Events

Skotty Kellogg of the Rhizome Collective will be speaking about urban sustainability.

NAFTA FROM BELOW: Maquiladora Workers Speak Out on the Impact of Free Trade in Mexico

Join MonkeyWrench Books and the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras at A Presentation in Solidarity with the Key Safety Systems’ Workers struggle.

Key Safety Systems is a leading global producer of airbags and other auto safety systems, which has sent its production to maquiladoras such as Valle Hermoso, Mexico, just south of Brownsville, Texas, in search of cheap workers. Two workers organizing at KSS’s Valle Hermoso plant, Perla Cruz and Israel Monroy, will speak on the human costs of NAFTA-style free trade. CJM coordinator Martha Ojeda, a former maquila worker and veteran organizer, will also be present.

villages
electric water

Spanish Language Film Night
El Violin (Mexico, 2005, 98 min) (In Spanish--no subtitles available--sorry!)

The quietly dignified Don Plutarco, his son Genaro and grandson Lucio make a humble living as travelling musicians. They also collect supplies and ammunition for the guerrilla movement that has arisen in response to the tyrannical regime. Upon returning to their hometown after one journey, they find it has been occupied by the army and their fellow villagers have been forced into hiding. Genaro leaves to find a way to salvage the supplies. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to his son, Plutarco attempts to recover the ammunition himself and courageously approaches the squad captain.

Thursday March 27th
8:00pm

MonkeyWrench Books
110 E. North Loop
512-407-6925 for more information or directions

Participatory Economics: Alternatives to Corporate Capitalism
Case studies from Venezuela

a Lecture by: Robin Hahnel

Robin will speak about Parecon with a specific focus on contemporary examples from Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution.

Professor of economics at American University in Washington, DC, and author, with Michael Albert, of Looking Forward: Participatory Economics for the Twenty First Century and The Political Economy of Participatory Economics. He has written three other books analyzing the global economy Panic Rules! Everything You Need to Know About the Global Economy; The ABCs of Political Economy: A Modern Approach; and Economic Justice and Democracy: From Competition to Cooperation

Friday, March 28th
8 p.m.

MonkeyWrench Books
110 E. North Loop (corner of 53rd St and Ave F)
call 512-407-6925 for info or directions

The Austin Time Exchange Network (ATEN) is a local program that enables individuals to provide and receive skills and services within a network of people and organizations in Greater Austin. Similar to concepts expressed in bartering and alternative currency systems, this grassroots initiative lets members exchange labor and assistance without using the U.S. Dollar. Launched in April of 2006, ATEN currently has over 60 members and invites new participants to join by attending any of our upcoming introduction meetings.

Mutualism is a school of thought that calls for decentralizing economic and political power through building cooperatives and community financing systems. It is a radical theory that opposes corporate and state power, and instead promotes an economy of small farms, independent business, cooperatives, and self-employed workers.
This group will meet monthly to discuss mutualist theory and practice, study relevant books and articles, and work towards building up "mutualist infrastructure" in Austin.
The first meeting will be introductory, and for April we'll start discussing some of the work of the contemporary mutualist scholar Kevin Carson (www.mutualist.org)

Killing Misogyny: Strategies for Survival
Reading and Workshop

Cristina Tzintzún will read from her published and unpublished works on love, gender, violence, racism, and alternative forms of community accountability. There will also be opportunities for audience participation. Tzintzún's work has appeared in "Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism" and "The Women's Movement Today: An Encyclopedia of Third Wave Feminism." Tzintzún is currently a staff member of Workers Defense Project/Proyecto Defensa Laboral, an Austin-based community organization that organizes Latina/o immigrants to achieve racial & economic justice in the workplace.

Tzintzún will read from portions of the following essays, in addition to selected poetry:

Title Essay in "Colonize This! Young Women of Color Speak on Today's Feminism" published by Seal Press
&
Killing Misogyny: A Personal Story on Love, Violence, and Strategies for Survival

Monkey Wrench Books

Book discussion of The Cost of Privilege: Taking on the System of White
Supremacy and Racism

Author Chip Smith will be on hand to present his book and lead a discussion of white privilege and racism as a central feature of American society.

Chicana activist and author Betita Martinez says of the book, Chip Smith has given us a powerful weapon for the battle against white supremacy.....the author dares to outline a bold program of revolutionary action."

Discuss ecovillages, pick up the next book in our reading list - The Humanure Handbook.