Anti-colonialism and direct democracy
Whether in “developed” or “developing” countries, popular movements have always contained, to a different degree, a desire for direct democracy.
Whether in “developed” or “developing” countries, popular movements have always contained, to a different degree, a desire for direct democracy.
Thus, autonomy requires the establishment of interconnected relations that transcend communal and social borders, in order for the democratic values of constant interrogation and critical thinking to thrive.
A major social change is urgently needed, one based on total political equality and direct participation, that requires moving beyond statecraft and capitalism
It is only by opening up institutions and decision-making processes to the whole of the population, that we can create a more just society.
If you ask me what is the most advanced postmodern experience in the world today, that is, the one that traces a hopeful path toward a new civilization, I would undoubtedly answer: the Kurdish movement.
In other words, information becomes an asset in the service of economic growth—just like our very interactions with one another on social media have been turned into economic activity.
The project of direct democracy, of which reason and rational deliberation are an inseparable part, has to be made appealing and desirable for a growing amount of people.
If we want to reclaim the control over our cities and societies, we cannot limit our action to the internet, we also need to take to the physical space of urdan environments – the streets and the public squares. This is the revolutionary potential of cities and that’s why I put so much emphasis on it.
The philosopher Cornelius Castoriadis insisted that what he envisioned as project of autonomy- the project of a society in which all citizens have an equal, effectively actual possibility of participating in the institution of society – is far from a utopian vision.
When the inhabitants of a certain neighborhood or complex of buildings manage to institute a radically different mode of collective co-existance, then the self-managed units, of which Castoriadis speaks, begin to emerge.
President-elect Gabriel Boric is a testament to Chile’s changing tides. No longer afraid, a new generation—with help from the old—took to the streets on October 19th, 2019 to win back the rights that the Pinochet dictatorship had stripped away.
Democratic Autonomy means that despite of and parallel to the oppressive structures of the nation-state, local and regional people’s councils, cooperatives, academia, and self-defence forces are being built up.