Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Upcoming at the Jack Pine

[luce (luce]

There's a ton of great stuff coming up at the Jack Pine.  Check it out...

ANARCHIST ANTHROPOLOGY STUDY GROUP - SUNDAY AFTERNOONS
Starts October 1, 3:00pm

Join local activists, students, anarchists, and community members to
explore how the
scholarly discipline of anthropology, itself a mechanism of the Western
colonial
apparatus, can be looked to for ethnographic examples of egalitarian forms
of social
life that can inform our present-day struggles against capitalism and
oppression.

The direction of the group will be determined collectively by those who are
involved, although we will use a syllabus below developed at the Anarchist
U in
Toronto as our starting point.

*Course background*

The highly institutionalized disciplines of the social sciences (sociology,
economics, criminology, anthropology, etc.) had their origins in the
colonial and
imperial expansion of the so- called west; with its attendant mass murder,
emergence
of the nation- state and its alter ego, the vertically integrated
political and
economic entity known as the corporation, structured transnational capital
flows
disguised as the 'free market', and the manufacture of consent through
explicit
programs of political war and repression, physical and mental coercion,
and a vast
and powerful propaganda industry. Despite this history, over the last 125
years
anthropology has been one of the few intellectual projects that arose from
the
colonial apparatus whose practitioners have observed that other,
alternative social
forms and practices exist and are relevant for an understanding of the human
condition. The social practices that early anthropologists observed were
often based
on the notion of !
egalitarianism and maintaining decentralized structures of social power.
These forms
and practices were of tremendous, perhaps infinite variation in terms of
human
behavior. And this wide variation precluded the notion that individual
societies
paralleled or preceded or fit in anywhere along a single or even multiple
'progression' to modernity, capitalism and so- called representative
democracy.

For all its imperial roots, anthropology has been the one discipline
geared toward
documenting these kinds of societies, and thus has been able to elucidate
the fact
that primitive societies in terms of social and cultural creativity and
practice do
not exist. Indeed, some of the most socially creative societies are the most
egalitarian. Early anthropologists used the condescending and myopic
perspectives of
the colonial, yet still were able to see the creativity they were
encountering and
transmit that knowledge despite their own racist and imperial leanings. This
realization of the "range of human possibility" combined with an
ethnographically-
based methodological approach rooted in conversation, interview, and
dialogue inched
these early anthropologists closer to an understanding of the webs of
shifting
social values and practice that are geared toward social and cultural
creativity and
diversity that at specific moments opened up what can be considered
anarchic spaces.
!
In these societies, social practice can be linked with parallel core
anarchist
values such as self-organization, voluntary association, and mutual aid,
among
others.

Course description:

This course is an investigation and consideration of a body of social
theory and
practice that does not yet exist. By formulating ideas and dialogue and
practicing
principles of a participatory and egalitarian intellectual project, we
hope to in a
small way engage in a conversation of anarchist principles and the idea of an
anthropology, a study of human experience and condition that has relevance
for
revolutionary change. We will do so by using ethnography, material
culture, and
archaeological data to investigate particular societies, communities, and
cultures
that provide insight into the practice of basic principles of human behavior,
anarchist principles in varying cultural and social contexts and settings.
The basic
ideals early anarchists observed were recognized as having been in
existence across
a universe of human social experience. Incidentally, Bakunin, Kropotkin
and others
clearly recognized that they were inventing nothing particularly special
in the
sense that !
they knew many societies were already putting into practice what they were
writing
down. We will continue to elaborate specific practices that can and are being
undertaken by varying communities locally and around the globe, and to
document how
their example contributes to a revolutionary project of social change.

Some questions we might consider, but are in no way limited to: How can we
build a
body of social theory based on change? What is the meaning of revolution?
How can we
deprive structures of domination of their sustenance? How do we re-
organize away
from centralized political and economic power? What forms can direct
democracy take
in terms of implementing a participatory and egalitarian consensus process
among and
between communities? How can we build a better world within the shell of
the old?

The full course schedule is available at
http://www.thejackpine.org/?q=node/266


RECLAIM EDUCATION- TENT STATE ORGANIZING MEETING
This Sunday, October 1, 4:00pm

>From crisis to revolt...

Santiago. Oaxaca. Paris. Athens. Minneapolis. St. Paul. From the Oaxacan
Zocalo to
the Champs Elysees, the last year has seen the rise of a new wave of global
movements to reclaim the commons of education. After years of funding cuts,
decreasing access, increasing fees, slashed budgets, and dashed dreams, we
say NO
MORE.

We have fought and lost battles on this terrain before. General College.
'Need-Blind' admissions. We have been unable to halt the neoliberal
offensive with
single-issue campaigns and tactics born in the 1960s. A change in strategy
is long
overdue.

In a world conquered by division, the answers often already exist, but
only awaitc
ommunication. We can look elsewhere in the US for inspiration,
particularly to the
experiments of Tent State.

Tent State: Beyond Student Protest

Beginning at Rutgers University in 2003, students on dozens of campuses
across the
country have set up week-long 'tent universities' on the campus commons to
protest
the state-imposed crisis of higher education. It's time to bring this
model to
Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Although it is intended to protest the underfunding of education, the Tent
State
model goes beyond protest by actually creating a living alternative to the
existing
system. Professors are invited to teach their classes in the commons,
coalitions are
built with and between student and community groups, which are given time for
teach-ins about their struggles and campaigns. Tent State opens space for
dialog,
allowing us to sow the seeds of future, even more effective mobilizations.
The Tent
State project is highly compatible with the Experimental College and similar
alternative education efforts underway. However, it has the added element of
protest, and creates a physical space for encounter between and beyond the
student
community.

Participate!

A group of students, education workers, and community members from across
the Twin
Cities is forming to plan a tent-state event for next spring. If you are
interested
in organizing tent state, please come to this meeting


TWIN CITIES IWW - GENERAL MEMBERSHIP BRANCH MEETING
Tuesday October 3, 7:00pm

All workers and students, employed or otherwise, are welcome at the
monthly meeting
of the IWW. Child care is available during the meeting.
Local Wobblies are on the street more and more these days, as organizing
activities
abound. Come hear the exciting news about re-establishing the Work Peoples
College,
along with plans to introduce industrial unionism to education workers
around the
Twin Cities.  As always, don't work too hard!


DOOHICKEY PROJECT
Friday, October 6, 3-10pm

The doohickey project is a few friends struggling to reclaim knowledge and
control
over our bodies. We are planning a cross-country tour this fall to open a
forum for
people of all genders to discuss reproductive and sexual health with an
emphasis on
abortion options. On the tour we will be prepared to present workshops on
these
topics:

* An introduction: Outlining some ancient fertility control methods
practiced in
various cultures, recognition of some of the ways white supremacy has
affected
people of color's reproductive health and abortion access, and how to be
an ally to
transgendered folks.

* Menstruation, physiology and fertility cycles: A look at the menstrual
cycle, the
hormones involved and basic fertility signs.

* Anatomy and Self-examination: An overview of external vulva-clitoral
genitalia and
internal sexual and reproductive organs, with diagrams and/or
demonstrations. An
option of guided cervical self-exams with speculums.

* Abortion options: Presenting some options for promoting bleeding.
Including an
explaination of clinical abortion procedure, access and legalities. An
introduction
to the process and plants used to induce menses herbally, and a
description of
menstrual extraction.

* Facilitated discussion: On self-help/friendship groups, creating local
health
collectives and networking.

* Option of film showings: "Jane: An Abortion Service" and "March for
Women?s Lives"

We very much want for people in each town to prepare additional workshops or
discussion topics. If what you are most passionate and knowledgeable about is
something that we've already listed that doesn't mean that you shouldn't
present on
that topic, it would be great if you did. It would also be great to have
workshops
on additional topics like, herbs for healthy pregnancy and birthing, trans
health
care, sexually transmitted infections, birth control options, your towns
radical
abortion history, etc. Please consider preparing a short workshop. If you
decide to
arrange something, get in touch with us with information on where you are
and what
topic(s) you'd like to cover.


CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

This is a call for new volunteers for the Jack Pine Community Center. The
JPCC
opened last spring in South Minneapolis, and has been providing a cheap/free
family-friendly space for radical events, meetings, and community-building
ever
since. We try and maintain 40 open hours a week during which people can
drop in to
use the computers/internet, check out the library, hang out, etc. However,
as of
late, there?s been a lot of strain on collective and volunteer energy so
we?re
putting out this call! We need people who can commit to at least one
weekly shift
(anywhere from 2 to 6 hours). If you?re interested, contact
luce [at] thejackpine.org

We also need volunteers for things besides open hours, too, so if you want
to help
but don?t have the time for a weekly commitment, or feel that you?d be
more help in
some other capacity, contact us anyway!


THE REQUISITE ASK FOR MONEY

The Jack Pine is asking people who can to make a monthly pledge to help
make our
project sustainable. Our goal is to raise $1500 per month ? in other
words, our
rent.  If 100 people pledge $15 each, we're there!  Not having to worry
about money
gives us way more time to organize awesome programming.  Contact
info [at] thejackpine.org if you can help us out.

COMING SOON - MORE DETAILS TBA


Love Your Body - An Event Organized by NOW
Friday, October 20


Refuseniks Film Screening - sometime in early November

"Refuseniks uses stunning archival footage, still photos and interviews to
document
the stories of Israeli men and women who refuse to serve in the military
occupation
of the West Bank and Gaza. Refuseniks is a moving portrait of men and
women who were
willing to risk imprisonment to take a stand against the occupation by
refusing to
serve. Men and women who came to believe that this stand was crucial to
their own
humanity and to the future of their country."  Following will be a panel
discussion
with Macalester professor Peter Rachleff, poet and playwright Ismail (Sim)
Khalidi
and Iraq Veteran and Conscientious Objector Patrick Wright.

Thanks for reading, and tell your junior rebels we say hi.

Love,
the Jack Pine
-- 
Jack Pine Community Center
2815 E. Lake St., Mpls
www.thejackpine.org
612.729.2837