The Circle of Autonomous Thought once again will be convening the annual encounter that has come to be known as ?Enero Autonomo? (Autonomous January), in which we will share experiences in the construction of new relations, to subvert those that the hegemonic system imposes on us.

We will come together between Thursday, January 12th and Sunday, January 15th of this coming year.? Thursday evening there will be registration, camping set up, self-organized guitar playing, food and rest to recuperate from the travels, Friday and Saturday will be work, Sunday the closing and farewell, song and promises.? It will take place in the same location as last year: Tucuy Paj, La Tablada, in the are of La Matanza, Buenos Aires, Argentina.? Be prepared to partake in food, cleaning and tidying of common spaces, absence of alcohol for the sake of living together in this space, bring tents and sleeping bags.

The financing of the encounter will depend on those of us who participate.? This year we are even more limited; it will be very hard to cover peoples? travel costs.? The website: http://www.pensamientoautonomo.org.ar will be available with all the details.

This year we will not be organizing around prepared themes for workshops.? We believe that the multiplicity of workshops creates a fragmentation of the space and of the relationships.? We propose several encounters, to devide ourselves in subgroups, in subthemes, and come back together in the evening.? Conversations can extend as long as necessary.? Spaces of knowledge, of recognition of people, of groups and efforts.? Spaces of possible coordination and articulation.

Our ideas for main themes of discussion for these encounters:

Some of us do not see each other from one January to another.? Nevertheless we know that we continue building ? as accomplices without knowing ? alternative paths to the central highway of the system.? Though knowing that ?the paths of autonomy are no what I expected,? we propose in this main theme that we reflect upon the general state of the paths that we are creating as we go.

The idea of social change tends to stitch together many of the practices in which we have become involved in.? Nevertheless, this resonates differently in each movement.? We propose that in this main theme to make a collective intelligence from that which unites us and that which differs in the construction of social change.

In these times in which the path of autonomy is an uphill battle, there is no lack of those who offer supposed shortcuts to make the hill less steep.? The populist winds throw around endorsements, subsidies, scholarships and tools creating divisions in within the movements who try to construct their own paths.? We propose in this main theme to think about the obstacles that we face when institutional negativity is brought into the movements.

The times in Latin America are no longer calm.? In the last part of this year there has been a lot of talk about our region and of the anxieties this represents for the US.? The newspapers are full of names of presidents but there is much silence about movements and their autonomous initiatives.? We propose in this main theme to create a view from below and to the left ? as the Zapatistas like to say ? of the situation in Latin America.

Various collectives/individuals can organize around these main themes and what the themes provoke.? There will surely be, in addition to these series, space for ?murga? (a traditional carnaval performance), for murals, for singing, for theater, which can take place at night or when proposed.

Circle of Autonomous Thought
Buenos Aires / Argentina