Our Unsettled TimesVOL. I , No. 1 © 2017 Our Unsettled Times Company VIENNA, FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2017 $ 2,50

“All the Thoughts That’re Fit to Print”

Special EditionToday, cool and cloudy. Tonight, thunderstorm, showers. Tomorrow, clouds give way to sun, temperatures rising.

CITIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Conference Tackles Issues of Urban Routines, Tempora-

lities and Contestations

By MAGDALENA AUGUSTIN and XENIA KOPF

VIENNA – Part one of the Contestations track (29 March) was opened by co-orga-nisers Elina Kränzle (SkuOR, TU Vienna, Austria) and Nikolai Roskamm (Univ. of Applied Sciences, Erfurt, Germany). In their introductory note, they opened up the whole spectrum of urban contesta-tions, ranging from empirical phenome-na such as urban riots, right to the city movements and geographies of dissent as well as right wing / nationalist appro-priations of public space (Elina), to the historical and current theories on class struggles, the city as an object of critical theory but also as a battlefield, and anta-gonism (Nikolai). In the subsequent talks though, the field was considerably narro-wed down again – to the issue of conflicts in planning processes.

Conflictual Planning

Round-up on the Contestations I track

By XENIA KOPF

A mural in Lisbon, Portugal, commenting on conflicting interests in urban development.

Religion, Housing and Free Culture

Round up on the Contestations II track

By MAGDALENA AUGUSTINVIENNA – In the second part of the

lectures about urban contestations (30 March) we heard about cases from Eng-land, the United States of America and Germany.

Sarah Ann Milne discussed the pheno-menon of migrant constructions of identi-ty and belonging referring to the Muslim and German/Lutheran communities and their (historical) places of worship in the district of Whitechapel in London. Lynne Manzo reported from Seattle, where low-income communities are displaced be-cause of a public housing redevelopment program that, as Manzo found out, dest-roys actually functional social structures. Finally Friederike Landau talked about Berlin’s Coalition of the Independent Sce-ne (Koalition der Freien Szene) and

SETTLED, UNSETTLED, RESETTLED

VIENNA – For three days researchers, students and urban explorers gathered for a conference on the current pheno-mena confronting the cities of our time. Routines, as well as temporalities and contestations frame today’s urban con-flicts and challenge city governments and inhabitants worldwide. The term “Unsett-ling” was like the red line linking all the topics presented, and like no other ex-pression it describes the dynamics of our lived spaces at the beginning of the 21st century.

One of the three main topics was about urban contestations, which actually tur-ned out to be the central issue as it was

Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2

Mouffe’s HegemonyA commentary on recurrent concepts PAGE 3

Need to “decolonize thoughts”Professor Oren Yiftachel discusses urban marginalization strategies, and how to counter them PAGE 4

Emotional Significance of PlaceAss. Prof. Lynne Manzo on how to empo-wer residents in urban renewal processes PAGE 5

Academic KnowledgeHow to make and keep it accessible, by a conference participant PAGE 7

Different Views on the City Commentaries and Poetry PAGE 8

Continued on Page 3

OUR UNSETTLED TIMES NATIONAL FRIDAY, MAY 5, 20172

From Page 1 (Contestations I)

Elisabet Van Wymeersch and Thomas Vanoutrive (Univ. of Antwerp, Belgium) shared their experiences of the planning project for Oosterweel Link, the final part in the R1, a ring road around Antwerp. They discussed several planning approa-ches and also suggested a new one they coined the „Dissensual Disruptive Ap-proach“. Gabu Heindl (Architect, Vienna, Austria) gave a lecture on the political po-sition of planners and architects in urban development, similarly drawing on her own experiences in various projects in Vienna. In both talks, the presenters took their practical experiences as a point of departure to reflect on strategies, op-portunities and limitations for planners. The core question was how to deal with the position of planners in an antagoni-stic context. Besides designing physical structures, it is the planner’s task to take into account the different positions, needs and demands involved and to moderate the negotiation process between them.

Both presentations stressed the impos-sibility of an overall consensus and ques-tioned communicative and collaborative paradigms in planning. Heindl called those paradigms ‚hegemonic’. W&V ar-gued that a new approach was needed, allowing for new subjectivities to evolve as legitimate actors in the negotiation process. With this approach, protest mo-vements or residents’ initiatives could be

better acknowledged as equal partners in planning processes. Heindl pointed out that neoliberal discourse strategies on ur-ban development often aim at weakening transparent public processes. Official laws and publicly discussed urban deve-lopment plans should be strengthened to counter these strategies. Heindl argued that planners also need to take position and address cases of political injustice.

The speakers mostly referred to theo-ries and concepts from critial political theory. Gramscis concept of hegemony, Chantal Mouffe’s antagonism and ago-nism, as well as Jaques Rancière’s idea of the partition of the sensible were the main points of reference. Heindl also drew on Oliver Marchart’s notion of the post-foundational and Hannah Arendts concept of public space. These concepts were used to frame practical experience and to develop strategies to deal with po-sitionality, which all speakers strongly re-flected. W&V concentrated on the trans-ferability of their ideas on their own field (planning praxis), suggesting a new plan-ning approach. Heindl was a little more intercontextually oriented, embedding her thoughts in political philosophy.

The overall conclusion was that the so-lutions planners can create will always be temporary, contingent and partial ones and can be subject to (new) contestations at any time. This contingency should be acknowledged and embraced by plan-ners.

From Page 1 (Contestations II)

its critique of the precarious and ne-glected conditions of free and indepen-dent artists.

The three cases show the wide ran-ge of urban contestations and dynamics both in the past and the present, based on empirical studies and the direct experi-ence of people affected. The topics of the first and second lecture rely on empirical fieldwork focusing on the role of the built environment for the people in the neigh-bourhood. Especially if communities have to leave their familiar surroundings, identity and place meaning become more important. Social, demographic, religious and architectural (aesthetic) components are taken into account in the research. In the case of Seattle´s urban transforma-tion even emotional dynamics played a role in the different levels of contestati-on. The last lecture aimed at theorizing the contestations between independent artists and the cultural administration of the city. Describing the agonist, antago-nist and consensual ways of processing conflicts, Landau raised the question whether institutional change is possible or not.

The reported cases show how city go-vernments deal with specific population groups, depending on economic and spa-tial conditions. What is seen as an ‘asset’ in one period of time (e.g. cheap migrant resp. young/creative workers) is conside-red ‘trouble’ in another one. Depending on the conditions, public authorities and politicians “solve” these problems with radical, compromising or hypocritical methods. It was no surprise that the re-searchers positioned themselves more on the side of the actively contesting parties, while still bearing in mind solution-orien-ted results.

Researchers solidarize with underprivileged

Planning Solutions will always be temporary, contested

OUR UNSETTLED TIMES NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2017 3

VIENNA – What happens when a con-tradiction arises between what we do and what we say as urban theorists? The following essay on a subject pervading many parts of the Unsettled conference is an attempt to reflect on this question.

The concepts of antagonism and he-gemony (Mouffe, Laclau, Gramsci) were used extensively in many of the talks at the conference. Hegemony refers to an order generally accepted as ‚natural’ or ‚common sense’ at a given time, while actually being the temporary and precari-ous result of power structures. It is based on an antagonistic understanding of soci-ety, i.e. there are numerous fundamental and passionate conflicts that inhibit any total consensus.

What is interesting is that the wides-pread use of this concept of hegemony in critical urban studies almost seems to be a kind of hegemonic knowledge itself by now. It is applied and referred to very of-ten while seldomely being put into questi-on, thus becoming “accepted as the ‘natu-ral order’, jointly with the common sense that accompanies it”, as Mouffe herself describes hegemony1.

Should this make us suspicious? Why does exactly a notion like antagonism create a kind of consensus that the con-cept itself actually declares unachievab-le? Do such sedimented concepts tend to obstruct our perspective on actual pheno-mena? Or does this consensus just show that ‘hegemony’ and ‘antagonism’ are the

MOUFFE‘S ‘HEGEMONY’The paradox of agreeing that overall agreement

cannot be achieved

By XENIA KOPF

proper concepts to frame current political and urban issues? Maybe this has to do with matters of scale. It could be argued that among the participants of a specific discourse, bound together by common values and a common understanding of political issues, a consensus in the sense of overall agreement is not only achie-vable, but even necessary. It is needed to create a common ground for identificati-on and communication, allowing for the reflection of further questions, such as: If we agree that societies are always struc-tured antagonistically, then how can we deal with these fundamental conflicts? How can the ‘arenas of negotiation’ be institutionalised so that the conflicts can be debated without becoming violent or dysfunctional, as Mouffe suggests? How could the passionate and the affective di-mensions of political discourse could be taken into account without leading to the kind of hostility that deligitimates the op-posite position?

Still, critical urban studies are also sub-ject to contingency, like any other (acade-mic) discourse. The notions and theoreti-cal concepts structuring the discourse are just as temporary and precarious as other ones. So it will be interesting to see how, at some point, the currently generally ac-cepted concepts of antagonism and hege-mony are challenged – and maybe repla-ced by new ones.

1 http://eipcp.net/transversal/0808/mouffe/en

Unsettled, Contested Cities

present in every debate – it seems to be a topic more relevant than ever. Comparing the status of cities today to some decades ago we witness a new level of economic competition, especially when it comes to urban land. We live in times of war, followed by forced migration, in times of economic crisis, followed by increasingly precarious living conditions and in times of environmental disasters. And while real estate companies and city govern-ments rush to the battles for urban land it is no surprise that the people living in these cities do not stand aside and watch as their neighbourhoods are transformed against their will or even destroyed. The contestations around property and usage of space literally turn urban areas into battlegrounds on a daily basis. Therefor it is even more welcome if architects, city planners and sociologists speak out for the voiceless and challenge the he-gemony of the market economy and of representational politics. The conference delivered an insight into the potential of critical urban research to intervene into current processes in favor of cities that are open to (and affordable for) everyo-ne – especially when teamed up with civil initiatives.

From Page 1 (Cities in the 21st cent.)

OUR UNSETTLED TIMES INTERNATIONAL FRIDAY, MAY 5, 20174

VIENNA/BEERSHEBA – In the con-text of grey spacing and creeping apart-heid you talked about the "management of permanent temporality". Who exactly benefits from this status of "control wit-hout elimination"? Why and for whom is it advantageous to keep Neighbourhoods precarious?

Well, there are several elements in your questions that need to be treated separa-tely. In 'real life' they may merge, of cour-se, but analytically, we can treat each on its own for the sake of clarity. First – 'per-manent temporariness' (note – 'temporari-ness' and not 'temporality') – I coined this term to the expanding existence of peop-le, communities, developments, economic relations that are treated by the powers as 'temporary' for indefinite periods of time. This is typical to 21st century urbanisati-on. So, the new-comers, many women or gays, the peripheral of indigenous land systems and the development of commu-nities and economies 'from below' do not receive approval or licensing, nor do they receive full status. At the same time, their existence is tolerated as inferior, threate-ning and at times criminal. They remain 'hanging' between rejection and eviction and approval and membership. This is a persistent form of urban 'management' in today's growing cities, particularly in the global southeast, but also in the west. Note Europe's response to the millions of refugees – they will remain indefinite-ly 'temporary', as are tens of millions of 'temporary' workers, immigrants or dwel-lers in cities worldwide…

Second – 'control without elimination' refers mainly to indigenous and immig-rant minorities. This is related to the pro-cesses described above, but alludes to the tendency of states and economic powers to maintain control over identity and re-sources while presenting a 'democratic'

or 'liberal' façade. In the past, during im-perial and dictatorial times, such groups were under threat of physical eliminati-on, as occurred to colonized indigenous groups or the Jews of Europe. Because of modern day legal and political norms, thankfully, genocides have been reduced, but slow and persistent control preserves the situation of these groups on the pe-riphery, often without permanent safe or full status, without proper plans or hou-sing, or outside the national boundaries or economic mainstream. This 'control without elimination' has increasingly be-come urban, painting today's cities and the new borderline between minorities and majorities, between cultures, natio-nalities and classes. All this keeps many localities (not necessarily 'neighborhoods' but often shanti towns, clusters of shacks, self-built localities, squatters, communes, unofficial neighborhoods etc.) as precari-ous. The short-term benefit, in the main, is for the ruling groups – which 'save' re-sources and maintain political power. In the long term, however, the exclusion and discrimination may turn into political con-flict and insurgence, and threatened the elites. This tension may not always trans-late into open conflict, but the exploiting and ruling groups may be threatened in the long term, if they don't integrate the peripheries and allow them to enjoy a fair share of resources and a part of the urban inclusive identity.

Can you mention some examples whe-

re the overcoming of grey spacing/segre-gation/marginalization of neighborhoods was successful? Do we know cases where urban contestations led to a new level of integrative citizenship? If yes, what was the key to success?

Of course, there are many examples where communities, developments and

individuals who existed in 'gray space' for a period, managed to integrate them-selves, or be part of progressive policies which recreate a more equal and just so-ciety. Examples abound – from the slaves and indigenous people of South America to the people of color in the USA in pre-vious periods, to whole neighborhoods in Sao Paulo, Istanbul, Napoli or Cairo, which were recognized and integrated into the city. The recent example of Me-dellin in Columbia is widely celebrated. Gray spaces where 'lightened' allowing the locals to construct more fully their ur-ban citizenship. Also in Israel/Palestine, some (and a minority of) Bedouin com-munities, who suffered mass evictions, pervasive home demolition and crimina-lization, have struggled to be recognized and develop more stable communities and economies. Many urban and civil strugg-les have reversed the trend of 'creeping urban apartheid'. However, given the rate of immigration and minority assertion in most cities, and the persistence of elitist and exclusionary approach of most urban governments, the gray spacing process is continuing and even accelerating in most cities, deepening and the process of 'cree-ping apartheid'.

You talked about the urge of a new cri-tical urban theory. Could you concretize what that means and further explain pos-sibilities of how this theory should influ-ence the practice?

There is an urgent need from theories to be formed at, and from, the periphe-ry. Most critical theories to date (whether marxist, liberal, feminist, green) have been formed 'from the center'. Hence most critical theories have been uni-di-mensional, stressing one factor (usually class, capital, globalization; or identity or gender) while ignoring the interaction

Prof. Oren Yiftachel, Ben-Gurion University (Israel), talks about creeping urban apart-heid, grey spacing and the need for a new critical urban theory

Interview By MAGDALENA AUGUSTIN

Urgent need to “decolonize thoughts and concepts” in urban theory and planning

OUR UNSETTLED TIMES INTERNATIONAL FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2017

and contradictions between social forces, and the need to use multi-faceted cracks in the system in order to overcome op-pression. We need a 'new cut' with pre-vailing views rising from 'the south', 'the east', the weak and the marginalized. These should conceptualize the entire system of creating and managing urban regions, and not focus only on the poor or the 'other'. This is because 'the other' is defined as such by the system of power governing the entire region. Such theories would draw attention to the urban system of growing practices of exclusion and de-nial of rights and resources, that appear from different angles – socioeconomic, gender, race, national, regional etc. Such theories would also highlight the possibi-lities of resistance and correction, hence defining the parameters of new progres-sive practices. The main task is to deco-lonize the thoughts and concepts used by urban planners, who take for granted pl-anning tools that control, marginalize the weak, the vulnerable and the 'other'. Such decolonization would probably result in different planning practices – which high-light equality, opportunity and correcting past wrongs, and not ignore (rather fully address) aspects of identity, land, gen-der, mobility and time, often ignored by leading theories. No progressive practi-ce is possible without the re-theorization of cities that creates a new roadmap of oppression and new forms of transforma-tions. A solid foundation would result in new horizons of practices that would em-power the poor, communities, minorities, women, gays and immigrants to imagine ways in which they would claim (through urban rules and practices0 their full and equal urban citizenship.

VIENNA / SEATTLE – Lynne Manzo talked about the HOPE VI public hou-sing redevelopment program with some examples from Seattle, pointing out how attached local communities often are to these places. Residents of those public housing areas that are subject to ‚redeve-lopment’ (i.e., demolition and rebuilding) usually experience their homes as good places to live in. There are „exceptional social networks“ as she put it, anchoring communites and structures of mutual help. In contrast to this emotional attach-ment to place and the actually functional social order that exists in these public housing areas, the public authorities draw a very different picture. Their official nar-rative depicts the public housing areas as derelict, dysfunctional and miserable, in order to justify demolition.

As you found out in several empirical studies, the demolition of the homes and the unsettlement of the mostly low in-come and colored residents causes root shock, whithers place meaning and de-stroys functional social structures. Still, residents seldomely protest because they obviously adopt the official narrative, even though their own personal experi-ence might be very different.

I would caution you here. Residents do not "obviously adopt the official narrative" about their housing. Some do, but others do not; they resist that narrative. Also, struggling to reconcile the narratives of distress with their own experiences of place does not necessarily mean the are adopting the official narrative.

From your personal experience in the course of researching these neighbor-hoods, what is the role of cultural prac-tices (everyday culture as well as artistic forms of expression such as arts, litera-ture, music, etc.) for place meaning and in processes of meaning making?

This is an interesting question. Overall, I believe both cultural practices and arti-stic forms of expression have a huge role in place meaning and meaning making. It is really the "stuff' of organically evolving place meaning. Through my research I have come to believe that place meaning is derived from the everyday lived expe-rience of a place, from an intimate know-ledge and interaction with that place. It is through people's daily experiences and activities that they bonded to each other and to the place. Their housing com-plex held meaning as a supportive com-munity through their interactions with each other as neighbors, in helping each other with the tasks of everyday living - running errands, car repairs, help with transportation, car rides to the doctor or stores, sharing food, meeting to socialize. Many bonds to place emerged from so-cial relationships that crossed ethnic and linguistic boundaries and some social ties were specifically with those of the same cultural group. But both types of social relationships were supportive in their own ways and helped bond people to the place.

Prof. Oren YiftachelHead, Dept. of Multidisciplinary Studies and Dept. of Geography / Lynn and Lloyd Hurst Family Chair in Urban Studies / Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel / www.geog.bgu.ac.i l /members/yiftachel/ yiftachel.html

Environmental Psycholo-gist Lynne Manzo Recom-mends Using Full Gamut

of Citizen Action to Empo-wer Residents of Social

Housing

Interview by XENIA KOPF

Policy Makers and Planners need to “Recognize Emotional Significance”

of Places

5

6

As far as artistic expression goes, it ma-kes perfect sense that this would matter in place meaning for the very reasons I outline above, but we did not focus on that specifically in our research.

Other forms of place meaning as you noted above, come from the "top-down" or from the "outside in." That is, from rhetoric or what larger society might tell us about places, but these are often not as deeply or personally meaningful as the meanings derived from direct expe-rience.

From your personal point of view, what

could be done to avoid such painful and in some ways even dysfunctional proces-ses of displacement/unsettlement? How could the local communities be empow-ered? How to strengthen the importance of place meaning and place attachment in urban development processes, especially when cities are more and more under pressure because of population growth, capitalization etc.? What are the opportu-nities, strategies and tactics for residents, but also for other agents such as neigh-borhood centers, planning/urban deve-lopment agencies, social/cultural organi-zations or public authorities?

What could be done to avoid such dis-placement/unsettlement is a very dif-

ficult question that involves the political economy overall. Some of the more re-asonable and feasible strategies need to be grounded in economic realities. That said, there are several strategies that can be put in place if the values and political will are there. To begin, policymakers, social housing providers and planners need to recognize that existing places have emotional significance to residents and that these meanings and attachments should be taken account of when consi-dering new projects. This necessitates a more deeply participatory approach where residents' experiences, values and concerns are taken into account. The HOPE VI program did require all local Housing Authorities to use participatory processes, but oversight of resident par-ticipation and requirements for WHEN in the process residents should be involved needs reconsideration. For example, it is not enough that they participate in the Master Planning process – that is about design issues after the decision is already made for the housing to be demolished. Instead, residents should be part of the discussion earlier on, and be part of the decision-making process about whether to rehabilitate or demolish the housing. That would certainly be more empowe-ring for residents.

Ass. Prof. Lynne Manzo Associate Professor, Dept. of Landscape Ar-chitecture, University of Washington, Seattle, U.S.A. / http://swarmdev4.be.washington.edu/people/lynne-manzo/

OUR UNSETTLED TIMES INTERNATIONAL FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2017

There also needs to be greater politi-cal will and commitment among local authorities to not disrupt and displace communities and greater push-back about displacement from citizens. Gre-ater advocacy among citizens, organized residents and local political actors and decision-makers would also help raise awareness and keep in the discussion the importance of place attachment and meaning. Use the full gamut of citizen action – grassroots organizing including protests, petitions, attending City Council meetings, letters to the Mayor and local politicians as well as using standard and social media to advocate. Will the pow-er of capital always win out? Perhaps, but there are some wins that could slow down and offset displacement. Commu-nity groups of all kinds can play a role in this fight. Opportunities also come in the form of vigilance and advocacy when new urban development programs come out, and using the social capital within existing community groups and neigh-borhood centers.

event, taking place on the 1st of July at

the „Aufwind“ Festival at Donauinsel!

Let’s make Vienna a greater, open

minded place for all!

You desire houses of bass, parks of love, a sky of

ecstasy, and roads of sugar? Then visit our next

Gassen aus Zucker

OUR UNSETTLED TIMES COMMENTARIES/OP-ED FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2017

A participant’s personal comment on academic rhetoric

By JANE Q. PUBLIC

After two days of almost non-stop english lectures it was not only content knowledge that we gathered in the Un-settled Conference in Vienna 2017, but also insights into different presentation styles and methods.

Being out of academic discourses for some years maybe intensified my feeling that some presenters sounded abstract as well as alienated from comprehensible re-search questions and findings. Talking to my study colleagues I noticed that I was not the only one questioning the rhetoric competence of some researchers invol-ved. There is no doubt that a memorable presentation depends on a lot of condi-tions, including the emotional and physi-cal state of the presenter in the very mo-ment. It is also clear that the knowledge of professional presentation skills does not mean that the actual performance ful-fills all criteria one defined beforehand. I suppose it is a neverending process of optimizing methods, and here are some lessons I learned as a participant:

If you read out your text from the pa-•per/screen, try to formulate the writ-ten version in a colloquial style. For example you can use colloquial wor-ding, include personal perspectives or a joke from time to time.If you decide to read out the text, it is •even more important to make a short summary after every paragraph or chapter, so the audience gets the key message and remembers the core ar-guments. It is always a good idea to accom-•pany your talk with images or other visual features. Be sure that they are representative enough and fit your ac-tual spoken content.

Time runs very fast while talking. But •still it makes no sense to transmit this time-pressure-stress to your audience. Try to stay calm and do not “overmen-tion” how time runs by. Otherwise it is hard for the audience to focus on your content rather than on your rush. If you use text slides in your power-•point presentation try to read them together with the audience. Showing text (that people obviously try to ab-sorb) while talking creates a diver-gence of attention and makes it hard to follow one or both contents.A phenomenon I witnessed in a few •presentations was the discrepancy between quite dry presentations and lively contributions to the discussi-on by the presenters. Try to make a test-presentation at home with some friends, then collect their questions and document your answers. Then integrate these quotes into the official presentation. It is always helpful to fill the first and •the last slide with your concrete re-search question and hypothesis you want to convey to the audience. The content of this slide can be determi-ned by the simple question: “What do I want the audience to remember from my presentation in three sentences?”

No master of rhetoric has come out of nowhere so far, and it is good to know that others still have to improve their rhetoric skills, too. As we witnessed, it is not only a flawless presentation style that makes a successful researcher or scientist. But keeping academic knowledge compre-hensible can considerably add to its dis-semination potential and accessibility.

Making and Keeping Academic Knowledge Accessible

7

International Conference29 - 31 March 2017, Vienna

Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space, TU Wien http://skuor.tuwien.ac.at

skuorraum

International Conference29 - 31 March 2017, Vienna

Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space, TU Wien http://skuor.tuwien.ac.at

skuorraum

International Conference29 - 31 March 2017, Vienna

Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space, TU Wien http://skuor.tuwien.ac.at

skuorraum

[...] Your liberty is far from my liberty, so:My liberty: Yes! Your liberty: No!My liberty is constitutionally guaranteedFor your liberty, until now, there has been no need!

My liberty guarantees business for meYour liberty allows you to be my employeeAnd as you have to buy my goods, you see:Your liberty, to me, is completely for free!

And so the fact remainsThat your liberty will always be my liberty!Your liberty is what my liberty absorbsIf I don’t have my liberty, then you don’t have yours!

So you must defend my liberty by all meansWith guns in your hands, and in your children’s hands too!So that none of your children, when at work, shall even dream Of forgetting what liberty means – to me and to you!

8 OUR UNSETTLED TIMES COMMENTARIES/OP-ED FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2017

distURBANce

So much said about the urban,a confusing jungle of words,reminding us of the changes we need. In the meantime,brick by brick, wall by wall,the cities we love are under attack. By people avoiding to talk,but tending to act,well organized with cash behind their back. Time to unite theory and practice,hands equipped with pens and cobblestones,reclaiming the streets to rewrite history. Because sometimes disturbance is necessary.Sorry for the inconvenience,but we are trying to change the world.

– By M.A.

May my liberty be paramount to youMay you always be utterly loyalAnd if this seems illogical, just remember:Without my liberty, you’re unemployed!

Well, liberty is something else than overindulgence, mark thatLiberty means diligence, virility, sweat!But I’ll tell you what’s truly libertarian so far:It is to leave things just as they are!

My liberty is way more important than for yours you could hopeMy liberty: Ja! Your liberty: Nope!My liberty is ages old as history shows –Your liberty might come very soon, but who knows!

For now, your pursuit of liberty stays unfruitfulYou have no power, no organisation I bet!I won’t waive my liberty for you, I’m no foolI keep my liberty. You don’t get yours – yet!

My Liberty, Your Liberty (Meine Freiheit, Deine Freiheit)

This song originally appeared on the 1985 album Wo der Pfeffer wächst by Georg Kreisler with Barbara Peters (Preiserrecords, SPR 3366)

georgkreisler.de | georgkreisler.info | kip-media.de | preiserrecords.at Translation: X. K.

A Song by Georg Kreisler

Written in 1983