biblioteca de la evasion- entrevista con participantes

 entrevista en barcelona, con participantes de la biblioteca de la evasion.

La Biblioteka La Evasión.

Quiénes somos?

Somos un grupo de individuos con diferentes experiencias y esperanzas. Participan presos, ex-presos, familiares/amigos de presos, y simples solidarios.  Pero compartimos un grito: abolir las cárceles ya! Creemos que las cárceles crean impotencia y refuerzan situaciones de desesperación.  No solucionan nuestros problemas, al contrario, vemos que las cárceles sólo causan más miseria mientras que enriquecen a los que las controlan.  No confiamos en sus programas de reinserción y reeducación, ni menos en sus necesidades para el castigo.  Proponemos que la justicia que reclaman las cárceles para justificar su existencia es una justicia falsa, incoherente y manipuladora.  Nosotros buscamos la solidaridad.  Creemos que es con la solidaridad que podemos empezar a construir una realidad basada en el apoyo mutuo, una respuesta a la soledad de los barrotes y muros de las cárceles. Esto no es un proyecto de caridad.

Qué es la Biblioteka La Evasión?

Para nosotros un libro puede estimular la auto-educación, puede inspirar la creatividad, o ser la llave a la imaginación, o puede simplemente acompañarnos en nuestra cotidianidad; sus narrativas mezcladas con las nuestras, dando fuerza y apoyo.  Un libro puede funcionar como un pequeño puente pasando sobre los muros conectando a los de dentro con el mundo de afuera.  Así vemos que el acto de compartir este puente con alguien de dentro es un acto solidario.  La biblioteca tiene un fin a corto plazo y un fin a largo plazo.  El fin corto es ser un lugar para la recogida y distribución de libros a presos, un proceso gestionado por nosotros y no por los mismos que controlan el día a día del preso.  El fin a largo plazo es crear una oportunidad para el intercambio de experiencias, frustraciones, y ideas alrededor de las cárceles.  Así creemos que romperemos nuestro aislamiento y podremos empezar a afrontar la cárcel con solidaridad, sin aceptarla.

Advertisement

the narrative can’t hide the flames

 

guillaume darribau

 

this past wednesday, during spain’s first general strike in 8 years, riots erupted in barcelona. the spectacle of the riots continues to fill spanish newspapers.  the images of a burning police vehicle, broken windows, and threatened journalists have been bought, sold, consumed and will soon be forgotten. yet for the time being politicians and the media have exploited the spectacle for their narrative of the current economic crisis, a narrative in which the affected are acted upon and not capable of acting themselves.  from the left to the right of the dominant political/social spectrum, the condemnations of barcelona’s riots have been varied, yet typical: diatribes about the permissiveness of the city government, demands for a heavy handed response, incoherent speculations about the motives and identities of the riot’s participants, and criticism of both union leaders and national politicians.   the gloomy future of growing unemployment, problems in bank solvency, and increased poverty has no place in the finger pointing and political maneuvering that guides the narrative. especially when it seems none of the ‘recovery initiatives’ are causing a recovery. the labor reforms, initiated earlier in the year by the spanish president rodriguez zapatero, were intended as austerity measures. something had to be done after the country’s s&p and fitch ratings were both lowered in january, causing alarmist comparisons with the deteriorating situation in greece.  so in the narrative the economy was streamlined; public workers saw their salaries cut by 5%, the process for firing employees was simplified, and retirement age was increased to 67.  yet the european union’s third largest deficit continued to grow. the unions were puffed up their chests, and the government tightened its belt.  but there was little real protest.   a state of denial took hold of the nation. no-one could really believe the construction boom was over. and it wasn’t until june, after the passage of the labor reforms in parliament, that the two largest unions called for a general strike- scheduled almost three and a half months later, for the 29th of september.

continuing a long european tradition- sarkozy and the roma

as sarkozy finds himself ever more embroiled in an international polemic, i can’t help but wonder,  what was he expecting when he began forcibly demolishing illegal camps and deporting nearly 1500 roma (eastern european gypsies) to romania and bulgaria in the first place? i’m guessing he was hoping his position wouldn’t be anything new, given that anti-roma sentiments are about as european as the euro itself. from greece to portugal, across europe, throughout history roma communities have suffered the violent manifestations of racism and xenophobia. by the 16th century anti-roma legislation had become common place on the continent. in the france of the louis XIV roma were shaven and branded to distinguish them as a separate race, while in england they were expelled from the island or faced public hanging. in germany, roma were prohibited from trading or seeking shelter. and in what is today romania, hungary and bulgaria they were captured and sold into slavery, a practice that continued up to nearly the end of the 19th century. in 1912 the republican government of france passed a variety of different laws prohibiting vagrancy, but it wasn’t long before it became clear who was the real target of this legislation. the roma were forced to register with the government and received special identity cards defining them as nomads. following the first world war, french roma were herded into “special centers” (internment camps), and some were stripped of their citizenship. the fascist vichy government that followed continued along the same logic, collaborating with the nazis to send thousands of roma to death camps. the nazis had slated the roma for extinction, even before the formal extermination camps were opened. in 1933 the german government began a program of forced sterilization and prohibition of inter-marrying between roma and non-roma. at nuremburg, nazi defendants in quixotic logic justified their crimes against the roma by citing the innate criminal nature of the roma ‘race’. they claimed that the majority of roma sent to the concentration camps were sent there not because of their race but because of their criminal histories- huh?.