Bergþórugata 20, 101, Reykjavik andrymi@riseup.net

Discussion Workshop: Anarchism, Democracy and the Icelandic Constitution

An independently organised event.

Anarchism, Democracy and the Icelandic Constitution

In 2012 Iceland embarked on a process of rewriting its national constitution. Unlike many examples around the world where countries renew or change their constitutions, this was to be a ‘crowd-sourced’ constitution, with the people of Iceland having a more direct and participatory role in how the new constitution was to look. This discussion workshop will reflect on that process and ask what it means for something a process like writing a constitution to be genuinely democratic. How can people be actively involved? What barriers are there stopping certain people from taking part? How can those barriers be overcome. Drawing on anarchist ideas of democracy, the workshop builds on discussions with activists and others in Iceland to explore what it would take for participatory democracy to work properly.

The workshop takes place in English (interpretation by request) and is hosted by Dr. Thomas Swann:

“I completed my PhD at the University of Leicester School of Management in September 2015. Prior to that, I gained an MA in Social and Political Philosophy from Radboud University Nijmegen in 2010 and an MA in Philosophy from the University of Glasgow in 2008.
My research has examined the connections between anarchism and organisational cybernetics, aiming to develop ‘anarchist cybernetics’ as a framework for understanding radical left social movement organisation. More broadly, this included looking at the nature of autonomy in anarchist organisation, the relationship between tactics, strategy and grand strategy and the ways in which communication can be understood in a radical left context. An important element of this work focused on the notion of alternative social media.”

Accessibility:
The building is currently not wheelchair accessible, unfortunately, but it is our top priority to make it so.

There is a step before the garden gate and then 5 steps leading to the main entrance, each 17 cm high, door widths in the building vary between 50 cm (upstairs washroom door) and 80 cm (entrance door), and the washrooms are so far only on the upper floor and in the basement. The door to the meeting room is 75 cm wide (as most other doors in the building).
Both washrooms in the building are gender neutral.