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The Village Against The World
The story of a village that dreamed of a better future, and won. For the last thirty-five years the small Andalusian village of Marinaleda has been the centre of a tireless struggle to create a living utopia. Dan Hancox reveals the fascinating history of a community that seized the land owned by wealthy aristocrats in order to work it themselves.
Since the 1980s, led by the charismatic mayor, Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo, the villagers have been fighting for a better life. But as the economic crisis started to bite, how long could the utopia hold on to its dreams?
Since the 1980s, led by the charismatic mayor, Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo, the villagers have been fighting for a better life. But as the economic crisis started to bite, how long could the utopia hold on to its dreams?
252 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2013
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June 4, 2021
If you are mildly aware of Spanish culture and politics, I can summarize the book for you: there's a small town in Andalucía which has a somewhat cooperative-communist philosophy where everyone earns the same, work on two or three types of jobs (mostly agriculture) and does a bunch of things as a community (open air cinemas, festivals, parties). The book clearly agrees with the philosophy of the town Marinaleda, so don't expect an unbiased evaluation of the merits of cooperative communities. The book spends a lot of time introducing Spanish culture, so it was a bit boring to me. I guess the book could be interesting for someone with no knowledge on Spanish culture. Rather than a political book, its more like a travel diary of Spanish culture and Marinaleda town.
Two things caught my attention from Marinaleda. First, it is truly interesting how a single town can change the entire productive structure of a few thousand people, establishing a communist-like system where the politicians are volunteers and everybody earns the same. The shocking thing is not that this happens. The shocking thing is that this happens a few kilometers from other towns and cities which have full-fledged market-based economies. For some reason, I thought you couldn't (legally) forbid businesses from opening a store in your town yet they manage to keep all private business from outside the city. Just a nice contrast on the diversity of what local politics can achieve when done with a lot of effort. It would cool to find an opposite example: an extreme capitalist town in a heavily regulated country (but I guess a small town can't lower taxes).
Second, Marinaleda is not particularly profitable. I mean, they earn money for them to eat and have a house yet their public owned fields are not very profitable. In fact, after reading a bit on their budget, most of their budget comes from the Andalusian community, which they then redistribute among the workers. So all in all, the book fails to recognize more deeply that this 'utopia' is mainly possible because other people are paying taxes. Marinaleda is indeed not self-sustainable: if there's less money in Andalusia, there's less money for Marinaleda. When that happens, they strike or occupy some land or protest. Doesn't sound like a self-sustainable utopia for me.
Having said this, I do understand as well the desperate measures are needed when poverty strikes so hard, so some of the strategies by Sanchez Gordillo are interesting to raise awareness and grab attention.
On other thing: Gordillo should not confound capitalism as the source of any 'bad' in the country as opposed to the neglect, corrupt, lack of long-term planning and just plain incompetent politicians that a country has. To make the example even more interesting, the UK (where Dan Hancox is from) is much more capitalist the Spain yet their experience of the 2008 crisis was not nearly as bad in Spain.
Take any of the top 10 richest countries in the world (WITH worldwide acceptable levels of inequality, mostly Scandinavians, Australia, Canada, Germany) and all of these countries have strong market-based economies together with strong welfare-states. My problem with the left-wing utopia rhetoric is that it's based more on emotions rather than careful thought, negotiation and openness to accept things that you don't want for the benefit of long-term solutions.
Spain needs long-term solutions with competent politicians which are not afraid to make coalitions with everyone, as long as everyone is concerned with fixing problems, coming up with solutions and less with fighting and screaming louder than the others. Less taking sides w/ right/left groups and more thinking about finding solutions to problems in the long term.
Two things caught my attention from Marinaleda. First, it is truly interesting how a single town can change the entire productive structure of a few thousand people, establishing a communist-like system where the politicians are volunteers and everybody earns the same. The shocking thing is not that this happens. The shocking thing is that this happens a few kilometers from other towns and cities which have full-fledged market-based economies. For some reason, I thought you couldn't (legally) forbid businesses from opening a store in your town yet they manage to keep all private business from outside the city. Just a nice contrast on the diversity of what local politics can achieve when done with a lot of effort. It would cool to find an opposite example: an extreme capitalist town in a heavily regulated country (but I guess a small town can't lower taxes).
Second, Marinaleda is not particularly profitable. I mean, they earn money for them to eat and have a house yet their public owned fields are not very profitable. In fact, after reading a bit on their budget, most of their budget comes from the Andalusian community, which they then redistribute among the workers. So all in all, the book fails to recognize more deeply that this 'utopia' is mainly possible because other people are paying taxes. Marinaleda is indeed not self-sustainable: if there's less money in Andalusia, there's less money for Marinaleda. When that happens, they strike or occupy some land or protest. Doesn't sound like a self-sustainable utopia for me.
Having said this, I do understand as well the desperate measures are needed when poverty strikes so hard, so some of the strategies by Sanchez Gordillo are interesting to raise awareness and grab attention.
On other thing: Gordillo should not confound capitalism as the source of any 'bad' in the country as opposed to the neglect, corrupt, lack of long-term planning and just plain incompetent politicians that a country has. To make the example even more interesting, the UK (where Dan Hancox is from) is much more capitalist the Spain yet their experience of the 2008 crisis was not nearly as bad in Spain.
Take any of the top 10 richest countries in the world (WITH worldwide acceptable levels of inequality, mostly Scandinavians, Australia, Canada, Germany) and all of these countries have strong market-based economies together with strong welfare-states. My problem with the left-wing utopia rhetoric is that it's based more on emotions rather than careful thought, negotiation and openness to accept things that you don't want for the benefit of long-term solutions.
Spain needs long-term solutions with competent politicians which are not afraid to make coalitions with everyone, as long as everyone is concerned with fixing problems, coming up with solutions and less with fighting and screaming louder than the others. Less taking sides w/ right/left groups and more thinking about finding solutions to problems in the long term.
December 28, 2015
This is a fabulous book, really uplifting and a great story of a group of people who did something rather than wait (and hope) for change.
I read the book looking for clues that this was a project that could be replicated elsewhere but the author makes it clear that the unique historical reasons for its success in Marinaleda makes it unlikely that it will be repeated anywhere around the world. In fact the independent history and evolution of the pueblos of Andalusia means that it is not likely even to be repeated in the next town along, let alone in the US or UK. This is sad because I can think of many towns in the Midwest that have been socially and economically, not to mention geographically, isolated and that would make great petri dishes for this sort of experimentation - we just don't have the historical stresses to pull it off, not that it would be allowed to happen anyway.
This is less a book about ideologies and more about people grouping together and taking control of their own destiny and as such it's very easy to see why the people of Marinaleda scare the corporate elites so much.
I read the book looking for clues that this was a project that could be replicated elsewhere but the author makes it clear that the unique historical reasons for its success in Marinaleda makes it unlikely that it will be repeated anywhere around the world. In fact the independent history and evolution of the pueblos of Andalusia means that it is not likely even to be repeated in the next town along, let alone in the US or UK. This is sad because I can think of many towns in the Midwest that have been socially and economically, not to mention geographically, isolated and that would make great petri dishes for this sort of experimentation - we just don't have the historical stresses to pull it off, not that it would be allowed to happen anyway.
This is less a book about ideologies and more about people grouping together and taking control of their own destiny and as such it's very easy to see why the people of Marinaleda scare the corporate elites so much.
December 29, 2013
The Village Against the World is an important book in these times when the Indignados in Spain and the Occupy Movement across the world are looking for evidence that social autonomy is possible. It is anarchy in that the village pays little attention to the central power structure. I live in Spain and daily I see the fascists putting through their laws - public order acts, anti-abortion acts - we are heading back into Franco times. The village of Marinaleda gives us hope that we can claim back our autonomy in spite of the centralised power structure. And while the fascists in power enact their limited and fear-based beliefs, the news is wall-to-wall corruption stories about those same people.
As well as allowing us a look into what social autonomy could look like, the book is thorough, well written and contains insights into the past in Spain.
As well as allowing us a look into what social autonomy could look like, the book is thorough, well written and contains insights into the past in Spain.
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August 7, 2023“The Village Against The World” by Dan Hancox is a journalistic account of the recent history of Marinaleda, a village in southern Spain organized around anarcho-communist principles. The book is part travel-diary, part historical narrative, part portrait of Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo, the first elected mayor, who has played a central role in all the village’s struggles, starting from the 1980 hunger strike against hunger. What they call “la lucha” consisted of multiple strikes and land occupations, arrests and tireless years of protest to ask for a significant part of land to work on. Surrounding lands belonged to nobility, who would either leave them ‘idle’ or plant labour light crops, thus leaving most of the people unemployed.
“Sweat has ravaged us. Some wring out their shirts - this is the sauna of the poor.” said Sánchez Gordillo, in an account of how it was to maintain a hunger strike in august, in scorching heat. Demands were discussed in general assemblies, and children had voting rights as well, because they, too, participated in the hunger strike. In 1991, their dedication prevailed, achieving a sort of land reform from below, through pacifist direct action. They began cultivating labour-intensive crops, choosing beans and broccoli and other vegetables that could be processed, to create a secondary (canning) industry. In time the village developed its own sort of non-religious holidays and traditions, such as Red Sunday, a day of community work for the city (public cleaning, landscaping, etc.). More recently, in 2012, another occupation took place, of land belonging to the Ministry of Defence. In response to the economic crises, they targeted two major chain store supermarkets in Andalusia, taking food and giving it to evicted families in Seville. The book is open ended, as can be - the village is facing new crises and not doing too well. Moreover, too much of it has depended on Sánchez Gordillo, who remained mayor since the ‘80.
Finally, many things can be learned from Marinaleda, this sort of oasis in the middle of a capitalist desert. For example, strikes work, if you are relentless, and if the context is right. Another thing: new problems will arise. And another: there is always some goal you can’t reach, as long as you live under neoliberalism. Still, the story of the village is inspiring.
“Sweat has ravaged us. Some wring out their shirts - this is the sauna of the poor.” said Sánchez Gordillo, in an account of how it was to maintain a hunger strike in august, in scorching heat. Demands were discussed in general assemblies, and children had voting rights as well, because they, too, participated in the hunger strike. In 1991, their dedication prevailed, achieving a sort of land reform from below, through pacifist direct action. They began cultivating labour-intensive crops, choosing beans and broccoli and other vegetables that could be processed, to create a secondary (canning) industry. In time the village developed its own sort of non-religious holidays and traditions, such as Red Sunday, a day of community work for the city (public cleaning, landscaping, etc.). More recently, in 2012, another occupation took place, of land belonging to the Ministry of Defence. In response to the economic crises, they targeted two major chain store supermarkets in Andalusia, taking food and giving it to evicted families in Seville. The book is open ended, as can be - the village is facing new crises and not doing too well. Moreover, too much of it has depended on Sánchez Gordillo, who remained mayor since the ‘80.
Finally, many things can be learned from Marinaleda, this sort of oasis in the middle of a capitalist desert. For example, strikes work, if you are relentless, and if the context is right. Another thing: new problems will arise. And another: there is always some goal you can’t reach, as long as you live under neoliberalism. Still, the story of the village is inspiring.
July 16, 2019
Elsket denne boken, ikke fordi den er perfekt skrevet, men fordi den viser at en annen samfunnsorganisering er mulig - også i dag! Marinaleda er en utopisk landsby som gjennom direkte, ikke-voldelige aksjoner gikk til angrep på et system som holder folk fattige og sultende. De var bønder, men alle jordene rundt var eid av adel og sto delvis ubrukt. Hvis de prøvde å dyrke jorden for mat, ble de banket opp av Guardia Civil. Til slutt begynte de å demonstrere - mot den grunnleggende urettferdigheten om at de sultet, mens adelsmannen som eier jordet ved siden av huset deres, ikke engang gadd å dyrke jorden der. Eiendomsrett kan ikke trumfe menneskeliv på denne måten.
October 30, 2013
Dan Hancox has managed to keep this really topical and up to date. At times the discussion of the wider relevance of Marianleda stretched a little thin but some of his analysis of Spanish economic and social history and the current crisis was great; pithy and well informed. I most enjoyed the many parts where he was eating and drinking with The People and immersing himself in the fascinating and vibrant village he brilliantly compares to Asterix's village. Made me want to found a Camberwell Popular Front- Power to The People!
December 4, 2018
Ütopyalar; gerçekleşmesi imkansız şeyler değil, insanların sahip olduğu, mücadele ile gerçeğe dönüştürülmesi gereken en asil düşlerdir.
Huzur düşümüz; mezarlığın huzuru değil, eşitliğin huzurudur.
Toplumun aç gözlü piyasa karşısında boyun eğmemesi mümkündür. Emekle üretilen değerlerin nasıl dağıtıldığını sorgulamayı sürdürmek son derece geçerli bir ödevdir.
Gramsci’nin “kültürel hegemonya” dediği şeyi ele geçirmek için devrimci pedagoji uygulamak can alıcı önem taşır.
Karl Polanyi: “Bizim çağımızdan önce piyasanın kontrol ettiği hiç bir ekonomi mevcut değildir.”
“Ekonomi toplumsal ilişkilere katılacağına, toplumsal ilişkiler ekonomiye katılmaktadır.”
“Ortalama ömür beklentisinin artışı hiç kuşkusuz emeğin bir zaferidir“.
Oppenheim: Bedenlerle birlikte açlıktan ölüyor yürekler de, ekmek verin bize, fakat gül de.
Jose Marti: “Özgürlük dilenilmez. Kan ve palayla fethedilir.”
Gordillo: Seferber olalım, örgütlenelim, payımıza düşen ekmeği ve gülü elimizden almalarına, çalmalarına izin vermeyelim.
Hiç kimse bizi durduramaz. Günün birinde herkesin toprağa, haklara ve elbette özgürlüğe kavuşmasını, ne kan dökerek ne de duvarlar dikerek engelleyebilirler .
Endülüslüler; Ayağa kalkın. Göç etmeyin, mücadele edin.
Pueblo, İspanya’da; köy, kasaba, hatta kent ve aynı zamanda halk anlamına gelen olağanüstü bir kelimedir. Köy demek onun halkı demektir. Nereye giderseniz gidin pueblonun evladısınızdır, bunu asla yitirmezsiniz.
İspanyol Pueblosu’nun sosyal merkezi sokaklardır.
Endülüs Pueblosu tarih boyunca otoriteyi reddetmiştir. Pueblo plepler demektir, potansiyel olarak devrimci bir güçtür.
İktidar, dokunulmasını istemediği bir şeyine dokunulduğunda şiddet kullanır. Bujuvazi, demokrasi yanlısıdır, ama demokrasi, elini onun cebine atarsa demokratlığı derhal bırakır, üstünüze polis salar, savaş açar, darbe tezgahlar. Vicdan azabı duygusu yoktur, barıştan bahseder, savaş yapar. Seçkinler iktadarı da, bu seçkinler kendilerine solcu dese bile daima tiranlıktır.
Endülüs kişiliğinde, anarşizme meyleden içsel radikalizmi açıklayan unsur, yoksullukdan ziyade, servet dağılımındaki tezattır.
Marinaleda İşçi Birliği Kolektifi; ne geleneksel komünist, ne Marksist/Leninist, ne Troçkist ne de Maoist bir harekettir. “Sağdan ya da soldan değil, en dipten geliyor en tepeye gidiyoruz”.
Marinaleda’da kolektif enerjiden doğan gayretin tam ortasında belediye başkanı durur. Liderlerden hiç hazzetmemesine karşın, kendisi halk gücü için basit bir kanaldan fazlasıdır. Nasıl ki pueblosu ona yol gösteriyorsa, tarifsiz karizmasıyla o da pueblosuna yol gösterir.
Gordillo: Eğer dünyada tırnak kadar adalet olsaydı, büyük bankacılar ve bunların yürüttüğü ekonomik teröre izin veren hükümetler cezaevlerinde olurdu. Krize neden olanlarla, onu düzeltmek isteyenler aynıdır, kundakçı ve itfaiyeci rolü oynarlar.
İnsanlar artık o parti, bu partiyi umursamıyor. Mevcut sistemi, kapitalist olmayan, merkezine insanı alan organizasyonların bulunduğu yenisiyle değiştirmek istiyor.
Gordillo: Amacımız kar değil iş üretmektir. Felsefemiz geç kapitalizmin “etkinlik” vurgusunun aksi yönündedir. Etkinlik; neoliberalizmin lügatında kutsal seviyeye yükseltilen hisse senedi sunağında, insan onurunun kurban edildiği gerçeğini karartmak için kullanılan, utanç verici kelimedir. Paradan başka şeyler için çalışabileceğimizi kanıtlamak, tek başına kapitalizmi yıkmaya yönelik bir edimdir.
Köyümüzde polis ve silah istemiyoruz ve yoktur da.
Kilisemiz vardır ama rahibimiz yoktur, rahipler tehlikelidir.
Marinaleda’da; kimse mülk üzerinden sermaye biriktirmez, konut üzerinden spekülasyon ile kar elde etmez. Teorik olarak bütün evler kooperatife aittir, ancak oturanlar evlerini düzenlemek, yenilemek istediğinde kimse buna engel olmaz.
Besin bir haktır, ticaret konusu değildir. Dünya ticaret örgütünün yetki alanını dışındadır. Tıpkı hava ya da su gibi, toprak da doğanın bir hediyesidir.
Huzur düşümüz; mezarlığın huzuru değil, eşitliğin huzurudur.
Toplumun aç gözlü piyasa karşısında boyun eğmemesi mümkündür. Emekle üretilen değerlerin nasıl dağıtıldığını sorgulamayı sürdürmek son derece geçerli bir ödevdir.
Gramsci’nin “kültürel hegemonya” dediği şeyi ele geçirmek için devrimci pedagoji uygulamak can alıcı önem taşır.
Karl Polanyi: “Bizim çağımızdan önce piyasanın kontrol ettiği hiç bir ekonomi mevcut değildir.”
“Ekonomi toplumsal ilişkilere katılacağına, toplumsal ilişkiler ekonomiye katılmaktadır.”
“Ortalama ömür beklentisinin artışı hiç kuşkusuz emeğin bir zaferidir“.
Oppenheim: Bedenlerle birlikte açlıktan ölüyor yürekler de, ekmek verin bize, fakat gül de.
Jose Marti: “Özgürlük dilenilmez. Kan ve palayla fethedilir.”
Gordillo: Seferber olalım, örgütlenelim, payımıza düşen ekmeği ve gülü elimizden almalarına, çalmalarına izin vermeyelim.
Hiç kimse bizi durduramaz. Günün birinde herkesin toprağa, haklara ve elbette özgürlüğe kavuşmasını, ne kan dökerek ne de duvarlar dikerek engelleyebilirler .
Endülüslüler; Ayağa kalkın. Göç etmeyin, mücadele edin.
Pueblo, İspanya’da; köy, kasaba, hatta kent ve aynı zamanda halk anlamına gelen olağanüstü bir kelimedir. Köy demek onun halkı demektir. Nereye giderseniz gidin pueblonun evladısınızdır, bunu asla yitirmezsiniz.
İspanyol Pueblosu’nun sosyal merkezi sokaklardır.
Endülüs Pueblosu tarih boyunca otoriteyi reddetmiştir. Pueblo plepler demektir, potansiyel olarak devrimci bir güçtür.
İktidar, dokunulmasını istemediği bir şeyine dokunulduğunda şiddet kullanır. Bujuvazi, demokrasi yanlısıdır, ama demokrasi, elini onun cebine atarsa demokratlığı derhal bırakır, üstünüze polis salar, savaş açar, darbe tezgahlar. Vicdan azabı duygusu yoktur, barıştan bahseder, savaş yapar. Seçkinler iktadarı da, bu seçkinler kendilerine solcu dese bile daima tiranlıktır.
Endülüs kişiliğinde, anarşizme meyleden içsel radikalizmi açıklayan unsur, yoksullukdan ziyade, servet dağılımındaki tezattır.
Marinaleda İşçi Birliği Kolektifi; ne geleneksel komünist, ne Marksist/Leninist, ne Troçkist ne de Maoist bir harekettir. “Sağdan ya da soldan değil, en dipten geliyor en tepeye gidiyoruz”.
Marinaleda’da kolektif enerjiden doğan gayretin tam ortasında belediye başkanı durur. Liderlerden hiç hazzetmemesine karşın, kendisi halk gücü için basit bir kanaldan fazlasıdır. Nasıl ki pueblosu ona yol gösteriyorsa, tarifsiz karizmasıyla o da pueblosuna yol gösterir.
Gordillo: Eğer dünyada tırnak kadar adalet olsaydı, büyük bankacılar ve bunların yürüttüğü ekonomik teröre izin veren hükümetler cezaevlerinde olurdu. Krize neden olanlarla, onu düzeltmek isteyenler aynıdır, kundakçı ve itfaiyeci rolü oynarlar.
İnsanlar artık o parti, bu partiyi umursamıyor. Mevcut sistemi, kapitalist olmayan, merkezine insanı alan organizasyonların bulunduğu yenisiyle değiştirmek istiyor.
Gordillo: Amacımız kar değil iş üretmektir. Felsefemiz geç kapitalizmin “etkinlik” vurgusunun aksi yönündedir. Etkinlik; neoliberalizmin lügatında kutsal seviyeye yükseltilen hisse senedi sunağında, insan onurunun kurban edildiği gerçeğini karartmak için kullanılan, utanç verici kelimedir. Paradan başka şeyler için çalışabileceğimizi kanıtlamak, tek başına kapitalizmi yıkmaya yönelik bir edimdir.
Köyümüzde polis ve silah istemiyoruz ve yoktur da.
Kilisemiz vardır ama rahibimiz yoktur, rahipler tehlikelidir.
Marinaleda’da; kimse mülk üzerinden sermaye biriktirmez, konut üzerinden spekülasyon ile kar elde etmez. Teorik olarak bütün evler kooperatife aittir, ancak oturanlar evlerini düzenlemek, yenilemek istediğinde kimse buna engel olmaz.
Besin bir haktır, ticaret konusu değildir. Dünya ticaret örgütünün yetki alanını dışındadır. Tıpkı hava ya da su gibi, toprak da doğanın bir hediyesidir.
November 9, 2013
In the 1980s, perhaps in reaction against the suffocating atmosphere of Thatcher’s Britain, there was a tremendous appetite for knowledge about and if possible direct contact with inspiring political and social movements in other countries. Many seemed to offer hope for the kind of progressive change that no longer seemed possible in the UK. With someone who quickly became a friend, Rhys Evans, I worked to establish a link with one of those. We jointly helped form the relationship that still exists between our city of Leicester and the town of Masaya in Nicaragua, following separate visits we both made to see the early fruits of the 1979 Sandinista revolution.
Among the various projects that we began to pursue, one that Rhys inspired and brought to fruition was a trip to Masaya by a brigade of young people that took place in 1988. But Rhys’s interest in particular had widened beyond Nicaragua to take in various other struggles for autonomy, one of which was taking place in Andalucía, Spain’s most south-western province.
We jointly paid a short visit there to see the activities of a rural trade union, called the SOC (‘Sindicato de Obreros del Campo’), which was trying to take over largely unused farmland on the huge estates owned by Spanish landed gentry such as the Duchess of Alba. They wanted this land to benefit the poor day labourers who had no fixed work and were paid pitiful wages in a region where most employment depended on these absent aristocrats. We met their leader Diego Cañamera, a quietly inspiring character who was under threat of imprisonment for organising the land takeovers. We visited a model farm where the SOC was already attempting to practice what it preached, and was to feature as an experience in the development of the young people’s brigade just mentioned, who would go there to help clear fields and learn from the farm labourers’ political journey.
A year or two later I made another trip to Andalucía, again to visit the SOC and catch up on their political work. I was able to visit the small village of Marinaleda, where a SOC member, Juan Manuel Gordillo, had successfully become mayor and had begun to transform the community. I recall particularly the self-build housing scheme, where local people could get land and materials and, under instruction, build their own very attractive houses for monthly repayments of (what is now) only 15 euros. I visited several delighted housebuilders and occupants.
I have often since wondered what became of the SOC, its leaders, and the village of Marinaleda. The answers are provided in this new book, The Village against the World, by Dan Hancox, who has spent much time there on several different visits and clearly now knows the village and its people very well. Remarkably, Gordillo is still mayor after 34 years; although, according to Hancox, showing signs of strain, in part because he and the village have been cast in new roles since the financial crisis and the emergence of Spain’s indignados. Suddenly, Marinaleda gained new relevance as an example that had bucked the capitalist trend, a trend that had failed even more spectacularly in Spain (and of course Greece) than in the rest of Europe. Protestors and journalists had beaten a path to the village and Gordillo had become a political celebrity. This wasn’t just because of the history, but because the SOC (now reborn as the wider Andalucía Workers’ Union) has engaged in new forms of civil disobedience, taking over banks and peacefully raiding supermarkets to take away food to distribute to those who now can’t afford to buy it.
It is a remarkable story, even more so to someone who had a small taste of it near its beginning. Marinaleda stands out as an example, albeit one yet to be repeated even in adjoining villages and towns, and in a Spain that nevertheless elected a right-wing government last time round. Hancox gives us a well-written and entertaining story, albeit one that is light on criticism (and has singularly misleading cover drawing of the ‘village’).
The limitations of what has really been achieved were to me highlighted by one of the subjects on which Hancox focuses: land reform and agricultural labour practices. On our first visit so long ago, Rhys and I were struck by the virtually feudal means of conscripting labour that then existed, not long after the end of Franco’s dictatorship. Labourers would present themselves for work on a daily basis, a number would be selected and the rest would return to their homes. Pay was extremely low, but the selection system also determined who was eligible for the even lower unemployment payments that were in theory available. Anyone who had not worked a certain number of days wasn’t eligible: this of course meant that trade union members and other troublemakers, who were never picked for work, were virtually penniless.
Incredibly, something like this system still obtains in the region, albeit that the trade union has succeeded in reducing its harshness. And of course, in the rest of the world, labour practices have regressed towards the model of rural Andalucía, with the introduction of zero-hour contracts and other horrors of neo-liberalism. It’s great news that Marinaleda survives and still inspires, but we need so many more examples of its kind.
Among the various projects that we began to pursue, one that Rhys inspired and brought to fruition was a trip to Masaya by a brigade of young people that took place in 1988. But Rhys’s interest in particular had widened beyond Nicaragua to take in various other struggles for autonomy, one of which was taking place in Andalucía, Spain’s most south-western province.
We jointly paid a short visit there to see the activities of a rural trade union, called the SOC (‘Sindicato de Obreros del Campo’), which was trying to take over largely unused farmland on the huge estates owned by Spanish landed gentry such as the Duchess of Alba. They wanted this land to benefit the poor day labourers who had no fixed work and were paid pitiful wages in a region where most employment depended on these absent aristocrats. We met their leader Diego Cañamera, a quietly inspiring character who was under threat of imprisonment for organising the land takeovers. We visited a model farm where the SOC was already attempting to practice what it preached, and was to feature as an experience in the development of the young people’s brigade just mentioned, who would go there to help clear fields and learn from the farm labourers’ political journey.
A year or two later I made another trip to Andalucía, again to visit the SOC and catch up on their political work. I was able to visit the small village of Marinaleda, where a SOC member, Juan Manuel Gordillo, had successfully become mayor and had begun to transform the community. I recall particularly the self-build housing scheme, where local people could get land and materials and, under instruction, build their own very attractive houses for monthly repayments of (what is now) only 15 euros. I visited several delighted housebuilders and occupants.
I have often since wondered what became of the SOC, its leaders, and the village of Marinaleda. The answers are provided in this new book, The Village against the World, by Dan Hancox, who has spent much time there on several different visits and clearly now knows the village and its people very well. Remarkably, Gordillo is still mayor after 34 years; although, according to Hancox, showing signs of strain, in part because he and the village have been cast in new roles since the financial crisis and the emergence of Spain’s indignados. Suddenly, Marinaleda gained new relevance as an example that had bucked the capitalist trend, a trend that had failed even more spectacularly in Spain (and of course Greece) than in the rest of Europe. Protestors and journalists had beaten a path to the village and Gordillo had become a political celebrity. This wasn’t just because of the history, but because the SOC (now reborn as the wider Andalucía Workers’ Union) has engaged in new forms of civil disobedience, taking over banks and peacefully raiding supermarkets to take away food to distribute to those who now can’t afford to buy it.
It is a remarkable story, even more so to someone who had a small taste of it near its beginning. Marinaleda stands out as an example, albeit one yet to be repeated even in adjoining villages and towns, and in a Spain that nevertheless elected a right-wing government last time round. Hancox gives us a well-written and entertaining story, albeit one that is light on criticism (and has singularly misleading cover drawing of the ‘village’).
The limitations of what has really been achieved were to me highlighted by one of the subjects on which Hancox focuses: land reform and agricultural labour practices. On our first visit so long ago, Rhys and I were struck by the virtually feudal means of conscripting labour that then existed, not long after the end of Franco’s dictatorship. Labourers would present themselves for work on a daily basis, a number would be selected and the rest would return to their homes. Pay was extremely low, but the selection system also determined who was eligible for the even lower unemployment payments that were in theory available. Anyone who had not worked a certain number of days wasn’t eligible: this of course meant that trade union members and other troublemakers, who were never picked for work, were virtually penniless.
Incredibly, something like this system still obtains in the region, albeit that the trade union has succeeded in reducing its harshness. And of course, in the rest of the world, labour practices have regressed towards the model of rural Andalucía, with the introduction of zero-hour contracts and other horrors of neo-liberalism. It’s great news that Marinaleda survives and still inspires, but we need so many more examples of its kind.
September 12, 2023
Extremely inspiring, this book found me just at the right time and place. Didn’t know this was happening in Spain and it filled me with hope for all the indignado/as and the rural communities of Spain. Book was very self aware and careful to not show bias and paint the village as a straight up utopia (which it isn’t)
January 6, 2014
A flourishing communist endeavor in crisis bitten capitalist and royalist Spain, what can be a better subject for a successful journalist from the Guardian? I don't quite know, but I hope there are some, because this book by Hancox was a severe disappointment.
Hancox writing style and story-line are rather tiring, there's no chronological or other order with regards to the chapter outline, nor within the chapters. There's a lot of jumping back and forth, with as logical consequence both omissions and repetitions all over the place. The most disturbing, however, is the lack of objectivity towards Marinaleda's major, Gordillo. Without doubt a charismatic leader, his flaws and political scheming are either not discussed at all, or brushed aside.
When one reads between the lines, and does some further research, it turns out that the success of Marinaleda rather depends on governments subsidies than the collective farm and associated collective industries that employ most of the village citizens. As briefly mentioned in the book, work at the farm of industries depends on active participation on unpaid Red-Sunday labor for the 'collective good'.
Many of the practices described in the book are a more than subtle reminder of a Stalinist society (fortunately without the Gulags, but with the intimidation). And indeed, the book seems to fit in nicely as Stalinist propaganda.
Hancox writing style and story-line are rather tiring, there's no chronological or other order with regards to the chapter outline, nor within the chapters. There's a lot of jumping back and forth, with as logical consequence both omissions and repetitions all over the place. The most disturbing, however, is the lack of objectivity towards Marinaleda's major, Gordillo. Without doubt a charismatic leader, his flaws and political scheming are either not discussed at all, or brushed aside.
When one reads between the lines, and does some further research, it turns out that the success of Marinaleda rather depends on governments subsidies than the collective farm and associated collective industries that employ most of the village citizens. As briefly mentioned in the book, work at the farm of industries depends on active participation on unpaid Red-Sunday labor for the 'collective good'.
Many of the practices described in the book are a more than subtle reminder of a Stalinist society (fortunately without the Gulags, but with the intimidation). And indeed, the book seems to fit in nicely as Stalinist propaganda.
September 25, 2014
Throughout the first third I found it a bit of a tiresome read, mainly because I missed some structure. It felt a bit like going on Dan Hancox' stream of thoughts while looking for hints to construct an image of Marinaleda in my mind. All in all it is a personal insight into this peculiar village, wrapped up with sprinkles of Spain's recent history. I found these passages and the moments when Hancox achieves a more critical distance the most interesting bits. All in all still an interesting read.
August 28, 2015
This is a clear eyed but inspirational account of one Andalusian village's struggle to win the land back from the local latifundistas, work that land for the good of all in the village, and attempt to create a living utopia in a period spanning post-Franco reconstruction to the current global economic crisis. Hancox writes in a lucid, approachable journalistic style: clearly under the spell of the village and its charismatic mayor, but stylistically free from sentimentality, jargon, cliches and frills: I suspect that Orwell would have approved, and on several levels.
January 4, 2023
Este libro cuenta las vivencias del crítico cultural británico Dan Hancox en su paso por Marinaleda. Una mezcla de trabajo periodístico de exploración, humor, historia reciente de España y análisis crítico a fin de dar a conocer el “milagro” de Marinaleda y narrar los rasgos utópicos de su realidad desde dentro. Es el único libro exhaustivo en inglés sobre el tema y ya solo por eso merecería la pena acercarse.
El trabajo de investigación que hay detrás es importante, aunque a veces dé la impresión de estar un poco camuflado con anécdotas y observaciones medio improvisadas. En todo caso, creo que Hancox consigue explicar de manera bastante fiel el carácter histórico del pueblo andaluz y su relación de lucha constante contra el poder establecido (tanto dentro de su propia comunidad como en el contexto de la “España” unificada a la fuerza tras la destrucción de la Segunda República). Un libro muy interesante a tener en cuenta si uno quiere acercarse a comprender cómo un experimento social de tal magnitud (una comunidad basada en la solidaridad, la mentalidad anticapitalista y la libertad), dentro de un mundo como el nuestro, ha podido triunfar y mantenerse en el tiempo de manera ejemplar (sin mayores contratiempos que el resto de pueblos de similar tamaño, la mayoría de veces incluso menos).
Marinaleda es un caso de estudio maravilloso para cualquier investigador afanado por enfrentarse al famoso paradigma TINA (There Is No Alternative), el eslógan thatcherista que sigue resonando en la conciencia de la mayoría de los que vivimos en un mundo gobernado por el Realismo Capitalista (en términos de Mark Fisher), tanto por los que se encuentran a favor del mismo como por los que se devanan los sesos intentando superarlo. Con la amenaza representada por la catástrofe climática y la tambaleante agonía del capitalismo financiero se revela más urgente que nunca tener elementos que ayuden a pensar en alternativas o, como mínimo, a ser capaces de problematizarlas.
El trabajo de investigación que hay detrás es importante, aunque a veces dé la impresión de estar un poco camuflado con anécdotas y observaciones medio improvisadas. En todo caso, creo que Hancox consigue explicar de manera bastante fiel el carácter histórico del pueblo andaluz y su relación de lucha constante contra el poder establecido (tanto dentro de su propia comunidad como en el contexto de la “España” unificada a la fuerza tras la destrucción de la Segunda República). Un libro muy interesante a tener en cuenta si uno quiere acercarse a comprender cómo un experimento social de tal magnitud (una comunidad basada en la solidaridad, la mentalidad anticapitalista y la libertad), dentro de un mundo como el nuestro, ha podido triunfar y mantenerse en el tiempo de manera ejemplar (sin mayores contratiempos que el resto de pueblos de similar tamaño, la mayoría de veces incluso menos).
Marinaleda es un caso de estudio maravilloso para cualquier investigador afanado por enfrentarse al famoso paradigma TINA (There Is No Alternative), el eslógan thatcherista que sigue resonando en la conciencia de la mayoría de los que vivimos en un mundo gobernado por el Realismo Capitalista (en términos de Mark Fisher), tanto por los que se encuentran a favor del mismo como por los que se devanan los sesos intentando superarlo. Con la amenaza representada por la catástrofe climática y la tambaleante agonía del capitalismo financiero se revela más urgente que nunca tener elementos que ayuden a pensar en alternativas o, como mínimo, a ser capaces de problematizarlas.
July 12, 2020
This is the story, extremely well told by Dan Hancox, of a small (2700 people) pueblo that struggled and won its autonomy as an anti-authoritarian anarchist (it has been labeled "communist" by many; it is definitely, healthily anti-capitalist) community within the region of Andalusia, Spain in the 1980s, an autonomy that it maintains to this day. Hancox spent a good deal of time in the pueblo, talking with its citizens, hearing all sides of the history and present day perceptions of the village, its horizontal governing council, and its controversial leader and mayor, Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo. We see the potential flaws in the design and the execution of this socio-political experiment, but I came away with the sense that, even when guided by a strong, charismatic leader like Sánchez Gordillo, a village can organize and govern itself in opposition to capitalism without succumbing to authoritarianism.
February 24, 2020
A riposte to "there is no alternative!", the story of Marinaleda deserves to be told as a living counterbalance to the accepted norms of our western capitalistic society, at least for small communities. This book is not in the same league of investigative journalism/personal experience as Orwell's Homage to Catalunya but it seems Hancox made a great effort to get to the bottom of the village's soul. Would he have been up there with Orwell if the Guardia Civil had shot him through the voicebox? Perhaps not, as Orwell was living the history at the same time as an active participant. Hancox was never part of the project although that shouldn't be expected unless you aim to write one of the great books of all time! The result isn't so but it does provide, nonetheless a fairly thorough background and first-hand experience of Marinaleda, her inhabitants and her struggle.
January 31, 2018
"Eğer dünyada tırnak kadar adalet olsaydı, büyük bankacılar ve bunların yürüttüğü ekonomik teröre izin veren hükümetler cezaevinde olurdu. Üstelik krize neden olanlar ile şimdi onu düzeltmek isteyenler aynı insanlar. Kundakçı - itfaiyeci rolü oynamak istiyorlar."
Bu sözlerin sahibidir Juan Manuel Sanchez Gordillo; belediye başkanı olduğu 2700 nüfuslu Marinaleda köyünde sözle değil, eylemle, işgalle, grevle, mücadeleyle "başka bir dünyayı mümkün" kılan, Che Guevara'nın, Hugo Chavez'in, Salvador Allende'nin izinde; Che tarzı sakalı ve Filistin bayrağı desenli fularıyla Endülüslü bir modern zaman Robin Hood'u... Kendisine Robin Hood denmesi boşuna değil, ki buna daha sonra değineceğim. Öncelikle Marinaleda'ya ve öyküsüne kısaca bir bakalım.
General Franco'nun ölümünün ardından 30 sene boyunca mücadele vermiş bir Endülüs kasabasıdır Marinaleda. Köyün mücadelesine öncülük eden Gordillo, zamanla bir sendika ve siyasi parti kurmuş, toprak ve özgürlük mücadelesini de partisinin ana politikası olarak belirlemiştir. Bu uğurda havalimanları ve tren garlarını, hükümet binalarını, çiftlikleri ve sarayları işgal edip, açlık grevlerine gitmişler. En nihayetinde ülkenin en eski ve en zengin aristokratik ailelerinden biri olan ve sahip olduğu toprakların devasalığının ünü ülke sınırlarını aşmış, hatta öyle ki topraklarından çıkmadan 600 mil boyunca yürünebileceğinin esprisinin yapıldığı, İnfantado Dükü'nün kapısına dayanıp toprak talep ederler. Sonunda köylülerin mücadelesinden yılan hükümet düke ait 1200 hektarlık araziyi onlara verir. Ya da bir başka deyişle Marinaleda halkı yıllar süren mücadelesiyle bunu kendi kazanır.
Artık köyün yeniden inşası başlamalıydı. Öyle de oldu.. Gordillo, tüm dünyanın bir ütopya olarak gördüğü komünist bir yapıyı kısmen ve büyük oranda Marinaleda'da hayata geçirdi. Kasabayı ilgilendiren kararların herkese açık genel toplantılarla alındığı köyde bugün çiftliklerin ve üretim tesislerinin mülkiyeti herkese ait. Endülüs genelinde işsizlik oranı %35 iken, bu oran köyde %5, ki bunu da köye dışarıdan gelip yeni yerleşen insanlar oluşturuyor. Köy işçilerinin günlük kazancının 65 USD olduğunun da altını çizmekte fayda var. Özellikle bu rakamın İspanya ortalamasının iki katı olduğu düşünüldüğünde yapılan işe hayranlık ve saygı duymamak elde değil. Köyde bulunan olimpik yüzme havuzunun yıllık ücretinin sadece 3 EURO olduğunu ve her hanede ücretsiz internetin bulunduğunu da göz önünde bulundurursanız, köy halkının nasıl bir sistemin çarkını döndürdüğünü daha net kavrayabilirsiniz.
Tüm bunların yanı sıra en çok dikkat çekici olan husus ise köy halkının ayda sadece 15 Euro mortgage ödeyerek ev sahibi olabilmesi. Evet sadece 15 Euro! Endülüs bölgesel hükümeti ile yapılan anlaşma gereği hükümet Marinaleda'ya konut inşası için malzeme ve mühendis tedarik ediyor. Köylüler de birbirlerine yardım ederek kendi evlerini inşa ediyor. Tüm bunların karşılığı olarak ise bölgesel hükümete ayda sadece 15 Euro ödeniyor. Buradaki tek koşul herkesin kendi evinin inşasında bilfiil çalışması gerektiği..
Yaptıkları arasında sadece şu yukarıda saydıklarım düşünüldüğünde bile hakkında büyük bir hayranlık uyandıran Gordillo bunlarla yetinmedi. 2012'nin ağustos ayında kendisine sonradan Robin Hood yakıştırması yaptıracak olan bir eylemin öncülüğüne imza attı. "Kamulaştırma" adını verdikleri eylem dahilinde birkaç süpermarketi istila ettiler. Yağ, şeker, nohut, pirinç, makarna, süt, bisküvi ve sebze gibi temel besin maddeleri ile tıka basa doldurdukları onlarca market arabasını, market çalışanları ile yaşadıkları arbedeye rağmen tek bir ücret ödemeden dışarı çıkardılar. Sonra ne mi oldu? Marketten çıkarılan tüm mallar Sevilla'daki bankalar tarafından evlerinden çıkartılmış olan ailelere ve işsizlere dağıtılmak üzere sosyal merkezlere bağışlandı. Gordillo sonradan yaptığı bir açıklamada, büyük süpermarket zincirlerinin yiyecek satarak hissedarları için yüz milyonlarca Euro kâr elde ederken, bu marketlerin dışında açlık çeken yüz binlerce insana dikkat çekmek istediklerini ifade etti.
Tabii ki yapılan eylemin dış etkileri de oldu. İspanya hükümeti yaşananları kınadı. Fakat ülkedeki krizin büyüklüğü öyle bir noktadaydı ki, kamuoyunun büyük bir kısmı yaşananlara temkinli yaklaşmayı seçti. Öyle ki daha çok sağa yatkınlığı ile bilinen El Mundo gazetesinin yapmış olduğu bir ankette halkın %54'lük kesimi eylemi desteklediğini ifade etmişti. Bu arada istilaya maruz kalan süpermarket zincirlerinden biri el konulan yiyecekleri bağışlamayı kabul ederken, bir diğeri Sanchez Gordillo ve arkadaşlarını mahkemeye verdi. Gordillo ise bu durumda dahi dik duruşundan taviz vermedi:
"Beni topluma ibret olayım diye cezalandırmak istiyorlar. Dünyada adaletsizlik varsa isyan etmek ve sonuçlarına da katlanmak zorundasınız. Önemli olan şey, Marinaleda'da işlerin başka türlü yürütüldüğünü göstermiş ve gösteriyor olmamız."
Hülasa, Sanchez Gordillo ve Marinaleda kokuşmuş dünya için küçük de olsa bir umut ışığı; bir başkaldırı. Ulaşılması hayal gibi görünen şeylerin aslında mümkün olduğunun kanlı canlı kanıtı. Ne kadar büyük bir kitle tarafından bilinirse o kadar iyi diye düşündüğüm bu güzel insan ve Marinaleda hakkında daha ayrıntılı bilgiye ulaşmak isteyenler için Dan Hancox'un Dünyaya Kafa Tutan Köy adlı kitabı güzel bir başlangıç olabilir.
NOT: Temmuz 2016'da bloguma yazdım incelemeden alıntıdır: http://kultursepeti2.blogspot.com.tr/...
Bu sözlerin sahibidir Juan Manuel Sanchez Gordillo; belediye başkanı olduğu 2700 nüfuslu Marinaleda köyünde sözle değil, eylemle, işgalle, grevle, mücadeleyle "başka bir dünyayı mümkün" kılan, Che Guevara'nın, Hugo Chavez'in, Salvador Allende'nin izinde; Che tarzı sakalı ve Filistin bayrağı desenli fularıyla Endülüslü bir modern zaman Robin Hood'u... Kendisine Robin Hood denmesi boşuna değil, ki buna daha sonra değineceğim. Öncelikle Marinaleda'ya ve öyküsüne kısaca bir bakalım.
General Franco'nun ölümünün ardından 30 sene boyunca mücadele vermiş bir Endülüs kasabasıdır Marinaleda. Köyün mücadelesine öncülük eden Gordillo, zamanla bir sendika ve siyasi parti kurmuş, toprak ve özgürlük mücadelesini de partisinin ana politikası olarak belirlemiştir. Bu uğurda havalimanları ve tren garlarını, hükümet binalarını, çiftlikleri ve sarayları işgal edip, açlık grevlerine gitmişler. En nihayetinde ülkenin en eski ve en zengin aristokratik ailelerinden biri olan ve sahip olduğu toprakların devasalığının ünü ülke sınırlarını aşmış, hatta öyle ki topraklarından çıkmadan 600 mil boyunca yürünebileceğinin esprisinin yapıldığı, İnfantado Dükü'nün kapısına dayanıp toprak talep ederler. Sonunda köylülerin mücadelesinden yılan hükümet düke ait 1200 hektarlık araziyi onlara verir. Ya da bir başka deyişle Marinaleda halkı yıllar süren mücadelesiyle bunu kendi kazanır.
Artık köyün yeniden inşası başlamalıydı. Öyle de oldu.. Gordillo, tüm dünyanın bir ütopya olarak gördüğü komünist bir yapıyı kısmen ve büyük oranda Marinaleda'da hayata geçirdi. Kasabayı ilgilendiren kararların herkese açık genel toplantılarla alındığı köyde bugün çiftliklerin ve üretim tesislerinin mülkiyeti herkese ait. Endülüs genelinde işsizlik oranı %35 iken, bu oran köyde %5, ki bunu da köye dışarıdan gelip yeni yerleşen insanlar oluşturuyor. Köy işçilerinin günlük kazancının 65 USD olduğunun da altını çizmekte fayda var. Özellikle bu rakamın İspanya ortalamasının iki katı olduğu düşünüldüğünde yapılan işe hayranlık ve saygı duymamak elde değil. Köyde bulunan olimpik yüzme havuzunun yıllık ücretinin sadece 3 EURO olduğunu ve her hanede ücretsiz internetin bulunduğunu da göz önünde bulundurursanız, köy halkının nasıl bir sistemin çarkını döndürdüğünü daha net kavrayabilirsiniz.
Tüm bunların yanı sıra en çok dikkat çekici olan husus ise köy halkının ayda sadece 15 Euro mortgage ödeyerek ev sahibi olabilmesi. Evet sadece 15 Euro! Endülüs bölgesel hükümeti ile yapılan anlaşma gereği hükümet Marinaleda'ya konut inşası için malzeme ve mühendis tedarik ediyor. Köylüler de birbirlerine yardım ederek kendi evlerini inşa ediyor. Tüm bunların karşılığı olarak ise bölgesel hükümete ayda sadece 15 Euro ödeniyor. Buradaki tek koşul herkesin kendi evinin inşasında bilfiil çalışması gerektiği..
Yaptıkları arasında sadece şu yukarıda saydıklarım düşünüldüğünde bile hakkında büyük bir hayranlık uyandıran Gordillo bunlarla yetinmedi. 2012'nin ağustos ayında kendisine sonradan Robin Hood yakıştırması yaptıracak olan bir eylemin öncülüğüne imza attı. "Kamulaştırma" adını verdikleri eylem dahilinde birkaç süpermarketi istila ettiler. Yağ, şeker, nohut, pirinç, makarna, süt, bisküvi ve sebze gibi temel besin maddeleri ile tıka basa doldurdukları onlarca market arabasını, market çalışanları ile yaşadıkları arbedeye rağmen tek bir ücret ödemeden dışarı çıkardılar. Sonra ne mi oldu? Marketten çıkarılan tüm mallar Sevilla'daki bankalar tarafından evlerinden çıkartılmış olan ailelere ve işsizlere dağıtılmak üzere sosyal merkezlere bağışlandı. Gordillo sonradan yaptığı bir açıklamada, büyük süpermarket zincirlerinin yiyecek satarak hissedarları için yüz milyonlarca Euro kâr elde ederken, bu marketlerin dışında açlık çeken yüz binlerce insana dikkat çekmek istediklerini ifade etti.
Tabii ki yapılan eylemin dış etkileri de oldu. İspanya hükümeti yaşananları kınadı. Fakat ülkedeki krizin büyüklüğü öyle bir noktadaydı ki, kamuoyunun büyük bir kısmı yaşananlara temkinli yaklaşmayı seçti. Öyle ki daha çok sağa yatkınlığı ile bilinen El Mundo gazetesinin yapmış olduğu bir ankette halkın %54'lük kesimi eylemi desteklediğini ifade etmişti. Bu arada istilaya maruz kalan süpermarket zincirlerinden biri el konulan yiyecekleri bağışlamayı kabul ederken, bir diğeri Sanchez Gordillo ve arkadaşlarını mahkemeye verdi. Gordillo ise bu durumda dahi dik duruşundan taviz vermedi:
"Beni topluma ibret olayım diye cezalandırmak istiyorlar. Dünyada adaletsizlik varsa isyan etmek ve sonuçlarına da katlanmak zorundasınız. Önemli olan şey, Marinaleda'da işlerin başka türlü yürütüldüğünü göstermiş ve gösteriyor olmamız."
Hülasa, Sanchez Gordillo ve Marinaleda kokuşmuş dünya için küçük de olsa bir umut ışığı; bir başkaldırı. Ulaşılması hayal gibi görünen şeylerin aslında mümkün olduğunun kanlı canlı kanıtı. Ne kadar büyük bir kitle tarafından bilinirse o kadar iyi diye düşündüğüm bu güzel insan ve Marinaleda hakkında daha ayrıntılı bilgiye ulaşmak isteyenler için Dan Hancox'un Dünyaya Kafa Tutan Köy adlı kitabı güzel bir başlangıç olabilir.
NOT: Temmuz 2016'da bloguma yazdım incelemeden alıntıdır: http://kultursepeti2.blogspot.com.tr/...
May 9, 2021
A page turning account of a fascinating and unique village. There's so much doom and gloom in the world but this charming account gives you hope as well as food for thought. Never a dull moment, Hancox really does take you there.
January 10, 2024
Nice book, reminds me of being in sunny Andalusia and makes me want to go back, visit Marinaleda & buy some of their artichokes in support! Would have liked to understand the inner workings of the Marinaledan way (eg finances, profits, property ownership) more
June 28, 2017
Very interesting story! Could have done with more depth (details, context, etc) but good intro to the idea of something...different.
July 8, 2017
Really good book. There is another, fairer way of doing things.
November 19, 2018
Too long. My impression was that I was reading the same twice or three times.
May 11, 2020
beautifully written with a sharp critical lens. great journalism about this undersold story of a community building the world in the shell of the old.
January 9, 2021
Sometimes you need a little less theorizing & a lot more acting. Definitely recommend.
October 30, 2021
how do say this.... i Want To Go
July 31, 2015
My published review can be found at:
http://www.eufo.org/uploads/1/4/4/4/1...
Reading notes:
"As capitalist Spain sinks (with two general strikes in 2012), it has raised Marinaleda higher than ever above the parapet." (p.30)
"Spain is the only country in the world where anarchism ever became a mass movement." (p.48)
"Bakunin's philosophy focused more on a federated network of smaller communities and groups, a conception of communism that already chimed with the lived experience of Andalusian life; the village unit is a self-sustaining ecosystem which regulates itself, and does so without the need for state enforcement, power hierarchies (elected or otherwise) or the desire for profit." (p.49)
"Andalusia was left lamentably under-developed. The land was mostly idle, industry was almost non-existent, and there were severe shortages of teachers and school places and high levels of illiteracy." (p.71)
"I believe in non-violence, and the community uses non-violent means to fight. Power uses violence when something of theirs is touched that they don't want touched. The bourgeoisie is pro-democracy only as long as democracy doesn't hurt their pockets." (p.100)
"We're fighting for another kind of utopia now: the future. The future is going to be very interesting." (p.101)
"Autonomy is at the core of the local philosophy: the elevation of individual freedom intrinsic to nineteenth century anarchism which blew like wildfire through this region." (p.118)
"Jornaleros, as farm-workers without land, could never be said to be truly free without a sovereignty over their work, and the basic stability of not having to migrate hundreds of miles from home in order to get it." (p.118)
"for Andalusian jornaleros, short-term contracts, long periods without work, permanent financial insecurity and poverty pay have been the norm for centuries." (p.125)
"It's not just their work, but their lifestyle that they're fighting to keep - and in almost every instance, it's one that they created from the space they won for themselves: not just via the economically empowering struggle for land, but by deliberately building the infrastructure for a cultural and social life far out of proportion to their size." (p.135)
"The crisis is not just here, but everywhere ... this can be a beacon for the world if we remake it and start again. A new utopia, a different one." (p.156)
"The Spanish right are fond of describing Marinaleda as a 'communist theme park'." (p.169)
"respectable estimates put the number of vacant properties in Spain at 4 million, of which 900,000 are new builds. Altogether, 16 per cent of the country's entire housing stock is empty. A staggering 400,000 families have been evicted by their mortgage lenders since the crash, over 20,000 people are on the streets (double the number in 2008), and uncountable numbers are now squatting." (p.190)
"'We are', announced one especially totemic 15-M slogan, 'neither right nor left: we are coming from the bottom and we are going for the top.'" (p.193)
"He added that it was not enough to believe in a different world - it was time to have the courage to live as if it had already arrived." (p.200)
"The message was impossible to misread: under capitalism - under la crisis - major supermarket chains make hundreds of millions of euros in profit for their shareholders from selling food, while hundreds of thousands around them go hungry." (p.206)
http://www.eufo.org/uploads/1/4/4/4/1...
Reading notes:
"As capitalist Spain sinks (with two general strikes in 2012), it has raised Marinaleda higher than ever above the parapet." (p.30)
"Spain is the only country in the world where anarchism ever became a mass movement." (p.48)
"Bakunin's philosophy focused more on a federated network of smaller communities and groups, a conception of communism that already chimed with the lived experience of Andalusian life; the village unit is a self-sustaining ecosystem which regulates itself, and does so without the need for state enforcement, power hierarchies (elected or otherwise) or the desire for profit." (p.49)
"Andalusia was left lamentably under-developed. The land was mostly idle, industry was almost non-existent, and there were severe shortages of teachers and school places and high levels of illiteracy." (p.71)
"I believe in non-violence, and the community uses non-violent means to fight. Power uses violence when something of theirs is touched that they don't want touched. The bourgeoisie is pro-democracy only as long as democracy doesn't hurt their pockets." (p.100)
"We're fighting for another kind of utopia now: the future. The future is going to be very interesting." (p.101)
"Autonomy is at the core of the local philosophy: the elevation of individual freedom intrinsic to nineteenth century anarchism which blew like wildfire through this region." (p.118)
"Jornaleros, as farm-workers without land, could never be said to be truly free without a sovereignty over their work, and the basic stability of not having to migrate hundreds of miles from home in order to get it." (p.118)
"for Andalusian jornaleros, short-term contracts, long periods without work, permanent financial insecurity and poverty pay have been the norm for centuries." (p.125)
"It's not just their work, but their lifestyle that they're fighting to keep - and in almost every instance, it's one that they created from the space they won for themselves: not just via the economically empowering struggle for land, but by deliberately building the infrastructure for a cultural and social life far out of proportion to their size." (p.135)
"The crisis is not just here, but everywhere ... this can be a beacon for the world if we remake it and start again. A new utopia, a different one." (p.156)
"The Spanish right are fond of describing Marinaleda as a 'communist theme park'." (p.169)
"respectable estimates put the number of vacant properties in Spain at 4 million, of which 900,000 are new builds. Altogether, 16 per cent of the country's entire housing stock is empty. A staggering 400,000 families have been evicted by their mortgage lenders since the crash, over 20,000 people are on the streets (double the number in 2008), and uncountable numbers are now squatting." (p.190)
"'We are', announced one especially totemic 15-M slogan, 'neither right nor left: we are coming from the bottom and we are going for the top.'" (p.193)
"He added that it was not enough to believe in a different world - it was time to have the courage to live as if it had already arrived." (p.200)
"The message was impossible to misread: under capitalism - under la crisis - major supermarket chains make hundreds of millions of euros in profit for their shareholders from selling food, while hundreds of thousands around them go hungry." (p.206)
November 30, 2016
What a thought-provoking piece of journalism this is. It most definitely a journalistic rather than academic book, which I think works well. The subject is Marinaleda, a Spanish village that has pioneered it’s own form of anarchist small-c communism. The author spent quite a while there, observing life in the village and its wider context. He recounts the history of Marinaleda, a poverty-ridden rural pueblo with extremely high unemployment. After Franco’s death in 1975, the village began an ongoing struggle (la lucha) to gain work, fair wages, and freedom. A critical part of this was the expropriation of under-cultivated land belonging to a vast aristocratic estate.
Although this isn’t an academic treatise, ‘The Village Against the World’ does comment interestingly on the class dynamics of Marinaleda and Southern Spain generally. It also talks of Marinaleda’s increasing media presence following the financial crisis and its impact on Spain. The unemployment rate amongst Spain’s youth is over 50%, which is hard to imagine if you’re not living with it. By contrast, only 5-6% of working age people are unemployed in Marinaleda. I liked the measured tone the author used when describing contrasts like these - Marinaleda is clearly a great place to live and exhibits a set of values very different to those of neoliberal capitalism. However, it is also a small scale, locally specific situation, rather than a perfect utopia that can be replicated anywhere. I found myself contrasting the working class history recounted here with The Making of the English Working Class; an English replication of Marinaleda seems highly unlikely. That said, it is still a fascinating and hopeful place, as a it counters the There Is No Alternative narrative. Rather than providing a detailed blueprint, Marinaleda’s experience suggests that locally specific alternative ways of living and working can be created through struggle and persistence. I also very much liked the analogy of Asterix’s little Gaulish village, holding out alone against the Roman Empire. Very apposite.
Although this isn’t an academic treatise, ‘The Village Against the World’ does comment interestingly on the class dynamics of Marinaleda and Southern Spain generally. It also talks of Marinaleda’s increasing media presence following the financial crisis and its impact on Spain. The unemployment rate amongst Spain’s youth is over 50%, which is hard to imagine if you’re not living with it. By contrast, only 5-6% of working age people are unemployed in Marinaleda. I liked the measured tone the author used when describing contrasts like these - Marinaleda is clearly a great place to live and exhibits a set of values very different to those of neoliberal capitalism. However, it is also a small scale, locally specific situation, rather than a perfect utopia that can be replicated anywhere. I found myself contrasting the working class history recounted here with The Making of the English Working Class; an English replication of Marinaleda seems highly unlikely. That said, it is still a fascinating and hopeful place, as a it counters the There Is No Alternative narrative. Rather than providing a detailed blueprint, Marinaleda’s experience suggests that locally specific alternative ways of living and working can be created through struggle and persistence. I also very much liked the analogy of Asterix’s little Gaulish village, holding out alone against the Roman Empire. Very apposite.
December 19, 2014
A very interesting story worth knowing. Hancox is sensitive to the tendency to ridicule this village and for most of the book he struggles to maintain a descriptive tone in his account of its present and past and not descend into explicit eulogy. But for my taste the account lacked historical background and contextualisation, although that is information one can find elsewhere, and I will. One annoying red thread in the book is the discussion about the role of the leader, which seemed very parochial and hardly logical. Why would the author spend most of his time proving the exceptionality of the situation, only to dedicate the rest to defending the situation against the very habitual accusations left wing movements are subject to since the cold war era (i.e. there's no communism without authoritarian leadership)? There was some implicit scheme, probably intrinsic to internal discussions amongst left activists like the author, that the village was being judged against, almost to see if it deserved their endorsement. And this created a slightly awkward background to the story, against which it was nice to perceive that the village couldn't give a damn about what the latest social movement thinks of it. They've been at it for years, and, hopefully, they will be for many to come. One major issue that was understated in the book was land. The author does seem to agree with the younger generations, who see the village economic policy as outdated and in need to embrace the potential of the 'immaterial economy', but in this they are all very wrong.
February 21, 2014
Five stars is probably quite generous, but I feel I owe Dan Hancox a debt in providing an insight into Andalucía's communist utopia, Marinaleda. The book tracks the struggle of the villagers in Post Franco Spain, where going days without food and weeks without work was the norm. Roll forward a few decades of hunger strikes and occupations and the village, led by their charismatic mayor, Sánchez Gordillo, live in a utopia by contrast. Dan Hancox, also frames the success of Marinaleda within the socio political landscape of Spain, a country currently suffering terrible economic hardship. Does Marinaleda provide solutions to the country's problems? Probably not. But what it does provide, is proof that humanity must attempt alternative solutions following the inevitable collapse of the global markets.
This book imbued me with the confidence, that the struggle is always worth the while, and that communism may hold the key to a better future.
This book imbued me with the confidence, that the struggle is always worth the while, and that communism may hold the key to a better future.
February 16, 2015
Fascinating and quietly inspiring tale of Marinadela, a tiny Spanish village in southern Spain, and its charismatic mayor Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo, who have created a sort of mini-communist/anarchist utopia. The book, while sympathetic, is certainly not a fawning puff-piece. It gives space to critics and teases out tensions and imperfections in "the project" - and is all the more interesting for doing so. The book also offers a great insight into the current Spanish crisis and the country's history of economic inequality and radical protest. A must-read for anyone interested in left-wing politics, in particular.
May 19, 2014
The early chapters with the exception of chapter 1 were rather dull, whilst they provide context and a historical perspective, they felt both quite boring and not detailed enough in certain respects. The last two chapters however were great, it's a shame the latter half of the book war not unpacked further and given more attention. Definitely worth a read for a very honest about of the situation.
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