8 October-17 December 2014, bi-weekly on Wednesdays from 19:30-22:00 hrs, De Rooie Rat, Oudegracht 65, Utrecht,

Since May 2013, Casco – Office for Art, Design and Theory has been collaborating with Kritische Studenten Utrecht (KSU) on (Un)usual Business, a long-term research project on the commons, community economies, and practices of commoning. Within that framework, KSU is organizing their seventh participatory reading group: Rethinking the Commons–the world is our home, not your property.

In a time of increasing budget cuts that see the government effectively withdraw from the public sphere, the idea of the commons has resurfaced as a resource and form of community that can act as a prompt for other protocols, values, and norms.

But what exactly are the commons? Traditionally they refer to natural resources, such as air, water, or forests held in common. They now include elements of the cultural sphere such as the languages we speak and the knowledge we share. They are shared gifts, which we receive as members of a community and govern in common: a self-organized system whereby communities manage resources with minimal or no reliance on the market or the state. Those of us who have been self-organizing in common through community gardens, collective childcare, communal living, and other commoning practices are becoming more and more visible.

Can the commons really provide a viable alternative or a real challenge to our current economic system? Are they sustainable or will they be co-opted by the market? How can we make use of these practices to take charge of our own lives and our economic systems again?

Casco and KSU warmly invite you to think about these questions together. The reading group is participatory, self-organized, and free of charge. We collectively decide which subtopics to cover and literature to read by splitting up into groups. Each group organizes one of the sessions. The reading group is in English and runs from 8 October through 17 December, bi-weekly on Wednesday evenings from 19:30 until 22:00 hrs at the political bookshop De Rooie Rat located at Oudegracht 65 in Utrecht.

Do you want to participate? Please sign up here.

Casco
Office for Art, Design
and Theory

New address
Lange Nieuwstraat 7,
3512 PA Utrecht,
The Netherlands

T/F: +31 (0)30 231 9995
www.cascoprojects.org
info@cascoprojects.org

Office opening hours
Mon-Fri, 12:00-18:00 hrs