Deadly train collision in Greece reveals the dysfunctionality of state and capitalism

By Yavor Tarinski

On 28th of February 2023, a head-on collision occurred between two trains in the Thessaly region of Greece, killing at least 57 people, making it the deadliest rail disaster in Greek history.

Continue reading “Deadly train collision in Greece reveals the dysfunctionality of state and capitalism”

Cities beyond bureaucracy: Exploring commons-based strategies

Urban researcher Nikos Vrantsis interviews Yavor Tarinski, author of Common Futures: Social Transformation and Political Ecology [co-authored with Alexandros Schismenos] (Black Rose Books, 2021), on the current bureaucratic state of cities and the democratic perspectives offered by autonomous urban movements. 
Continue reading “Cities beyond bureaucracy: Exploring commons-based strategies”

Free Public Transport and the Right to the City

By Yavor Tarinski

1200px-TTTK_502_in_Pärnu_highway

“Free public transportation implies many changes, a completely new way to look at the city, both in terms of how we move and how we tax, but also how we live, where we live, how we relate to each other as a society, and our broader relationship to the urban, regional and global eco-system.”

Judith Dellheim & Jason Prince [1] Continue reading “Free Public Transport and the Right to the City”

Ecological Struggles in the Neoliberal Era

By Antonis Broumas and Yavor Tarinski

milada-vigerova-35578-384x2531. Introduction

Life on this planet, as we know it, is a result of fragile environmental conditions that the contemporary predominant neoliberal system has already began to alter. Capitalism and its doctrine of unlimited economic growth seems to completely neglect this dependency and continues to violently exploit nature for the benefit of tiny elites, thus increasing their already enormous power. Continue reading “Ecological Struggles in the Neoliberal Era”

Commons, Social Ecology and the Transcending of Capitalism

By Yavor Tarinski

scncc2Introduction

Life on this planet, as we know it, is a result of fragile environmental conditions that the contemporary predominant neoliberal system has already began to alter. Capitalism and its doctrine of unlimited economic growth seems to completely neglect this dependency and continues to violently exploit nature for the benefit of tiny elites, thus increasing their already enormous power. Continue reading “Commons, Social Ecology and the Transcending of Capitalism”

Commons: From free access to democratic management

By Yavor Tarinski

ecology 3The commons offers a framework and a process for effectively and equitably stewarding of the resources communities need to live in dignity. If we have a collective right to a resource, we should be able to participate in decisions about that resource’s use.[…] So what about this for a radical idea: let people participate in the decisions that most directly affect their everyday lives.

-Chris Tittle[1]

During the last years there has been an increasing interest in the paradigm of the commons. Much have been written and done in this field. There has been an explosion in digital commoning with new platform co-ops, wiki-projects and free software to be successfully challenging the domination of corporations in this sphere. But advances have been made and in the non-digital world, with urban agricultural projects, charters of rights and municipal platforms being developed and experimented with. Continue reading “Commons: From free access to democratic management”

The Future is a “Pluriverse”- An Interview with David Bollier on the Potential of the Commons

commons-wordle2-768x511Interview by Antonis Brumas and Yavor Tarinski

Some believe that the commons are incompatible with commodity markets. Others claim that markets and commons may form mutually beneficial relations with each other. What are your own views on this issue? Continue reading “The Future is a “Pluriverse”- An Interview with David Bollier on the Potential of the Commons”

Pirates and Hobos: Radical Politics on the Margins of Society

By Yavor Tarinski

hobos-pirates-2-babyloniaThough you are a sneaking puppy, and so are all those who will submit to be governed by laws which rich men have made for their own security; for the cowardly whelps have not the courage otherwise to defend what they get by knavery; but damn ye altogether: damn them for a pack of crafty rascals, and you, who serve them, for a parcel of hen-hearted numbskulls.

Captain Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy[1]

Long-haired preachers come out every night, Try to tell you what’s wrong and what’s right; But when asked how ’bout something to eat they will answer with voices so sweet: You will eat, bye and bye, in that glorious land above the sky; Work and pray, live on hay, you’ll get pie in the sky when you die.

Joe Hill[2]

Continue reading “Pirates and Hobos: Radical Politics on the Margins of Society”

Commoning and Factory Recuperation

By Yavor Tarinski

factoryMany still argue that the experience of recuperating workplaces is not an alternative to capitalism. And perhaps, in and of itself, it is not. […] But it also goes beyond that: these same workers, rather than feeling depressed and having their dignity crushed, are instead leading the way for others to take back control over their own lives.

Marina Sitrin[1] Continue reading “Commoning and Factory Recuperation”