If the popular uprisings of 2011 have taught us anything, it is that revolutions do not occur as singular events – with the toppling of a tyrant or the capture of state power – but are complex long-term processes that play out over multiple years or even decades. They involve not just the removal of a government, but also the systemic transformation of political and social institutions, cultural norms and values, human consciousness and collective action. Such revolutions are, by their very nature, social and collaborative processes. In this presentation, I will look back at the uprisings of 2011-12 from the perspective of ‘networked resistance’, analysing how and why – in this time of crisis – the world is suddenly faced with the emergence of decentralized, leaderless protest movements from Tunis to Toronto. Providing a panoramic overview of the ongoing global revolutionary wave, I will not only show how all these uprisings emanate from the same source (a defunct world capitalist system), but also how their similar revolutionary tactics might be an indication of the world that awaits us. I will tell my story along the line of videos and songs of the movement. My final video will be a special address by the Greek resistance hero Manolis Glezos to the Spanish movement, to be premiered at OVNI.

Dolores Tjeada Saavedra, the Councillor for Work at Marinaleda Town Council, gives a simple and detailed account of how a grassroots social movement has managed to socialize the means of production, housing, health, education and leisure in this small town in Southern Spain. Dolores explains the many benefits of having an active trade union, with the political power of the town counciland the productive force of cooperatives in the hands of the people. Marinaleda has a population of 3000, and an unemployment rate of 0%. Anybody who wants to self-build in the town is only charged 15 euros per month, and working families only pay 12 euros a month for childcare including meals, to name just two of a long list of social benefits. A true oasis in a country dominated byunbridled capitalism and the shabbiest and most retrograde government in Spain’s short history of democracy, which has left the country with an unemployment rate of 27% – 50% in the case of youth unemployment – and three million people living in poverty.

Workshop with Andrea Cavalletti and Marcello Tarì. La Base - barcelona 3 - 4 de November 2016.