[P2P-F] local community development in Egypt

Tue Feb 22 04:31:26 CET 2011

Dear Keith,

yes, it would be great to have our p2p correspondent in Egypt!

are you saying the articles would be unsigned or under a pseudo?

It's not our normal practice but given special circumstances, that would be
fine,

how frequent would this be?

I think what would be most interesting would be to refract the debates
taking place in Egypt,

Michel

On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 12:39 AM, Keith Taylor <taylorkeith at gmail.com>wrote:

> Michel,
>
> I just emailed with Omar.  I asked him if he would be interested in
> contributing a diary/blog of the efforts in Egypt.  Would P2P be interested
> in letting him post, for an English speaking audience?
>
> James, it could then be cross-posted to black crescent (I think Omar
> doesn't want to affiliate as LL or anarchist, so he would not want to post
> directly, yknow)?
>
> Anyway, here is Omar's last communique from today...
>
> *>>>>Keith !  Thank you for pointing out those resources.*
> *
> *
> *I started contacting several people and got some positive feedback. I
> updated the info document a bit, especially the "next steps" section to be
> able to translate it into concrete action. *
> *
> *
> *A friend of mine is an expert in mapping areas and dividing them into
> sectors, so we might start together on Step 1: defining the area for the
> pilot committee.*
> *
> *
> *Yesterday there was a large meeting for a forum called "Gessoor" (which
> is Bridges in Arabic). The idea is to get enthusiastic individuals, groups
> and various initiatives together in one place to connect, interact and
> learn. I estimate there were more than 200 people there. There was an
> interesting panel discussion on how to move things forward.*
> *
> *
> *I proposed the committees idea and it was well received. Some people came
> up to me later and told me they were interested. We'll see how it goes !
>
> *
> *Omar<<<<<<*
>
> Keith Taylor
> Doctoral Student
> Human and Community Development
> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
> ph: (217) 689-4021
>
>
> On Feb 20, 2011, at 7:59 PM, Michel Bauwens wrote:
>
> Thanks for pointing Omar to the resource-base, and of course, it's not per
> se about the resources but the people behind it and who could be put in
> touch with Omar,
>
> Michel
>
> (for example, for urban and peri-urban agri-food communities, see
> http://p2pfoundation.net/Category:Agrifood, complemented with
> http://delicious.com/mbauwens/P2P-Food and P2P-Agriculture)
>
>
> see:
>
> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
>
> Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
> http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation
>
> Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
>
> On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 1:58 AM, Keith Taylor <taylorkeith at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Kevin,
>>
>> It would be great if folks from P2P want to be in touch with Omar as
>> things develop.  What he and others are doing reminds me very much of
>> Hayek's concept of spontaneous action... they want to create ad hoc
>> neighborhood groups that each take on unique characteristics for their
>> neighborhood.  From there, they hope to be connected in a loosely
>> confederated system that trickles upward into a larger social order of some
>> kind.  As they do so, the hope is the ea. council will learn from the
>> successes and failures of other councils.
>>
>> This is all very initial, but they are doing it!  And they have space to
>> do so!  I mean, it MIGHT not happen, but what's most important is that the
>> current military government is on its heels and letting folks attempt
>> innovative governing solutions.
>>
>> Keith Taylor
>> Doctoral Student
>> Human and Community Development
>> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>> ph: (217) 689-4021
>>
>>
>> On Feb 20, 2011, at 12:52 PM, Kevin Carson wrote:
>>
>> > I'm cc'ing this to the P2P Foundation's list.
>> > Kevin
>> >
>> > On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 2:12 PM, Keith Taylor <taylorkeith at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >> My friend Omar in Egypt and I are talking about this... who knows where
>> it
>> >> will go, but I am excited! Omar is a force :)
>> >> Keith Taylor
>> >> Doctoral Student
>> >> Human and Community Development
>> >> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>> >> ph: (217) 689-4021
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Begin forwarded message:
>> >>
>> >> From: Keith Taylor <taylorkeith at gmail.com>
>> >> Date: February 18, 2011 2:11:30 PM CST
>> >> To: Omar El Bassiouny <omarelbassiouny at gmail.com>
>> >> Cc: Tahreer Araj <tahreer.uiuc at gmail.com>
>> >> Subject: Re: local community development in Egypt
>> >>
>> >> Omar,
>> >> AMAZING idea!
>> >> Personally, I think as much as possible, services should stem from the
>> >> community level and be collectively owned and democratically governed
>> >> (cooperatives!).  We know that in Egypt, there is a tendency to capture
>> >> resources for individualistic purposes through the government.  I think
>> to
>> >> keep these services community-oriented is one approach to prevent
>> capture by
>> >> special interests, and create diverse, democratic institutions
>> throughout
>> >> Egypt (imagine if democracy was in the workplace AND government?!).
>> >> I am excited about this, Omar!
>> >> Keith Taylor
>> >> Doctoral Student
>> >> Human and Community Development
>> >> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>> >> ph: (217) 689-4021
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Feb 18, 2011, at 2:01 PM, Omar El Bassiouny wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Sounds good. Below is a small intro I quickly put together on the
>> subject:
>> >>
>> >> People’s Committees
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Introduction:
>> >>
>> >> Starting Friday night, January 28, Egypt witnessed a systematic
>> withdrawal
>> >> of any police presence from all streets countrywide. This opened the
>> door
>> >> for thugs and thieves – often armed – to roam the streets to vandalize
>> and
>> >> rob stores and office buildings, and to terrorize, harm and in some
>> cases
>> >> kill the local residents.
>> >>
>> >> The dangerous situation stimulated an immediate reaction from citizens
>> all
>> >> over the country to take their security in their own hands. Every
>> street
>> >> organized road blocks, widely known as ‘People’s Committees’ which were
>> >> guarded overnight by several shifts. Creative systems were developed to
>> >> enable communication between neighboring road blocks.
>> >>
>> >> In a relatively short time this efficient scheme significantly improved
>> the
>> >> security situation and lead to the capture of hundreds of thieves which
>> were
>> >> handed over to the army. A similar scenario, although less organized,
>> was
>> >> witnessed with respect to garbage collection.
>> >>
>> >> In general, government capabilities are limited and there is a lot of
>> room
>> >> for civic participation that would enable the achievement of important
>> >> goals. This Egyptian experience – while somewhat extreme – highlights
>> that
>> >> citizens can efficiently solve their problems when they take their
>> matters
>> >> in their own hands without relying too much on the government.
>> >>
>> >> This initiative aims to build on the ‘People’s Committees’ experience
>> and to
>> >> create a sustainable local organizational scheme to empower citizens in
>> >> shaping their future.
>> >>
>> >> Objectives:
>> >>
>> >> Create a grassroots organizational structure composed of local units to
>> >> empower citizens and encourage activism.
>> >> Create a local forum for discussion and awareness
>> >> Community problem solving: trash, recycling, parking, utilities, etc.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 9:31 PM, Keith Taylor <taylorkeith at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> Ill be on Skype at 5pm my time.  I look forward to it, Omar
>> "Revolution"
>> >>> Bassiouny
>> >>>
>> >>> Keith Taylor
>> >>> Doctoral Student
>> >>> Human and Community Development
>> >>> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>> >>> ph: (217) 689-4021
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On Feb 18, 2011, at 1:00 PM, Omar El Bassiouny wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>>> Hey guys,
>> >>>>
>> >>>> I have a community development idea that I would like to discuss with
>> >>>> you. Let's set up a Skype conference sometime soon. Tonight would be
>> perfect
>> >>>> 5-6 pm your time, but I'm also flexible otherwise.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Best,
>> >>>> Omar
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Kevin Carson
>> > Center for a Stateless Society http://c4ss.org
>> > Mutualist Blog:  Free Market Anti-Capitalism
>> > http://mutualist.blogspot.com
>> > The Homebrew Industrial Revolution:  A Low-Overhead Manifesto
>> > http://homebrewindustrialrevolution.wordpress.com
>> > Organization Theory:  A Libertarian Perspective
>> >
>> http://mutualist.blogspot.com/2005/12/studies-in-anarchist-theory-of.html
>>
>>
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>
>
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