Seeking Workshop Proposals for Finding Our Roots Conference

The idea of solidarity has long been evoked as a way of uniting many different people around a variety of social struggles. But how does this concept inform our theory and praxis today?

The 4th Annual Anarchist Finding Our Roots seeks workshop proposals around the theme of this year’s conference: solidarity.

“As anarchists, who are we in solidarity with and why? Is solidarity based around social identities helpful, harmful, or irrelevant to anarchist struggles? Are anarchists part of a broader Left, and if so, should anarchists maintain solidarity with other leftists? Does solidarity imply community and/or accountability? How has the historical use of “solidarity” around social struggles affected the ways in which we use the term today? How has “solidarity” been recuperated for reformist or reactionary ends?

“How do we maintain solidarity with the struggles of others without speaking for them or acting in their name? What kinds of anarchist projects, actions, etc. show the ways in which solidarity can be used for anti-capitalist ends? How do the concepts of solidarity and autonomy relate to each other? How do we maintain solidarity with the struggles of others without acting on their behalf? Is the concept of the ally valid in social struggles, and how does it relate to the concept of solidarity? Does solidarity mean attack? Does it mean alternative structures of survival? Can it exist as mere spoken affirmation or does it imply action? Is solidarity about friendship or a strictly political arrangement? Is solidarity even a useful concept for explaining how we relate to one another in the process of revolt?”

Potential workshop themes include: prisoner support groups, embassy occupations/attacks, university occupations, copwatches, no-border camps, indigenous solidarity projects, community/accountability/consent amongst anarchists, feminist and survivor solidarity, solidarity with international social struggles, autonomy and self determination, the relationship between nationalism and anarchism, revolutionary unionism, solidarity and class struggle, solidarity with the undocumented, allyship and solidarity, tactics of solidarity, sex work and solidarity, uniting and/or destroying the Left, legal support for anarchists on trial, practical ways of being in solidarity with trans folks, black and brown solidarity, the history of solidarity within anarchist organizing, squat solidarity, intersectionality and solidarity, solidarity against gentrification, solidarity as attack, animal liberation and possibility of cross-species solidarity, the recuperation of solidarity in the service of capitalism.

Proposal deadline: May 1, 2011

Submit proposals to: findingourroots (at) riseup (dot) net

Proposals should be NO MORE THAN ONE PAGE in length and should include:
1. Workshop title
2. Your name and contact info (and those of workshop presenter(s) if this isn’t you – though please make sure you have confirmed with all presenters BEFORE you volunteer them)
3. Detailed workshop description, including an explanation of how your workshop fits into the conference theme
4. Questions to be posed/answered in the workshop
5. Main workshop goals , Workshop format (Will it be an open discussion?
Panel/roundtable? Lecture followed by Q&A?)
7. BRIEF reading list [optional]
8. Any special materials or equipment (ex: audiovisual) you will need;

Workshops are one hour and fifteen minutes (75 minutes) long. If you feel you need more time for your workshop, please explain why, and we will consider allotting a longer slot.

Feb201106

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