Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair: Workshops and Tables Announced

Submission to North Shore The workshop schedule and tables lineup is now available for the Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair, taking place Saturday October 3 from 10am-5pm at the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre.

Please note that due to recent events with Autistici/Inventati and the NoBlogs platform (more information here: https://keepitfree.ai/) our website will not be kept up to date before the bookfair and may be unavailable soon. If there are any important updates before the bookfair, they will be shared here and we are still available at hamiltonbookfair@riseup.net for any questions.

WORKSHOPS

Time slot 1: 10:30am – 12:00pm Words and Deeds: An Introduction to Anarchism When you engage with anarchism, you are part of a tradition that goes back hundreds of years and spans the whole world. It is a tradition based on resisting all forms of domination, whether it be systems like capitalism and the state or on the individual level. Anarchists challenge power in both words and deeds, with an immediate unity of ideas and action. This means there is no “ends justify the means,” no waiting for the right time or for after the revolution, and no compromise with the defenders and false critics of authority, whether on the left or right.  This workshop will provide a few key ideas that form the basis for an anarchism grounded in this principle. It is aimed at people who are new to anarchist ideas, but even those who’ve been around for a few years will probably get something out of it. Because refining our analysis and increasing our capacity to act while carrying a new world in our hearts is a never-ending process. Building an Anarchist World Through Relationship Anarchy How do we build a world without masters when we still play the role of master in our private lives? Relationship Anarchy is far more than a dating philosophy, it is a vital form of prefigurative politics. It is the active practice of interrogating how state hegemony, white supremacy, and capitalism move through our most intimate connections. By mapping out and dismantling the rigid hierarchies we default to in our personal lives, we engage in the essential emotional and social calisthenics required for the larger project of collective liberation. The state will always default to authoritarianism, and fascism thrives on the psychological urge to dominate or be dominated. This interactive workshop will give you the tools to break that cycle from the ground up. We will explore how to stop looking for power over others, challenge the conditioning of ownership and control, and practice building horizontal, resilient relationships. Join us to learn how transforming the way we love and connect is a foundational defense against fascism and a necessary step toward an anarchist world. Time Slot 2: 12:45pm – 2:15pm Cultures of Anarchist Anti-Colonialism How might anarchists rekindle and deepen our anti-colonial politics? How might our own forms of inspiration, tradition, lineages, or ancestors inform this work? Is May Day a potential useful touchstone for considering some of these intersections? How can anti colonial politics become a more prominent part of anarchist culture? What are some of the key questions and tensions that we are continually trying to work on? Especially those of us who are settlers? This workshop offers a series of questions and provocations to catalyze anarchist discussion of our anti-colonial politics, stem from a research project and set of interviews that I undertook with anarchists in Southern Ontario. This material will be presented, in part in the form of a zine, to be distributed beforehand. Overall, this workshop invites wider discussion on the practices, potentials, and imaginations of continuing to develop anti-colonial anarchist politics as accomplices and co-conspirators with wider forms of Indigenous resurgence and resistance struggles. For the Long Haul: How to Stay in the Fight for a Better World In a time of widespread crisis, how do we keep going? This is a question that Chris Dixon’s new book For the Long Haul seeks to answer. In this panel, Dixon and Helen Hudson will use the book as a starting-point to discuss how to sustain long-term involvement in transformative social movements. Drawing on personal organizing experiences and movement histories, they will talk about developing the collective conditions – such as modes of organization, practices of care, and methods of planning – that enable people to stick around, fight, and build together. Time slot 3: 2:45 – 4:45pm Revolutions in 15 Minutes “A reform is always a compromise with the past, but the progress accomplished by a revolution is always a promise of future progress” – Peter Kropotkin Revolutions are moments of up great upheaval and transformation with impacts carrying far beyond their moment in time or geographic location. They do not happen in isolation – every revolution occurs in conversation with those before it and those to come after. There is so much to be learned from these events, in both the moments of collective struggle, liberation, and victory, and the moments of recuperation, repression, and bitter defeat. In this workshop we’ll hear from six presenters, each offering a snapshot of one of the great revolutions of the last 250 years, beginning with France in 1789 all the way to Syria in 2011. Throughout, we’ll examine common themes: what were the liberatory currents in each moment? What lessons can anarchists learn from them today? What did people do to extend moments of revolt into moments of permanent transformation? Prepping for Anarchists Between climate collapse, social instability, and war on the horizon, many anarchists have grown curious about how we can be ready for the crises that are to come. How can we take care of one another while avoiding the traps of reactivity or simple resource accumulation? In this workshop, we will explore a proposal for a proactive approach to preparedness that centers our long-term objectives. There will be a presentation, followed by an interactive small group exercise.  For the exercise: If you come with people you trust and already have projects with, this may be a good opportunity to build a future looking perspective on the work you are already engaged in. However, this workshop is very worthwhile to take part in as individuals! OUTSIDE SPACE 10 – 12: Bike Repair:
Throughout the day, bring your bikes to be tuned-up by volunteers at the station! You’re encouraged to ask questions about your bike and the tune-up to learn how to do it yourself!Please note that this is bike tune-ups, not bike repair. Depending on the issue with your bike, parts may need to be replaced, and there is a limited amount of spare parts available. No bikes will be turned away, all bikes will be inspected, but bikes may leave with outstanding issues.

12 – 1:30: Lunch Serve 2 – 4: Naloxone Training with SOPEN

All day (weather permitting): Zine swap:

 

Do you need new zines to sharpen your anarchist praxis or reignite your political imagination? Do you have no zines and want to start your collection? Do you have far too many zines and want to share your bounty?
Come on down to trade zines with other folks excited about zines! Make one-on-one trades with others or leave zines for folks to take with them. No money exchanged.
All zines welcome! This swap will be taking place at the Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair where there will be a focus on media/art/literature on anarchist theory and action but zines don’t need to be about anarchism to be included in the swap. At the bookfair there will be a space set aside to trade and informally chat about zine making, collecting, and trading. Find this space outside in the back garden of the venue. We’ll be under/near a ZINE SWAP banner from 10am-5ish. TABLES Anarchist Fictions Between the Lines Black Fox Press Black Oak Anarchist Social Space Certain Days: Freedom for  Political Prisoners Calendar Canadian Socialist Rifle Association Common Notions Great Worm Express Distro Kersplebedeb Leftwingbooks KW Infoshop Liminal States Distro Look Mum zine Distro Mossy Oak Distro Moxie Fox new friends distro Toronto Infoshop Pluto Press PM Press ratti incantati Rebel Time Records Runcaria Press SOPEN Submedia subsomatic System of Girls The Flying Zine Circus The Office Bunny (anti)Work  Manual trixsterpixies