Revolutionary organizing from below, what could that be?

How can we build an alternative for a new society from today's reality?
Countering individualism and exploitation and cultivating solidarity, how can we tackle that while many people in our neighbourhoods are busy surviving? Resistance to capitalism, the state, patriarchal and racist conditions is often organised from a radical left or anarchist movement that is sometimes bigger than other times, but is often seen as a bubble rather than having roots in society. While various tactics can make a difference in their own way, large-scale change is ultimately what revolutionaries want. But how - without creating new rulers? What are ideas for initiatives that have revolutionary potential?

The district union Solidarisch in Gröpelingen is of the opinion that revolutionary change cannot be fought for by a small radical left scene, but of a broader class based movement. That is why they have been organizing in one of Bremen's poorer districts for several years. Their aim is to build an organized social movement rooted in poor neighbourhoods, in which people organize themselves to fight for concrete improvements in their living conditions, but also for a fundamental change in society. They describe their practice as revolutionary grassroot work (revolutionäre Basisarbeit) with the aim of building power from below as a vehicle of fundamental change. To this end, they combine legal advice with general assemblies, street mobilizations, education and the development of a culture of solidarity.

In an info-tour in Dutch cities Utrecht, Nijmegen, Groningen and Amsterdam activists from Solidarisch in Gröpelingen report on their concrete practice and experiences as well as on the theoretical considerations behind it. You can find more information on the website www.solidarisch-in-groepelingen.de and in the current text „Changing society means building power from below - but how and with whom?". Another text is the "11 Thesen" (2016) which form one of the theoretical backgrounds to the development of revolutionary grassroots work: https://a-bieb.nl/library/kollektiv-11-thesen-over-organiseren-en-de-rev...
And there was also a book published about revolutionary grassroot work with an interview with Solidarisch in Gröpelingen inside („Revolutionäre Stadtteilarbeit: Zwischenbilanz einer strategischen Neuausrichtung linker Praxis": https://vogliamotutto.noblogs.org/stadtteilbuch/ ).

The evening lasts 2 hours and consists of a talk and discussion.

Dates and locations:

17th of january 19:30 De Klinker: Van Broeckhuysenstraat 46, Nijmegen
18th of january 19:30 Mutual Aid: Travertijnstraat 12, Groningen
19th of january 19:30 MKZ: Eerste Schinkelstraat 16, Amsterdam