318 pages

English

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Do It Yourself , livre ebook

Pluto Press - Edited by the Trapese Collective

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318 pages

English

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Extrait

Description

Do you really want to change the world? If the answer is YES, then this book shows you how.

Ethical consumerism is now big business. But leading a sustainable and truly radical life encompasses a whole variety of things that challenge the mainstream. This book shows how we can make real changes to the way we live. In simple steps, it describes how you can create sustainable and equitable ways of living that can help transform not just your own life, but the culture around you.

The book weaves together analysis, stories and experiences. It combines in-depth analytical chapters followed by easy to follow 'How to Guides' with practical ideas for change. Taken together, these small steps can move us towards taking back control of our lives from governments and corporations.
Glossary

Introduction: Do it yourself

1. Why the party's over

2. How to get off the grid

3. Why do it without leaders

4. How to make decisions ourselves

5. Why society is making us sick

6. How to manage our own health

7. Why we've still got a lot to learn

8. How to inspire change through learning

9. Why we are what we eat

10. How to set up community gardens

11. Why we need cultural activism

12. How to prank, play and subvert the system

13. Why we have to reclaim the commons

14. How to set up autonomous spaces

15. Why we need to reclaim the media

16. How to communicate beyond TV

17. Why we need to take direct action

18. How to build active campaigns

Conclusions: Changing our world

Index

Sujets

Political Advocacy

Political Process

Political Science

Activism

Informations

Publié par	Pluto Press
Date de parution	20 mai 2007
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781849643573
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	12 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,6250€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

A Handbook for Changing our World

Edited by The Trapese Collective

www.handbookforchange.org

P Pluto Press LONDON  ANN ARBOR, MI

First published 2007 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106

www.plutobooks.com

The right of The Trapese Collective to be identiﬁed as the author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 2.0 England and Wales Licence. Permission for reproduction is granted by the editors and the publishers free of charge for voluntary, campaign and community groups. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ or write to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA. Reproduction of the text for commercial purposes, or by universities or other formal teaching institutions is prohibited without the express permission of the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Hardback ISBN-13 ISBN-10

978 0 7453 2638 2 0 7453 2638 2

Paperback ISBN-13 978 0 7453 2637 5 ISBN-10 0 7453 2637 4

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is printed on paper accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council and is suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services Ltd, Fortescue, Sidmouth, EX10 9QG, England Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton Printed and bound in the European Union by Gutenberg Press, Malta

contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements ix Glossary xi

Introduction: Do it yourself 1 1. Why we need holistic solutions for a world in crisis 11 2. How to get off the grid 28 3. Why do it without leaders 50 4. How to make decisions by consensus 63 5. Why society is making us sick 78 6. How to manage our own health 94 7. Why we still have a lot to learn 108 8. How to inspire change through learning 120 9. Why we are what we eat 139 10. How to set up a community garden 154 11. Why we need cultural activism 171 12. How to prank, play and subvert the system 187 13. Why we need autonomous spaces in the ﬁght against capitalism 201 14. How to set up a self-managed social centre 216 15. Why we need to reclaim the media 233 16. How to communicate beyond TV 246 17. Why we need to take direct action 262 18. How to build active campaigns 277 Conclusion: Changing our worlds 292

Index 299

illustrations

1.1Tpheremacultﬂureower2.1 eAcno-home 2.2haAybox 2.3 Solar shower 1 2.4 Solar shower 2 2.5 Solar shower 3 2.6 Solar shower 4 2.7 Solar shower 5 2.8 Solar shower 6 2.9 Solar shower 7 2.10 Solar shower 8 2.11 A two-chamber compost toilet 2.12 Grey water system 2.13 Slow sand ﬁltration at home 4.1 Conditions for good consensus 4.2 A model for small group consensus 4.3Consenshuassingdnals4.4typAiscpaolkescouncil4.5 A model for spokescouncil consensus 5.1 Zapatista health clinic 8.1 Poster advertising our workshops 8.2 Spidergram 8.3 Chgarime8.4 Timeline of world history and resistance 8.5 No Borders Tour of Asylum Shame, Leeds 8.6 Designing your own life: before and after 9.1 Resistance is fertile 9.2 The Cre8 Summit Community Garden, Glasgow 10.1 Design for a community garden 10.2 Crorpotation 10.3 Circular wire mesh compost bin 10.4 Wooden pallet compost bin

18 29 32 33 33 34 34 35 36 36 37 39 42 43 64 65 71 73 74 88 122 126 127 131 132 134 145 147 159 160 162 163

illustrations vii

10.5 Earthworm 10.6Stinginngettl(eUrtica dioica) 164 10.7 Fat hen (Chenopodium alba) 165 10.8 Aphid 10.9 Ladybird 10.10 Slug 10.11 Beetle 11.1 Rebel clown at the G8 summit, Scotland 2005 11.2 Subvertising, Manchester, UK 11.3 The pink and silver block 12.1 Praise be, to therapy 12.2 Proposed Nike monument in Karlsplatz, Vienna 12.3 The Yes Men live on TV 13.1 The Square Social Centre, London, UK 13.2 Autonomous spaces in the UK and Ireland 14.1FittinYagloeck 14.2 Fliers from UK social centres 14.3 Activities in UK social centres 15.1 Irish Indymedia website 15.2 Reclaim the media logo 16.1Bristle: Bristol’s local monthly magazine 16.2 TheHate Mailspoof newspaper 17.1 Action against Shell 17.2 Workers’ assembly at the Zanon occupied factory, Argentina 17.3 Demonstration in Billin, Palestine against the building of the apartheid wall 18.1 Karabiner hand lock on 18.2 Tripod

164

165 165 166 166 172 179 182 192 194 195 206 209 223 224 227 239 240 249 252 269 270

272 285 285

The Trapese Collective is Alice Cutler, Kim Bryan and Paul Chatterton.

After studying Social Anthropology, living in the Can Masdeu community in Barcelona, and campaigning with London Rising Tide, Alice has recently settled back in Brighton where she is putting her ideas into practice – running workshops, teaching English to asylum seekers, community gardening, writing and cooking at the Cowley Club social centre.

Kim travels between Escanda (Spain), Dublin and Trapese (UK) trying to avoid getting tied up, but simultaneously wanting to settle down – juggling love, life, jobs, politics, worrying about ensuing climate chaos and growing vegetables.

Paul can normally be found teaching and researching on autonomy and inter-national politics at Leeds University. His other lives include helping to set up a social centre, the Common Place, and a housing co-operative in Leeds, volunteering with Kiptik, a Zapatista solidarity group and spending time on his allotment. Previously, he has writtenUrban Nightscapes: Pleasure Spaces and Corporate Power(2003) and Taking Back Control: A journey through Argentina’s popular uprising(2004).

acknowledgements

In this book, we have tried to gather into one place many of the inspiring examples and ideas that we have come across in an attempt to make them more accessible and possible to realise. We see this as one part of our ongoing work to communicate these analyses and initiatives with as many people as we can. This book would not, of course, exist without the thousands of people who work away on these projects, campaigns and networks. It would not exist either without all the people who have helped us organise and who have come to our workshops over the years, asked questions, engaged with these debates and given us the motivation to write it. Our inspirations come from the many movements and people within them who are acting to make the world a more sustainable, fairer place. We would particularly like to thank everyone involved with: the Common Place, the Cowley Club, the Sumac Centre, Escanda, Can Masdeu, Seoma Sprai, and all the other radical social centres, Rising Tide, Schnews, Indymedia, Kiptik and the Zapatistas, No Borders Network, Clearer Channel, the Wombles, Seeds for Change, the Dissent! Network, Shell to Sea and Rossport Solidarity Camp, the Piqueteros, the Camp for Climate Action, CIRCA, Smash EDO, Corporate Watch, Café Rebelde, the Permaculture Association, PGA, (People’s Global Action), Activist Trauma Network, Via Campesina, Scottish Education for Action and Development, Cre8 Summit, Bristle, the Aubonne Bridge Campaign, Carbon Trade Watch, International Solidarity Movement, Anarchists Against the Wall, Earth First!, Food Not Bombs, Moulsecoomb Forest Garden, Xanadu and Cornerstone housing co-operatives in Leeds, EYFA, Mama Cash, Carbusters, Radical Routes, the Advisory Service for Squatters, Bicycology, and the many struggles against privatisation in the UK and beyond. There are also many speciﬁ c people whose contributions and advice have made it possible to produce this book, and thanks to you all. Especially, we are very grateful to the chapter authors who had the time, patience and conﬁdence in us to contribute their work to this publication; Andy Goldring, Bryce Gilroy-Scott, Seeds for Change, Tash Gordon and Becs Grifﬁ ths, Jennifer Verson, the Vacuum Cleaner, Stuart Hodkinson, Chekov Feeney, and Mick Fuzz. Also to the many people and groups who have added their experiences and stories that make this book what it is, including; Starhawk, George Marshall, Earth Haven, Malamo Korbetis, Jo and Tony

do it yourself: a handbook for changing our world

Bryan, Warren Carter, Donna Armstrong, Ruth O’Brien, Graham Burnett, Insight Video, the Porkbolter, Mark B, Ziggy, Dave Morris, Fuzz, Freya, Anarchist 606, Isy, Claire Fauset, John Jordan, the Alberta Council for Global Co-operation and Nicola Montanga. A very big thanks to everyone that has helped make the book look as good as it does, namely; UHC Design Collective for the cover of the paperback edition, Andrew X for suggestions for the page design and all his other help, Ade Lovejoy and Alex Mac for the chapter icons, Simon Liquoriceﬁsh, Guy Pickford and Alison at Leeds University for the illustrations, Guy Smallman and Active Stills for photographs. Also thanks to Seth Wells, (Vector Pixel) for the website and Brian for the leaﬂet. Thanks also to Melanie Patrick and Robert Webb of Pluto Press for bringing it all together and David Castle for his supportive role as commissioning editor at Pluto Press, especially for his backing of Creative Commons publishing. Also thanks to the School of Geography at Leeds University for their support. Last but certainly not least, a huge thanks to all our families, partners, compañeros and friends who have been such a great help and support to us. To anyone we have forgotten to name, thanks. Putting this book together has been a very educational and inspirational experience for us. We worked collectively throughout, meaning that at times things took a lot longer than if someone had just taken charge, but we were anxious that the book was a reﬂ ection of our politics and desires for change. We made some mistakes, fairly inevitably, mainly because we had not done anything quite like this book before, but we hope that the end result conveys our excitement about the ideas and solutions that are presented. In a book like this there are sure to be omissions. Please feel free to add comments, updates, corrections, and extra resources to the book website by emailing us on address below.

Alice, Kim and Paul trapese@riseup.net www.handbookforchange.org

glossary

Afnity groupAnafﬁ nity activists (3–20) who workgroup is a small group of together on direct action. Afﬁnity groups organise using non-hierarchy and consensus. They are often made up of friends or like-minded people and provide a method of organisation that is responsive, ﬂexible and decentralised.

Anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and a way of organising society; it is derived from the Greek – without rulers. It is a belief that people can manage their own lives, and so rulers are undesirable and should be abolished. For many anarchists, this also includes institutions of authority, such as the state and capitalism.

Appropriate technologytechnology questions excessive technology Appropriate and the problems of industrialism and has mainly been used in developing nations or underdeveloped rural areas. It uses the simplest and most benign technologies and responds to community need rather than those of the state or private interests.

Autonomy Stemming from the Greek, meaning ‘self-legislation’, autonomy is a belief system that values freedom from external authority. This can occur at the individual and collective level. Autonomy has widespread use for many contemporary social movements trying to manage their own lives and communities.

Commons Traditional commons referred to traditional rights such asuse of animal grazing. More recently, commons refers to common rights in a community for other resources and public goods, such as water, oil, medicinal plants and intellectual knowledge. Many social movements are struggling for these resources to remain in common ownership.

Composting Compost is recycled organic matter, especially kitchen and garden waste. Compost bins allow this organic matter to quickly decompose. Composting is a popular way to reuse household waste in order to produce usable compost for the garden and for growing food. Composting also reduces landﬁll (a major source of greenhouse gases).

xii

do it yourself: a handbook for changing our world

Consensusmaking decisions that aims to include everyone Consensus is a way of in the decision making process and resolve any objections. It is a form of grassroots or direct democracy and rejects representative forms of democracy associated with voting and hierarchy which can ignore the views of minorities.

Direct actionpolitical activism which rejects reformistaction is a form of Direct politics such as electing representatives as ineffective in bringing about change. It involves us taking responsibility for solving problems and achieving demands using strikes, occupations, blockades and other forms of public protest.

Do it yourself culturegrassroots political A broad term referring to a range of activism with a commitment to an economy of mutual aid, co-operation, non-commodiﬁcation of art, appropriation of digital and communication technologies, and alternative technologies such as biodiesel. DIY culture became a recognised movement in the 1990s in the UK, made famous by direct action and free party culture.

Enclosureis the process of Enclosure subdividing communally held land for individual ownership, mainly associated with twelfth- to nineteenth-century England. Contemporary movements against the privatisation of land and the sale of public goods are regarded as struggles against the new enclosures.

Hacklab A hacklab, or media hacklab, is an autonomous technology zone used for the promotion, use and development of emancipatory technologies such as free software and alternative media. Hacklabs promote active participation and creative use of technology.

Hierarchy A ranking and organising things or people,hierarchy is a system of where each element of the system is subordinate. Many inequalities in our society stem from the fact that most social organisations, such as businesses, churches, workplaces, armies and political movements, are hierarchical.

Indymediameans Independent Media. It also refers to a global network Indymedia of independent journalists and alternative media which use an open source publishing model to empower people to bypass corporate media. Started in 1999, there are now over 190 Indymedia outlets around the world.