An exercise in radical participatory planning
At what point does health care become violence? Why do health care facilities turn into prisons, and what can be done to prevent this? Where are decisions made as to how health care is structured? What tools could be useful in challenging and rethinking the relations between patients, care providers, and society in a time of crisis? Such are the questions addressed by the Care Units Visual Assembly, initiated by artist Nika Dubrovsky and writer David Graeber. Participants from London, New York, Rojava, and Graz join to collectively decide on the nature of a hypothetical “care unit” in an approximately two-hour Zoom webinar. This care unit’s interpersonal relationships and behavioral protocols will be visualized in a live chalk drawing using stencil patterns on the campus of the Medical University of Graz. Register to participate in the Zoom conference, watch the chalk drawing on-site in Graz, or follow the webinar here on Paranoia TV. A more detailed plan for the assembly can be found here and further updates to be published soon.
Bio
Nika Dubrovsky (1967, Leningrad, Russia) is a writer and artist, and the author of the Anthropology for Kids project—an online open-source platform experimenting with new forms of work between the academy and contemporary art. Dubrovsky writes for such publications as e-flux and artnet. Her books have been published in Russian, Finnish, English, Polish, and now in Japanese. She lives in London.
David Graeber (1961, New York, USA) is a widely regarded anthropologist and author. He has written on value, work, magic, kings, slavery, direct action, and a host of other topics. He is most well-known for his books Debt: The First 500 Years and Bullshit Jobs, as well as for his participation in a variety of mobilizations and global movements. He lives in London.
Debbie Bookchin (1955, USA) is a long-time journalist and author. She has won awards for her news, feature, and investigative reporting. In addition to her book The Virus and the Vaccine, she has written for numerous publications and coedited a book of essays by her father, Murray Bookchin. She was Bernie Sanders’ press spokeswoman for three years when he was first elected to Congress.
Kelly Roache (1989, New Jersey, USA) is an organizer with Symbiosis, a dual-power confederation of local direct democratic institutions across North America. She is also a researcher, writer, and organizer around issues of energy democracy, as well as a board member of the Institute for Social Ecology, Vermont.