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Resisting Together - Edinburgh, 29th March

Pylon | 23.03.2014 13:51 | Ecology | Free Spaces | Repression

Resisting Together is an event of many ideas focussed on a single aim – the dissolution of Industrial Civilization through acts of resistance. There are many activists – community, political, radical individuals, groups and movements – operating both in the open and underground; we don’t agree on everything, but at our core we all seek to free humanity from the yoke of the industrial machine, the horror-play that the civilized world acts out every day, degrading the natural world and enslaving people in the pursuit of material wealth and power.

Resisting Together Poster
Resisting Together Poster


Date: Saturday 29th March, 2014

Time: 1pm-7pm

Cost: by donation at the event

Venue: The Canons’ Gait, 232 Canongait (Royal Mile), Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ

Link:  http://www.underminers.org/resisting-together

A mixture of talks and discussions, the launch of the book, "Underminers" and probably a bit of music too, Resisting Together will be a chance to share, exhort, emote and learn from others how we can move towards a world where we are in control of our destiny, unfettered by the shackles of the industrial machine. This unique event seeks to bridge gaps and find commonality between the various strands of radical thought and action that are seeking to protect the future from ecocide. The range of topics, groups and ideas represented is deliberately broad, and there will be ample opportunity for you to add your own thoughts to the mix. We need it all.

Booking is essential - if you wish to come, please REGISTER via the website:
www.underminers.org/resisting-together

Many thanks

K.

---------------------------

EVENT PROGRAMME

Introduction by Sandi Hunter

DIVERSITY OF TACTICS
Adam Herriott & Lou Dudley

Adam Herriott has worked as a Parliamentary Manager for the legislators organisation GLOBE International/UK. He has been involved in Transition Brixton and Edinburgh. He has volunteered at a number of organic farms and intentional communities around the UK, and also lived at an eco intentional community in SW Wales. He has studied Permaculture with a particular interest in People Care. He is the Deep Green Resistance UK coordinator and is involved in anti-nuclear and anti-biofuels campaigns in and around Bristol. He currently works for a local organic veg box scheme in Bristol.

Lou has been a member of Deep Green Resistance UK for nearly a year now. She studied environmental education and science. She has worked with UNESCO on a local Biosphere reserve in the past, amongst other things. Lou is currently involved with local food resilience and local currency campaigns.

TRANSITION
Eva Schonveld

Eva Schonveld has been involved in community work for many years. She was an enthusiastic founder member of the local Transition group in her home town, and helped set up community food growing spaces and a local market there. She also had the opportunity from 2009-11 to support communities around Scotland who wanted to use the Transition approach, and still loves to do so given the chance! She’s passionate about the need to build a resilient, fair and truly sustainable food system and is now working for Fife Diet, a local eating project.

EARTH FIRST!
Indra Donfrancesco

Indra’s been with Earth First! for over 20 years, an activist for 25 years and an Anarchist her whole life. Involved with anti-motorway camps in the 90’s, countless other environmental campaigns, arrested 9 times including by the Counter Terrorism Unit, raided and infiltrated. Indra, a single mum, studied Social History in Brighton, became a development worker, started a pirate radio station and an activist sailing co-op. Still deeply passionate and entrenched in the Environmental movement, she now supports eco Housing co-ops where she lives in Derbyshire.

SALMON AND CIVILIZATION
Arthur Sevestre

A piece of paper says I’m a Master of Science, specialised in ecology and environmental biology. My heart says I didn’t really learn about ‘nature’ until I immersed myself in it to try and become one with it. Sevestre means ‘of the woods’. Born in overdeveloped Holland, I’m on my way back to the woods. I moved to Skye in 2008 and am trying to help build a permaculture woodland community. Being part of a community is to defend it, and the community where I live needs urgent defending against, amongst many other things, salmon farming.

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE
Alastair McIntosh

Alastair McIntosh is a Scottish writer, academic and activist.He was brought up in Leurbost on the Isle of Lewis and now lives in Govan. He is involved with Scottish land reform especially on Eigg, where he helped establish the Isle of Eigg Trust, and campaigned successfully against the Harris superquarry in Lingerbay. He is a fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology, an Honorary Fellow of the Schumacher Society, and helped to set up the Govan based GalGael Trust, an organisation which provides learning experiences anchored in practical activities that offer purpose and meaning to less socially advantaged people.

Alastair will lead a discussion on Community Resilience after his talk

UNDERMINERS – BOOK LAUNCH
Keith Farnish

Keith Farnish is a writer, volunteer and activist who, in a former life, was economically viable. He lives in southern Scotland with his wife and two children, making, growing, organising, listening, talking and being. His first book, “Time’s Up! An Uncivilized Solution to a Global Crisis” was put online for free in 2008, and published in 2009. His second book, “Underminers” was completed in October 2012 and, again, put online for free in the expectation that no publisher would be brave enough to touch it. Unexpectedly, it was released by New Society Publishers in 2013.

NEXT STEPS : ACTS OF RESISTANCE
A floor discussion facilitated by Sandi Hunter

Sandi is a long-time activist, campaigner and mother of two fully-grown people, who has recently cast off her settled existence for a possession-light life somewhere in Britain. Originally from South Africa, she was until very recently an inhabitant of Edinburgh.

The event will be followed by a drink and a meal for those who wish to explore the social side of Edinburgh and carry on talking…

Pylon
- Homepage: http://www.underminers.org/resisting-together

Comments

Hide the following 15 comments

DGR is based on transphobia

24.03.2014 01:04

There are some serious concerns about DGR - some of their core theory is transphobic, the organisation itself is hierarchically-organised, and that its leaders are very hostile and disrespectful of anarchist movements.

Many DGRers have left DGR because of these concerns, and likewise many organisations have refused to work with DGR. A little time with a search engine will result in plenty of reading about this controversy from both sides.

If you are involved in DGR, or involved in an organisation that works with them, please take the time to inform yourself, and to think through your own ideas about this.

Overcoming transphobia should be seen as a connected part of our struggles, not separate from them. We wouldn't tolerate a racist or sexist ecological group... shouldn't the same go for oppression of trans people?

anonymous


DGR background

24.03.2014 01:10

anonymous


ahem

24.03.2014 12:26


....

Dismantler


DGR = An Edgy Green Party for Wadical Weaders

24.03.2014 15:52

DGR is a trojan horse for authoritarian politics and the all of 'undergound actions' they promote on their website are done by anarchists who fucking despise everything that DGR stands for.


Register? Urgh.



Carrying torches


Sorry, how much of this event is DGR?

24.03.2014 18:24

Just for info, yes DGR *UK* are represented at this event, as are Transition, Earth First!, Skye Marine Concern, Underminers and the great Alastair McIntosh. It's about building bridges, not spitting insults at each other.

The serial commenter above tried to post the same four comments to my website; I sent this to them:

"Hi GTR,

I thought that, rather than have a debate below the event posting it would be good to point you to a discussion at  http://dark-mountain.net/blog/underminers/. Do a text search for “Adam Herriott” and you will find his response to similar criticisms. Adam will be speaking at the event so if you come along then you can talk to him about it – I feel that would be a more constructive way of bridging the gap rather than referring to dialogue that has resulted from some very personal fallings-out.

For what it’s worth, my feelings are that DGR UK is a lot more focussed on the core aims of DGR than the USA chapter, which has become too embroiled in the trans issue for its own good."

Pylon
- Homepage: www.underminers.org


Registration - yes, why not?

24.03.2014 18:31

The reason we are asking people to register is so we know how many people are coming. Otherwise if 100 people turn up without our knowledge then they won't all be able to get in and will have wasted a journey.

Sorry to be so boring - planning ahead saves a lot of problems.

Pylon
- Homepage: www.underminers.org


More people hate DGR than u think

24.03.2014 22:05

There is more than one here who hates transphobia, and I'd be surprised if 100 people turned up to your event. Pity you are providing a platform for the ecological right-wing, even if it wears a different garb.

Good luck glossing over the reactionary and heirarchical politics of Jensen and co.

Carrying torches - Trans ally


to Pylon

24.03.2014 23:04

Hi Pylon,

"The serial commenter above tried to post the same four comments to my website..."

I have made two comments, not four. The second of these was simply a link - an afterthought. And yes, I did also post both of them as comments to your site, because I think people should be aware of the issue.

If you don't welcome debate or comment on your website maybe you should consider disabling comments? It's misleading to have a comments section and then block reasonable and polite comments from appearing.

Of course I'm aware that many more organisations than DGR are taking part, which is precisely why I thought it worth making those groups - and those organising the overall event - aware of some of the concerns with DGR.

I realise that you have blocked those comments from appearing because you think a debate "would not be constructive" - but many people do not see trans issues as distraction from "core aims" as you seem to, but part and parcel of an interconnected liberation struggle.

I think some of the people attending may be unaware of DGR's position on trans issues - and I think they deserve access to that info to make up their own minds. Blocking those comments does feel to me like an attempt to hide that info from people.

I'll end with a simple analogy.

If an environmental conference was being held which included a group whose leaders had publicly articulated racist opinions
...and someone attempted to draw the other groups attention to this
...and those comments were blocked by an admin who said "a debate would not be constructive"
...and that admin went on to say that it was more important to focus on "core aims" than to get "embroiled" in race issues.
...would you be OK with that?

If not, why should transphobia be treated differently to racism?

Perhaps the simplest way to "focus on core aims" is to break away from a leadership that is transphobic?

anonymous


DGR's presence - an explanation

25.03.2014 08:55

Anonymous

The event was created in order to (1) bring together a range of disparate methods by which industrial civilization can be overcome; (2) allow people to deal with and take strength from the wide range of opinions over what is a world-changing situation. DGR, in whatever form it takes, is one of those methods - I see DGR as a methodology, aside from the egos in the organisation, in any organisation to be frank (do you really want to know what I have come across in Greenpeace, WWF etc.?).

Of course Transphobia is unacceptable. There are people in DGR (not DGR UK, I must add) who could be described as Transphobic; though it does go deeper than that - DGR is rooted in ecological resistance and radical feminism. Redical feminism does not admit gender labels; though it's not a discussion I personally get involved in, being very much a deep ecologist above everything else, I can see why this can be helpful, and also why it can be very divisive. However, I think it is worth going to the link I provided above and seeing the DGR UK side of the story; things are not as clear-cut as the headlines make them out to be. As a father of someone very heavily involved in LGBT support in Scotland I still feel comfortable sharing a table with DGR UK and trying not to smooth over any divisions, but to deal with them and find a solution.

You are very welcome to come along and do the same.

As for the web site comments; I am not trying to censor anything, but that does not mean it's ok for people to write whatever they like on my own platform, just as it would not be acceptable for me to scrawl things that need more in-depth discussion, on your outside walls. This is one place to discuss; the event is another, and you are more than welcome to start your own somewhere else. I also created the Underminers Network for that very thing ( http://network.underminers.org) though people have not been keen to debate things, which is a shame.

Pylon
- Homepage: www.underminers.org


Carrying Torches

25.03.2014 08:59

Carrying Torches, I am not sure why you want to try and sabotage the whole event - I don't 100% know who you are, but I am pretty sure you know how to contact me because I think you know me. I would appreciate that contact so we can find a solution that tries to find common ground, and change perceptions, rather than attacking all for the sake of one.

Pylon
- Homepage: www.underminers.org


thanks

25.03.2014 11:40

Having read some of the material you referred me to I appreciate that DGR UK has some degree of autonomy from the DGR on the other side of the Atlantic. I still find it difficult to understand why DGR UK would want to share the same name as them, or be associated with them, when the leaders of DGR over there have such views. I would encourage them to break with those leaders, personally.

Having said all that, I mainly wanted to say thanks to Pylon for maintaining a respectful tone in this debate. I won't be able to make it to the event, so I can only hope that others will raise these issues with the people concerned, and that constructive conversations result.

anonymous


Destroy DGR

25.03.2014 13:52

"We don’t need leaders. We don’t need followers. We don’t need book sellers and faux-thinkers who are afraid of critique and banish those who question them." Kevin Tucker on DGR

No, you don't know me Pylon and I have no interest in finding common ground with you or discussing your apologia for prejudice. It doesn't matter who you are the father of to me. I am only interested in highlighting the fact that DGR is a discredited and crumbling personality cult with reactionary and ultimately dangerous politics. I am under no illusions regarding the success or not of your event. Damage is done to the activist and anarchist movement by those who call for common cause with cranky authoritarian positions, not by those who consciously call out fucked up hetro attitudes and proto-stalinist behaviour. Conflict is creative.

Your event was sabotaged by the provision of a platform for a transphobic organisation, not by the revealing of the truth behind DGR by a couple of commenters. The tiny handful of folks in DGR UK can either break-away and denounce the anti-anarchism and transphobia of the DGR leaders, or they should accept that all they are going to get is a whole lot of shit for the total failure of DGR regarding their organisation, strategy and approach to social issues. This fact is not going to disappear, nor is the fact that DGR takes other people's actions and tries to appropriate them- attempting to recuperate the insurrectionary particularity and content which was written in those actions by the militants who executed the attacks. We don't need “Field marshals” like the dubious Lierre Keith ordering us around for their own benefit.

Jensen and co think they can incite people to carry out actions (like bombing research labs, critical electrical infrastructure and dams, and also fatal military-style attacks) with themselves as the figureheads, but they won't be doing anything of the sort. It's harmful polemic that incites unprepared kids like Eric McDavid into getting locked up for 20 years. This is at the same time they attack anarchists (like in the Occupy movement) because they don't toe the line of self-proclaimed leaders like Chris Hedges and Derrick himself. And is it any surprise that Jensen consults the Feds about his “security” these days, now that American anarchists are his main foe?

Deep Green Transphobia- A statement from the Earth First! Journal Collective
 http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire/2013/05/15/deep-green-transphobia/

Critique of the group Deep Green Resistance by Kevin Tucker- editor of Species Traitor and Black and Green Press
 http://voicesofcollapse.tumblr.com/post/5900406835/a-response-to-the-deep-green-resistance

Down Graded Resistance: A Critique of DGR by Bobby Whittenberg-James
 http://earthspiritandanarchy.blogspot.ro/2011/09/down-graded-resistance-critique-of-dgr.html

John Zerzan dissecting DGR in many radio shows
 http://johnzerzan.net/radio/

Deep Green Resistance: A Book Review by Sprout Distro
 http://www.anarchistnews.org/content/deep-green-resistance-book-review

Deep Green Resistance - A Critique by Sasha.
 http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire/articles/deep-green-resistance-a-critique/

DGR Meets Resistance at the Law and Disorder Conference
 http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire/2013/05/13/dgr-meets-resistance-at-the-law-and-disorder-conference/


Attack and burn

Carrying Torches


Dissolution of industrial civilization?

26.03.2014 13:18

So, how, exactly, do you geniuses propose to feed, cloth and house trillions of people?

Paco


the establishment are quaking

26.03.2014 13:21

So, a bunch of twats who at best think they're pursuing a utopian pipe-dream but in actual fact are bickering amongst themselves about who's transphobic.... the establishment are quaking

with laughter

Norm


Not us

29.03.2014 10:37

Actually, the "bunch of twats" are not arguing; it's some people not involved who are arguing. But if you want to believe nothing will come of the event then that's fine; at least it keeps the authorities off our backs :)

Pylon
- Homepage: www.underminers.org