Embrace diversity. Unite- Or be divided, robbed, ruled, killed By those who see you as prey. Embrace diversity Or be destroyed.
Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower
We propose to risk making a statement of the basic and interrelated principles of anarchism (basic principles from which all other anarchist principles and/or values can be inferred and/or connected): “direct action” – the refusal of non-voluntary action in social relations, the rejection of delegation to all hierarchical authority, based on the belief that human fulfillment is greater in acts of direct creation; “mutual aid” – free and equal “direct action” is only possible through cooperation, collective care, community ties and the rejection of dispossession by and through private property and exploitation; “federalism” – the first two principles are impossible without the decentralisation of power, its distribution and fracturing “downward” into the hands of those directly affected by social decisions, in all spheres of collective life.
And we propose in turn to risk holding them up against an experiment in collective life; more concretely, against the experience of a collective community of squatters in the centre of Rome, as recorded in Sabina Guzzanti’s participatory documentary, Spin Time – che fatica la democrazia! [Spin Time, subtitled How Tiring Democracy Is!] (2021).
Ideologically imprisoned anarchists – and not only – are inclined to hold to their principles blindly, failing thereby to see or understand that these same principles are general and that they gain body and meaning in specific times and places, with particular collections and communities people. Without this later, they become easily susceptible to manipulation, or just empty sloganeering.
Gussanti’s film is an exceptional document of what could be described as an “anarchist” experiment. And what it shows is how difficult such an experiment is.
What is portrayed in the film is not unique, but it is particularly powerful in bringing out the fragilities and strengths of such a pratice, or better, of such a way of life.
Suggested Readings (of which there are very few in English):
“A Conversation About Homelessness: Sabina Guzzanti’s “Spin TIme””, Interview in goldenglobes.com, 12/11/2021.
“Occupied! Spin Time Labs, Scomodo, ACTION, and a Big Building in the City Center”, Rome, The second time, 16/09/2020.
“The squat house that the Pope fell in love with bothers the Italian government”, El País, 01/12/2023.
“Rome. Menaces d’expulsion contre le lieu autogéré Spin Time, foyer de la lutte contre Meloni”, Revolution Permanente, 28/01/2023
Sabina Guzzanti: How Tiring Democracy Is!
Embrace diversity.
Unite-
Or be divided,
robbed,
ruled,
killed
By those who see you as prey.
Embrace diversity
Or be destroyed.
Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower
We propose to risk making a statement of the basic and interrelated principles of anarchism (basic principles from which all other anarchist principles and/or values can be inferred and/or connected): “direct action” – the refusal of non-voluntary action in social relations, the rejection of delegation to all hierarchical authority, based on the belief that human fulfillment is greater in acts of direct creation; “mutual aid” – free and equal “direct action” is only possible through cooperation, collective care, community ties and the rejection of dispossession by and through private property and exploitation; “federalism” – the first two principles are impossible without the decentralisation of power, its distribution and fracturing “downward” into the hands of those directly affected by social decisions, in all spheres of collective life.
And we propose in turn to risk holding them up against an experiment in collective life; more concretely, against the experience of a collective community of squatters in the centre of Rome, as recorded in Sabina Guzzanti’s participatory documentary, Spin Time – che fatica la democrazia! [Spin Time, subtitled How Tiring Democracy Is!] (2021).
Ideologically imprisoned anarchists – and not only – are inclined to hold to their principles blindly, failing thereby to see or understand that these same principles are general and that they gain body and meaning in specific times and places, with particular collections and communities people. Without this later, they become easily susceptible to manipulation, or just empty sloganeering.
Gussanti’s film is an exceptional document of what could be described as an “anarchist” experiment. And what it shows is how difficult such an experiment is.
What is portrayed in the film is not unique, but it is particularly powerful in bringing out the fragilities and strengths of such a pratice, or better, of such a way of life.
Suggested Readings (of which there are very few in English):
“A Conversation About Homelessness: Sabina Guzzanti’s “Spin TIme””, Interview in goldenglobes.com, 12/11/2021.
“Occupied! Spin Time Labs, Scomodo, ACTION, and a Big Building in the City Center”, Rome, The second time, 16/09/2020.
“The squat house that the Pope fell in love with bothers the Italian government”, El País, 01/12/2023.
“Rome. Menaces d’expulsion contre le lieu autogéré Spin Time, foyer de la lutte contre Meloni”, Revolution Permanente, 28/01/2023
Spin Time Labs