th e new sletter n° z ero of th e perm anent caravan.

TH E NEW SLETTER N°Z ERO
O FTH E PERM ANENT CARAVAN.
PR E SE N TA T I O N A N D PLA T FO R M
Introduction and brie fs tory ofth e proje ct:
Th e pe rm ane nt caravan is bas ical
l
yal
iving s pace , an action proje ct and a pl
ace to de ve l
op
various autonom ie s . It's a l
ong-te rm col
l
e ctive s tructure bas e d on non-pe rm ane nce and
ch anging participants . Itw il
ltrave land s top from pl
ace to pl
ace . Its h oul
d al
l
ow individual
s to l
ive
as nom ads for a ce rtain pe riod of tim e , w h il
e k e e ping on be ing invol
ve d in th e ir us uall
iving
s pace s and th e ir l
ocalproje cts .
For th e m om e nt, th e pe rm ane nt caravan is m ostl
y be ing cre ate d inside Sans-titre ("No-titl
e "), a Fre nch spe ak ing ne tw ork of groups and individual
s ("groupidual
s" for th e re st of th e te xt).Th e se groupidual
s are ve ry
dive rse : som e are invol
ve d in sq uats and urban autonom ous space s, such as "l
e s Marm otte s" from Am ie ns,
"l
'Espace Autogéré de s Tanne rie s" from D ijon, "l
'Ek l
use rie " from R e nne s, "l
'O bse rvatorio" from Toul
ouse , or "l
a
Ch arade " from Gre nobl
e . Som e oth e r groupidual
s de ve l
op ruralproje cts such as "Longo Maï". Som e of th e m
are q uite se ttl
e d for th e m om e nt, som e al
re ady spe nd a part of th e ir l
ive s trave l
l
ing around. Most of th e m
participate , cre ate and struggl
e am ong m il
itant col
l
e ctive s on an e ve ryday l
ife basis. Som e of th e m l
ive in
com m unitie s, oth e rs are m ore partial
l
y invol
ve d in such groups.Th e caravan inte nds to be use d by pe opl
e of
dive rse age s, appe arance s, of dive rse m il
itant cul
ture s, of dive rse opinions and l
iving ch oice s...
TH E D ESIR E TO CR EATE TH E PER MANENT CAR AVAN W AS PAR TIALLY BO R N AFTER FO R MER
CAR AVANS AND FO R MER NO MAD ISMS
- th e inte rcontine ntalcaravan, in 19 9 9 , w h o l
e d 500 pe opl
e from India and oth e r countrie s into Europe ,
to diffuse th e ir struggl
e against food-proce ssing industrie s
- th e anticapital
ist caravan, w h o se t up publ
ic de bate s, stre e t th e ate r and l
ocalactions, during th e
inte rnationalm obil
iz ation against th e I.M.F. and W orl
d Bank sum m it in Prague
- th e re pe ate d trave l
s am ong inte rsq uat ne tw ork s and actions, am ong sans-titre or am ong Pe opl
e 's Gl
obal
Action ne tw ork
Th ere are of course a few politicalbases w e
allagree on, in w inch th e project is deeply
rooted. w e sh oult k eep on precising th ese
bases in th e future new sletters.
H e re are som e of th ose pol
itical
base s:
- to l
e ad offe nsive actions
against e ve ry structure s of dom ination: capital
ist, state , patriarch al and te ch no-scie ntist dom ination...
- to w ork on th e fact th at al
lof
us h ave inte grate d th ose m e ch anism s of oppre ssion and dom ination, th at our re l
ationsh ips to oth e rs are m e rch andiz e d. To try as
m uch as w e can to spl
it w ith th ose al
ie nating attitude s and ch ange our inte rpe rsonalre l
ationsh ips.
To root our m il
itant ch oice s in our e ve ryday l
ive s
- to prom ote concre te and dire ct action, disobe die nce and distorsion...
- to bring up criticism to passive cl
aim s, to citiz e nsh ip or to l
obbying
- to contribute to cre ation and inte rconne ction of
various tool
s and autonom y tow ards auth oritie s:
e ne rge tic, e ating, cul
tural and affe ctive autonom y,...Th e ide a is to tak e back and col
l
e ctivise
space s, re ssource s and tim e
- to se t up de bate s, inform ation ne tw ork s and re fl
e ction ove r se ve raldiffe re nt th e m e s: from consum ption
to socialcontrol
, from m ascul
inity to fe m inist or q ue e r
struggl
e , from se l
f-construction to
se l
f organiz ation, from food proce ssing industry to farm e rs struggl
e.
to de bate on scie nce , e th ics, industrialsocie ty or al
so th e conce pt
of "nature "
- to prom ote th e ide a th at social
ch ange , radicalor not, is a com pl
e x proce ss som e tim e s ve ry
sl
ow . to w ork so th at social
ch ange can be , as m uch as possibl
e , ful
fil
l
ing, pl
ayfuland joyful
,
so th at it m ay e ncourage se l
fconfide nce , autonom y, as w e l
las
col
l
e ctive invol
ve m e nt
- to prom ote and e xpe rim e nt diffe re nt l
ife styl
e s conside re d dange rous and re pre sse d: com m unaland col
l
e ctivism , nom adism , fre e price s
- to ge t out som e tim e s of activism and urge nce to
ope n ourse l
ve s to oth e r tim e pe rce ptions
- to try to stop conside ring ourse l
ve s too se riousl
y and
to sh ow se l
f-de rision
- to re act se riousl
y tow ards se xist, racist and h om oph obic be h aviors and tow rds ph ysical
, ve rbaland se xual
aggre ssions
Platform
Th e fol
l
ow ing te xt is h e re to pre se nt th e
obje ctive s, activitie s and th e w ays of proce e ding of
th e caravan. In any col
l
e ctive proje ct te nding to se l
fm anage m e nt and h oriz ontal
ity, it is prim ordialto
pre se nt a cl
e ar and
form al account of
th e
w ays
of
proce e ding and to
h ave it e xpl
aine d to
e ve ryone .
Espe cial
l
y if, l
ik e in
th e case of th is
caravan,
th e se
e xpl
anations
sh oul
d continual
l
y
be taugh t to ne w
pe opl
e . Th e se principl
e s are , for th e m om e nt, th e
re sul
t of th e re pe ate d re unions w ith in Sans-titre
m e e tings. Th e se m e e tings are of course constantl
y
e vol
ving and sh oul
d be continual
l
y re vise d.
Travelling w ays and appearance of th e
caravan: betw een tetris and russian dolls...
It w il
l
, of course , be ve ry be autiful
,l
ik e a big
subve rsive and col
oure d circus, a sq uat on w h e e l
s,
an itine rant farm or an anticapital
ist m az e . Late r, w e
h ope it w il
l be com pose d w ith tractors and
caravans. In th e be ginning and be cause of driving
l
ice nse probl
e m s, w e w il
lstart w ith tw o or th re e
big vans, e scorte d by bicycl
e s and oth e r col
l
e ctive
cycl
ing ve h icul
e s. At e ach stop, th e caravan w il
l
unfol
d and ope n up w ith a col
l
e ctive k itch e n, a
sl
e e ping for th e caravane rs, an office and w ork sh op
space , its infosh op, fre e z one , proje ction space ,
dom e s and te nts... Th e ryth m of th e caravan and
bicycl
e s on th e road sh oul
d be sl
ow , ve ry sl
ow .Th e
e ngine s sh oul
d be transform e d to e scape pe trol
.W e
are w ork ing on it...
Activities of th e caravane:
W e h ave de te rm ine d a ce rtain num be r of
pe rm ane nt activitie s th at w e w ish coul
d be
possibl
e w h oe ve r m ay be pre se nt on th e caravan.
Th e re are al
so non-pe rm ane nt activitie s th at
corre sponds to spe cific e nvie s of ce rtain
participants and so de pe nd on th e ir
pre se nce or abse nce on th e caravan
at a ce rtain m om e nt. Som e re fe re nce
pe opl
e w ork ing on th e re al
iz ation of
th e se diffe re nt activitie s can be
contacte d.
Pe rm ane ntactivite s:
Expre ssion
and
cre ation
w ork sh op -stre e t h appe nings about
th e pre se ntation of th e caravan and
about its struggl
e s - popul
ar food and
bak e ry - infosh ops and infoce nte r of al
te rnative
m e dias - e xpositions about th e diffe re nt frie ndl
y
pl
ace s to th e caravan - vide o proje ctions and vide o
l
ibrary - k now l
e dge e xch ange s about se l
f-sufficie nt
activitie s (e ne rgy, se l
f-construction, autonom ous
e ating and h e al
ing,...) as w e l
las th e col
l
e ctive w ays
of organiz ations and se l
f-m anage m e nt - dire ct
action w ork sh ops - fre e z one and se cond h and cre ation of a ne w sl
e tte r - practicale ncycl
ope dia se e d l
ibrary (e ncourage m e nt to autonom ous
farm ing) - al
te rnative ph arm acy and h e rbal
ist - w al
l
ne w spape rs - se tting up of de bate space s h andycraft w ork sh ops (m e canics - pl
um bing el
e ctricity - brick w ork - se w ing).
O th e r ide as of non-pe rm ane ntactivitie s::
Ph oto w ork sh ops - ch oralof distorte d songs and
re vol
utionnary popsongs - h istory of capital
ism and
social struggl
e - ch il
l
-out - yoga - re l
axation stre tch ing - accupuncture - urban de corations m il
itant cl
im bing...
W h y and h ow to spend tim e in places?
- To discove r, l
ive toge th e r, m ak e ne w frie nds,
e xpe rie nce fun adve nture s.- To discove r e ve ryday
m anage m e nt, col
l
e ctive w ays of organiz ation and
diffe re nt pl
ace s and
ne tw ork s...
- To sh are k now l
e dge
and abil
itie s.
- To propose our
ow n activitie s or to
be com e
inte grate d,
for a w h il
e , into l
ocal
activitie s.
- To continue buil
ding and instal
l
ing th e caravan.
- To re al
iz e one of th e h undre d proje cts th e l
ocal
col
l
e ctive h as al
w ays dre am e d of doing but h as
ne ve r h ad th e possibil
ity to do, be cause of m issing
tim e , e q uipm e nt, pe opl
e ,...
Bal
ance in th e e xch ange ...
W e w oul
d l
ik e to transm it a l
ist of w h at w e can
do and e xpl
ain th rough th e ne w sl
e tte r w h at h as
be e n re al
iz e d at e ach stop of th e caravan. O f course
w e are not proposing com m e rcial se rvice s. W e
w oul
d l
ik e to be as m uch as possibl
e on an
e gal
itarian basis in th e e xch ange w ith th e col
l
e ctive s
w h o re ce ive us, h oping th at th e re m ay be a m utual
pre pe ration and inte re st.
W e w ish in th is se nse th at th e w e l
com ing
groupidual
s m ay, if possibl
e , inform us in advance of
th e ir abil
itie s, de sire s and ne e ds.
Form al
ism and passion - Ab outth e sustl
e l
ink
b e tw e e n h ard pre paration and vivid
spontane ity...
W e w ish to propose at e ach stop:
- som e e ve nts de cide d in advance
and
th at m ay
be
publ
icl
y
announce d as such
- e ve nts de cide d and organiz e d
spontane ousl
y and m ore h aste l
y if
th e caravane rs and th e pe opl
e
w h o re ce ive d us w ish to cre ate
som e th ing toge th e r
Th e e ve nts de cide d in advance
w il
lbe rath e r sch e dul
e d in th e m iddl
e of th e stay, so
th at th e caravan can se ttl
e in, m e e t pe opl
e and ge t
th e m invol
ve d in th e se e ve nts.Th is w ay, it is possibl
e
for us, according to h ow th e adve nture s on th e road
turn out, to arrive l
ate r or to l
e ave e arl
ie r. Th e big
w ork sh ops are typicalactivitie s th at ne e d a l
ot of
prior organisation.
Th e caravan is te nding to stop in e xtre m e l
y
various pl
ace s
ruralproje cts - vil
l
age s - action cam ps - sq uats
- pe rm ane nt autonom ous z one s- frie nds pl
ace s unk now n pe opl
e 's pl
ace s - pl
ace s not ye t e xisting
th at w e m ay h e l
p to cre ate - th e be ach ...
Ge tting outof th e gh e tto
Th e caravan w il
lstop in pl
ace s th at do not
l
abe lth e m se l
ve s pre cise l
y around a pol
iticalor to
stop one day or tw o in vil
l
age s, just l
ong e nough
for a h appe ning, a de bate , a w ork sh op or a
popul
ar m e al
. Som e pe opl
e coul
d announce in
advance th e arrival of th e caravan and start
cre ating prior contacts.
Ge tting outof th e trib l
e
If w e are not e xtre m e l
y vigil
ant, arriving
som e w h e re as a col
l
e ctive can se nd out an im age
of "tribe ", im pre ss and intim idate th e pe opl
e th at
w e visit and buil
d up barrie rs to com m unication.
W e don't w ant to tak e re fuge in a com fortabl
e
"caravan group" but w e w ant to invol
ve ourse l
ve s
as fast as possibl
e w ith th e pe opl
e l
iving th e re
and w ith th e ir e ve rydays activitie s, as w e l
las to
invol
ve th e pe opl
e l
iving th e re , if it is possibl
e,
w ith th e various activitie s of th e caravan.
Little and big spaces
To start w ith , th e caravan is a bunch of pe opl
e
w h o pop into your l
ife and ne e d th e ne ce ssary
pl
ace to re st on. from th is point of vie w , it coul
d
be difficul
t for som e re l
ative l
y sm al
lcol
l
e ctive s to
se e th e ir num be r doubl
e for one , tw o or th re e
w e e k s... Som e urban pl
ace s, disposing of l
im ite d
space , sh oul
d not be th e re fore e xcl
ude d from th e
caravan's route . In th is w ay, it is prim ordialth at
th e caravan sh oul
d dispose of e nough autonom y
(dom e s, te nts, col
l
e ctive k itch e n) and sh oul
d be
abl
e to find sol
utions to se ttl
e dow n in th e se
diffe re nt situations.
Fol
l
ow ing th e caravan, e ve n w ith outb e ing
b e side it...
W e w oul
d l
ik e to be abl
e to se nd re gul
arl
y
our ne w sl
e tte r to th e caravan contacts, and to
m ak e it possibl
e for th e pe opl
e in th e pl
ace s
w h e re w e stoppe d to com e to th e caravan
m e e tings and to participate in th e m . W e al
so pl
an
to m ak e a big party e ach ye ar and to cre ate an e m ailadre ss and a P.O . box w h e re th e groupidual
s
m ay contact us pe rm ane ntl
y.
Non- specialisation and involvem ent
Th e re w il
lbe re fe re nce pe opl
e at e ach stop for
th e various aspe cts of th e caravan.Th e purpose is th at
th e se pe opl
e re l
ay e ach oth e r in orde r to avoid, as
m uch as possibl
e , th at one sam e pe rson w oul
d
be com e a re fe re nce for too m any proje cts and w oul
d
be com e too indispe nsabl
e for a ce rtain aspe ct of th e
caravan. A proce ss of continualk now l
e dge e xch ange
w il
ltak e pl
ace so th at e ve ry caravane r m ay m aste r th e
diffe re nt abil
itie s l
ink e d to th e pe rm ane nt activitie s
and th e m e canical
, l
e gal and
m e dical abil
itie s
ge ne ral
l
y use fulto th e good functionning of such a
proje ct. O f course th e se proce sse s are h e re to figh t
against spe cial
isation on w h ich are base d th e social
and sal
arie d re l
ationsh ips in th e capital
ist socie ty and
notabl
y th e de pe ndance re l
ationsh ips th at it brings.
Ne ve rth e l
e ss, w e re je ct totalspontane ity, and de m and
ce rtain inte rm e diate form s of spe cial
iz ation and of
task de l
e gation:
- to al
l
ow ourse l
ve s to de e pe n and to l
et
ourse l
ve s go to our one day or l
ife l
ong passions
- be cause h aving cl
e ar re fe re nts can h e l
p us to
find ourse l
ve s in our inte rnal functionning and
e spe cial
l
y for th e e xte rnal pe opl
e , and to m ak e
participation e asie r- be cause it can be q uite cal
m ing
and re sponsabil
ising to ch ose to tak e care of
som e th ing pre cise during a ce rtain pe riod of tim e ,
k now ing th at w e m ay do som e th ing total
l
y diffe re nt
th e day or th e w e e k afte r. Th is possibil
ity of
spe cial
isation cl
e arl
y doe sn't conce rn e ith e r th e
h ouse k e e ping, e ith e r cook ing, or tak ing care of a bad
situation...
In particul
ar, th e re w il
lbe som e re fe re nt pe opl
e
conce rning tool
s, or com pl
e x, fragil
e or dange rous
e q uipm e nt.Th e se tool
s and e q uipm e nt w il
lbe , at l
e ast
in th e be ginning, a m ix of col
l
e ctive posse ssions of
th e caravan and m om e ntary l
oans from diffe re nt
groupidual
s.
Coordination and preparation of th e caravan
route...
-Th e caravan coordination group
Th e y are th e pe opl
e w h o participate in th e
caravan at th is m om e nt as w e l
las al
lth e groupidual
s
w h o fe e linvol
ve d in th e proje cts, bring infos, h e l
p at a
stopove r, participate in m e e tings... So th is is a l
ist of
l
ink s in pe rpe tuale vol
ution.
Th e pre paration groups
Th is is a ch anging group of pe opl
e ge tting
invol
ve d in th e pre paration of a fe w stopove rs of th e
caravan during a tw o m onth pe riod. Tw o m onth s is
th e usual l
e ngth of a typical caravan route . O f
course , it m ust be pe opl
e w h o pl
an to participate in
th e caravan for a ce rtain tim e during th ose tw o
m onth s. Th e y w il
ltak e pre vious contacts w ith th e
re ce iving pl
ace s, pre pare th e ne ce ssary l
ogistic for
th e route , contact frie nds to k now if th e y are
inte re ste d in be ing pre se nt on th e course , m ak e sure
th at th e re w il
lal
w ays be th e m inim um am ount of
pe opl
e ne ce ssary during th e tw o m onth s, pre pare
e ve ntualspe cific activitie s to th is route .
Th e n th e y w il
lpre se nt th e ir tw o m onth route
proje cts to th e pe rm m ane nt caravan m e e ting w h e re
it is discusse d and de cide d. Afte r th at, oth e r pe opl
e
can pre pare an oth e r route .
Each caravan route l
asting
approxim ate l
y tw o m onth s, w e
w il
l h ave a caravan/Sans-titre
m e e ting at a stopove r situate d in
th e m iddl
e of th e route afte r a
m onth . It w il
l be th e righ t
m om e nt to tal
k about th is route
and to pre se nt th e ne xt one . Th e
ne xt route w il
l be gin a m onth
afte r th e m e e ting and w il
ll
ast
again tw o m onth s, w ith
a
m e e ting at th e h al
f w ay and so
on. Th e se m e e tings w il
l be
ope nne d to e ve ryone w h o w ants
to tak e part in th e pe rm ane nt
caravan.
D iscussions
and
de cisions w il
l be
h oriz ontal
,
e gal
itarian and by conse nsus.
Th e caravan m e e tings sh oul
d al
w ays tak e pl
ace
in a diffe re nt spot. Th e caravan is actual
l
y cre ate d
inside Sans-titre and, in th e be ginning, its m e e tings
w il
lbe m ixe d w ith th e Sans-titre m e e tings, e ve n if it
m e ans be com ing e m ancipate d at a give n m om e nt,
al
ong w ith th e e vol
ution of th e tw o proje cts.
Th is m ode l
, as m ach iave l
ic as it m ay se e m , is of
course e xpe rim e ntal and w il
l
, w ith out a doubt,
e vol
ve w h e n it w il
lbe use d. As for th e de cisions to
tak e be tw e e n tw o m e e tings, th e pe opl
e w ith th e
caravan at th e m om e nt w il
ldo th e ir be st.
Non- perm anence and participation in th e
caravan...
W e can im agine th at th e caravan w il
l count
10/20/30 pe opl
e trave l
l
ing toge th e r and arriving
som e w h e re .Th e re fore , w e ne e d a ce rtain num be r of
re l
iabl
e pe opl
e for th e diffe re nt stopove rs on one
route . But w e al
so w ant to inte grate ne w caravane rs
m ore or l
e ss spontane ousl
y during th e route .
Pe opl
e de cide th e m se l
ve s h ow m uch tim e th e y
w ant to stay w ith th e caravan. Th e re isn't any
m inim alor m axim all
e ngth , w e just w ant to k e e p in
m ind a spirit of non-pe rm ane nce and be abl
e to
discuss it if ne e de d. W e al
so w ant to avoid th at
som e one m ay e xce ssive l
y appropriate som e th ing
(th ings or task s) and cre ate a spl
it be tw e e n th e
"e l
de rs" of th e caravan and th e oth e rs.
Th e num be r of stopove rs in a route and th e
tim e spe nt at e ach one of th e m w il
lbe total
l
y diffe re nt
according to th e spot, th e de sire to stay l
onge r or to
do sh orte r stopove rs...
Th e m axim um l
e ngth for a stopove r w il
ll
ogical
l
y
be tw o m onth s.
Autonom y, life projectand financing...
Th e caravan w oul
d l
ik e to be financial
l
y se l
fm anage d and not de pe nd on any insitutional or
com m e rcialsubsidy. W e w ant th e e ve ryday ne e ds of
th e caravane rs to be tak e n in ch arge as m uch as
possibl
e by th e caravan facil
itie s w h e n th e y are
accom panying it. But w e w il
lnot e ith e r try ge tting
into any re ntabil
ity, profit or sal
ary l
ogics. A col
l
e ctive
fund for th e m anage m e nt of th e caravane r's ne e ds and
proje cts.Th is col
l
e ctive fund m ay be fil
l
e d by diffe re nt
m e al
s, gigs, donations and oth e r be ne fit initiative s.
W h en are w e leaving?
According to th e e vol
ution of th e
w ork sh op and th e gath e ring of
th e ne ce ssary e q uipm e nt, w e
h ope to te st th e structure by th is
autum n and to de finitive l
y ge t
ourse l
ve s going ne xt spring... W e
w il
ltry !
To stop one day or tw o in vil
l
age s,
just l
ong e nough for a h appe ning,
a de bate , a w ork sh op or a popul
ar
m e al
. Som e
pe opl
e
coul
d
announce in advance th e arrival
of th e caravan and start cre ating
prior contacts.
Callto subscription and equipem entsupport...
Th e proje ct at it's actualpoint, and e ve n w ith our
ce rtain prope nsity for re cycl
ing, sal
vage , se l
fconstructing and col
l
e ctive and re -distribute d h arve sts,
actual
l
y stil
lne e ds q uite a l
ot of m one y to start th e
caravan...
W e are tal
k ing about th e ne ce ssary m one y to buy
th e ve h icl
e s, som e tool
s and e q uipm e nt th at w e ne e d
for th e activitie s, to do som e info about th e proje ct...
Since w e don't w ant any subsidie s or sponsors,
w e count on th e sol
idarity of anybody w h o m ay be
e nth usiastic about th e proje ct and w ish e s th at it m ay
be re al
iz e d as soon as possibl
e . In th is se nse , it is
possibl
e to se nd a ch e q ue to: "accue ilde l
a caravane "
and se nd it to caravane pe rm ane nte / l
e s tanne rie s 17
bvd de ch icago / 21000 D ijon / france
Gigs, com pil
ation tape s/CD s, be ne fit m e al
s h e re
and th e re , w oul
d be w e l
com e . Be sure th at in re turn,
w e w il
lk e e p you cl
e arl
y inform e d about th e proje ct's
e vol
ution.
W e are al
so l
ook ing for vide o-proje ction,
construction,
k itch e n,
w itch doctor,
cl
im bing,
m e ch anics, cycl
ing ve h icul
e s, caravans, vans and
tractors e q uipm e nt...
If you h ave anyth ing of th is m atte r to re store , give ,
l
e nd...contact us.
Mail
: caravane pe rm ane nte @ sq uat.ne t
Postaladdre ss: l
e s tanne rie s
17 Bd de Ch icago
21000 D ijon