Firstly thank you to the residents of the warehouse on Overbury road for allowing is to use their space and for contributing to the evening’s discussion. Other thanks to everyone who attended and whose comments feature in the synopsis.
This event began by focusing on the idea of ‘apathy’ in regards to protest in the UK.
The scheduling of the discussion proved to be almost too timely; occurring less than a week before the 4 days of rioting in England and (for a brief period) Wales.
These events highlight the necessity to revisit this topic of protest in a future session, expanding from the idea of apathy by exploring in more detailed subcategory. However these musing are for another session.
What was clear from the discussion was that bridging the gap between the revolutionary issues relevant to a pre-liberated Algeria in the early 60s had some resonance to the post-modern society that is the UK. However, the construct was restrictive in allowing a full understanding the nuances of the discussion as it developed through the evening.
Issues such as ‘why we do not protest as we used to’ (in the industrially developed world ‘Is there an emancipatory consciousness?’ and ‘should there be?’ As such the transcript excerpts below are an exploration of some of the conversational themes and topics that arose during the evening.
What was clear is that as rich as the conversation was; a more focused agenda of protest will have to ensue in the following session as the topics started were could not be taken to their full conclusion.
Overview:
001 Introduction
002 Theme: Protest, democracyy, and architecture
003 Film: First Half – “The Battle of Algiers”
004 Interval
005 Film: Second Half – “The Battle of Algiers”
006 Diner (and discussions)…
006a Situationist parents
006b Linking Film and contemporary actions
006c Why don’t we protest more?
006d The value of virtual representation
006e Scale and violence
006f Politics and participation
006g Protest and direct action
006h Planning restrictions
Transcript
This event took place in 2012 and as such reflects the social and political conditions of the time
