[p2p-research] Fwd: <edu-factory> Round of Discussion on Debt

[Dante-Gabryell Monson]

excerpted from message :
*
*
*" We can claim the right of bankruptcy for workers, students, and migrants.
"*

This is I believe also an interesting topic when taken from a p2p
approach...

Potentially combined with non-violent civil disobedience,

and a discussion on power structures related to "monetary creation"
architectures , and more broadly : financial architectures , resource
allocation information systems.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: info at edu-factory.org <info at edu-factory.org>
Date: Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 1:45 PM
Subject: <edu-factory> Round of Discussion on Debt
To: edufactory at listcultures.org


 *Presentation for the Round of Discussion on Debt*



Last April, the conference in Minneapolis "Beneath the University, the
Commons" launched a call for action against debt, the central tool of the
ongoing crisis and financialization of our lives. The
statement<http://www.edu-factory.org/wp/campaign-against-debt/>was
discussed and approved in other activist encounters, for instance in
May
at the European meetings in Paris and Bologna. Now we want to build up a
global campaign for a debt abolition movement and to promote a global day of
action.



In the last few decades debt has been a perverse tool that substituted for
welfare policies: better said, there was a sort of financialization of
welfare. Welfare was used by millions of people to access their social
needs. For example, despite the increase in university fees, there was a
trend of increasing enrolments. This means that debt was used for mass
access to higher education. In this context, the non-repayment of debt is
one of the roots of the current economic crisis and banks and governments
are more and more worried about so-called “at risk” loans, that is, loans
that cannot be repaid.



We don't need a moralistic position against debt, but a political strategy.
The abolition of debt is not a gift of governments or international bodies,
but a field of struggle. We do not invoke the non-repayment of debt only
because it already exists on a mass level, but because it is a form of
resistance and reappropriation of social wealth. We can collectively
contribute to the organization of this struggle at the global level,
creating connections, and with social, political, and juridical instruments.
We can claim the right of bankruptcy for workers, students, and migrants.



We know that debt has different forms and effects in different areas and
contexts, from the local to the global scale. It is obviously not limited to
the university and student debt is only one of the many facets of the
process: in fact, ever since the 1980’s, the battle against debt in the
postcolonial world has been a central issue that contributed to the
formation of a global movement. Likewise, as stated earlier, debt is a
central mechanism in the contemporary global economic crisis. Any campaign
against debt must be global, or it will not be at all.



In calling for such a global campaign, we are aware that debt is not merely
a financial matter but also a fundamental condition of the human animal.
Because the human species depends on constant learning and education for its
survival, these should be considered basic needs, along with shelter and
food, to which all governments and social organizations provide universal
access. Furthermore, human animals exist in a relation of environmental
interdependence with other inhabitants of planet Earth, including inanimate
and animate beings. The abolition of financial debt is a political correlate
to the recognition and accommodation of these other forms of human
indebtedness.



To build a global campaign against debt, we propose to use the edufactory
list as a place of debate, connection, and organization. Starting the 15th
of November, 2010 we have planned a round of discussion and political
inquiry dedicated to the various forms of debt - as well as the various
forms of resistance and struggles against it - all over the world. To
improve free discussion and circulation of news and documents, we have
prepared a calendar of scheduled contributions. If you want to send a
contribution, please write to info at edu-factory.org.



 All the material will be published on a dedicated section of the edufactory
website, here <http://www.edu-factory.org/wp/list/>.







*Open Calendar for Contributions*



Andrea Fumagalli – 15 November 2010

The Association of Blacklisted Students with Norihito Nakata and Sabu Kohso
– 25th of November 2010

George Caffentzis and Silvia Federici – 15 December 2010



Jeffery Williams – 5 January 2011

Carlo Vercellone – 15 January 2011

Doug Henwood  – 25 January 2011

Richard Pithouse – 5 February 2011

Midnight Notes Collective – 15 February 2011

Christian Marazzi – 25 February 2011

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