Books by Federico Venturini
Questo testo è stato pensato per suggerire alcune coordinate di metodo e risposte al crescente in... more Questo testo è stato pensato per suggerire alcune coordinate di metodo e risposte al crescente interesse nei confronti dei Contratti di Fiume, uno strumento di programmazione territoriale negoziata che ha l’obiettivo di prendersi cura dei luoghi, in modo collettivo e partecipato, a partire dalla loro componente idrica. Il volume intende mettere in discussione il paradigma concettuale con cui il bene acqua viene interpretato, programmato e gestito, e lo fa evidenziando alcune questioni di metodo e suggerendo linee per la gestione e programmazione dei processi in atto. Con i Contratti di Fiume, infatti, si vuole riabilitare una ‘società idraulica’ attraverso una nuova visione e rinnovate capacità di gestione. Il paesaggio, in particolare quello fluviale, da elemento funzionale al nostro agire deve iniziare ad essere reinterpretato come valore di esistenza e quale riflesso della nostra capacità di abitare il mondo e di preservare l’ambiente.
In questo breve documento vengono presentati alcuni dati per inquadrare il problema dei rifiuti p... more In questo breve documento vengono presentati alcuni dati per inquadrare il problema dei rifiuti per poi illustrare gli effetti dei rifiuti sull'ambiente. Successivamente viente introdotto l'approccio Zero Waste / Rifiuti Zero per poi presentare alcuni comportamenti virtuosi.
Pieghevole dedicato agli studenti e alle studenti della regione Friuli Venezia Giulia aderenti al progetto "Zero Waste e sostenibilità turistica".
Ecological Solidarity and the Kurdish Freedom Movement: Thought, Practice, Challenges, and Opportunities, 2021
Ecological Solidarity and the Kurdish Freedom Movement examines the ideas about social ecology an... more Ecological Solidarity and the Kurdish Freedom Movement examines the ideas about social ecology and communalism behind the evolving political structures in the Kurdish region. The collection evaluates practical green projects, including the Mesopotamian Ecology Movement, Jinwar women’s eco-village, food sovereignty in a solidarity economy, environmental defenders in Iranian Kurdistan, and Make Rojava Green Again. Contributors also critically reflect on such contested themes as Alevi nature beliefs, anti-dam demonstrations, human-rights law and climate change, the Gezi Park protests, and forest fires. Throughout this volume, the contributors consider the formidable challenges to Kurdish initiatives, such as state repression, damaged infrastructure, and oil dependency. Nevertheless, contributors assert that the West has much to learn from the Kurdish ecological paradigm, which offers insight into social movement debates about development and decolonization.
Um revolucionário preso em uma fortaleza insular pode ter a chave da paz no Oriente Médio. O líde... more Um revolucionário preso em uma fortaleza insular pode ter a chave da paz no Oriente Médio. O líder do Partido dos Trabalhadores do Curdistão (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, é considerado por muitos como o “Mandela Curdo”, emitindo corajosamente propostas de paz mesmo a partir da cela da prisão. Suas ideias sobre democracia, libertação das mulheres e liberdade até inspiraram a notável Revolução de Rojava no norte da Síria. Enquanto a Turquia mergulhou na tirania e a Síria explodiu em guerra civil, uma delegação de paz de políticos, acadêmicos e jornalistas europeus, liderada pelo advogado de Nelson Mandela e juiz da Suprema Corte, Essa Moosa, tentou repetidamente ir ao encontro de Öcalan em sua prisão na ilha de Imrali. Sua Liberdade e a Minha conta a história dessas importantes delegações. O livro abre com uma visão histórica informativa da questão Curda, até a abertura otimista – e eventual falha amarga – do processo de paz na Turquia. Inclui documentos e relatórios oficiais das Delegações Imrali em Istambul e Diyarbakir/Amed, que envolveram entrevistas aprofundadas com políticos, mídia e sociedade civil curdos e turcos sobre a degeneração da situação política e de direitos humanos. A seção final é uma coleção de depoimentos dos participantes da delegação. Sua Liberdade e a Minha oferece uma visão crucial da história dramática e da realidade atual da luta curda por reconhecimento e paz na Turquia.
Social Ecology and the Right to the City , 2019
Cities are increasingly a major cause of, but also a potential solution for, environmental and so... more Cities are increasingly a major cause of, but also a potential solution for, environmental and social crises. Across the world, a new wave of urban social movements are arising: movements building economic, social, and political alternatives based on solidarity, equality, and participation. At the forefront of these, social ecology is emerging as a rich body of ideas spanning disciplines as diverse as democracy, economics, and urbanism to technology, philosophy, and social development.
This anthology develops the debates that began at the Transnational Institute of Social Ecology’s (TRISE) conference in Thessaloniki about the dire need to rebuild our cities. It discusses the prospects of current urban movements; examines the radical potential of the concept of “the Right to the City”; and looks at how activists, scholars, and community movements can work together towards an ecological and democratic future. A fruitful conversation between theory and practice, this book opens new ground for rethinking systemic urban change in a way that transforms how we live, work, and create together.
This book explores the history of the Kurdish Question in Turkey, charting the optimistic opening... more This book explores the history of the Kurdish Question in Turkey, charting the optimistic opening, and then bitter failure, of the 2013-2015 peace process. It also follows several international peace delegations of European politicians, academics, and journalists who attempt to meet with the Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the PKK, often considered the "Kurdish Mandela".
We are currently facing incredible challenges due to environmental and social crises on a global ... more We are currently facing incredible challenges due to environmental and social crises on a global scale and cities are at the forefront of these challenges. Within this context, this thesis analyses the role of urban social movements in addressing these crises in the urban environment, learning about, with and from their practices. It does so by critically engaging with social ecology, a theory continuously developed by Murray Bookchin from the 1960s onward, which, while critiquing current social and ecological crises, provides a vision and theory of action needed to achieve a free and ecological society.
Specifically, the thesis, using participatory research approaches, focuses on the role of urban social movements in addressing the urban crises which acutely affect Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where intense social mobilizations emerged in 2013-2014. It examines the complex understanding of urban crises by urban social movements, and their tactics and organizational strategies, tracing points of contact between urban social movement practices and the social ecology perspective. The thesis bridges these two, highlighting how urban social movements practices and the social ecology theory can benefit from each other, in order to build relevant and decolonized knowledge for social change.
Journal Articles by Federico Venturini
Documenti Geografici, 2024
The issue of waste generation and management is often overlooked, yet alarming data highlight its... more The issue of waste generation and management is often overlooked, yet alarming data highlight its urgency. The Zero Waste approach, developed with the aim of preventing waste production and rethinking production and consumption patterns, emerges as a vital solution. This study presents action research conducted in Friuli Venezia Giulia, aimed at raising awareness and promoting the Zero Waste approach in several tourist locations across the region. Involving approximately 600 students from secondary and vocational schools, the initial results show a general understanding of waste management and a strong interest in Zero Waste principles, reflecting the students' willingness to take action for a sustainable future.
Revista Lüvo, 2024
In “Revolution & Reconciliation: The Mind, The Heart and The Octopus” by Marcy Isabella and Feder... more In “Revolution & Reconciliation: The Mind, The Heart and The Octopus” by Marcy Isabella and Federico Venturini explore the intersection of emotion, rationality, and resistance, resonating deeply within feminist geography. The authors interrogate the separation of the mind from the body and heart, exposing how rationality has been historically weaponized to justify atrocities. This critique aligns with emotional geographies, which underscores the profound influence of affective experiences on individuals’ relationships with space and place. Furthermore, the call for reconciliation and revolutionary hope mirrors the central tenets of geographies of dissent, emphasizing the transformative potential of collective action against dominant power structures.
Art by Yira Miranda Montero
LO SCATOLINO, 2024
Riflessioni sullo spazio pubblico a partire da alcune esperienze nel Villaggio del Sole, un quart... more Riflessioni sullo spazio pubblico a partire da alcune esperienze nel Villaggio del Sole, un quartiere di edilizia residenziale pubblica nella città di Udine nato tra il 1956 e il 1963 all’interno del Programma Nazionale Ina Casa. Contributo sviluppato all'interno del progetto Valle Urbana.
Lo spazio pubblico è per definizione uno spazio che si lascia abitare, permeare e vivere in maniera collettiva ma occorre trovare il modo con cui le persone si sentano libere di abitarlo per sentirsi parte dello stesso quartiere, dello stesso palazzo, o magari di una comunità, qualunque essa sia.
Evolution, 2024
L’approccio Zero Waste – Rifiuti Zero propone uno spettro di azioni essenziali per guidarci verso... more L’approccio Zero Waste – Rifiuti Zero propone uno spettro di azioni essenziali per guidarci verso un futuro sostenibile, differenziando
tra pratiche economicamente più sostenibili
e vantaggiose per l’ambiente e altre meno ottimali. Un messaggio dedicato tanto ai politici, quanto agli imprenditori e ai cittadini.
Alla luce del concetto di wasting relationships, sembrerebbe che le attuali proposte di gestione ... more Alla luce del concetto di wasting relationships, sembrerebbe che le attuali proposte di gestione smart dei rifiuti continuino a non intaccare il problema alla base dei rifiuti, ovvero la loro produzione, ma si fermino a una mera gestione del problema. Le possibili alternative vengono invisibilizzate e così facendo lo status quo fatto di sprechi, produzioni errate e comportamenti dissipatori viene mantenuto e i vari attori non sono incentivati a modificare i loro compor- tamenti e le loro azioni, siano essi cittadini, produttori o amministratori. Sono narrazioni secondo le quali l’intelligenza tecnologica e la sostenibilità urbana sono avanzate in assenza di una costruzione di comporta- menti consapevoli e realmente sostenibili.
Il ruolo della tecnologia per risolvere le attuali crisi ambientali è innegabile, così come è innegabile che “non può esistere smart city senza smart citizens” (Ratti, 2017, p. 103): i cittadini devono non solo essere al centro di scelte e decisioni ma essere educati alle nuove tecnologie e possibilità.
Diventano così di fondamentale importanza i processi educativi, per una partecipazione responsabile e proattiva dei cittadini. Tali processi si strutturano nella trasmissione di informazioni per il rafforzamento delle conoscenze, al fine dell’identificazione di valori comunitari fondanti e dell’attivazione di comportamenti consapevoli.
Di fronte alle sfide che ci attendono, nuovi e molteplici valori devono essere promossi, come quelli della città rifiuti zero. Infatti, la narrazione per una città Rifiuti Zero si presenta con una visione olistica e più completa, comprendente anche le innovazioni smart.
Anarchist Studies, 2023
Research or concepts in the biological field have often been used as a basis to root political pr... more Research or concepts in the biological field have often been used as a basis to root political projects of different orientations. In the libertarian literature, there have also been attempts to explore the link between the natural world and the possibility of freedom by combining discoveries in biological fields and research in philosophical/political fields. In the first part of our work, we analyse Peter Kropotkin’s thought, especially his theory of mutual aid, focusing on his proto- ecological concepts. This section also focuses on the Social Ecology of Murray Bookchin in the context of the evolution of life in the natural world. The concepts of cooperation, empathy and mutual aid are explored, and also revolu- tion, federalism and egalitarian ethics. In the second part, we review these ideas and concepts, drawing on insights from recent discoveries in the study of ecology and evolutionary biology. We conclude our review by discussing how these natural principles can inform social projects and social organisation, identifying how mismatches between social and biological organisation have contributed to inequality and domination.
River contracts (RCs) are voluntary agreements between stakeholders for managing water bodies and... more River contracts (RCs) are voluntary agreements between stakeholders for managing water bodies and involve participatory, evidence-based action plans. Increasingly, European authorities recognise that effective water policies require bottom-up, inclusive decision-making. Despite widely held assumptions about the benefits of including stakeholders in river basin management and encouraging participatory mechanisms of decision-making, the growing rhetoric about the need for public engagement implies that this “new” paradigm of water management remains filled with ambiguities. Adopting ethnographic methods and drawing on a variety of primary and secondary sources, this paper analyses three RCs in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy. These case studies reveal the potential for RCs as tools not only for water management, but also for increasing stakeholder involvement through place-making activities conceived as potential hydrophilic encounters. In order to understand whether RCs contribute to a fluvial sense of place, we looked at the effects of top-down versus participatory pro- cesses. We asked whether RCs were considered participatory processes designed to achieve a co-designed outcome or simply territorial management projects that objectify the river as something to be developed. We found that ratifying an RC was not, in itself, proof of an effective process; rather the nature and quality of an RC was determined by the degree and type of participation. We contend that participatory events and sharing information are not sufficient in themselves to achieve the active involvement of all stakeholders. We argue that the best framework for enabling place-making and enhancing a sense of place is to develop RCs within a process that includes a high degree of participation. This enables citizens to shift from simply being passive recipients of plans to becoming effective territorial actors.
Geography Notebooks, 2022
Environmental education is vital for raising awareness of sustainable development. Zero Waste is ... more Environmental education is vital for raising awareness of sustainable development. Zero Waste is a holistic model that goes beyond waste reduction and recycling, and calls for a reshaping of contemporary modes of production and consumption while also promoting active citizenship awareness. Exploring Zero Waste principles, this article situates and demonstrates its alignment with key international documents, such as the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Already used in some educational contexts, the Zero Waste model has the potential to encourage a new perspective to fundamentally reconsider and redesign our relationship to what it means to be actively more sustainable, through a systemic and circular approach. We outline how educational geography and sustainability practices can both benefit from, and support, a dialogue with Zero Waste principles.
Document Geografici, 2022
I rifiuti costituiscono un problema centrale della società globale, in grado di minare in profond... more I rifiuti costituiscono un problema centrale della società globale, in grado di minare in profondità il futuro del pianeta. La mentalità e le pratiche consumistiche si contraddistinguono per garantire produzioni in grado di rispondere a una domanda crescente sempre più variegata. Tuttavia, ci si è preoccupati meno dell’anello cosiddetto finale del sistema economico, cioè quello relativo alla gestione dei rifiuti. Questa scarsa attenzione ha fatto in modo che una soluzione alla questione rappresentata dai rifiuti non sia più procrastinabile, ma sia da ritenere il punto di partenza per riconsiderare l’intero processo, investendo con energia e lungimiranza sul valore culturale, prima ancora che economico, della circolarità, in alternativa al miope e non più sostenibile modello lineare. Ed è proprio all’interno di questo quadro, teorico e pratico allo stesso tempo, che dovranno muoversi e cercare di risultare efficaci le politiche del PNRR, capaci di raccogliere la sfida proposta da Rifiuti Zero - Zero Waste: rovesciare la metafora della piramide e inserire nell’ampio vertice un nuovo disegno dell’intera catena produttiva e di consumo, ai livelli aziendale e domestico, collettivo e individuale, locale e globale. Questo auspicabile rinnovato indirizzo di pensiero potrà giovarsi dell’ausilio della riflessione geografica, in grado di proporre, in ragione del suo sguardo capace di tenere insieme diversi elementi e vari piani, importanti concetti e criteri funzionali a intraprendere un definitivo cambio di rotta, all’insegna di una effettiva sostenibilità.
Documenti Geografici, 2021
Pressing global environmental problems can be solved only by facing the social problems within so... more Pressing global environmental problems can be solved only by facing the social problems within society and vice versa. These crises can be approached from different perspectives. In 2016, an estimated 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste were generated and this number is increasing fast. The problem of where and how to dispose of this material is an environmental issue that requires a solution. This issue is prevalent in cities, which are the main site of production and consumption, as well as rapid urbanisation. Often urbanism refers to something that deals with buildings, roads, and other design elements. However, urbanism is much more, and, as theorised long ago, explores the intersection of the physical structures, the social organization, and the attitudes and ideas that are found in cities.
This article considers the zero waste tradition, looking in particular to zero waste cities, and putting it in dialogue with critical traditions, in particular urban political ecology.
Zero Waste Urbanism is introduced as a both a fresh perspective and a call for action, not only to design better cities but to change society and rework political systems. By making its key questions those that interrogate power, zero waste urbanism radicalizes the zero waste approach, developing new ways of exploring reality while proposing a reconstructive vision to create sustainable urban futures.
In doing so, this work aims to reach both zero waste practitioners, interdisciplinary researchers, and academic activists.
Interface: A journal for and about social movements, 2020
This is a story about my experience as activist-researcher during the covid-19 crisis in Udine, a... more This is a story about my experience as activist-researcher during the covid-19 crisis in Udine, a small city in the NorthEast of Italy. This is not a happy story of actions and results but a narrative of frustration and impotence feelings.
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Books by Federico Venturini
Pieghevole dedicato agli studenti e alle studenti della regione Friuli Venezia Giulia aderenti al progetto "Zero Waste e sostenibilità turistica".
This anthology develops the debates that began at the Transnational Institute of Social Ecology’s (TRISE) conference in Thessaloniki about the dire need to rebuild our cities. It discusses the prospects of current urban movements; examines the radical potential of the concept of “the Right to the City”; and looks at how activists, scholars, and community movements can work together towards an ecological and democratic future. A fruitful conversation between theory and practice, this book opens new ground for rethinking systemic urban change in a way that transforms how we live, work, and create together.
Specifically, the thesis, using participatory research approaches, focuses on the role of urban social movements in addressing the urban crises which acutely affect Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where intense social mobilizations emerged in 2013-2014. It examines the complex understanding of urban crises by urban social movements, and their tactics and organizational strategies, tracing points of contact between urban social movement practices and the social ecology perspective. The thesis bridges these two, highlighting how urban social movements practices and the social ecology theory can benefit from each other, in order to build relevant and decolonized knowledge for social change.
Journal Articles by Federico Venturini
Art by Yira Miranda Montero
Lo spazio pubblico è per definizione uno spazio che si lascia abitare, permeare e vivere in maniera collettiva ma occorre trovare il modo con cui le persone si sentano libere di abitarlo per sentirsi parte dello stesso quartiere, dello stesso palazzo, o magari di una comunità, qualunque essa sia.
tra pratiche economicamente più sostenibili
e vantaggiose per l’ambiente e altre meno ottimali. Un messaggio dedicato tanto ai politici, quanto agli imprenditori e ai cittadini.
Il ruolo della tecnologia per risolvere le attuali crisi ambientali è innegabile, così come è innegabile che “non può esistere smart city senza smart citizens” (Ratti, 2017, p. 103): i cittadini devono non solo essere al centro di scelte e decisioni ma essere educati alle nuove tecnologie e possibilità.
Diventano così di fondamentale importanza i processi educativi, per una partecipazione responsabile e proattiva dei cittadini. Tali processi si strutturano nella trasmissione di informazioni per il rafforzamento delle conoscenze, al fine dell’identificazione di valori comunitari fondanti e dell’attivazione di comportamenti consapevoli.
Di fronte alle sfide che ci attendono, nuovi e molteplici valori devono essere promossi, come quelli della città rifiuti zero. Infatti, la narrazione per una città Rifiuti Zero si presenta con una visione olistica e più completa, comprendente anche le innovazioni smart.
This article considers the zero waste tradition, looking in particular to zero waste cities, and putting it in dialogue with critical traditions, in particular urban political ecology.
Zero Waste Urbanism is introduced as a both a fresh perspective and a call for action, not only to design better cities but to change society and rework political systems. By making its key questions those that interrogate power, zero waste urbanism radicalizes the zero waste approach, developing new ways of exploring reality while proposing a reconstructive vision to create sustainable urban futures.
In doing so, this work aims to reach both zero waste practitioners, interdisciplinary researchers, and academic activists.
Pieghevole dedicato agli studenti e alle studenti della regione Friuli Venezia Giulia aderenti al progetto "Zero Waste e sostenibilità turistica".
This anthology develops the debates that began at the Transnational Institute of Social Ecology’s (TRISE) conference in Thessaloniki about the dire need to rebuild our cities. It discusses the prospects of current urban movements; examines the radical potential of the concept of “the Right to the City”; and looks at how activists, scholars, and community movements can work together towards an ecological and democratic future. A fruitful conversation between theory and practice, this book opens new ground for rethinking systemic urban change in a way that transforms how we live, work, and create together.
Specifically, the thesis, using participatory research approaches, focuses on the role of urban social movements in addressing the urban crises which acutely affect Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where intense social mobilizations emerged in 2013-2014. It examines the complex understanding of urban crises by urban social movements, and their tactics and organizational strategies, tracing points of contact between urban social movement practices and the social ecology perspective. The thesis bridges these two, highlighting how urban social movements practices and the social ecology theory can benefit from each other, in order to build relevant and decolonized knowledge for social change.
Art by Yira Miranda Montero
Lo spazio pubblico è per definizione uno spazio che si lascia abitare, permeare e vivere in maniera collettiva ma occorre trovare il modo con cui le persone si sentano libere di abitarlo per sentirsi parte dello stesso quartiere, dello stesso palazzo, o magari di una comunità, qualunque essa sia.
tra pratiche economicamente più sostenibili
e vantaggiose per l’ambiente e altre meno ottimali. Un messaggio dedicato tanto ai politici, quanto agli imprenditori e ai cittadini.
Il ruolo della tecnologia per risolvere le attuali crisi ambientali è innegabile, così come è innegabile che “non può esistere smart city senza smart citizens” (Ratti, 2017, p. 103): i cittadini devono non solo essere al centro di scelte e decisioni ma essere educati alle nuove tecnologie e possibilità.
Diventano così di fondamentale importanza i processi educativi, per una partecipazione responsabile e proattiva dei cittadini. Tali processi si strutturano nella trasmissione di informazioni per il rafforzamento delle conoscenze, al fine dell’identificazione di valori comunitari fondanti e dell’attivazione di comportamenti consapevoli.
Di fronte alle sfide che ci attendono, nuovi e molteplici valori devono essere promossi, come quelli della città rifiuti zero. Infatti, la narrazione per una città Rifiuti Zero si presenta con una visione olistica e più completa, comprendente anche le innovazioni smart.
This article considers the zero waste tradition, looking in particular to zero waste cities, and putting it in dialogue with critical traditions, in particular urban political ecology.
Zero Waste Urbanism is introduced as a both a fresh perspective and a call for action, not only to design better cities but to change society and rework political systems. By making its key questions those that interrogate power, zero waste urbanism radicalizes the zero waste approach, developing new ways of exploring reality while proposing a reconstructive vision to create sustainable urban futures.
In doing so, this work aims to reach both zero waste practitioners, interdisciplinary researchers, and academic activists.
First of all, I consider the concept of direct action as defined in the literature and how it has been put in practice in Rio de Janeiro in the form of militant direct action. Here street demonstrations have assumed a growing political role since June 2013 and now face heavy police repression. The necessity to resist this repressive violence forces the implementation of new militant direct action by the urban social movements. In particular, throughout Brazil we see the emergence of Black bloc tactics as response to police violence. I deconstruct the concept of the criminalisation of militant direct action and offer an interpretation of such actions as a right to resistance, in opposition. I then complement this interpretation by introducing the concept of ‘emancipatory collective counter- violence’, which allows me to explore the tactics adopted by the urban social movements in Brazil beyond a discourse of rights and legality. Following this, I explore the praxis of grassroots work, which forms the basis of the work of urban social movements and I explain how it can be seen as a particular form of direct-action aiming at ‘filling the gaps of the State’. I conclude with a general reflection on how to advance the theories around direct action and violence, taking inspiration from the practices and discourses introduced by the urban social movements in Rio de Janeiro. In the final analysis, which takes into consideration highly sensitive topics, I am inspired by the position of Gordon (2008), who underlines “When it comes to violence, then, it would seem that in the final analysis anarchists can do nothing but be responsible, experiment and keep their options open” (108).
TRISE is an association of activists and intellectuals based in Europe, who are concerned with current socio-ecological crises. It was founded in Greece in 2013 and focuses on research, education, and training. The asso- ciation initiates, supports and facilitates research on social ecology, urban social movements, and the democratization of society. Historically, its inspi- ration can be traced to Vermont, US, where the Institute for Social Ecology was co-founded by Murray Bookchin and Dan Chodorkoff in 1974.
At the heart of the organization’s mission lies the theory of social ecology. Multiple definitions of social ecology exist. However, TRISE largely follows the innovative philosophy of Murray Bookchin, as well as other writers and activists who developed his work. TRISE aims to foster and develop social ecological analysis and practice that can be adopted for the struggles to come.
This book answers this call, exploring the contemporary discourse surrounding urban rights—the right to the city—and presents a selection of new essays on social ecology. This volume seeks to bring the ideas of social ecology into conversation with the worldwide call for the right to the city, thereby challenging and extending existing discussions on both topics in a fruitful cross-fertilization. Theories and practices need to be discovered, engaged with, and transformed in order to build an effective culture of resistance.
Since its inception, the 'right to the city' has been vaguely defined as a “a cry and a demand” (Lefebvre 1996: 158), a definition that makes it possible for different actors to use it for different scopes (Attoh 2011, Marcuse 2014). Urban social movements all around the globe are using this mobilizing concept in their campaigns. However, NGOs, international bodies, and cities’ authorities all around the globe have assumed a different perspective on the right to the city, co-opting and redefining this concept to a point that (Souza 2010; Mayer 2012; Kuymulu 2013).
Social ecology is a social theory that explores the roots of domination and it is a powerful analytical tool of current crises and a theory of action that offers strategies, ethics and a reconstructive vision for a future society. Applying dialectical naturalism, the philosophy of social ecology, to the right to the city it is possible to consider if the right to the city is able to foster mutualism, differentiation, and development, as proposed by Heller (1999), for the creation of an ecological and free society. In this way social ecology is able to broaden the discussion around the right to the city and put it at the service of social change.
Both social ecology and the right to the city are transformative concepts: they presuppose a sea change in the social, economic and political sphere, clearly connecting with the transformative agenda and power of urban social movements. However, the right to the city assumes real value only when paired with the concept of domination. The concept of ‘fighting against all forms of domination’ towards freedom developed in social ecology can be taken as a unifying concept that includes and amplifies the agenda of the right to the city.
Successivamente introduco la pratica del lavoro di base, che costituisce la base della militanza dei movimenti sociali urbani e spiego come può essere vista come una particolare forma di azione diretta volta a 'colmare le lacune dello Stato'.
Infine concludo con una riflessione generale su come avanzare le teorie esistenti sull'azione diretta e sulla violenza, ispirandosi alle pratiche e ai discorsi introdotti dai movimenti sociali urbani a Rio de Janeiro.
The aim of this work is to understand how to reinterpret the idea of disaster as an opportunity: not in terms of possibilities for capitalistic growth but for those extraordinary examples of solidarity and cooperation that emerge immediately following the disaster and their potential to persist in the medium and long term (Solnit, 2009).
The case study of L’Aquila, city-territory heavily damaged by an earthquake in 2009, and in particular the analysis of the C.A.S.E. Project33 will give an enlightening case study. In this paper are presented the preliminary results of the analysis of telematic semi-structured interviews with experts from the territory, involved or not in the project. Asking their evaluation of the social, economic and environmental impacts of the Piano C.A.S.E., it has been possible to show highly polarized opinions that allow to frame this case as a clear example of ‘Italian disaster capitalism’ (Puliafito,
2010). In counterposition to this approach to disaster recovery based on top-down policies for covering the interests of certain political and economic groups, it will be proposed a strategy that poses his basis on the effective participation of the population. Participation in this context is not – mere consultation of the victims of the disaster, but a real empowerment of the community that, establishing a different approach with its territory, could undertake a path towards a real resilient community. In this paper resilience is intended to be not a reductive bounce back to the situation
prior the shock, but a positive process towards the construction of a vision for the city and its realization. In order to do so, resourcefulness is proposed as a new framework focussed on resources, empowerment and social change (MacKinnon and Derickson, 2013).
Parole chiave: Rio de Janeiro, giornate di giugno, movimenti sociali urbani, proteste popolari.
The popular protests in Rio de Janeiro from June 2013: a preliminary study
The following work provides an analysis of the protests in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) from June 2013, mobilizations started against the general increase of the ticket price of public transport at the state level and then they changed shape and claims.The aim of this preliminary work is to try to shed light on the motivations of these protests, the role and practices of urban social movements.This research is based on the direct testimony of a researcher who has lived 9 months in the city of Rio de Janeiro between March 2013 and January 2014, participating directly in the mobilizations and developing a successful participatory observation with various groups in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
The Modern Crisis retains its relevance because the crises of our modern world persist. Despite being written during the Cold War era and occasionally referencing outdated debates, the core themes and reasoning presented in the text withstand the test of time. Unfortunately, many of the pressing issues highlighted within the book remain unaddressed, necessitating our urgent search for solutions. We are pushing our planet beyond its limits, and a climate catastrophe resulting from human intervention looms ominously. Yes, human societies have indeed contributed to the mess we find ourselves in, but they might also possess the tools and ethical framework necessary to navigate a way out of it. As we delve into the root causes and develop potential solutions, it is imperative for every critical geographer to be acquainted with this book.
Originale in inglese: https://roarmag.org/essays/bookchin-interview-social-ecology/
The conference aims to highlight the crucial importance of inland waters that are simultaneously linear and networked watery places. Waterscapes are socio-natural hybrids, results of environmental processes and a variety of human and non-human agencies and, as such, they merit our attention. We suggest understanding hybridity in terms of cultural ecosystems, socio-cultural adaptability and becoming. With this conference we would like to encourage scholars to move beyond the strictly figurative use of liquidity, while retaining its central notions of uncertainty, flux and constant motion.
100 years since the birth of Murray Bookchin (on 14th of January), founding theorist of social ecology and one of the most profound thinkers of the 20th century.
We are very happy to announce that the next TRISE Conference will be dedicated to Bookchin’s legacy, exploring social ecology and its future development !
Register on EventBrite right here: https://www.eventbrite.fi/e/murray-bookchin-100-trise-2021-conference-tickets-170069074179
Livestream from our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdrtCFbkNQTIVuOP0F3q4uw/video
Join the Facebook Event: https://fb.me/e/1YCbOwwyU
EUGEO 2023, Barcelona 4-7 September 2023
Please submit your article at: https://www.eugeobcn23.eu/sessions/?id=1166
Deadline: March 31st, 2023
Consequently, building on the growing body of work that repositions love, care and solidarity relations as central to social reproduction and fundamentally constitutive of society, the conference will explore and cultivate political communities of solidarity and care, which might then affect our wider commons and ecosystems. Critically, this event will aim to extend the concept of ‘commons’ far beyond the mere management of resources with which humans have a relationship of stewardship, and thus radically reimagine human-nature relations within our more-than-human conditions. As a result, the process will take an expansive view of the interdependent and entangled nature of contemporary struggles, linking ecological, anti-capitalist, feminist and indigenous politics intersectionally, and extending our understanding of what constitutes revolutionary transformation towards a far more comprehensive redefinition of our social ecologies across all spheres of life.
The conference will therefore bring together activists and scholars from across the world to focus on one key question: How do we do it? How do we cultivate ecologies of solidarity and care beyond capitalism, patriarchy, racism and the state?
In order to develop answers to this question, the organisers invite proposals for individual presentations by activists and researchers, and thematic panels organised by activist groups/research groups.
We are very happy to announce that the next TRISE Conference will be dedicated to Bookchin’s legacy, exploring social ecology and its future development !
Register on EventBrite right here: https://www.eventbrite.fi/e/murray-bookchin-100-trise-2021-conference-tickets-170069074179
Livestream from our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdrtCFbkNQTIVuOP0F3q4uw/video
Join the Facebook Event: https://fb.me/e/1YCbOwwyU
Let’s make this year an opportunity to spread even further Bookchin’s ideas and social ecology in our local communities worldwide!
For any information, please contact info@trise.org
#100yearsMurrayBookchin #socialecology
Through the 20 books and numerous pamphlets he wrote, Bookchin formulated the thesis that domination of nature is a consequence of the exploitation of humans by humans. He exposed how the destruction of the natural world, far from being a historical necessity, is a byproduct of social modes of organization based on hierarchies and domination within human societies.
On this occasion, TRISE organizes an International Online Conference that will include a series of discussions/presentations in commemoration of and in dialogue with Bookchin’s legacy. The aim of this conference is to pay a tribute to the founder of social ecology and to further develop this body of work.
Our aim is firstly to discover different and militant knowledge. Secondly to engage with our environment and reflect on existing examples of social change. And thirdly to apply and modify this new knowledge to transform our world and practices.
Power to destroy, power to create: building a culture of resistance towards radical social change
Date: 25 – 27 October 2019 Location: Athens, Greece
An innovative approach was utilised, based on three recursive phases, discover (understanding key concepts), engage (engaging and elaborating the discovered concepts), and transform (utilising the acquired tools and concepts to create something). This project represented an example where the formal educational activities blended together with the social experiences of living together, making DEEP-T an example on how to redesign the interaction between humans, environments and the living world in a just, sustainable and imaginative way.
Almost all activities were recorded and put online at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEGw2rEYSmm6b-ihJeBLyyw/videos
The following stylish booklet is also a product of the course (you can contact the artist at delrioangela1@gmail.com).
An innovative approach was utilised, based on three recursive phases, discover (understanding key concepts), engage (engaging and elaborating the discovered concepts), and transform (utilising the acquired tools and concepts to create something). This project represented an example where the formal educational activities blended together with the social experiences of living together, making DEEP-T an example of how to redesign the interaction between humans, environments and the living world in a just, sustainable and imaginative way.
The delegation stated that “European institutions and the UN have long tolerated the Turkish authorities’ violation of its international obligations. We ask for a stronger voice to be immediately raised demanding that Abdullah Öcalan’s isolation to be ended and that the human rights of all political prisoners in Turkey be guaranteed.”
The State of Emergency imposed across the Kurdish regions of Turkey, after the ruling AKP party lost its parliamentary majority in the 2015 elections, presaged the wider State of Emergency, which is still in place throughout Turkey following the failed coup of July 2016.
Since November 2015, 2000 people have been killed in the renewed conflict and many more displaced. The United Nations has reported on wide scale egregious human rights violations in the region, including killings and destruction of property. As of December 2016, more than 10 Members of Parliament from the pro Kurdish HDP Party are in detention, 64 elected mayors and co-mayors have been detained in Kurdish cities, 5000 HDP members arrested over the last 18 months, of whom 2488 are still in custody.
The EUTCC has held conferences on an annual basis since the inception of the EU-Turkey Accession process in 2004, convening leading human rights institutions, political parties, academics, journalists, unionists, writers, legal experts and prominent Kurdish and Turkish intellectuals to discuss the Kurdish Question in Turkey and the Middle East. The EUTCC act as a point of contact, and a platform for different actors working on issues related to the Kurds, Turkey and the Middle East and exchanges information with the institutions of the EU as well as other governmental and non-governmental organisations. The latest report adds to a body of accurate and objective information about the political situation in Turkey.
This document highlights some of the key points and issues that arose from our collective thinking over this experience. In the first section, we highlight what ECOEC means. We then focus on what radical education means to us. The third section explores the conceptual framing of discovery, engagement, and transformation. Fourth, we discuss the relationship between social movements, academia and research. And, finally, we highlight some tensions that arose during ECOEC, especially those regarding the transition from theory to practice.
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0
Now, more than ever, environmental education (EE) is needed in order to meet the ecological challenges following centuries of human impact on the planet. Two novel approaches – circular economy and Zero Waste – can contribute to environmental education curricula. The first refers to a non-linear economic system that retains energy and raw materials as much as possible. The second stresses the importance of limiting the amount of waste produced. This article explores the meaning of waste, and what circular economy and Zero Waste might mean for environmental education and, ultimately, for the environment.
Connor Hayes is an activist, researcher, and a student of philosophy. He was a member of the 2019 International Peace Delegation to Imrali.
This interview is sponsored by the Peace in Kurdistan Campaign www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com
For more information, please contact:
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign (PIK)
Estella Schmid
email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk
mobile: +447846666804
with Federico Venturini
Federico is an activist-researcher working at the University of Udine, Italy. He co-edited the books Your Freedom and Mine: Abdullah Ocalan and the Kurdish Question in Erdogan's Turkey and Social Ecology and the Right to the City: Towards Ecological and Democratic Cities. He discusses domination, freedom, democratic confederalism in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, and the possibilities for social ecology moving forward.
The Deep Commons collective visioning project brings together activists and scholars around the world to co-imagine and cultivate ecologies of solidarity and care beyond capitalism, patriarchy, racism and the state. Visit us at deepcommons.net
This video narrates the events using testimonies of the protagonists and historical images. The main objective of this project is to analyze the resistance practices developed against the FIFA World Cup 2014, in Rio de Janeiro. This analysis is contextualized with the collection of crucial historical testimonies, reports of all the violence and abuses that occur due to the FIFA World Cup 2014. The video is geographically centered around the area of the Maracanã stadium, one of the areas where the contradictions of the development model characterized by the state of exception came to light and where several resistance strategies have emerged.
Around the Maracanã stadium took please different fights: for the Indigenous place Aldeia Marakana, for the Favela do Metrô Mangueira, for the public buildings around and the social movement Não Vai ter Copa - There won't be a world cup.
Video with English subtitles.
[PT] O estádio do Maracanã não é apenas um espaço de lazer, mas, acima de tudo, um espaço de luta. Neste documentário, o Grupo Popular Pesquisa em Ação explora a luta pela educação, pela moradia, pelos direitos indígenas, contra o desenvolvimento do capital. Esta é uma história semelhante a muitas lutas em todo o Brasil, contra os megaeventos e o modelo de desenvolvimento imposto de cima.
Este vídeo narra os eventos usando testemunhos dos protagonistas e imagens históricas. O principal objetivo deste projeto é analisar as práticas de resistência desenvolvidas contra a Copa do Mundo de 2014, no Rio de Janeiro. Essa análise é contextualizada com a coleta de depoimentos históricos cruciais, relatos de toda a violência e abusos que ocorrem devido à Copa do Mundo de 2014. O vídeo está geograficamente centrado na área do estádio do Maracanã, uma das áreas onde as contradições do modelo de desenvolvimento caracterizado pelo estado de exceção veio à tona e surgiram diversas estratégias de resistência.
Ao redor do estádio do Maracanã, levaram-se por favor diferentes lutas: pela casa indígena Aldeia Marakana, pela Favela do Metrô Mangueira, pelos prédios públicos ao redor e pelo movimento social Não Vai ter Copa - Não haverá Copa do Mundo.
Vídeo com legendas em inglês.