Revolutionary organisation in the digital age – Norwegian speaking tour June 2014

 I’m off on a short (4 city) speaking tour of Norway from next week. It initally expanded out of an intention to go somewhere interesting for the Solstice and Oslo and then the train north being the closest / cheapest way of doing that.   When I contacted Motmakt members in Oslo suggesting I do a talk while passing through they suggested turning it into a mini tour and going much further north that I’d originally planned.  And I could hardly turn down the opportunity of doing a talk 350km north of the Arctic Circle, in the city of Tromsø which not only will have no sunset on the solstice but won’t have one anytime in June or July.  On the way I’ll be stopping off at Bergen and Trondheim.

 I’m off on a short (4 city) speaking tour of Norway from next week. It initally expanded out of an intention to go somewhere interesting for the Solstice and Oslo and then the train north being the closest / cheapest way of doing that.   When I contacted Motmakt members in Oslo suggesting I do a talk while passing through they suggested turning it into a mini tour and going much further north that I’d originally planned.  And I could hardly turn down the opportunity of doing a talk 350km north of the Arctic Circle, in the city of Tromsø which not only will have no sunset on the solstice but won’t have one anytime in June or July.  On the way I’ll be stopping off at Bergen and Trondheim.

I hope to do audio interviews with people hosting the tour as I travel, much as I did for my 2008 North American tour.  As with those the idea would be to give some insight into conditions in Norway and the scope of activity in each place I visit.  If I manage these I’ll be posting the edited audio in late June.

The text below is a the summary / plan of what I’m going to talk about, first in English and then the Norwegian translation.

Dates that have been finalised below, follow me on Twitter and I’ll update with the others and give news of the tour as its in progress.

 Motmakt’s main Facebook page ( web site )

Revolutionary organisation in the digital age

It’s a confusing time to be on the revolutionary left as everything that was once certain turns to smoke. Technology has overturned & remade what constitutes effective communication & the construction of networks. Quite how to organise is no longer clear and old reference points of 1917, 1936 or even 1968 no longer provide definitive models.

Drawing on some 30 years of experience on the revolutionary left in Ireland, the UK and North America with side trips to Chiapas, Gezi and beyond Andrew Flood will examine what worked, what might work no longer and outline some ideas of how we should organise in the future. Andrew’s presentation will be based around direct experience in struggles and revolutionary organisation over that period with a focus on the experience of resisting the crisis and the revolts of 2011. The presentation will be illustrated throughout by photographs of the events discussed and will be followed by plenty of time for questions, discussion and the sharing of experiences.

About the speaker: A native of Dublin Andrew’s radicalisation began in school during the 1981 Hungers Strikes and developed through student occupations, pro-choice direct action, squatting, the anti-poll tax movement, mass community campaigns, anti-racism, Zapatista solidarity, the summit protest movement, trade unionism and onwards to Occupy & Gezi park. For most of that period he has been a members of the WSM in Ireland but also for a while NEFAC in the USA and Common Cause in Ontario. Andrew was also one of the founders of Anarkismo.net, an initial contributor the the Anarchist FAQ and an experimenter with many forms of online organising and publication. You’ll find an archive of his writings at http://anarchism.pageabode.com/cat/andrew-flood

Revolusjonær organisering i nettverkenes tidsalder: Et foredrag med Andrew Flood

Den revolusjonære venstresiden befinner seg i en forvirrende periode. Den teknologiske utviklingen har redefinert hvordan sosiale nettverk etableres og hvordan effektiv kommunikasjon foregår. Det er uklart akkurat hvordan en skal organisere seg og tidligere referansepunkter som 1917, 1936 eller til og med 1968 utgjør ikke lenger entydige modeller.

Basert på tredve års erfaring fra den revolusjonære venstresiden i Irland, Storbritannia og Nordamerika vil Andrew Flood undersøke hva som har fungert og gi noen ideer til hvordan vi kan organisere oss framover. Presentasjonen vil ta utgangspunkt i Andrews personlige erfaring med revolusjonær organisering i perioden, med et spesielt fokus på motstand mot den økonomiske krisen og opprørene i 2011. Den vil illustreres av bilder fra hendelsene som diskuteres og i etterkant vil det bli god tid til spørsmål, diskusjon og erfaringsutveksling.

Andrew Flood er født og oppvokst i Dublin og er medlem av organisasjonen Workers Solidarity Movement. Han ble radikalisert som skoleelev under sultestreikene gjennomført av irske republikanske fanger i 1981. Siden har han vært aktiv i studentokkupasjoner, direkte aksjoner for fri abort, husokkupasjon, bevegelsen mot koppskatt, antirasisme, solidaritet med Zapatistene, alterglobaliseringsbevegelsen, fagforeninger og Occupybevegelsen.

Et arkiv av Andrews tekster finnes her: http://anarchism.pageabode.com/cat/andrew-flood

Arrangementet vil foregå på engelsk.

Words Andrew Flood (follow Andrew on Twitter)

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