Programme:
The doors will open at 11.00. From then until 17.30 there will be a book fair with stands in the Dokzaal (the main hall) and downstairs from the cafe. The workshops will take place between 12.00-18.00 in separate rooms. At around 18.00 we will announce the winners of that days’ raffle. From 18.00-19.30 there will be dinner.After dinner people can stay in the cafe of the Dokhuis and hang out until 22.00 on both days.
Raffle:
Yeah you read that right! We are having a raffle on both days. You can win fabulous prizes most of which will be donated by the various distro’s attending the book fair. The prizes will be announced around 18.00. We will have separate raffles for each day, so make sure you buy and use the right tickets for the right day. The raffle tickets and info about the raffle can be found at the infostand at the entrance. The proceeds of the raffle will be donated to various anarchist book fairs across Europe.
As is becoming clear to everyone, we will be facing a year of economic hardship, geopolitical unrest, rising prices of food and basic necessities and social turbulence. In these conditions it is just as -if not more- important than ever to get together to build viable alternatives to the status quo. The bookfair is an opportunity to learn about political struggles close to home, in history and in other parts of the globe. Let us learn and work together for a world without states, borders, ecocide, capitalism and without the violence that makes it possible. Knowledge is power after all! Are you looking for community, in-depth conversation or like minded individuals or collectives? Come to the Anarchist Book Fair Amsterdam! Are you looking for anarchist books and zines? We’ll have all that and much more: clothing, buttons, publishers, distro’s, workshops, talks, and vegan food! Come check us out!
More information on attending collectives, stands and workshops as well as logistics for the days themselves will be shared soon! Keep an eye out for further information!
Want to help out? We’re still looking for people who want to help volunteer during the event, we are also looking for people or groups that want to run a stand and/or with cool workshop ideas. Excited? Please send us an email!
October 29th and 30th 2022
Plantage Doklaan 8
anarchistbookfairamsterdam.blackblogs.org
Instagram: @anarchistbookfairamsterdam
Facebook: Anarchist Bookfair Amsterdam
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After the day programme finishes, there will be a super delicious vegan meal (on donation), and the chance to have a drink and discuss all the anarchist things you’ve encountered throughout the day!
]]>We are excited to organise the Anarchist Book Fair Amsterdam again. We hope that everyone has a great time and can find that one sticker they’ve seen hanging in the streets, but couldn’t get their hands on yet.
Programme:
The doors will open at 11.00. From then until 17.30 there will be a book fair with stands in the Dokzaal (the main hall). The workshops will take place between 12.00-18.00 in separate rooms. We are still working on the last parts of the workshop programme. We will post the finalised workshop schedule online on Wednesday November 24. At around 18.00 we will announce the winners of that days’ raffle. From 18.00-19.30 there will be dinner. After dinner we will have a talk in the Dokzaal with spaced out seating until 21.30. After this the book fair ends.
Raffle:
Yeah you read that right! We are having a raffle on both days. You can win fabulous prizes most of which will be donated by the various distro’s attending the book fair. The prizes will be announced around 18.00. We will have separate raffles for each day, so make sure you buy and use the right tickets for the right day. The raffle tickets and info about the raffle can be found at the infostand at the entrance. The proceeds of the raffle will be donated to various anarchist book fairs across Europe.
Corona measures:
Some of these measures might be invisible to our guests. For example we’ve adjusted the floor plan of stands to allow more space for keeping distance and there is a brand new ventilation system in the Dokhuis to provide fresh air and combat the spreading of covid. But there will obviously be a few measures that we need y’alls participation in. Inside we ask everyone to wear masks (preferably FFP2) and to respect the distance between people. We would like to ask people if they are able to do so, to please get tested before attending, even if you are vaccinated. At the infostand we will also provide rapid antigen tests for everyone that wants one.
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The past year we’ve seen many challenges for political organising, but simultaneously allowed for much reflection on the enduring power of resistance movements as well as the flourishing and expansion of radical thought. We hope to use the Anarchist Book Fair to harness, mobilise, and learn from this burgeoning resistance as well as extend our ever-expanding network of comrades and mutual struggles.
Let’s learn how to destroy the ecocidal, patriarchal and colonial capitalist systems that dominate the world. Knowledge is power after all! Are you looking for comrades? Come to the Anarchist Book Fair Amsterdam! Are you looking for anarchist books and zines? We’ll have all that and much more: clothing, buttons, publishers, distro’s, workshops, talks, and vegan food! Come check us out!
More information on attending collectives, stands and workshops as well as logistics for the day itself will be shared soon! Keep an eye out for further information!
Want to help out? We’re still looking for people who want to help volunteer during the event. Excited? Please send us an email!
November 27th and 28th 2021
Plantage Doklaan 8
anarchistbookfairamsterdam.blackblogs.org
Instagram: @anarchistbookfairamsterdam
Facebook: Anarchist Bookfair Amsterdam
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]]>Even though the past year has stood in the shadow of a global pandemic and other horrifying developments, we’ve also seen a resurgence of resistance and struggle. We want to use the Anarchist Book Fair Amsterdam to give a platform to these struggles, learn from them and help them grow.
We’re glad that we were able to organize something in November 2020. And also amazed to see how many people wanted to come, act responsibly at the event and all the support that we’ve gotten. But it still felt different, obviously. That is why we want to try to organize an anarchist book fair in the spring of 2021. We are trying to have it at an outside location so we can be with a bit more people, while still acting in a responsible way during this pandemic.
The 2021 spring edition book fair will have many stands, an extensive workshop schedule and hopefully much more! Are you, or do you know people that run a distro or want to give a workshop? Please let us know!
We also want to work on ways to make the event more accessible. We are still working on this, but a more thorough announcement about this will follow. If you want to help us with the accessibility in any way, please let us know.
Reservations
You can make a reservation by mailing us at [email protected]. Please mention for which timeslot you want to make a reservation. There is a maximum of available spots per timeslot. It is first come first serve, so if you want to attend, mail us as soon as possible. If you know you can’t come anymore, but have made a reservation, we ask you to notify us, so someone else can take your place.
Of course you don’t have to use your legal name to make a reservation (we would advise you not to), but please do remember the name you use when you show up to the book fair, cause we will keep track of who has a reservation and who hasn’t.
The timeslots
All timelots will follow the same pattern. There will be a talk or discussion for an hour and afterwards there will be 30 minutes for browsing stands and talking to and hanging out with comrades. The timeslots end a quarter to the hour at which moment we will ask everyone to leave. We do this so we can use the last 15 minutes to clean everything before the next group enters. We ask everybody to respect this and leave when asked to. We also want to ask people to not hang around in one large group in front of the door after they’ve left the book fair.
The program
Saturday
Modern right wing radicalism and Qanon 11.00-12.45
These last years have seen a lot of developments and new trends in right wing radicalism. From “gamergate” through Milo Yinopolis to Richard Spencer, the alt right has been able to gain a momentum that other factions before them could not. The alt right is mostly building on memeculture and new factions in social conservatism. Most recently, fucking Qanon has emerged as a global phenomenon.
In this collective discussion we wil talk about defining Qanon, try to place it in its context and see what historical parallels we can draw. We will also talk about how we can combat this phenomenon from an antifascist perspective.
As a startingpoint of the discussion we recommend that you to watch part 2 of this https://youtu.be/JTfhYyTuT44 video (37:39 onwards) that we think is very informative in defining the phenomenon.
Abortion Network Amsterdam – Talk About the Struggle for Access to Safe
Abortions 13.00-14.45
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Europe, adding numerous obstacles to abortion travel (again!), it definitely doesn’t help that on October 22nd the Polish Constitutional Tribunal ruled abortion in the case of foetal abnormalities (one of only 3 instances where abortion in Poland
is legal) to be unconstitutional. This decision instantly sparked protests and strikes across Poland, having been yet another assault on reproductive rights in Poland in the last years. The developments in Poland have had a tremendous effect on Abortion Without Borders, a
network of six organisations across Europe helping people from Poland access abortions,
which Abortion Network Amsterdam is a part of. In this talk we would like to present what we as ANA do to support abortion seekers who have limited access to this medical procedure, discuss the impact of COVID and talk about the reactions of the intersectional feminist movement to the recent ruling in Poland.
Protests in Belorussia and the role of anarchists 15.00-16.45
Neither Iran, nor Greece, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa should stay in the Netherlands 17.00-18.45
Abtin Parsa will give a short talk about the current situation. After this there will be a discussion in which he will also parttake. The solidarity campaign to stop any attempts to deport or extradite him are still going strong. So we especially want to invite people who want to know more about his story, the current situation and possibly assist in the solidarity campaign to come to this discussion.
The persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa is an former political prisoner with an atheist view from Iran who was imprisoned by the Islamic regime for one year and half. Even after his release from prison, he came under pressure from the Islamic regime, and in 2016 escaped to Greece from Iran. In Greece the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa joined the resistance movement and began to struggle against the systematic oppression perpetrated by the Greek state against society, especially immigrants. During these struggles, he was arrested and even tortured several times by the Greek state. After the Greek state revoked his political asylum he fled Greece and applied for political asylum in the Netherlands. A few weeks ago, the Dutch state rejected his political asylum application and intends to extradite him to Greece. If the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa is extradited to Greece, he may end up to Greek prisons or even extradited from Greece to the Islamic state of Iran, where his life will no doubt be in serious danger.
A more complete version of the story can be read here: https://www.vrijebond.org/open-oproep-voor-protest-bijeenkomst-in-solidariteit-met-de-vervolgde-anarchist-abtin-parsa/
Sunday
Africa Roots Movement 11.00-12.45
The Africa Roots Movements organization experiences in the Netherlands in relation to black liberation experiences around the world.
Discussing narratives around police abolition 13.00-14.45
This summer the horrific murder of George Floid sparked worldwide insurections and revolts against the police under the flag of Black Lives Matter. The police murders in the US and especially the inspiring resistance against them have encouraged people in the Netherlands to rise up as well. As can be seen in the massive Black Lives Matter protests all over the country. These movements have also sparked a renewed interest and traction in ideas about police abolition and defunding the police. As anarchists we have always been involved in struggles against the police, in this collective discussion we will discuss what has changed in narratives around policing, what has not, and how we advance our struggle for police abolition.
What can we do to build networks of solidarity with people from different communities fighting against police brutality and institutional racism? How can we popularize the idea of abolition as opposed to reform? How can we connect the struggle against the police with other struggles?
Organising politically during Corona 15.00-16.45
This is an open discussion to talk about the impact of corona on our political organising. Some of our events and activities are being cancelled because we want to practice social distancing. Meanwhile there are people losing their jobs, houses and in general struggling to survive. During this crisis it is more important than ever to practice solidarity and to fight for our lives together. What are topics we have to focus on that most severely affect people nowadays? How can we support those in trouble? What can we do to combat growing state surveillance and police intervention? How can we support those targeted by state repression? How can we build long term projects and campaigns in a time of so much uncertainty? And how can we do all these things while dealing in a responsible way with the corona pandemic?
If you have been asking yourself these questions, have some possible answers for them or are just interested to discuss these topics in the hope of finding and sharing new ideas. Come to this discussion!
Mental health during corona 17.00-18.45
During this pandemis one of the main ways of dealing with it have been ‘social distancing’. The term, introduced by state agencies, betrays a way of looking at the world. A better term would have been physical distancing, because we have to stay physically somewhat away from each other not to spread corona. But these rules apply more and harsher where it comes to our social lives and other things that capitalism cares little about. People have to continue to work, shops can stay open and our social lives have been disrupted completely. The state and capitalism prioritizes profits and productivity over our safety and happines.
All of this is incredibly taxing on people. On top of that is added the fact we can hardly see each other nowadays and a lot of our old suport networks and coping mechanisms have become inpossible or irresponsible. There are people struggling with mental health issues they’ve had from before the pandemic or people dealing with newly developing ones during (and maybe because of) the pandemic. We have to find ways to support ourselves and support each other. How can we set up support networks during a pandemic? How can we keep physically distancing, but strengthen our much needed social ties?
The discussion is open to everybody, but we want to explicitly make this a space that prioritizes people who are dealing with mental health issues or those that are supporting people that do. If you are or know someone who has been dealing with mental health issues, wants to support people that are or both, please come to this discussion.
Movie: Pride 19.15-22.00
Doors open at 19.15
Movie starts at 20.00
The movie is about a group of Lesbians and Gays who decide to support the miner’s strike during in the 80’s and struggle against Thatcher. In these bleak corona times and the coming of winter we can all use an inspirational story about solidarity. Pride is exactly that!
For more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_(2014_film)
Before the movie starts there will be some time for catching up with comrades, hanging out and chatting. After the movie we will ask everybody to leave, because we can’t stay open past 22.00.
]]>11.00-19.00
Dokhuis
Plantage doklaan 12
Amsterdam
We have had long and expansive discussions about the book fair this year because of the corona pandemic. And we have decided we will have a physical event, although it will be in a very different form than usual. We take the pandemic very seriously and haven’t made this decision lightly. We are aware of the dangers we face today and the need to keep our exposure to each other to a minimum as to not risk more widespread infections. Because of this we have taken a lot of measures to ensure the book fair can happen as safe as possible, but more on this later. We want to save lives and make this world less dangerous. To be able to do this we have to organize politically and we have to do part of that in real life. The Anarchist Book Fair Amsterdam isn’t just a fun event to go book shopping, it is also the place where comrades meet and make plans, where new people become active and where new projects are launched. In a time of a worldwide health crisis, an emerging economic crisis and rising tides of conservatism and fascism, we have to step our game up. It is now that we have to come together (in a safe way), organize and fight back. What we do as a political movement matters and can and does actually save lives. We should keep looking for new ways to organize, especially now.
This year the Anarchist Book Fair Amsterdam will happen in a much smaller and different form. We will not have workshops and will only have a very small amount of stands. Instead we will have 2 days of discussions and brainstorms about how to fight for a better world. Especially during the crisis fighting for each other is all the more important, while it is also getting more difficult. We still want to have a physical event, because we believe it is important to bring people together to make plans, exchange ideas and just to see and meet comrades.
The day will have timeslots for which you have to make a reservation. There will be a maximum of 25 people per timeslot.
Corona measures
We are going to have a completely different event to make it as safe as possible. Each space will have a limited capacity of people as to not overcrowd the spaces and have room to keep 1,5 meters distance from everybody. We will have the event split up in different timeslots for which people have to make a reservation. This way we can keep the amount of visitors within our maximum and prevent a big line in front of the door. Wearing face masks will be mandatory at all times inside.
Amount of people allowed inside.
The big hall and cafe both have a maximum of 30 people per room. But we will keep each timeslot to a maximum of 25 people. This 25 will be excluding the volunteers (which is 1 or 2 people per room). We will keep the numbers of volunteers as low as possible during open hours to help minimize the amount of people who are present. The volunteers will show people where to go and ensure that everyone wears their face mask covering both the mouth and the nose. In the breaks between the timeslots all the rooms will be cleaned thoroughly from head to toe. We encourage you to clean your hands after visiting each stand and keep distances between others and the people behind the stands. We will provide disinfectants throughout the room but you have the responsibility to use them.
The full program will be announced on Monday November 23.
We are also planning to organize a more full version of the Anarchist Book Fair Amsterdam in the spring of 2021 at an outside location. More information will follow soon.
For questions you can reach us at:
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