voc – kilian jörg – reclaiming commons
Kilian Jörg – Reclaiming the Commons (Valley of the Commons)
valley of the commons – 9.1.26 – kilian jörg – reclaiming commons
via voc tweet [https://x.com/VotC2026/status/2094719636348477816?s=20]:
join us online for the keynote by Kilian Jörg: “Reclaiming the commons“ speaking on nature & ecological collapse, radical commoning and our love for machines producing a certain lifestyle
find kilian’s work: https://www.kilianj.org/: Hi, I am Kilian Jörg, an artist and philosopher working mainly on the ecological catastrophe and how we can culturally work with it. My current research topics are the car as a metaphor for our toxic entanglements with modern lifestyles, the socio-psychological effects of living with ecocide and radical activist strategies of reclaiming land like the ZAD in France. I hold a PhD in Philosophy and am working internationally and transdisciplinary in various collectives, countries and disciplines. Currently I am mostly working as a freelancer in various collectives, am teaching at the School of Transformation at University of Applied Arts Vienna, the department Plastic and Environment of Kunstuniversität Linz and am affiliated to the CRC Affective Societies at the FU Berlin. Some of my works – books, performances, multi-media-installations and soundart can be found on this homepage. You can follow my current works and projects on my blog: kilianjoerg.blogspot.com
from blog: “Radical Commoning Practices in a Pluriverse facing planetary collapse” @ Valley of the Commons, Hirshwang an der Rax, 31.8&1.9.2026 – I am very happy to be able to present the more radical aspects of commoning in contemporary political practice at the “Valley of the Commons” meeting taking place this year close to my hometown Vienna in the Austrian Alps. I’ll show the movie of my friends and comrades of the Pirates de Lentillières on the night of the 31.8 and will give a lecture on the subsequent morning. Here is some more info, although not plenty: https://www.valleyofthecommons.com/ – find my abstracts below!
How can we think productively about escaping the ecocidal, capitalist system? In the film, both refugees from sub-Saharan Africa or former office workers from major European cities have their reasons for breaking away from this destructive system and building a new, queer life together with a positive relationship to the environment. The film “Une île et une nuit” by the Pirates de Lentillières is a unique document about the French radical scene centered around the “Zads” (zones à défendre) and the joy of fighting for a better life amid climate collapse. Shot in eleven languages without subtitles, the film enabled every participant to tell and bring to life their own personal story. The result is a surreal, at times almost childishly funny pirate epic about the struggle against corporate giants and for the preservation of land, which captivates every viewer in a somatic, pre-linguistic way. The film was created collectively—without hierarchies or direction—as part of the assemblies regularly held at the ZAD of the Quartier Libre de Lentillières in Dijon, and in both its style and subject matter, it serves as a living testament to how much more culture, joy, and empowerment can emerge through commoning. Shot on 16mm film despite having no budget, the film impressively demonstrates that culture flourishes much more vibrantly beyond capitalist appropriation and can organically become part of the collective struggle for (survival).
pirates ness et al.. zad ness et al
nika dubrovsky ness
note: on survival ness: survival is a means to survive things as they are.. so to me.. not a legit alt.. it’s triage.. perpetuating survival triage.. so a temp band aide per se.. that will /can help now.. but only for short term.. because it still doesn’t get to the root of the problem.. so it won’t offer/lead-to legit change/life/freedom.. et al.. so.. to me.. it’s still a cancerous distraction to the dance
Radical Commoning Practices in a Pluriverse facing planetary collapse
On the following day, Kilian Jörg will share theories, experiences and practices from contemporary radical struggles around commons. They will talk about various strategies of reclaiming the common, from the Zapatistas to Galicia en Comun, from the Zads in France to the Swiss Aufstände der Allemende. In this workshop, questions of belonging, indigeneity, tradition, struggle and resistance will be raised and we will together draw a map of possible survivance through a pluralistic patchwork of various commoning strategies coming together and fighting for a landing of our economies and life-styles on the earth we live on.
to me.. (and note warning ness).. not rad enough to get to root of problem.. ie of cancerous distractions: tradition, struggle, resistance, survivance, strategies, fighting,.. et al.. since that day
notes/quotes from 100 min video:
nena – intro: let people know they have to clean up for themselves
kilian (starts at 7 min): arrived not sure what to expect.. refreshing.. more tech than circles i’m used to traveling.. my perspective as coming from .. . philosopher who’s interested in ecological activism and anarchism..l not sure of your backgrounds.. so not sure what i can/can’t presuppose.. i’m a traveler between worlds (or words?).. in some i speak primary accumulation .. which is boring to some.. if know it or not.. so please stop me when don’t get a concept.. maybe not all the time because never understand everything.. but still very sensitive what to presuppose.. what to explain
anarch\ism ness et al
9 min – k: strong believer in fem endpoint.. raised in vienna .. live in europe.. try to not fly so mostly eurocentric.. hover between: philosophy, marxism, and art.. can’t put into one box.. more letting curiosity lead me to a form that other people understand.. into music a lot.. i’m queer.. one interest.. what is desire to become a machine.. one day.. took a lot of drugs to see what it’s like to become a machine
we’ve all been doing that since that day – hari present in society law.. et al
k: on history ness.. all indications that we have left zone of comfort.. et al.. more following donna horraway w anthropocene as a time of upheaval and change.. and need new forms., zapatistas important to me.. called this the period of the storm
donna haraway.. zapatista ness et al.. anthropocene ness et al
14 min – k: so my work is how to create empowering feelings in this time of climate collapse
k: giving ie’s of eco collapse.. will see effects in 2100.. zapatista’s and indigenous say started in 1492 invasion.. we think we can do things in a day.. need wisdom of indigenous because it is a long durational crisis.. what makes reaction so difficult
perhaps.. until today.. we have means for detox leap.. that doesn’t take a lot of work
19 min – k: 2nd to last book about the car.. central metaphor to understand relation to planet.. how to get places.. ie: takes 5 min.. usually means by car.. family fits.. 5 seats in car.. econ facils movement of car.. normalizes colonial relation to environ.. go to relax via car.. this normalization that is being enacted/produced by car.. solution and problem.. maybe our entire life contingent on ie: supermarkets et al.. could be completely changed.. how to find utopias out of this
need a legit a nother way.. graeber make it diff law.. myth of normal.. et al.. two books ness
k: i’m also an activist/streetfight/occupy ness et al.. since 2021 climate movement insane decline in german areas . led me to france where not same degree of demobilization happened.. which is due to one specific fight.. which is also topic of my last book: poke holes in status quo
via google: The 2025 book by philosopher Kilian Jörg and Michael Hirsch about challenging systemic norms and exploring radical land reclamation strategies is titled Durchlöchert den Status quo! (which translates to “Poke holes in the status quo!”).. The book examines radical activist strategies—such as land reclamation and ZAD (Zone à Défendre) movements in France—as practical, imaginative ways to disrupt toxic modern lifestyles and confront ecological collapse
again.. to me.. these aren’t rad in terms of getting to root.. need deeper imaginative ways..
findings from on the ground ness deep dive on why we need tech w/o judgment
ie: the dance won’t dance unless/until it’s 1\ all of us 2\ legit free
imagine if we listen to the itch-in-8b-souls 1st thing everyday & use that data to connect us (tech as it could be.. ai as augmenting interconnectedness)
k: books and film tell about zad and what i take from it for utopian political project for future..
23 min – k: (responding to question i couldn’t here) i’m interested in something that ernst bloch.. german marxist philosoph.. utopian’s dream of warmth.. utopias might not be needed to be fully realized.. but if have them in mind.. can create stream of warmth which attracts you to move in certain direction where things might feel better .. bloch said communism had this effect on many agents in last 2 centuries.. no matter what you think about communism.. the idea produce this stream of warmth.. i’d say fall of berlin wall started a downfall.. and losing/lost warmth.. thatcher imposes capitalism as only system.. but doesn’t convey people want it.. but no alt.. so interested in what could create a new stream of warmth.. and as an activist.. i’m more interested in concrete fights and structures that are already happening than just thinking of an idea in head w no real basis.. so look at concrete struggles and decide a utopian alt and how to prolong this stream of warmth
via [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Bloch]: Ernst Simon Bloch (/blɒk/; German: [ɛʁnst ˈblɔx]; 8 July 1885 – 4 August 1977) was a German Marxist philosopher. Bloch was influenced by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx, as well as by apocalyptic and religious thinkers such as Thomas Müntzer, Paracelsus, and Jacob Böhme. He established friendships with György Lukács, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor W. Adorno. Bloch’s work focuses on an optimistic teleology (causes/ends) of the history of mankind.
spiritualizing anarchism (couldn’t find him there but page came up first when searched his name).. karl marx.. walter on art.. walter on messianic time.. et al
26 min – k: big fan of zad movement.. hands out books to look thru images while he’s talking so get more perspective.. also passed out map.. zad = zone of defense.. 75 km in nw france
27 min – in 70s french declared a zad.. expropriation to build highways/airports et al.. zad for farmers to resist building of airport (distracted child left).. destroyed everywhere but in the zad because it had already been planned for airport.. in 2008 court/state new govt.. go on w airport led to occupation of space.. 500 people came built 3 houses and re inhabited space to defend airport project and stayed there for next 10 yrs.. 3 times tried to evict.. largest police force since 68.. but since still old fashion territory perfect for guerilla warfare.. created big scandal in media and all of france talked about it.. anarchists reclaimed zad term.. alliances seemed impossible to break down.. et al ie: can’t evict if grannies et al
33 min – zad became key that everyone/child knew about.. dictionary/films/books.. from concrete small fight became a symbol all across france that this is a tactic that works
works for power.. but not for legit freedom..
35 min – became not only against an airport.. but what are you for.. being able to stay there in beautiful territory and decide what matters – they were updating the commons.. more biodiverse/stable than before
36 min – agir ruined this except in few spots.. idea is that we need to reimagine commons.. not only for human but earth et al to create medicibility for future.. 2 slogans from zad: 1\ ‘we’re not defending nature we are nature defending itself’ rather than humans as protectors .. earth uprising.. magic/madness of the irrational.. i don’t think rationality is good to mobilize people
40 min – 2\ ‘end of the world is possible’.. start talking about collapse.. not about preventing it.. but this world .. capitalism et al.. is the problem and needs to end
hari rat park law et al
42 min – on zapatista ness – indigenous led resistance movement to reclaim lands and old life forms
46 min – common ism not a tech led process
but need it for detox.. ie: imagine a turtle; tech as softwave ness; et al
47 min – zad movement as first to try to do this (zapatista thing)
48 min – (fritch: elab on common vs commons) common as historical term.. large chunk org’d to feed selves as a common.. idea is to reclaim this form of relation to land.. to undo the relation of private individual to a chunk of land
49 min – (fritch: to me economist.. i follow ostrom.. i see those who say common as not following her) thanks.. the re forms my direction.. i rather prefer to talk about commoning and not the commons.. because i don’t want to see it as an end but a process..
common\ing ness et al.. ostrom 8 et al
indings from on the ground ness.. deep dive on why we need tech w/o judgment:
1\ undisturbed ecosystem (unconditional part of common\ing) can happen
2\ if we create a way to facil the seeming chaos of 8b (aka: all) legit free people (aka: unconditional part)
the dance won’t dance unless/until it’s 1\ all of us 2\ legit free (aka: sans any form of us & them ness so sans any form of fighting/re ness)
51 min – i’m inline with italian line of thinking.. federici.. capitalism needs commons to work.. so women have to do reproductive labor for capitalism to work
silvia federici et al.. caring labor.. et al
52 min – sentence from book: ‘utopias w/o resistance become labs for new forms of capitalism’.. more strength in opposing current order than just ie: buying land .. i like the idea that there needs to be a resistance.. that there needs to be a yes and a no in every fight.. if just a yes.. becomes lab for new form of capitalism
actually.. it’s the re ness and the us & them ness.. et al.. that is perpetuating same song (aka: capitalism or whatever you want to call sea world)
55 min – fritch: focus on resistance.. lesser talked about aspect of commoning .. seems most try to keep away from resistance.. giving instead going another direction.. i personally felt thru last year to be drawn back into radical politics.. still wondering working on how to translate that into my work here.. so far we have stayed out of controversy.. but i feel i desire in me to stop being so easy
57 min – do we need an enemy to create a movement.. ie: farmers and anarchists would have never come together if it weren’t for airport project.. *very easy to come together if common enemy.. if you don’t have that.. **how to create alliances is a very very tricky thing
*oi.. legit freedom will only happen if it’s all of us.. and in order to be all of us.. has to be sans any form of measuring, accounting, people telling other people what to do
**oh my.. huge whalespeak.. red flag.. takes a lot of work.. ness et al
imagine if we listen to the itch-in-8b-souls 1st thing everyday & use that data to connect us (tech as it could be.. ai as augmenting interconnectedness)
need 1st/most: means (nonjudgmental expo labeling) to undo hierarchical listening – so we can hear what’s already on each heart as global detox in order to org around legit needs
that dance takes no ‘work’ .. no prep.. no train.. just us .. only catch is it has to be all of us for the dance to dance
if looking for a legit alt.. the thing we’ve not yet tried/seen: the unconditional part of left to own devices ness
[‘in an undisturbed ecosystem ..the individual left to its own devices.. serves the whole’ –dana meadows]
and there’s a legit use of tech (nonjudgmental exponential labeling) to facil the seeming chaos of that global detox leap/dance..
ie: whatever for a year.. a legit sabbatical ish transition
otherwise we’ll keep perpetuating the same song.. the whac-a-mole-ing ness of sea world.. of not-us ness.. of part\ial ness.. perpetuating survival triage.. for (blank)’s sake..
58 min – zad is not an autonomous place.. isolated et al.. they don’t want to be autonomous.. they say they are retreating to max the friction with the current order.. create new positionalities where you can attack better.. so not just commoning.. but where all movement can be outside of state.. and it’s feeding the movement.. it’s about how independent can you become w/o money.. can you org where you need much less money and have much more freedom to move.. this correlation with freedom and money.. need less money but more free.. interesting for a lot of people.. still create utopian stream of hope..
perhaps rather.. let’s try/code money (any form of measuring/accounting/people telling other people what to do) as the planned obsolescence.. where legit needs are met w/o money from the get go.. till people forget about measuring..ie: sabbatical ish transition
ie: 10-day-care-center\ness et al
1:01 – roberto: how do we scale this.. the scaling of this seems limited by the space.. can we build on top .. rather than against.. the current system.. can we create a choice.. to release dependency on money while no police at front trying to kick us out of own house.. thoughts about that
1:03 – yes waste is often a place for regen.. there’s a danger in scaling to head toward a generalization.. ie: take art there.. i’d rather see it as a viral effect.. this kind of scaling i’m interested in.. what we can find from existing and then scale from there
viral will only happen if ie: have a problem deep enough to resonate w/8b today.. via a mechanism simple enough to be accessible/usable to 8b today.. in an ecosystem open enough to set/keep 8b legit free
which.. nothing to date (ever since that day) has gotten to that root of problem..
ie: org around a problem deep enough (aka: org around legit needs) to resonate w/8b today.. via a mechanism simple enough (aka: tech as it could be) to be accessible/usable to 8b today.. and an ecosystem open enough (aka: sans any form of m\a\p) to set/keep 8b legit free
so if want viral ness.. have to try something legit diff.. something that takes no prep.. no train.. something that every heart already craves
1:06 – to private property question.. i’m an anarchist interested in legal texts.. book on reformulation of property laws.. law is never clear.. courts interpret diff ways.. laws are patchwork over time.. so always a question of reshifting interests.. so to create legal form that recognizes place not as a legal property.. but humans that can own land.. how could humans replace the owners.. going back to 13 cent cloister law (?the law of strict enclosure)
1:11 – (not possible to do just zad.. because have to find ways to ie: rebuild healthcare) on creating conditions of life that produce less sickness.. might be a long way going there.. but important to remember that the system produces disability
the peckham experiment et al.. hari present in society law et al.. myth of normal.. again.. need global detox first/most to heal/recover/uncover us.. to softwave ness us back to us by waking up our ‘immune system’ ness
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be you. 