Infoshop Celebrates 15 Years!

I just received an invitation for the 15th anniversary of the Civic Media Center, an infoshop I was closely involved with for roughly 5 years. They're asking former volunteers to give feedback on their experiences at the CMC, and short reports on what they've been doing since moving on. The infoshop was foundational for me, so I shared the following feedback with them for their celebration.

How did your time at the CMC impact your life?

I moved to Gainesville, Florida partly because it was there where the Civic Media Center was. I was a punk-rocker, and at the time, the punk scene was the only refuge I knew from the dominant mainstream culture. I was seeking alternative ideas and the CMC provided exactly such an opening.

I began volunteering there shortly after my move.

For a while I was living in an outdoor crawlspace, underneath the staircase of a couple of other CMC and alternative radio activists. The door to my little home was 3 feet high, and an old screen window functioned as a door, keeping the frogs and mosquitoes out. My bed was a small aerobics mat that doubled as a sofa during the day. I lived off pizza and donuts that I dumpster-dove in the evenings, and washed up in the bathroom at the CMC.

Through the nights I read the classical anarchist texts of Peter Kropotkin, which stressed the importance of public activism, or I watched the documentary films of the Spanish Revolution from the CMC's video library. My daily involvement as a volunteer at the CMC allowed me to have interactions with a variety of people who came into the Center to explore the materials on the over-stuffed bookshelves. Through this experience I came to appreciate the emphasis the infoshop laid not only on fostering alternative political ideas, but also on the need to foster a public culture of political dialogue and social engagement. How did the CMC effect my life? I moved out of the crawlspace and got involved in social movements.

What is one of your favorite CMC stories?

On the morning of September 11th, 2001 I received an early morning telephone call from my dad telling me about the attacks on the World Trade Center. With no television at home, I ran to the CMC and turned on the screen. We were dumbfounded and didn't know what to make of the situation.

More and more people began crowding around the TV, commenting on it, questioning what was going on. Conversation was building and building and so was the group of people around the TV.

So we moved the TV down into the main room, and set up some chairs. The chairs quickly filled up so we moved the bookshelves aside, and set up more chairs. That day, the CMC was spontaneously transformed into an open public space for discussion.

The next day, a meeting was organized for further discussion. Someone counted over 100 people. All the chairs were filled, people were sitting on the stairs, on the stage, and standing. People shared their thoughts, their fears, and the conversation went on and on. It took place again the next day, but due to the growing crowd it was moved to a new location. The conversations turned towards political organizing, and in response to the beating of war drums on nearly every television station, the Community Coalition Against War and Terrorism was formed.

When I think back to these days, I recall a critical component of the CMC -- a space that fosters a dialogue about current social and political issues and concerns, and creates the possibility for public participation and collective action. A place not only to get informed, but also to combat fear and isolation. In the months directly after September 11, the patriotic fervor was overwhelming. Books and information are critical for combating it, or even surviving it, holding onto a sense of autonomous thought and capability. But conversation is also critical. The CMC makes that conversation possible, and during those difficult months, the CMC was essential, because it opened up public space which helped us not get lost in isolation and fear.

Tell us what you've gone on to do since leaving the CMC

During my time at the CMC, I organized public events and study groups, and tried to create structures for supporting intellectual development on political questions. Along with Dan Berger, I co-founded and co-edited Onward newspaper (some articles are archived here), which arose during the emergence of the anti-globalization movement, and reported on a wide variety of social justice issues. I helped organize Mayday celebrations, and organized demonstrations and information events for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, who were organizing for better wages and working conditions for Florida farmworkers.

During the summers I attended courses at the Institute for Social Ecology, taking courses in democratic theory, revolutionary history, and theories of capitalism. It was somewhat an anarchist summer school, and it further challenged me on the political questions I was thinking about in Gainesville at the CMC. After 5 years with the CMC, beginning as a volunteer, and eventually becoming the Coordinator, I moved to New York City to further my focus on social and political theory. I completed a Bachelor's degree at The New School in Social and Historical Inquiry.

In addition to my studies (or maybe, the other way around), I worked with the Free Society Collective, a Vermont-based political group, organizing seminars, writing leaflets, giving presentations at conferences, and joining demonstrations. In New York City I organized a study group on the topic of antisemitism, and wrote an article about social movements in Iraq, under the occupation. I also worked on the Board of the Institute for Anarchist Studies, which gives grants to radical writers and publishes the journal Perspectives on Anarchist Theory.

During my involvement in the anti-war movement, I became increasingly unsatisfied with the crude simplifications that Leftists and progressives were offering as explanations for the complex political conflicts that we were facing. The circulation of 9/11 conspiracy theories, the "Anybody but Bush" argumentation, and the sympathy for the Iraqi insurgency simply because it opposed the U.S. occupation, led me to shift my focus to researching right-wing politics and non-emancipatory oppositional movements.

After completing my BA, I took a two month trip to Berlin, Germany, and more than two years later, I am still there. In this time, I've managed to learn the language, to conduct interviews with anti-fascist groups, and to publish a few articles about social movements and political issues in Berlin. (More about that here.)

Next week I will begin my MA degree in Political Science at Potsdam Universität.

How has your experience at the CMC shaped or informed what you're doing now?

The CMC was an environment that was both challenging and supportive, in figuring out how to step out of the shadows to engage in the public realm. It pushed me to think more seriously, and to develop a long-term perspective on social change. The commitment of the older generations (from those in their 30s to those in their 70s) encouraged me to be more patient, to build relationships and ideas, and to find ways to connect with people beyond cultural or other boundaries. Their were also plenty of lessons in practical organizing, from writing press releases to raising funds. But the most important lessons I learned were about thinking long-term, taking breaks, learning from previous generations, and being open to alternatives that exist even within the alternative.

*If you read my previous post, you know that I am struggling to find work above the 4€/hour mark. That means I am unable at the moment to make a financial contribution to the CMC for its 15th anniversary. If can do so in my stead, the CMC and I would both be very grateful! To do so click here.

4 Euro Job

When I told a friend who was visiting me here in Berlin that I used to work at an Asian restaurant here washing dishes, he called it the reverse of globalization. I went to one of the best Universities in New York, and here I was working for 5 euros an hour (plus tips, which, if you know Berlin, that means I was making about 5.25 an hour, after we split the tips 4-ways).

That´s how it is with language barriers and the countries highest unemployment city. If you've been here, or heard about it, you know that Berlin is cheap. That´s its attraction, for low-income people, as well as artists and hipsters.

Last night there was a news broadcast about the need to raise the price of the döner, so that the shop-owners can just make ends meet. We love the cheap meals everywhere, but its quite unbelievable what that means for wages.

Today I went for a two hour trial session for a job at Call-A-Pizza. I thought the wage at Chai Yo was bad, but here they´re offering a whopping 4 euros per hour! Do the math. If you work a full-day, say 8 hours, that´s just 32 €. Take public transit to work and you´re at 27.80. Have a lunch break, and you´re down to a little over 20 € for the day. Good luck surviving.

Here´s a short article on the topic of the increasing low-wage sector in Germany:

Germany's Low-Wage Explosion Worries Experts

Germany's economy appears to be humming along, with unemployment figures at their lowest in 15 years. But this development is being driven by what experts say is a "worrying" explosion in the low-wage sector.

Over the past 10 years, the number of people considered to be low-wage earners in Germany increased from 15 to 22 percent, reaching a total of 6.5 million people, a new study has found.

One in five Germans today works in the "low-wage" sector and, as of last year, some 200,000 employed people resort to taking an additional "mini-job" to make ends meet.

"The conclusions for Germany are worrying," said Gerhard Bosch of the University of Duisburg-Essen's Institute for Work, Skills and Training (IAQ), which carried out research for the study in Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the US.

The development is in part due to the German government, which has intentionally been expanding the low-wage sector in recent years in order to bring down the country's high unemployment levels.

A general shift

But Bosch's colleague at the IAQ, Dorothea Voss-Dahm, told DW-WORLD.DE that a general shift in society is also to blame.

"For so many years, we've heard that Germany is inflexible in its labor laws," she said. "Now, companies and employee associations are saying, let's try something different."

The low-wage explosion could not have happened without the introduction in 2003 of the so-called "mini-job" in Germany. Under the scheme, employees can earn 400 euros ($630) month and are exempt from paying tax and social insurance contributions. But according to Voss-Dahm, employers have seized on mini-jobs as a way to push wage levels down, with the result that the wage gap is widening, and Germany's middle class shrinking.

"If the middle class erodes, then over the long term, our whole society will change," Voss-Dahm said. "The middle class is the layer upon which our society was built."

Authors surprised by unflattering picture

The study on low-wage sectors in Europe and the US showed that, with 22 percent of the workforce considered low-wage earners, Germany has already eclipsed Britain (21.7 percent) and is catching up with the US (25 percent).

"If the government doesn't do anything to turn this around, Germany's low-wage sector could become larger than that of the US, where every fourth person is a low-wage earner," American economist Robert Solow told the Frankfurter Rundschau.

The authors of the German study admitted that they hadn't expected "such unflattering results."

In comparison with the US, low-wage earners in Germany are still better off, as the social net ensures they have health insurance, paid vacation and generous pension benefits. But the idea that Germany's economy is bolstered by low-wage jobs and people who have to work several jobs just to survive is new.

"In Germany, we've only just begun to realize that poverty could become a problem," said the IAQ's Voss-Dahm.

She said the government could take two corrective steps: Abolish the mini-job regulations, which would remove the incentive for companies to lower wages; and introduce a minimum wage which would ensure that even those in lower paying jobs can still make ends meet.

Source: Deutsche Welle

Books I am reading, have recently finished, or are bookmarked half-way through and are being neglected

I am a slow reader. I just recently got into fiction. I am trying to focus on Deutschlernen. Many excuses for not reading more books this past year, but here is a list I am working through, am stuck in the middle of, or have successfully completed!

Suggestions are always appreciated.

Recently Finished Books:

Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi) -- First we saw it in the theater, and then I picked up the graffic novel in German. Does it count as a "real" book, my first German language one that I read cover to cover?

Kommunismus: kleine geschichte, wie endlich alles anders wird (von Bini Adamczak) -- This was a birthday gift, given to me a few months after I arrived in Berlin. Yes, it is in German. It is a children's book. And it took me only a year to read. If you are learning German and want to read it, let me know. I made about 20 vocabulary cards while I was working through it. But, I have to admit, I still haven't read the last chapter. Rather than a children's story, it is a theoretical chapter citing Marx and Postone. And well, I just can't read at that level yet.

Jews in Berlin -- I picked this one up not only out of curiosity, but also to help me prepare for my tour guide job of jewish sites in Berlin. Stretching back to the 13th Century, this book gives a wonderful overview of the early jewish Berliners and the development of the community throughout the centuries in its religious, cultural, social, and political components. The book goes all the way to the present, with descriptions of post-War and contemporary jewish life in the city. A must-read for anyone interested in the topic. Although, if you don´t have the time, then make a stop at the Jewish Museum, which will give you the full 2000 years (!) of recorded jewish life in what is today known as Germany.

Right-Wing Populism in America (Matthew Lyons & Chip Berlet) -- This book is an invaluable read! Especially for today, in which seemingly left-wing positions, such as opposition to the Iraq war, are also a major issue for right of center populist politics. The book also should be commended not simply for tracking the history or right-wing populist groups, but for showing their relationship to, and effect upon broader political debates and public policy decisions. Get it, read it! Plus, the authors are both involved in interesting political projects (even when I disagree with them): Matthew Lyons writes for the Three Way Fight blog, which aims to develop a critique of oppositional movements that come from a far-right position. Their approach to antisemitism is unsatisfactory, and their "critical" solidarity with Hezbollah is disappointing and upsetting. But I enjoy reading their essays and look forward to dialogue with them in the future. (I posted a critique on my other website here, and await a reply.) Chip Berlet works with Public Eye, and does research on far-right groups.

Currently (actively) reading:

Forced Out: The Fate of Polish Jewry In Communist Poland (Arthur J. Wolak) -- I was looking for a history of this period. It tells of the anti-zionist campaign in 1967-68 which meant the firing of thousands of Jews from the jobs and careers, their purge from the Party, their expulsion from the Universities, and their flight from Poland.

The Tale of Love and Darkness (Amos Oz) -- This one just arrived in the mail, and I am flying through it. Memoir of the Israeli writer from his birth in Jerusalem in 1939. It tells of his childhood in the tumultuous 40s and 50s, through the story of his parents and their social circle. Being that my knowledge of jewish emigration out of Europe is limited to American immigration, including that of my own family, I have become more interested in the history of jewish immigration to Israel, and to pre-Israel Palestine. Tom Segev´s One Palestine Complete is very helpful for this, which is a history of "Jews and Arabs in Palestine Under the British Mandate", as the subtitle says. I am stalled at 400 pages into Segev´s book. I am hoping Oz´s book will get me back into Segev´s as well.

Partially Read, Sitting Neglected on the Bookshelf, Giving me a Guilt-Trip

Oil! -- (Upton Sinclair) I was in the train station in Barcelona, and was struggling through Unbequeme Tote and needed something easy to read, particularly in English. The selection, as you can imagine, is not so wide. Didn't want a crime novel nor a romantic best-seller. Had just a few minutes before the train came. A couple friends recommended that I see the new film "There Will be Blood," and being that the film is based on this book, I thought I would try it out. But despite the author's wonderful descriptions, and character development, I am stuck at 70-pages in. It probably has to do with the fact that Amos' Oz book arrived in the mail and I couldn't help but jump right in.

Everything is Illuminated -- (Jonathan Safran Foer) This was a birthday present so I feel bad putting it down, but I tried, and tried again. I'm a third of the way through it. Am I missing something? Is something interesting going to happen against all of the cliches? I learned recently that Foer is married to the brilliant author of The History of Love, Nicole Krauss. Makes me think of trying to get back into it. Hearing that it is supposed to be a critique of Holocaust tourism, it sparks my curiosity, but alas, it sits neglected on the shelf for the time being.

Berlin -- (By David Clay Large) This massive book can not be taken along on trips, nor on the U-Bahn, not even to the park. And while it is an easy and enjoyable read, because of the author's unbelievable knowledge, and his way to bring the city to life through a multi-dimensional description of the lives of ordinary people, I have only made it to the 1980's. That's a long way, since the book begins in the Bismark period. But the belittling of the Kreuzberg squat scene was a real turn off. I will get back to it, and finish this monster!

Biographie: Ein Spiel -- (Max Frisch) We began reading a story in my language class by this author, and I found his writing easy to understand while simultaneously communicating an interesting and complex story. The story was Biedermann und die Brandstifter, a critique, as far as I understood the parts that we read, of passive citizens under totalitarianism. Biographie is about regret and redoing the past. Can't say more until I get through it.

Unbequeme Tote -- (Subcomandante Marcos & Paco Ignacio Taibo II) This is the German translation of The Uncomfortable Dead. Marcos, if you don't know him, is the black-masked, pipe-smoking poetic "spokesperson" for the armed social movement in Chiapas, Mexico, the Zapatistas. Taibo is a Mexican crime write. Being that I am only just trudging through the beginning of the second chapter, I will provide you with a short description from David Wright, of Booklist:

Told in alternating chapters, Taibo's striking collaboration with the charismatic leftist leader known as Subcomandante Marcos is a curious animal, laying forth planks in the Zapatistas' platform for the rights of indigenous peoples against globalization and privatization with subversive, comic panache. Taibo's one-eyed detective, Hector Belascoaran, finds more questions than answers in his ongoing quest to vanquish evil, this time in the shadowy form of one (or more) Morales, who may have killed a ghost now leaving messages on answering machines around Mexico City. The quixotic Marcos' inspired contribution is Elias Conteras, an ingenuous investigator from Chiapas imbued with the soul of Sancho Panza. Elias' charming irreverence fits well in the anarchic eclecticism that governs the fictional universe of Taibo, whose fans will hardly be surprised to find a porn actor who looks like Osama Bin Laden tossed in with Pancho Villa, Barney the dinosaur, and Gustav Mahler. As one might expect, the political trumps the personal in this curious mix of crime novel and position paper, but it is just strange enough to attract a cult audience.

With a little bit more determination, and my trusty companion das Wörterbüch, I hope to be a deserved member of that cult audience in the near future.

da ist ein Licht das niemals erlischt

when i came to berlin, i knew the sound of the german language only from ww2 films. you know the reference: directives being belted out in a voice of authority. well, the language isn't *that* limited: witness a wonderful Smiths' cover of the song "There is a light that never goes out."

Published Works

Here is a list of some of my less-embarrassing published works:

I am currently working on a short piece on the 20th century German-Jewish intellectual Walter Benjamin, following a recent visit to his gravesite in Portbou (possibly to be published in The Brooklyn Rail)

"Queer and Turkish in Berlin" (to be published in the next issue of Swindle magazine, with photos taken by my friend Soliman Lawrence.)

"G8-Summit Protests in Germany: Against Globalization and its Non-Emancipatory Responses" (published on ZNet)

"Challenging Antisemitism in Berlin" (published in Jewish Currents - July/August 2007)

“Neither Occupation Nor Political Islam: A Secular, Democratic, and Progressive Alternative in Iraq?” (The Advocate – newspaper of the City University of New York Graduate Center - March 2006)

a comment about the title of my blog...

shortly after i arrived in Berlin, it was brought to my attention that i would live in the shadow of another, much more important rob-berlin. he is much flashier, and has his own clothing line and toys.