Dani Burlison and Margaret Elysia Garcia
The editors of “Red Flag Warning: Mutual Aid and Survival in California’s Fire Country” (AK Press, 6/2025), Dani Burlison and Margaret Elysia Garcia will discuss the book and different approaches to mutual aid covered in the book, including protecting undocumented folks, centering traditional ecological knowledge, highlighting work by formerly incarcerated firefighters, class justice, mental health, rural environmental justice, and more! After our brief conversation/presentation, we will open to a participatory dialogue with attendees to share more ideas and collaborations.
Chiapas Support Committee
Dispatches from Resistant Mexico is a series of short documentaries from southern Mexico, each depicting one of the thousands of pockets of resistance throughout Latin America that are in struggle against the capitalist looting of resources and land from indigenous communities. The individuals and communities depicted in the films affirm traditions and ways of life that are collective, egalitarian, and deeply in tune with “Mother Earth”. They have preserved traditional forms of life and ecological practices despite 500 years of colonization. Prosperity of the community and mutual respect between all beings are valued more than money, individual accumulation, and competitive striving. The shorts will be followed by updates on Mexico and discussion on why these struggles are important to us in the U.S.
Paul Messersmith-Glavin and Jasper Bernes
This workshop will explore the ideas of Japanese Marxist Kohei Saito, in the context of other ecological Marxists and the social ecology of Murray Bookchin. We will look at what Saito has found in researching the thinking of Marx during the last 14 years of his life and compare and contrast those ideas to others such as Bookchin who have also thought through the roots of the ecological crisis and ways out. We will explore what we mean when we talk about growth and address both the viability and implications of an anarchist communist degrowth politics. We will also collectively think through what can be done in terms of various forms of revolutionary organizing.
