BAB but will also mark 20years of its inception as the first BAB took place in Ljubljana in 2003. Afterthat it had traveled all around the Balkans (in geographies of Croatia, Serbia,Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Greece, Romania) and is now againreturning to our city after 2013 when we hosted it last time.We want to use this anniversary as an opportunity to organize a stronginternational anarchist gathering - one where we can address important questionsof our time in a collective manner and with a perspective of future organizingand struggle. The concept of BAB was never only about the books for us. We alwaysunderstood it as a tool for strengthening our groups, organizations, relationsand networks on local, regional and international level. We understand it as aspace where we exchange our ideas, analysis, perspectives and confront ourpractices, models of organizing and experiences of struggle, of ourparticipations in social movements and of inserting our ideas in them. All withthe intention to form meaningful proposals for future steps that can help ustackle the challenges our movements and societies are facing in the context ofpolitical, economical and social realities as well as that of revolutionarypotential.The current state of affairs on the global level is confirming our analysis fromthe past and is giving our political agenda of radical social change even moreurgency for the future. It is clear that the capitalist system - based onenslavement, exploitation, domination and in a coherence with other oppressionssuch as racism and nationalisms, patriarchy and sexism - is destroying our lives,our societies and the environment. All the recent crises, constantintensification of attack of capital against popular classes, radicalization ofpolice repression and state violence, and finally militarization and war areconfirming our statement that capitalism is crisis. It is clear that theprivileges of the ruling classes, coercive distribution of common wealth,existing hierarchies and the system itself can survive and be reproduced onlythrough the rule of brute force and violence. From this we can easy extend ourprevious statement to capitalism is war.Balkans with its specific history is no different in this aspects. It experiencedall the brutality of war, nationalism and transition to capitalist economy informer Yugoslavia, was forced to become a laboratory of neoliberal politics (asexperienced most obviously in the time of economic crisis from 2008 to 2012 inGreece), is witnessing deathly results of the European border regimes and itsmigration politics and is living disintegration of society with alienation andindividualisation most extremely expressed in the practices of social cannibalism.We can see different popular reactions to this realities: from reactionary riseof populist, nationalist, fascist extreme-right, the constant outbursts of riotsin all corners of the world, unarticulated and diffusive street movements thatare fueled through total distrust in political representation and stateinstitutions to progressive revolutionary moments such as those of ongoing revoltin Iran or social revolutionary process in Kurdistan. The anarchist movement istrying to intervene not only in above-mentioned popular reactions to capitalistcrises but also in social reality generally. Our own analysis and articulationsare the foundations of our political mobilisations and activity in spaces wherewe are exploited and oppressed - in our schools, workplaces and neighborhoods. Weparticipate in social movements where we try to implement our anti-authoritarianprinciples and revolutionary perspectives but we are also building new movements,fighting and solidarity structures as well as communal and autonomous spaceswhere we are developing alternative practices of organizing and living. But arewe doing enough and are we succesfull in building counter-power needed for realchange? We believe that anarchism as a political expression of the interests ofthe exploited and oppressed can offer many answers to the questions of our timebut we can also see that the movement is lacking fundamental influence on themechanisms of history. We would like to use BAB gathering for reflection on thisand other topics, to develop strategies that can bring our agendas forward andgive us new energy for our future organizing and mobilisations.With all this in mind we are inviting all parts of the international anarchistand anti-authoritarian movement from the geographies of the Balkans, Europe andother continents to join us in the process of organizing this event on all levelsand to start planning its participation. Since there will be another biginternational anarchist gathering in St. Immier in July 2023 we want to create anorganic connection between the two. We would especially like to invite comradesfrom other continents that are planning to join the meeting in St. Immier toconsider our invitation and also take part at the BAB gathering in Ljubljana.We will continue to inform you about the process and give details on theprogramme framework of the event in the future months. We ask you to translatethis call in your languages, publish it in you media and share it through yourcommunication channels.For further information, questions and proposals you can contact us via e-mailbab2023(at)riseup(dot)net or visit website bab2023.avtonomija.org.Over the walls of nationalism and war!*Building solidarity and resistance!Organizational Assembly of Balkan Anarchist Bookfair 2023In Ljubljana, 27th of November 2022*slogan of the anarchist movement of former Yugoslavia that was used in anti-warand anti-nationalist mobilisations against the wars of the 1990's and which wasalso the name of the anarchist paper that was published at the time by comradesfrom different countries of former Yugoslavia.https://bab2023.espivblogs.net/first-call/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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