Liberation struggles, solidarity, and failing utopias. A conversation with Henning Melber, anticolonial activist and SWAPO member
Henning Melber (born 1950) is a renowned expert on German-African colonial relations and on memory cultures. In 1974 he became one of the first white members of Namibia's liberation movement, the South-West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO). Due to his activities he was banned from entering Namibia and South Africa till the end of the apartheid regime. This biographical interview gives an account of gaining anticolonial and antiracist consciousness across the long lines of political struggles. Henning reflects on his political upbringing, solidarity actions in West Germany in the 1980s, pedagogy of liberation, and on state capture and kleptocracy in Namibia today.
“First they try to make us poor, and then they try to buy us with cheap labour”. Ecodefense against mining in East Serbia
The “Zbor network”, a transnational collaboration of Balkan and West European activists has organized the first ever anti-mining camp in September 2024. Named after partisan assemblies in former Yugoslavia, Zbor draws on a rich history of Balkan solidarity to counter resource extractivism. Their activism extends beyond Serbia, drawing connections between local struggles and a broader critique of capitalist extractivism across the former Yugoslavia—a region where solidarity has long been a transnational endeavor, from the partisan resistance to the non-aligned movement. The following interview is with two environmental activists, “Big Bear” and “Ris” provides an account of the current situation, recalling fear, hopes, and resistance strategies.
“Are We Running Out of Hope?” Reflections on COP29 By Carlos Tornel & Pablo Montaño
The failure of international climate change negotiations, such as the UN Conference of the Parties (COP), and the election of Donald Trump demonstrate the importance of not giving up, reclaiming, and continuing to defend hope.
“I'M DOING IT FOR THE SAKE OF SPREADING IDEAS:”An Interview with Jon Active
This is an interview with the legendary anarchist distributor and publisher “Jon Active” of Active Distribution. Lean about his political development, punk influence, struggle and publishing challenges.
“The Proposed Mine Was Inevitable:” A Conversation with Dr. Al Gedicks on NGOisation, Indigenous Resistance & Successful Struggles against mining in Wisconsin, USA
This interview with professor Al Gedicks discusses their research, highlighting connections between Latin America and Wisconsin, USA, anti-mining and Indigenous struggles.
Facing World-Eating Machines: A Dialogue with Dr. Andrea Brock on the Hambach Coal Mine, Academia & Political Struggle
This Dialogue between Andrea Brock and Alexander Dunlap delves into the full-spectrum resistance against coal mining in the German Rhineland, state/corporate repression against land defenders as well as how typically presents anti-extractivist struggles