A-Infos (en) US, The schedule for the Bay Area Anarchist Conference on Anarchist Economics

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The schedule for the Bay Area Anarchist Conference on Anarchist Economics has been finalized.

The final schedule can be found by clicking "Read More".

Look forward to seeing you all there.

Time, Title and Presenter first. Longer introductions later.

10:30-12:00
Shulamith Smith
AnarchaFeminism: Defining an Agenda/Organizing for change

Tom Wetzel
Participatory Economics: A Discussion and Debate

Gary Rumor
The Day after the Revolution

1:00-2:00
Jon Bekken
The History of Anarchist Economic Thinking

Ariel
Intro to Classic Capitalist Economics

Red Hughs
The Dollar and the Whole Damn System

2:00-3:00
Joe Peacott
The Economics of Individualism

Aragorn!
Bolo Bolo and the End of Economics

Jim Burr
The History of Local Currency Movements: An Introduction

3:00-4:00
Wolfi Landstreicher
The Underground Anti-Economy

John Burnett
The Economics of Actually Existing Anarchism

Bruce Sherrod
Game Theory and Economic Behavior

4:00-5:00
Panel Discussion on Anarchist Economics
Jon Bekken, Tom Wetzel, Jim Burr, Red Hughs

Panel Discussion on the Role of the Left in Anarchism
Rot'n, Jason McQuinn, Ryan Gekked, Carwil James

Bolo Bolo and the end of Economics

Bolo Bolo and the end of Economics
Bolo Bolo is unusual in anarchist propaganda in that 
it actually advocates for something, something quite 
specific. Bolo Bolo begins with an economic model, 
or better stated the logistics of sustaining human life 
are stated as intrinsic to the quality and possibilities 
of what living could look like. The assumption of 
modern economics is scarcity. Bolo Bolo's begins 
with a vision of community self sufficiency. Is it 
possible to envision a world as fractured as one 
where tens of thousands of different solutions exist 
to such basic questions as food, shelter, and 
companionship?

The Day After the Revolution
Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman as early as 
1921 wanted to develop a theory of anarchist 
methods of preserving the revolution and developing 
anarchist economics, but never did, nor did any of 
the Russian Anarchist except those around the 
Platform which is being revived at this time. As a 
consequence the Spanish comrades recieved little 
organized support from the Anarchist exile 
community during the Revolution in Spain. 
Comrades squabbled over the correctness of the 
CNT-FAI line on collaboration with the Republican 
Government. The struggle was weakened and now 
the general opinion seems to be that Anarchists 
should not have collaborated. How realistic is this? 
What are realistic scenarios in the current world? 
Can we afford to be realistic?

The Dollar and the Whole Damn System
Presentation and discussion on connections between 
the Iraq invasion, the US dollar, oil capitalism, 
speculative capitalism, neoliberalism, and the whole 
damn system.

Participatory Economics: A Discussion and Debate
Since this year's conference is on anarchist 
economics, and since participatory economics is an 
anarchist economic vision, I would be willing to do a 
presentation, followed by discussion/debate, or 
something like that, on participatory economics. 
Points I would include:
(1) what is class? does capitalism have two main 
classes (capital and labor) as Marx proposed, or 
three main classes (capitalists, techno-managerial 
class, working class) as participatory economics 
proposes?
(2) what are the necessary conditions for the 
elimination of class oppression?
(3) what are the implications of participatory 
economics for action/organization/movements today?

The History of Anarchist Economic Thinking
I have done work on the history of anarchist 
economic thinking, and have also presented on 
attempts to put these ideas into practice in Spain 
and elsewhere. In addition, I have done critical looks 
at worker ownership schemes, various efforts to 
"cooperate" our way out of capitalism, and the 
Albert/Hahnel "participatory economics" scheme 
which would seem to have very little in common 
with anarchist principles, but has been embraced by 
many who at least at one time considered 
themselves to be anarchists. As I noted, we in ASR 
(Anarcho-Syndacalist Review) consider the question 
of economics to be a critical one, which has received 
far too little attention.

The Economics of Individualism
For much of the nineteenth century, individualists 
made up the bulk of the anarchist movement in the 
united states. During this time writers such as 
Josiah Warren, William B Greene, Stephen 
PearlAndrews and Benjamin Tucker laid out the 
theoretical arguments for a stateless society and 
economy based on private property, use and 
occupancy land tenure, and mutualist credit 
organizations, while a number of intentional 
communities were started by the individualists to 
show how such principles would work in practice. 
While this tendency within the american movement 
died out with the demise of Tucker's journal Liberty 
in 1908, it experienced a rebirth in the 1970s. 
Despite the fact that individualism remains a 
minority school of thought among modern anarchists, 
individualist ideas about property, land, money, and 
voluntary exchange need to be seriously considered 
by any anarchists hoping to build a serious 
libertarian movement, especially in this country.

AnarchaFeminism: Defining an Agenda/Organizing 
for change
Although Voltairine DeCleyre and Emma Goldman 
were passionate feminists, feminist criticism, 
analysis, and organizing is in remission in 
contemporary anarchist theoretical and activist 
milieus. This presentation will discuss mainstream 
and marginal feminist strategies of the past 30 years, 
why and how these feminist gains have stopped and 
in some cases been eroded. Types of reforms and 
criticisms of contemporary culture will be explained, 
pointing out their relevance or irrelevance to 
Anarchist theory. The discussion portion will ask the 
participants for ideas and suggested criterion in 
defining an AnarchaFeminist agenda. We will also 
share thoughts and experiences about whether it is 
better to agitate for social change that personally 
empowers women in an 
anarchist/anti-authoritarian milieu or in the 
mainstream culture.

The Underground Anti-Economy
Among the working class, exploited and dispossessed 
methods are developed for dealing with desires and 
needs outside of the authorized networks for doing 
so. While some of these methods form an 
underground economy, others express a rejection of 
economic relationships, forming an underground 
anti-economic network. Theft from work, giving away 
free goods, sharing essentials without keeping tabs, 
the formation of informal networks for the free flow 
of goods - all express a practical tendency for a 
non-institutionalized, non-authoritarian 
"communism". These sorts of activities are a place 
where an anarchist revolutionary awareness could be 
useful. My idea for the workshop is to give a brief 
theoretical analysis of this reality and then open 
things up for discussion.

Game Theory and Economic Behavior
This workshop will discuss the branch of economic 
theory known as game theory, and its implications 
for anarchists. In particular, we will focus on the 
Prisoner's Dilemma, and show how this model can be 
used to determine under what conditions 
cooperation can arise between independent agents, 
each maximizing their own personal gain, without 
the need for a central authority to enforce 
cooperation. If there is time, I will show how this 
refutes the need for government as put forth by 
Hobbes and Hume. By way of introduction, we will 
play the Prisoner's Dilemma game. We will then 
briefly discuss the mathematics behind the 
Prisoners Dilemma, and derive conclusions for how 
to cooperate without authority.

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