An account of Agora 99
From the 1st to the 4th of November 2012 grassroots movements connected to 15M and Occupy met in Madrid in Agora99.
The event had been proposed during the Blockupy action held in Frankfurt in May 2012 with the following aims:
- Create a space to discuss common issues, in particular around three axises: Debt, Democracy and Rights.
- To put together a working framework of strategies, including common tools and calendars.
HOW IT WAS ORGANISED:
Thursday evening:
A workshop on Bambuser, Twitter and Pads, so that everyone could use these tools to document the workshops they were attending.
Friday morning:
A roundtable with a panel providing a contextual analysis of the current situation and the framework of the event.
Friday afternoon and Saturday morning:
Simultaneous workshops on Democracy, Debt and Rights. In the weeks leading up to the event, anyone could submit online a proposal for a workshop related to one of the axises.
Saturday evening:
Three large simultaneous assemblies on Democracy, Debt and Rights to decide what to feedback to the Sunday General Assembly.
Sunday morning:
General Assembly with feedback and proposals from the three assemblies on Debt, Democracy and Rights.
THEMES
Below are the workshops that occurred. By clicking on each title you will be redirected to a page explaining the content. At the end of each page you can find a link to a pad with the minutes of the meeting, and a link to the livestreaming of the event.
Debt
Don’t owe, won’t pay! (i) (ii) (iii)
University, Knowledge and Debt
Democracy
Spaces of Metropolitan Commoning
Collective Action in the Digital Era
Linking networks beyond Agora99
Rights
Shock Doctrine on Policy making
Experiences of civil and economic disobedience, self-management, alternatives
OUTCOMES
The general assembly outcome can be summarised in the following points:
- improve the networks between the groups working on similar issues through physical meetings and online communication
- Continue with both de-centralised action and convergent actions in specific locations
- Start the process of developing two documents:
- A “carta destituyente” highlighting the things we are fighting against
- A “carta costituyente” highlighting the thing we are fighting for. This was also referred to as the Charta of the Commons.
COMMENTARY BLOGS (EN)
Madrid dreams becoming reality
European movements share strategies in Madrid ahead of general strike