Transunions gathered various organizations invested in theorizing, mapping and practicing new models of emancipatory transnationalism in the field of politics, economy, ecology, education and culture, striving to establish new models of planetary egalitarianism.
The nation-state is in crisis. With the rise of neoliberalism, it has become a tool to subsidize and benefit corporations which are operating increasingly independent from any democratic control. This state-sponsored global corporate-economy has generated intense anxiety that has fueled ultranationalist sentiment and a growing support of authoritarian regimes to “take back control.” Simultaneously, we are faced with interrelated planetary threats, from offshore tax-havens to species-threatening climate change, that are addressed neither by corporations nor by national governments in an effective way: they contribute to their cause, rather than their solution.
During Transunions transnational organizations, parties, civil platforms, think tanks and activist groups, gather to discuss (1) the meaning of the nation-state; (2) the challenges and gains of transnational organizations today; and (3) the future of a new transnational union. Gathered together around a single table, they pre-enact a new transnational order of the future into the present.
With contributions by Dounia Kchiere (communications strategist, former United Nations/UNICEF); Fernando Burges (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, UNPO); Andrzej W. Nowak (philosopher, Poznan University); Abderrahim Kassou (Alternatives Forum of Morocco, FMAS); Esra Küçük (Maxim Gorki Theatre/ Young Islam Conference); Mike van Graan (African Cultural Policy Network, ACPN); Diana Arce and Angelo Camufingo (Black Lives Matter Berlin); John Jordan (The Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination, Zone a Defendre ZAD, Notre Dame des Landes); Zdenka Badovinac (L’Internationale); Dilar Dirik (Kurdish Women’s Movement); Siana Bangura (Black Lives Matter UK); Lorenzo Marsili (DiEM25/European Alternatives/ School of Transnational Activism); Fiona Dove (Transnational Institute, TNI); and many others. Co-chaired by Joanna Warsza (curator) and Chris Keulemans (writer, journalist).
Transunions is part of the long-term artistic and political campaign New Unions. Assembly design by artist Jonas Staal, in collaboration with architect Paul Kuipers and designer Remco van Bladel.
