Abstract
The goal of this writing is to map out a position a la contra (an awareness-position on the contrary) within the Spanish cultural field, a position that is being developed as a test of alternatives to the dystopian landscape provoked by the current neoliberal conditions of the civilizatory and ecological crisis. Echoing the spirit fostered by the Spanish 15M Movement, this position symbolizes an existential exit from dominant structures (binary frames of conceptualization and fixed categories) toward a horizon of non-discriminatory, equal and eco-friendly visions and possibilities. This chapter describes some of the communalities shared by grassroots collectives and those creators whose works embody the practice of this position.
This text is a summary of a longer essay that will be published as a book chapter. I want to express my gratitude to Liz Mason-Deese and Derrin Pinto for their help with the translation of the text.
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Notes
- 1.
I borrow the phrase a la contra from the Spanish writer and philosopher Agustín García Calvo (1926–2012) who used this concept throughout his work. For readers unfamiliar with his work, Agustín García Calvo was one of the Spanish philosophers who best studied and analyzed the setup of capitalism, and the construction of the capitalist self.
- 2.
Due to space limitations, I cannot go into detail about each one of them but I invite readers to consult the virtual repository, the product of a curatorial project carried out in collaboration with my students: blogs.carleton.edu/21stfilmfiction/. For more information about international projects in this vein, I recommend the following platform: global-platform.org.
- 3.
For example, the results of this movement are documented in the form of cartographies such as global-platform.org/#/protests of anarchivists such as OVNI (www.desorg.org) or through visual essays such as Stop! Rodando el cambio (2013) or Demain (2015) by Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent. The reality of alternative forms of buen vivir and conviviality thus demonstrates their existence and sustainability.
- 4.
In 1972, Bhutan stopped using the measures of the Gross Domestic Product because the Gini coefficient was not included in these—that is, it did not measure inequalities in the distribution of wealth—and because it did not consider well-being in planetary terms. The World Happiness Report originated from the Gross National Happiness (GNH) that was adopted in 1972 by the king of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in an effort to develop alternative values from the material ones measured in the GDP. The Prime Minister of Bhutan stated in a report in 2012 that although some of the measures were changed, the original domains for GNH remained the same, that is, ‘psychological well-being, time use, community vitality, culture, health, education, environmental diversity, living standard, and governance’ (Drupka and Brien 12).
- 5.
See rie.ecovillage.org.
- 6.
- 7.
See the ENoLL (European Network of Living Labs) enoll.org/;Trans Europe Halles (European Network of Independent Cultural Centers) teh.net.; and Global Project www.globalproject.info/.
- 8.
According to the Amnesty International Report Spain: The Right to Protest under Threat, the Spanish authorities have restricted the enjoyment of human rights in Spain, in particular the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association and freedom of expression, in a way which is inconsistent with international human rights standards and with Spain’s obligations under international law.
- 9.
For the complete text of the law, see: www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2015-3442.
- 10.
For two years, La Selecta carried out its activities in a privately owned location (the old cafeteria of the equestrian center of Buitrago) ceded for this purpose in 2013. Laura Corcuera invested private capital to refurbish the premise and create an arts and sciences café-laboratory project (web, design etc.). After two years, La Selecta was pressured to abandon the site. There was an open court case on the matter. See laselecta.cc/espacio.
- 11.
The initiative Defender a quien defiende (Defend the Defenders) is organized by the University of Barcelona’s Solidarity Foundation and the International Nonviolent Action Institute (NOVACT), in cooperation with diverse organizations, means of communication and centers of investigation. For a description of their objectives, see: defenderaquiendefiende.org/quienes_somos/.
- 12.
Organic Law 4/2015 passed on March 30, for the protection of public safety, is an organic Spanish law that went into effect July 1, 2015, replacing the previous Organic Law on public safety (1992). The law’s text can be found at the following link: www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2015-3442.
- 13.
METROMUSTER is an independent production company that has been experimenting with art, communication and politics since 2010. Their site is metromuster.cat/.
- 14.
To learn more about this project, visit: www.economiasolidaria.org/cuentameotromundo.
- 15.
A good list of these materials has been compiled here: 15mpedia.org/wiki/Lista_de_documentales_sobre_el_15M.
- 16.
See numax.org.
- 17.
See saltamos.net.
- 18.
- 19.
It is important to point out, as Rivera Cusicanqui does, that “official” orality is that utilized by power in the form of speeches where the whole world listens in silence and there is only one ‘speechifying voice’ (“Un mundo” 124). Indeed, it is a performance of authority (124).
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Álvarez-Blanco, P. (2019). Culture a la contra: A Cultural Paradigm Toward Alternatives to the Civilizatory and Ecological Crisis. In: Pereira-Zazo, Ó., Torres, S. (eds) Spain After the Indignados/15M Movement. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19435-2_15
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