Upcoming Political Repression & Counterinsurgency Study Group
In case you missed it, we recently announced that we would be hosting a Political Repression and Counterinsurgency study group. We’re including a bit more info about the orientation, premise, and structure of the class below.
If you are interested in joining us, please register here. Once you register, you will receive the complete schedule and list of materials.
All are welcome to join — this study group is for a mass audience of people with differing levels of political engagement and knowledge, yet who nonetheless wish to stand against exclusion, exploitation, and degradation.
Feel free to reach out with any questions (info@lifeafterempire.org) and please — join us!
Schedule: This group will meet weekly on Wednesday evenings, beginning Dec. 4th from 7-8:30PM via zoom. Currently, we have planned for a three week course (meeting Dec. 4th, Dec. 11th, and Dec. 18th). Depending on interest, we may resume weekly meetings on Jan. 8th, 2025.
Purpose: We recognize that people are afraid, enraged, in despair and experiencing other intense emotions. Our task is to steel ourselves and support one another for the struggle of our lives. Unlike 2016, we must do more than resist. This time, the goal is to govern. Our only demands are to ourselves. The first of which is to understand the strategies, techniques, and historical precedents of the enemy’s repression – and to develop measures to overcome them.
The first three sessions of this study group will be broadly oriented around the following themes:
December 4th: Repression As Exclusion, Exploitation, and Degradation
December 11th: Repression vs. Resistance: Techniques & Case Studies
December 18th: How to Fracture Repression: Cultural Production and Democratic Methods
How to Prepare: For each week that we meet, a range of materials including academic articles, movies, music, poems, news articles, and other texts have been curated to provide a foundation and entry point for our shared inquiry. Additionally, every week we will provide resources on at least one focused case study that we will analyze using the tools and framework provided for that week. While you don’t need to read, watch, or listen to every single one of these to be able to participate each week, we suggest you select a few that capture your attention. Additionally, each week is framed with a topic and a series of questions – this provides a broad framework through which you should approach your preparation for our weekly meetings. All of the materials are hyperlinked in the schedule below.
Rules of Engagement: During our first meeting, we will discuss general rules of engagement as well as security protocols that we will be adhering to in this study group. However, After Empire operates this class with the belief that shared intellectual and political spaces should not be taken for granted – our time spent together is limited and should be appreciated as such. This study group is also a fundamentally social space – keep this in mind when participating in discussion (meaning, remember the purpose of the class as whole and orient yourself accordingly).
As such, the three primary principles that anchor us are as follows:
Care for each other: be concerned with the experiences of your fellow participants
Love each other: identify with and appreciate your fellow participants
Help each other: be willing to assist and sacrifice for your fellow participants
After Empire: This course is hosted and run by the After Empire Institute, a cultural apparatus and partisan think-tank. You can learn more about our work here. Our principles of unity include the following:
We unite with people around the world in their deep desire for peace.
We oppose wars that continue the politics of exploitation and oppression.
We owe no loyalty to the defenders of empire.
It is right to fight for liberation.
We will fight the real enemy.
We pledge to no longer simply resist, but to transform resistance into construction.
We pledge to forge a world beyond empire.