[TheThinkTank] Fwd: nowtopia: writings in the anarcho-marxist hinterland....

[Chris Carlsson]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: francesca the coat <the.coat.and.general at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, May 7, 2008 at 8:25 PM
Subject: nowtopia: writings in the anarcho-marxist hinterland....
To: the.coat.and.general at gmail.com


Dear friends, acquaintances, esteemed professors, good people,

The author of "Nowtopia", an interesting book that taps into some of the
important questions du jour about revalorization and anticapitalist
practice, that also happens to be written by my dear old dad, is in town and
having three book talks scattered around new york. I do think it is an
interesting interrogation, 'important' even, and I encourage a sojourn out
to see what it's all about. I hear the discussions so far during his tour in
baltimore, philly, etc, have been pretty interesting and i'm sure the trend
will continue in ny.

FRIDAY, May 9, 7:30pm: Brecht Forum, manhattan

MONDAY, May 12, 7pm: Vox Pop, brooklyn -- Also performing with Carlsson at
vox pop: music and sound performance by the indubitable Nader Hasan and the
inscrutable Seth Porcello; short films by the incorrigible Brett Story;
lecture #2 on the possibility of life without the sun "by" alexis bhagat.

WEDNESDAY May 14, 7pm: Bluestockings Books, manhattan

I encourage those who enjoy the odd aural experience or visceral film
experience to come to vox pop, where Seth Nader and Brett will bring the
best of Montreal to our borough. but i'll, sigh, probably be at them all,
yelling at my dad like "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT". no just kidding.

more info on the book, etc, below

in love
f.

*Nowtopia* is a book about a new politics of work. It profiles tinkerers,
inventors, and improvisational spirits who bring an artistic approach to
important tasks that are ignored or undervalued by market society. Rooted in
practices that have been emerging over the past few decades, *Nowtopia*'s
exploration of work locates an important thread of self-emancipatory class
politics beyond the traditional arena of wage-labor.


http://www.processedworld.com/carlsson/nowtopia_web/




Outlaw bicycling, urban permaculture, biofuels, free software, and even the
Burning Man festival are windows into a scarcely visible social
transformation that is redefining politics as we know it. As capitalism
continues to corral every square inch of the globe into its logic of money
and markets, new practices are emerging through which people are taking back
their time and technological know-how. In small, under-the-radar ways, they
are making life better right now, simultaneously building the
foundation—technically and socially—for a genuine movement of liberation
from market life.

*Nowtopia* uncovers the resistance of a slowly recomposing working class in
America. Rarely defining themselves by what they do for a living, people
from all walks of life are doing incredible amounts of labor in their
"non-work" time, creating immediate practical improvements in daily life.
The social networks they create, and the practical experience of cooperating
outside of economic regulation, become a breeding ground for new strategies
to confront the commodification to which capitalism reduces us all.

The practices outlined in *Nowtopia* embody a deep challenge to the basic
underpinnings of modern life, as a new ecologically-driven politics emerges
from below, reshaping our assumptions about science, technology, and human
potential.

With historical grounding, a toolbox drawing from multiple schools of
anti-capitalist thought and theory, and a refreshingly pragmatic approach,
Carlsson opens our eyes to the revolutions of everyday life.

*Chris Carlsson*, executive director of the multimedia history project
"Shaping San Francisco," is a writer, publisher, editor, and community
organizer. He has edited four collections of political and historical
essays. He helped launch the monthly bike-ins known as Critical Mass, and
was long-time editor of *Processed World* magazine.




-- 
I am on the road (see schedule at the nowtopia link below) and may be slower
than usual to respond... back to normal in July, until then, be patient and
thanks!
www.nowtopia.org
The Nowtopian (my blog): http://www.lipmagazine.org/ccarlsson/
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