Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The June Uprisings in Brazil: Below and Behind the Huge Mobilizations (Part 2)

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, November 25, 2013

The June Uprisings in Brazil: Below and Behind the Huge Mobilizations (Part 2)

Click here to access article by Raúl Zibechi from Up Side Down World.

The author concludes this two part series with details on how major investments in mega sports events have contributed to a new anti-capitalist consciousness in Brazil.

While the media has mostly focused on transport issues as the catalyst for the June protests, one aspect has received scant coverage. The Popular Committees have succeeded in changing public perception around the impact of the infrastructural works for mega-events; there is widespread understanding that cities are being redesigned for the speculative market and the benefit of a few.