#GlobalP2P, The Wind that Shook the NetEssay/ Bernardo Gutiérrez

“Association with the #GlobalP2P process is a lot more flexible than the militancy of a political party or collective, or following a religion or supporting a football team. Flexibility lies at the heart of #GlobalP2P’s strength, a functioning process much like the swarms described in Kevin Kelly’s Out of Control. Allowing for escape from the swarm, the possibility of dispersion, guarantees its strength.”  Keep reading…

Strength and Power Reimagining RevolutionEssay/Amador Fernández-Savater

“How can fifty people stop a forced eviction (and do it over and over again)? Why aren’t they immediately swept away by the police? What does it mean to have strength, if it doesn’t exactly coincide with having power (physical, quantitative, economic, institutional, etc.)? Could it be that we’ve already won the revolution, before it has actually taken place?” Amador Fernández-Savater analyses Gramsci’s observations on early Christianity and the Enlightenment as catalysts of across-the-board-culture shifts, and traces them back to the 15-M movement in Spain, and the Occupy movements worldwide. Keep reading…

Unity sans Convergence (Political Self-organization Models for Hyperlinked  Multitudes)Essay/ Madrilonia

While the conditions that spawned both the 15M (Spain) and Occupy (US/Worldwide) movements are very similar, there are lessons to be learned and cues to be taken from analyzing the ever-developing 15M movement’s social organization models and communal self-examination. This article by the collective Madrilonia draws parallels between brain function and crowd logic, and dispels some myths about the “best ways” to organize. Read the article…

“The interruption of the dominant narrative to create our own is the sort of politics we’re interested in”Essay/ Video/ Amador Fernández-Savater Colectivo Enmedio

In this interview with the eight members of the Colectivo Enmedio art collective (Barcelona), we talk, amongst other things, about the power of art and images to politically intervene in the crisis, their hack of the statue of Columbus in Barcelona and their notable graphic campaign on behalf of the PAH, Spain’s anti-foreclosure movement. Read interview and watch videos…

Seeing the Invisible: on Unicorns and the 15-M MovementEssay/ Amador Fernández-Savater

“A unicorn is not quite a horse. Likewise, neither are 15-M, the Mareas (Citizen Tides), the Plataforma Afectados por la Hipotéca or PAH (Spain’s game-changing anti-foreclosure movement) the familiar social movements, but names and masks endowing the users with a truly unprecedented process of social politicization…” Keep reading

Spain’s Micro-Utopias: The 15M Movement and its Prototypes Essay/ Bernardo Gutiérrez 

“The true power of 15M doesn’t lie in its (necessarily) reactionary collective defense of the welfare state. Its real, and massive, hidden strength is in its creative, innovative, proposal-oriented nature. Given our willfully blind politicians and media, increasing the visibility of these real, shareable, living prototypes is crucial, now more than ever. But it’s not a list we need, it´s more like an act of poetic justice. A subjective inventory, giving shape to something so big we don’t yet have a name for it….” Keep Reading

Net Parties: Who they are and how they’re differentEssay/ Bernardo Gutiérrez

“The emergence of Partido X (Spain), Partido de la Red (Argentina), Red Sustentável (Brasil) and Wikipartido (Mexico) suggests a new era in politics. Net (Internet) parties incorporate the open, horizontal and leaderless processes associated with free software and social movements such as 15M…”  Keep reading