10 years of the Balkan Anarchist Bookfair

Plakat von der 1. anarchistischen Buchmesse in Ljubljana

Federation for Anarchist Organizing (FAO) invites everyone to come to Ljubljana this May and join us at the Balkan Anarchist Bookfair (BAB). It has been ten years since BAB started its voyage across the Balkans with the aim to connect local and regional, as well as international anarchist community and to provide space for exchange of anarchist ideas, practices, literature, materials, cultural events, workshops and public discussions.

 

By now the fact that we are living in the midst of a general social crisis has become undeniable. Finding ourselves in the middle of the whirlwind of capitalist destruction, we often feel weak and frustrated. Capitalism is destroying our lives daily and in so many different and very real ways. It is taking our future away from us. Often we are finding out that some of the old mechanisms of struggle, that were once the source of our power, are no longer effective enough. Yet it is all too clear that for us there can be no other option but to struggle and build against and beyond the existing. We certainly don’t lack useful analyses, critiques, seminars and conferences. It is time to take action.

 

Practices of resistance, solidarity and the construction of communities against and beyond capitalism have always existed through history and have constituted an integral part of anarchist communities. Today the need for such practices has again spread far beyond our small communities and into the wider society. The desert that capitalist devastation leaves behind, is a space that needs to be filled with imagination and everyday practices that stem directly from us and our desires. For everyone.

 

BAB is one of such spaces, where we can exchange experiences and strategies. Where in the context of these new social conditions we can open up questions and seek answers. Among the questions we want to discuss are: Are we indeed fighting on the new terrain and what it might be? What could new strategies of struggles be? What is the role of anarchists in contemporary social struggles? What have we learned from our past experiences? We call on everybody to support the event with participation and materials. The entire event will be held entirely free of charge, organized under the principles of solidarity, mutual aid and the building of common power.

  • We are also accepting suggestions for the event’s programme at bab2013 [at] riseup.net

The deadline is February 23rd, 2013.

Federation for Anarchist Organizing – FAO // Ljubljana, January 2013