HIGH ALERT

Turns out me and my bud (and local revolutionary educator) Layla AbdelRahim are both mentioned in Gabriel Kuhn's Soccer vs. the State: Tackling Football and Radical Politics (PM Press, 2011) which quotes an article on anarchist soccer from the McGill Daily. I'ma order a copy! From the PM Press website:

Soccer has turned into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Professionalism and commercialization dominate its global image. Yet the game retains a rebellious side, maybe more so than any other sport co-opted by money makers and corrupt politicians. From its roots in working-class England to political protests by players and fans, and a current radical soccer underground, the notion of football as the "people's game" has been kept alive by numerous individuals, teams, and communities.

This book not only traces this history, but also reflects on common criticisms: soccer ferments nationalism, serves right-wing powers, fosters competitiveness. Acknowledging these concerns, alternative perspectives on the game are explored, down to practical examples of egalitarian DIY soccer!

Soccer vs. the State serves both as an orientation for the politically conscious football supporter and as an inspiration for those who try to pursue the love of the game away from television sets and big stadiums, bringing it to back alleys and muddy pastures.

Heavily-armed RCMP troops recently faced off in Rexton, NB against members of the Elsipogtog First Nation and protesters invested in preventing the extraction of shale gaz from crown lands which some believe could lead to resource-fracking and extensive environmental damage.

Compounding the hugely disproportionate and aggressively militarized response to what was essentially a peaceful partial traffic blockage, there are now reports emerging of media arrests and the confrontation having been exacerbated by agents provocateurs. From the Media Coop website:

Participants in the anti-fracking struggle in New Brunswick have been stormed by an estimated 200 members of the RCMP, some dressed in military fatigues. The police raided the Rexton blockade where Mi'kmaq warriors and supporters are camped out against SWN Resources Canada Inc.

Our reporter Miles Howe, who has been covering the blockade since the spring, has been incommunicado for approximately four hours. We have received a report that Miles was arrested this morning. We are still awaiting first hand confirmation of his arrest.

Lately, I've been engrossing myself in Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger's work on communities of practice - the informal, horizontal, peer-to-peer structures where learning often occurs by doing and where the doing is oftentimes connected to an applied commitment to citizenship. All sorts of fascinating spaces can be defined as communities of practice. Hackerspaces, anarcho-collectives, housing coops, alcoholics anonymous, zine distro networks... All of these incredible spaces are communities of practice. According to Wenger:

Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.

Here's a fairly succint video of Wenger talking about communities of practice in relation to identity production and engaging in the process of education.