May/June 2021: class struggle, commons, book, videos and more
http://www.azzellini.net - facebook: Dario Azzellini
May/June 2021, Dario Azzellini's newsletter in English - approx. 4 times a year
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0. Before: Pndemic, new book and more
1. New Books (English, German):
Azzellini, Dario (ed.). 2021. If Not Us, Who? Workers against authoritarianism, fascism and dictatorship. Hamburg: VSA.
2. Academic articles: Book chapters and journal articles (English, Spanish)
3. Videos/Audios (English, Spanish)
4. Interviews and press articles (English, German)
5. Reviews (English, German)
6. Events (Berlin, Duisburg-Essen, all online)
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0. Before
Dear all!
I hope you are all doing well in the midst of this long pandemic, which has shown clearly how little the capitalist system cares about human life. People are disciplined in private with absurd measures that according to experts do not contribute to reduce infections, but they are still forced to work amassed in offices, factories and in agriculture facing poor safety measures. Those who are working in hospitals, care, food production and supply etc., are still among the worse paid and are supposed to be happy and satisfied with an applause and a cookie, while the wealthy make loads of money. As in any crisis in capitalism there is a transfer of wealth from the bottom up. And the profits of the pharmaceutical industries are more important than human lives. Patents kill. The pandemic could have ended months ago ... if there were no patents for vaccines ... No forgetting, no forgiving!
It is a long time since I have sent the last newsletter. The pandemic has also delayed my life. Care has become more intense and complicated, and it takes more time.
I have also worked on various projects and publications. Beyond continuing to teach virtually.
I am going to share some news in this newsletter and more news in the next newsletter, which I will surely send in June.
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I am happy that the German version of a new book that was announced for a few months has finally been published:
Azzellini, Dario (Hg.). Mehr als Arbeitskampf! Workers weltweit gegen Autoritarismus, Faschismus und Diktatur. VSA: Verlag, April 2021.
The book presents 30 contemporary and historical examples of workers' struggles against authoritarianism, fascism, and dictatorship, it discusses the present and future of workers' struggle, the new class feminism, and class struggle during the pandemic. The book can be purchased in print and is available as a pdf for free download on the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation websites. The English version of the book will be published in June (see point 1).
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Together with a team of wonderful coeditors - Ursula Apitzsch, Maurizio Atzeni, Alessandra Mezzadri and Phoebe Moore – I am editing the "Handbook of Research on the Global Political Economy of Work", to be published with Edward Elgar Publishing in 2022. It will contain more than 50 chapters and be the most complete handbook on the subject. Obviously, all from the perspective of different Marxisms, feminist and transnational.
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In addition, I have joined forces, experiences and knowledge with the much appreciated and excellent comrade Marcelo Vieta, to write a book with the title "Commoning Labor and Democracy at Work" that will be published in the Routledge Critical Development Studies series in early 2022.
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I would like to point out that April 25, is an important historical date. In Italy in 1945, April 25 was the day of liberation from fascism, the final defeat of the fascist regime by a popular and workers' uprising as the culmination of the partisan war (mostly communists). In Portugal on April 25, 1974 the Carnation Revolution, Revolução dos Cravos, took place, which put an end to the fascist dictatorship. In this context I want to point out, as the most recent historical research does, the fundamental role of the anti-colonial struggles in the Portuguese colonies in Africa for the revolution in Portugal. A chapter on this subject can also be found in the book I just edited on workers’ struggles.
Moreover: Out on the streets on May 1!
Greetings, venceremos, we will win,
Dario
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1. New Books (English, German)
To be published in June 2021 by VSA and available as pdf for free download on the Rosa Luxemburg Foundaton web sites:
Azzellini, Dario (ed.). 2021. If Not Us, Who? Workers against authoritarianism, fascism and dictatorship. Hamburg: VSA.
In struggles for democratization, workers continue to play a central role: from the new, class-conscious feminism to the mass protests that have erupted in countries such as Chile, Lebanon, and France. How have workers historically fought against fascism, dictatorships, authoritarian regimes, and repressive tendencies in society, and how are they doing so today? And how do they organize themselves within and outside of trade unions?
Featuring contributions from some 30 authors on the new class-conscious feminism and labour struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as stories from France, the USA, Germany, Japan, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Israel, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, the Philippines, Russia, Argentina, Spain, Indonesia, South Korea, the former East Germany, Tunisia, Egypt, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
https://www.vsa-verlag.de/nc/buecher/detail/artikel/if-not-us-who/
http://www.azzellini.net/node/3219
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Dario Azzellini (Hrsg.): Mehr als Arbeitskampf! Workers weltweit gegen Autoritarismus, Faschismus und Diktatur. VSA: Verlag, April 2021
In den Kämpfen um Demokratisierung nehmen Arbeiter*innen noch immer eine zentrale Rolle ein: Vom neuen klassenbewussten Feminismus bis zu den aufflammenden Massenprotesten in Chile, Libanon oder Frankreich. Wie engagieren sich Arbeiter*innen bis heute gegen Faschismus, Diktaturen, autoritäre Regime und repressive Tendenzen in der Gesellschaft – und wie organisieren sie sich in und jenseits von Gewerkschaften?
Mit Beiträgen von knapp 30 Autorinnen und Autoren zum neuen Klassenfeminismus und zu den Arbeitskämpfen während der Covid-19-Pandemie, sowie Geschichten aus Frankreich, USA, Deutschland, Japan, Chile, Brasilien, Kolumbien, Israel, Libanon, Irak, Iran, Philippinen, Russland, Argentinien, Spanien, Großbritannien, Portugal, Südafrika, Indonesien, Südkorea, DDR, Tunesien, Ägypten und Bosnien-Herzegowina.
Eine Veröffentlichung der Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung
http://www.azzellini.net/buecher/mehr-als-arbeitskampf
https://www.vsa-verlag.de/nc/detail/artikel/mehr-als-arbeitskampf/
Kostenloser Download des pdf: https://www.rosalux.de/publikation/id/44046
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2. Book chapters and journal articles (English, Spanish)
Azzellini, Dario. “Venezuela: Revolutionary Bolivarianism Against the Colonial Nation-State.” Cörüt, Ilker; Jongerden, Joost (Eds.). Beyond Nationalism and the Nation-State. Radical Approaches to Nation. London/New York: Routledge (May 2021)
This book centers around one fundamental question: Is it possible to imagine a progressive sense of nation? Rooted in historic and contemporary social struggles, the chapters in this collection examine what a progressive sense of nation might look like, with authors exploring the theory and practice of the nation beyond nationalism.
The book is written against the background of rising authoritarian-nationalist movements globally over the last few decades, where many countries have witnessed the dramatic escalation of ethnic-nationalist parties impacting and changing mainstream politics and normalizing anti-immigration, anti democratic and Islamophobic discourse. This volume discusses viable alternatives for nationalism, which is inherently exclusionary, exploring the possibility of a type of nation-based politics which does not follow principles of nationalism.
http://www.azzellini.net/node/3229
https://www.routledge.com/Beyond-Nationalism-and-the-Nation-State-Radica...
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Azzellini, Dario. 2021. "Communes in Venezuela in times of crisis." In Buen Vivir and the Challenges to Capitalism in Latin America. Edited by Veltmeyer, Henry and Edgar Zayago Lau. London: Routledge. 113-131.
This book explores the battleground between neoliberal capitalist development processes in Latin America and the challenges to these systems that can be found through innovative community-driven buen vivir/vivir bien initiatives. (...) Looking hopefully towards this future of development, this collection offers an essential analysis of the vortex of social change currently consuming Latin America and will be key reading for advanced scholars and researchers in the fields of Development Studies, Latin America Studies, Politics, and Social Change.
http://www.azzellini.net/node/3225
https://www.routledge.com/Buen-Vivir-and-the-Challenges-to-Capitalism-in...
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Azzellini, Dario. “Comuna o nada. Socialismo comunero en Venezuela.” Hopkins, Alicia; Pineda, César Enrique (Eds.). Pensar las autonomías. Experiencias de autogestión, poder popular y autonomía. Mexico D.F.: Bajo tierra Ediciones. 53-80. 2021
En las últimas décadas, en América Latina emergieron movimientos sociopolíticos de sectores, pueblos y clases subalternas que reorientaron su acción organizativa y de movilización con novedosas formas de organización. El centro de su acción colectiva se enfoca no sólo en la protesta social, sino también en lo que podemos describir como procesos de fundación, reconstrucción o reordenamiento de estructuras comunitarias como vía sociopolítica para la sobrevivencia en común; en ocasiones, además, su acción colectiva es expresión radical de autonomía frente a poderes estatales, mercantiles, criminales, caciquiles, entre muchos otros. (...) hemos reunido 16 experiencias de autonomía integral o parcial, de autogobierno, de comunidades rurales y urbanas, que muestran la potencia social de la organización autodirigida, del gobierno de sí mismos y no sobre otros.
http://www.azzellini.net/node/3236
http://bajotierraediciones.com/product/pensar-las-autonomias/
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3. Videos/Audios (English, Spanish)
Commons & Public Goods / Dario Azzellini & Nancy Holmstrom / The Center for Global Justice - Learning for a Better World & Empowering a Solidarity Economy, 14.12.20
Nancy Holmstrom and Dario Azzellini explore the ideas of the commons, and public goods and their present day relevance. Holmstrom is a philosopher who will unpack the idea of public goods as the core of a democratic society. Sociologist Azzellini will look at current movements around commons in the context of class struggles and a just transition.
Many public goods have been threatened with privatization by special interests that aim at profits for themselves. We have to struggle to preserve institutions that benefit everyone rather than a few. The resources that we all share are often vital to our lives. At least they contribute to a fuller, enhanced life. Today we are becoming increasingly aware of their value to us.
http://www.azzellini.net/wissenschaftliche-artikel/commons-public-goods
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Vídeo - Webinar: The Commons vs "normality". Global Capitalism, Commodity Chains and Migration after Covid-19 / Transform! Europe, 08.06.20
This third webinar hosted by transform! europe was moderated by Dario Azzellini (visiting scholar Latin American Studies Program, Cornell University, Ithaca (US), academic, activist and author of more than 20 books) and had as invited speakers Raúl Delgado Wise (International Network on Migration and Development, Co-Director of the Critical Development Studies Network, and professor and director of the Doctoral Program in Development Studies at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas. UNESCO Chair on Migration, Development and Human Rights) and Shweta Tambe (founder of Habitat and Livelihood Welfare Association, works in the development sector for almost two decades and on issues of urban poverty, informal livelihoods, and housing).
http://www.azzellini.net/node/3208
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Vídeo - Webinar: Commons as Political Project: Commons and Just Transition in Our Times / Transform! Europe, 30.06.20
The transform! europe Commons Working Group at the World Social Forum of Transformative Economies (Transformadora).
The impact of the pandemic on the globalized economy seems on the one hand to highlight the obligation of another development model that is closer to people's needs and the defense of biodiversity and the environment, on the other hand, the the process of "economic recovery" in which companies and multinationals are pushing, contradicts those needs and risks accelerating the social and environmental contradictions in which we live.
http://www.azzellini.net/node/3210
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Entrevista a Dario Azzellini sobre la figura de la comuna: "Para construir otra cosa hay que hacerlo de manera gradual y con una lucha fuerte y permanente"
El 18 de marzo de 2018 se cumplen 150 años de la proclamación de la Comuna de París. A raíz de ello, han organizado desde Democracia comunal una serie de charlas para el mismo 18 y el 25 de marzo entorno a la figura de la comuna y los retos actuales. Uno de los ponentes de la sesión del 18 será Dario Azzellini, sociólogo, politólogo, escritor y director de documentales, que ha trabajado y escrito mucho sobre el control obrero y la autogestión, con el tema De la comuna de París a los autogobiernos del siglo 21. Para acercarnos a este tema, a la figura de la comuna, a aprendizajes de experiencias comunales del pasado y del presente, entre otras cuestiones, hemos entrevistado a Dario Azzellini.
http://www.azzellini.net/es/interviews/para-construir-otra-cosa-hay-que-...
https://halabedi.eus/es/para-construir-otra-cosa-hay-que-hacerlo-de-mane...
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4. Interviews and press articles (English, German)
Interview: Dr. Azzellini, "Isolation on Imrali is aimed at silencing the society" / ANF NEWS, 02.04.21
Dr. Dario Azzelini made remarks over the intensification of the isolation on Öcalan and the state of incommunicado with the Kurdish leader for almost a year:
“Öcalan is a prisoner of the Turkish state and he is wanted to be buried alive and silenced in order to show that it is futile to oppose the power. However, we see that Turkey misunderstands the struggle of the Kurdish people seeking their rights. They thought the Kurdish movement would finish off once Öcalan was taken prisoner and jailed. But the opposite happened. Now Turkey does not release Öcalan since it does not want a political solution. Because it is feared that the physical liberation of Öcalan will trigger a political solution.”
http://www.azzellini.net/es/node/3231
https://anfenglish.com/features/dr-azzellini-isolation-on-imrali-is-aime...
https://anfespanol.com/noticias/dr-azzellini-el-aislamiento-de-imrali-ti...
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Interview: Genossenschaften – Arbeiterkontrolle oder Businessmodell? / 11.08.20, Unsere Zeitung / Christian Kasere
Über transformative Kräfte der Selbstverwaltung und der Integrationskraft des Kapitalismus. Dritter Teil der siebenteiligen Serie über selbstverwaltete Betriebe in Europa.
(...) Verkommt die Genossenschaftsidee immer mehr zu einem ganz gewöhnlichen Businessmodell?
Ja, zu einem ganz gewöhnlichen Businessmodell, also ein Negativbeispiel für Genossenschaften. Menschen sind zu oft unterbezahlt und manche Genossenschaften haben nichts, aber auch gar nichts mit Gemeinwohl und Transformation zu tun. Das hat seinen Grund natürlich auch einfach darin, wie der Kapitalismus funktioniert. Umgehen kannst du das nur, indem du ganze Liefer- und Produktionsketten mit Genossenschaften abdeckst und so diesem Druck nicht entkommst, aber ihm stärker widerstehen kannst. Wenn ich in meiner Umgebung nur Genossenschaften habe, die alle dieselben Werte teilen, dann bekomme ich nicht so schnell ein Problem, wenn ich die Rechnung etwa eine Woche später bezahle. Die hetzen mir nicht sofort Anwälte hinterher.
http://www.azzellini.net/interviews/genossenschaften-–-arbeiterkontrolle-oder-businessmodell
https://www.unsere-zeitung.at/2020/08/11/genossenschaften-arbeiterkontro...
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5. Reviews (English, German)
Book Review: Theorizing the Revolutionary Political Action of Social Movements during the Pink Tide Latin / American Perspectives, Volume 47 Issue 4, July 2020
Anthony Petros Spanakos and Mishella Romo Rivas.
Dario N. Azzellini Communes and Workers’ Control in Venezuela: Building 21st Century Socialism from Below. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2018.
"Perhaps the most valuable part of this very well-researched and well-argued book is its rich description and careful analysis of multiple actors within various local groups and organizations. Azzellini argues that the state and the movements have competing logics. State sponsorship can amplify the resources and ability of movements to act but can harm their “organic growth” and development, thereby potentially reducing the space and creativity needed for the movement’s vision. The state is an occasional ally, but its bureaucratizing tendencies create an inherent tension, since poder popular (popular power) must “overcome the bourgeois state” (56). In this anti-Leninist reading, Azzellini intuits the possibility—perhaps even inevitability—of the current challenge for the Bolivarian movements: the Maduro government has intensified the very bureaucratizing logics critiqued by Azzellini, and the movements loyal to the Proceso can expect little support if an opposition government takes power. Will one generation of Bolivarian leadership be enough to allow such movements and ideas to become a permanent part of Venezuelan politics? (...)"
https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/lapa/47/4
http://www.azzellini.net/node/3020
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"The Class Strikes Back: Self-Organised Workers’ Struggles in the Twenty-First Century", Dario Azzellini and Michael G. Kraft, eds. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2018. Labor: Studies in Working-Class History, Volume 18, Issue 1, 2021 / Nico Pizzolato
"The book will be useful and accessible to activists as well as scholars. It brings together a wide spectrum of case studies focused on direct action, horizontal forms of decision-making, independent unionism, and anticapitalist and antiauthoritarian strug- gles originating from shop-floor grievances. The thirteen chapters span Turkey to Indo- nesia, the United States to Italy, and the United Kingdom to South Africa. Many con- tributors, including Broumas (Greece), Dinler (Turkey), Olaya (Colombia), Wigand (Germany), and Azzellini combine, or have combined at some point, a scholarly role with an activist one. The volume acts as a loudspeaker for workers’ perspective, one that is not often picked up by mainstream media or is downplayed in academic accounts of industrial relations."
http://www.azzellini.net/buecher-von-dario-azzellini/class-strikes-back
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"Monitore zwischen Turbinen und Generatoren. Hommage an Engels: In Engelskirchen nutzten Künstler den öffentlichen Raum für die Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema Arbeit" / Tageszeitung Junge Welt, 29.09.20 / Glenn Jäger
"Zeit für einen Rundgang durch das ehemalige Kraftwerk in der Spinnerei, wo zwischen Turbinen und Generatoren Monitore installiert sind. Unter dem Titel »Occupy, Resist, Produce« wurden vier Filme von Oliver Ressler und Dario Azzellini zu Fabrikbesetzungen in Italien, Frankreich und Griechenland gezeigt. Beispiel Marseille: 2010 besetzten Arbeiter mit Unterstützung der Gewerkschaft CGT eine Teefabrik. »Über Nacht warfen wir die Security raus«, entscheidend »war die Solidarität«, berichten Arbeiter. Heute produzieren sie in Eigenregie, ihr Spitzenprodukt »1336« verweist auf die Tage der Besetzung. Beachtliche Dokumente, doch blieb offen: Inwieweit geht die Aktionsform als strategisches Moment mit Engels zusammen? Malzacher sagte im jW-Gespräch, ihm sei es um die Schließung von produktiven Betrieben unter Weltmarktbedingungen gegangen. Der Konzern Unilever rechnete sich anderswo höhere Rendite aus. So sei es auch der Fabrik in Engelskirchen ergangen, die noch bis 1979 in Betrieb war. Deren Besetzung, eine »nicht stattgefundene Alternative«, hätte vielleicht »eine Perspektive bieten können«."
https://www.jungewelt.de/artikel/387380.kunst-monitore-zwischen-turbinen...
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6. Events (Berlin, Duisburg-Essen, all online)
28 March 2021 – 4 July 2021 / DEMOKRATIE HEUTE – PROBLEME DER REPRÄSENTATION / Curated by Raimar Stange
KINDL KINDL – Zentrum für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Maschinenhaus M1, Berlin
Pierre Bismuth, Claus Föttinger, Julia Lazarus, Erik van Lieshout, Marina Naprushkina, Oliver Ressler, Anja Schrey, Jonas Staal, Joulia Strauss
"Around the world, many existing democracies are in a crisis: freedoms and options for political participation are being restricted or their use is declining, while the influence of so-called global players on political decisions is growing. This guest-curated exhibition takes the vulnerability of the basic democratic order in current systems as a starting point. In various media—including painting, sound, video, and installations—it illuminates problem areas such as burgeoning right-wing populism around the world, the mediatisation of politics, and the tension between inclusion and exclusion in decision-making processes. It also reflects on new forms of political participation and the relationship between extra-parliamentary protest and official politics."
http://www.azzellini.net/node/3235
https://www.kindl-berlin.com/democracy-today
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20. Mai - 27. Mai - 02. Juni 2021 / Online-Seminarreihe mit Dario Azzellini: "Wir können auch anders! Betriebsbesetzungen und selbstverwaltete Produktion" / Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung
Das Seminar «Wir können auch anders» beschäftigt sich in drei Sitzungen mit Betriebsbesetzungen zur Übernahme in Selbstverwaltung. Im Zentrum stehen Besetzungen aus den vergangenen Jahren. Nach einem kurzen Überblick über die Geschichte der Arbeiterkontrolle werden wir aktuelle Beispiele aus verschiedenen Ländern untersuchen und verschiedenen Fragen nachgehen. Was sind die Unterschiede und die Gemeinsamkeiten? Wie verlaufen die Kämpfe? Was verändert sich in den Betrieben? Wie verändert sich die Arbeit? Auf welche Probleme stoßen die Arbeiter*innen? Was kann produziert werden? Was haben erfolgreiche Besetzungen gemeinsam? Wann kommt eine Besetzung in Frage und was ist zu beachten?
Themenbereiche: Arbeit / Gewerkschaften, Demokratischer Sozialismus, Partizipation / Bürgerrechte
Seminarablauf:
Sitzung 1, Donnerstag, den 20. Mai 2021, 18:00-20:00 Uhr // In welchen Situationen haben Arbeiter*innen ihre Betriebe übernommen und warum ist diese Praxis heute relevant?
Sitzung 2, Donnerstag, den 27. Mai 2021, 18:00-20:00 Uhr // Welche Betriebe werden übernommen und welche Probleme tauchen auf?
Sitzung 3, Mittwoch, den 2. Juni 2021, 18:00-20:00 Uhr // Wie verlaufen Betriebsbesetzungen und was geschieht mit und in den Betrieben?
http://www.azzellini.net/workshop/seminar-wir-koennen-auch-anders-betriebsbesetzungen-und-selbstverwaltete-produktion-–-eine-
https://www.rosalux.de/veranstaltung/es_detail/E4M92/#pk_campaign=adb
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June 7 - July 1, 2021 (online) Global and Transnational Sociology Summer School / Institut für Soziologie. Gesellschaftswissenschaften. Universität Duisburg-Essen
Block I June 7 - June 18, 2021 (15 - 19 Uhr, 3 pm - 7 pm CET) / New Global Social Movements - Prof. Dario Azzellini
The course reviews major issues concerning new global social movements and their core characteristics. At the center of the course are the movements that emerged with the crisis since 2008 (the “Arab Spring,” Greece, 15-M/Spain, Gezi/Turkey, Occupy…). The course will discuss different approaches in social movement theory. It will also analyze movements that can be considered precursors regarding content and practices of the new global social movements (e.g. the “anti-representational” movements in Latin America since the mid-1990s and the alter-globalization movement). The course will discuss shared characteristics and differences among the new global movements and compared to earlier social movements. These changes will be contextualized in an analysis of changing political and cultural circumstances (crisis of representation, globalization, global governance…) and of new practices (non-representational democracy, direct action, self-management…) and perspectives of social movements.
https://www.uni-due.de/soziologie/internationales_baplus.php
https://www.uni-due.de/soziologie/internationales_baplus_courses.php
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Dario Azzellini
www.azzellini.net www.workerscontrol.net
