Counterinsurgency & Political Repression Study Group - JOIN US!
The Goal is to Govern.
With the outcome of the 2024 election, many people have expressed an interest in political action and organizing and are engaged in varying discussions regarding what is to be done. That’s a good thing. Yet, such action does not happen in a vacuum — reactionary repression and counterinsurgency are inevitable threats faced by both conscious political actors and marginalized communities more broadly. The more prepared we are to navigate reactionary repression together, the better.
Because of this, After Empire is leading a reading group on political repression and counterinsurgency. Although surveillance technology is a major tool of repression, we will be focusing on more insidious forms, particularly at the interpersonal, ideological, and institutional levels.
Through a mixture of movies, television, and book excerpts we will explore reactionary repression across political movements, households, sexuality, and other relevant contexts. Our objective is to prepare ourselves to recognize reactionary repression both when it is happening to us AND when we perpetuate it.
Additionally, we'll study contemporary repressive tactics, such as the crackdown on the Palestinian solidarity activists and the use of RICO to criminalize decentralized activist structures (Stop Cop City).
The group will begin meeting weekly on Wednesday evenings at 7PM CST via zoom starting December 4th. Please register at this link, and you’ll receive information in the next week or so to help you prepare for our first meeting. Come prepared to engaged in participatory collective study and discussion.
If you see people struggling with the fear and uncertainty of this moment, get them to this call. Share this post widely and let’s rise to the crisis with purposeful community.
Feel free to reach out with any questions (info@lifeafterempire.org) and please — join us!