A Book Bloc’s Genealogy

Book Bloc hits the streets of Rome / Nov 23

Book Bloc gets its name / Nov 24

Nuova narrazione per la battaglia / Nov 24

Gli scontri a Roma, in via del Corso / Nov 30

Book Bloc comes to London / Dec 7

Inspired by, and in solidarity with the Italians and their demo against Berlusconi’s education reforms an assemblage of life-size books are being constructed for this Thursday’s national demonstration against the cuts.

The Democratic Library / Dec 8

1- LA volontà di sapere - Foucault

2- 1984 - Orwell

3- Il cavaliere inesitente - Calvino

4- L'origine della specie - Darwin

5- Noi saremo tutto - Evangelisti

6- L'etica - Spinoza

7- Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury

8- Fight Club - Palanhiuk

9- Il dottor Zivago - Pasternak

10- In ogni caso nessun rimorso - Cacucci

11- La divina commedia - Dante

12- Q - Luther Blisset

13- Cosa può un corpo - Deleuze

14- Manifesto Cyborg - Haraway

15- Casino totale - J. Izzo

16- Odissea - Omero

17 La tempesta - Shakespeare

18- Shock economy - Klein

19- Comici, spaventati guerrieri - Benni

20- I demoni - Dostoevsky

Italian press claims the nationality of the invention / Dec 9

Book Bloc London press release / Dec 9

Books are our tools – we teach with them, we learn with them, we play with them, we create with them, we make love with them and, sometimes, we must fight with them.

British Parliament Riot Book Block Stands Firm / Dec 9

The Book Block did well during today’s demo at Parliament and beyond (as did all the other brilliant fighters in the masses). Here Guy Debord’s great text ‘The Society of The Spectacle’ resists police attacks. Caught up in between NUS, Education Activist Network, Green Party, SWP, NCFAC and all those others who really just seek to take power, those who just got on with resisting the police attacks gladden the heart.

The Book Bloc recognizes itself / Dec 9

Within the book block a new generation recognized and found itself in the protest. Today in lots of cities the Italian student movement is showing something more than just solidarity: this is because your struggle is our struggle and all around Europe students are against the increasing of fees, the privatisation of the university and the education cuts. You are not alone in UK: an European event, a new generation do not want to stop. We have the force whom want to change the world and we have the intelligence to do it. It is just the beginning!

Mais les livres ne sont pas l'avant-garde à Londres / Dec 9

“Les étudiants des universités sont passés à l’attaque avec des boucliers de carton en forme de livres, comme leur collègues italiens. Génial. Mais ce qui est vraiment important est que la tête la plus farouche de la manif, la ligne de combat contre les flics, était composée de jeunes hommes du sud-ouest de la ville.”

Corporate media read the books / Dec 10

Radical writing is often described as being at the intellectual barricades, but here at the protest, metaphor became reality. The books were not only at the barricades, they were the barricades, behind which the students could both take shelter and push forward; could “transgress” across the police lines while the truncheons fell on the books, not the demonstrators. The scene embodied something profound: ideas do shield people, and those who dislike the status quo can find protection in words of subversion.

Book Bloc sfila anche a Genova / Dec 12

Wu Ming launches the trending topic / Dec 12

Book Bloc reaches the age of majority in their home town / Dec 14

Anche a Milano / Dec 14

“Niente violenza ma tanta rabbia” a Palermo / Dec 22

Cover feature in Spain / Dec 23

Art Attack per il tuo Book Bloc / Dec 24

More talking / Feb 23, 2011

“What thread links the political experience of Tute Bianche with the Book Blocs we have seen last autumn on the streets of Rome and London? What is the link between the alter-globalisation movement of Seattle and Genoa and the student and youth movements that are now setting Europe on fire?”

Now book are not defensive but offensive / Mar 2

Respingiamo questa riforma! Decine di facoltà occupate, azioni e blocchi delle stazioni = Italian students begin actions, occupations and blockings using mock books as banners and shields.Wu Ming reports: “Our novel Q clashes with the Italian police” . A comment on this entry is the first record of the “Book Bloc” on the internet.Intervista con Wu Ming sul Book Bloc + English excerpt here Students, artists and cultural workers preparing actions against the cuts . They arranged a meeting point and called for suggestions for Dec 9 demo.- vi propone un sondaggio per scegliere collettivamente quali saranno i libri che costituiranno il Book Block il prossimo 14 Dicembre. I risultati:Corriere della Sera: “Anche a Londra sfilano i book-bloc - Libri e scudi di gommapiuma, ideati alla Sapienza” A declaration of intentions by Arts Against Cuts.As reported in Indymedia Uniriot: “European Calling: is just the beginning! Call in It/Eng/Fr/De” Parce que “L'avant-garde danse le dubstep” Jay Griffiths in The Guardian , among other starring features. Tiqqun finally gets to the front page:New books showing up in Genoa “Quadratura dei cerchi concentrici – #nogelmini #bookbloc #demo2010” , an analysis and some theory behind the strokes.Books seen all around the riots and clashes while Silvio Berlusconi is confirmed as Life Emperor of Italy, being heavily repressed by police and heavily depicted by corporate media.Reported by @Wu_Ming_Foundt: Also reaches Berlusconi’s home town. Although some of the guys preferred blank paper As students go on fighting the cuts on the streets, books clash the pigs again. See pics here and here Spanish most read underground press: “La dictadura de los mercados sacude Europa” , illustrated with books from Rome. UniRiotTV aims for D.I.Y.A seminar called “ From Tute Bianche to the Book Bloc: the Italian movement and the coming European insurrection ” is held @ Lecture Theatre, Courtauld Institute, London.Look for answers in the transcripts, available in English and Italia, following the link.