A study workshop for thinkers, makers, organizers, and interventionists
Sunday 25 to Thursday 29 of May in Palermo
It need hardly be said: fascism has seduced people around the world, and the world hangs in the balance.
Why has fascism been so successful? What can be done?
Sense & Solidarity, a platform where radical thinkers and movements come together to study what changes hearts and minds, invites applications to join a 5-day study intensive in Palermo.
We will be focusing on reading and discussing theoretical and historical texts that illuminate our current conjecture.
Today, those of us who believe another world is necessary find our hopes destroyed and our fears realized in the rising spectre of fascism. It is capitalizing on a deepening global crisis and unleashing profound violence. Meanwhile, the centrists, whose obedience to corporate rule and neoimperialism caused the crisis that opened the doors to fascism, seem to have learned nothing. How can we retain and expand a radical vision while also meaningfully defending our communities from the fascist threat? How can we recognize fascism’s incubation within neoliberal capitalism? How can we envision radical alternatives and make them irresistible.
Uniquely, at this study workshop we will be asking questions about the mass psychology of fascism. How does it capitalizes on and reshapes people’s sense of self and other, disgust and desire, their craving for community and fear of freedom? How can this be opposed, destroyed and replaced?
Every day of the intensive Max Haiven and Sarah Stein Lubrano will lead discussions on readings that concern questions including:
- How can social movements for collective liberation and anti-fascist artists, intellectuals and other interventionists best respond to fascism, not only in terms of opposing and rebelling against specific policies, but also in terms of responding to fascism’s widespread appeal?
- How is 21st century fascism similar to and different from its 20th century predecessors, especially in terms of how it seduces and poisons hearts and minds? What should movements and interventionists learn from those anti-fascists who have come before us, and are fighting in other contexts?
- How does fascism intersect with patriarchy and misogyny, with racism and imperialism, with transphobia, with ableism and with other systems of domination? How can anti-fascist struggles and interventions advance collective liberation?
- What actually works to fight fascism, in its germinal state and in its fully-grown form (and how do we know the difference)? What can we learn from the victories and defeats of the past and from other spaces?
- What role, if any, do those things we call art, culture, literature, writing and education play in an anti-fascist struggle?
The facilitators do not claim to be experts on this topic, but rather propose to convene a generative space to learn together.
Who is it for?
This intensive is open to all people intentionally engaged in anti-fascist struggle, with the understanding that this means a wide variety of things and that a diversity of tactics is essential in this moment.
We envision cultivating a space shared by front-line organizers, people working within/against/beyond organizations, radical thinkers (with or without credentials or jobs), and artists and writers and other interventionists who see culture as both a weapon and a cure.
We will be reading and discussing theoretical texts, and while the facilitators (Max and Sarah) are very experienced teachers of this material, it will require a significant commitment to read complex and at times abstract texts and discuss them in English.
By applying, all potential participants agree to help proactively co-create and foster an atmosphere of collective joy, intensive inquiry, mutual support, community care, and intellectual rigour which is as free as possible from sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and other systems of domination and that, for a moment, prefigures the world we want to create after we destroy fascism.
We anticipate about 10-14 carefully selected participants.
What will happen?
We will gather each day for five days, from Sunday May 25 to Thursday May 29 from 10:30 to 3, including a lunch together, with a combination of facilitated group discussion of assigned readings and small group work. We’ll ask you to do some structured journaling and share how this fits in the wider work you’re doing.
When and where will it take place?
We’ll be meeting in a small lovely building in Palermo each day. You can book accommodation nearby at a variety of price points, and you will book your own travel.
What does it cost and how do I apply?
To apply, please fill out this short application below. We will charge a programme fee of £200 or equivalent, which includes lunches on the 25-29. You will be responsible for your accommodation and other mealss
What are we reading/discussing?
- We will read from the old and golden texts understanding the desire for fascism including Frankfurt School theorists like Adorno, Fromm, and Benjamin.
- We’ll look at the role of gender, including male fantasies about power, enemy feminisms, and the role of the tradwife. And we’ll wrestle with why the fash are so obsessed with trans people (not in a good way).
- We’ll consider some very different kinds of fascism in the global south, and look at the ecofascists and their allure.
- We’ll look at digital fascisms in particular, and the strange modern forms of fascism that have been inspired by accelerationism.
We will share our reading list soon.
Who are Max and Sarah?
Sarah is a public intellectual who writes about the breakdown of the public sphere. Her book, Don’t Talk About Politics: Changing 21st Century Minds, comes out in May. It looks at why persuasion through exposure to ideas doesn’t work, what does change people’s views on politics, and why the internet is good at division and bad at everything else. She has a PhD in critical theory and cognitive science from Oxford.
Max is the Canada Research Chair in the Radical Imagination and author many books, including the forthcoming The Player and the Played: Gamification, Financialization and (anti-)Fascism. He edits the VAGABONDS book series and makes games, including Billionaires and Guillotines.
Together, Sarah and Max run Sense & Solidarity, a platform where movements for collective liberation and radical interventionists (artists, writers, thinkers) gather to study what actually works to change hearts and minds. They produce a podcast, host regular schools and workshops, and support the next generation of radical public intellectuals.
How to apply
Please complete this form by March 31: https://senseandsolidarity.org/dreams/
Upon collecting all of the applications we will adjudicate them based on what we perceive to be the best fit and also to ensure a good mix of participants relative to personal and professional background. We will endeavour to let selected participants know by the first week of April and may also create a waitlist. we may require a small non-refundable confirmation payment to help us with upfront costs.
Those wishing to participate who would be prohibited from doing so by the registration cost should please include a note in their application and we will do our best to ensure that money is not a barrier.
200 GBP for participation (including lunch) but we’ll accept less. A large percentage of our costs are covered by rival: the reimagining value action lab. Registration fees cover the cost of food, logistics, and a small honorarium for the course leader.
Do you want to volunteer to be our assistant?
(and get to participate and stay for free?)
Based on past workshops, we have found that including an assistant helps everything run more smoothly. To that end, we are inviting inquiries from people who can be present for the entire duration of our study workshop and–in return for free tuition, accommodation and some assistance with transportation costs–will assist the course leaders with administrative tasks in the lead up to the event and take charge of preparing lunch and cleaning up for the five days of the workshop. This assistant is welcome to participate in the programming, however their first priority must be to facilitation, so we can’t guarantee they will always be able to participate in all aspects of the program.
An assistant would need to…
- Arrive one day early (on May 24)
- Buy groceries and prepare a light lunch each day for participants and take responsibility for coordinating cleaning up from lunch (with help)
- Help Max and Sarah with occasional administrative tasks in the lead-up to the gathering (maybe 1-2 hours per week of work)
They would get…
- Free registration to the event (though you may not be able to participate in everything)
- Free accommodation from May 24-30 (your own room)
- Free lunches
- Some assistance with transportation (depending on budget and distance)
- Ongoing mentoring from Max and/or Sarah (if it’s helpful)
Desirable qualities: fun and/or easy to be around, responsible, interested in the topic, would find this an important opportunity in their personal development, bonus: speaks Italian.
If you’d be interested, please write us a quick email by March 24th about why you’d like to do this, what makes you a good choice for the position and if you have any concerns etc. We will schedule some interviews (on zoom or in London) the week of March 24.