Really Really Free Market
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The Really, Really Free Market (RRFM) movement is a non-hierarchical collective of individuals who form a temporary market based on an alternative gift economy.[1] The RRFM movement aims to counteract capitalism in a non-reactionary way. It holds as a major goal to build a community based on sharing resources, caring for one another and improving the collective lives of all. Markets often vary in character, but they generally offer both goods and services. Participants bring unneeded items, food, skills and talents such as entertainment or haircuts. A RRFM may take place in an open community space such as a public park or community commons.
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[edit] Origins and spread
Participants from the SouthEast Anarchist Network (SeaNET)[2] held demonstrations using the first known Really, Really Free Market to protest the G8 summit. The first known Really, Really Free Market took place simultaneously in Miami, Florida, and Raleigh, North Carolina during the anti-globalization protests against the FTAA in 2004.[3] The idea quickly spread across the United States.
The movement has emerged in diverse places such as North Carolina; New York City; Reno, Nevada; Cottage Grove, Oregon; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Austin, Texas, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Belfast, New York, Tallahassee, Florida, Yellow Springs, Ohio as well as Capital Park in Detroit on the third Sunday of January, April, July and October. RRFMs occur in the San Francisco Bay Area as well. North Carolina has an especially vibrant RRFM movement, with markets appearing in cities such as Wilmington, Raleigh, Greensboro and Greenville.[4]
In addition, New York City[5]; Greenville, North Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Wilmington, North Carolina; Carrboro, North Carolina; Washington, DC; San Francisco, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Richmond, Virginia; Cincinnati, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Indiana, are home to monthly Really Really Free Markets.
Athens, GA witnessed its first RRFM on April 28th, 2007 as part of the May Day celebrations organized by Autonomous Athens.[6] It has since become a monthly occurrence with event attendance usually in the hundreds. In Toronto, Ontario, the first Really Really Free Market has sprung up, starting in March of 2009.
[edit] See also
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Really Really Free Market |
- Free store
- Diggers (theater) – a group of early adopters of the free-store concept
- DIY ethic
- Mutual aid
- Freeganism
- Anti-capitalism
- Direct action
- Regiving
- Pay it forward
[edit] References
- ^ CrimethInc.. "The Really Really Free Market: Instituting the Gift Economy". Rolling Thunder (4). http://www.crimethinc.com/texts/atoz/reallyreally.php. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
- ^ "SouthEast Anarchist Network". http://www.anarcha.org/seanet/main.php.
- ^ Simpich, Bill (June 7, 2004). "Really REALLY Free Market Report". San Francisco Bay Area Indymedia. http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2004/06/07/16839171.php.
- ^ "Carrboro's 'Really, Really Free Market'". http://www.carrboro.com/reallyreallyfreemarket/.
- ^ Moynihan, Colin (January 28, 2009). "East Village Market Where Everything Is Free Faces an Uncertain Future". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/nyregion/29free.html?_r=1&em.
- ^ Aued, Blake (October 2, 2007). "New market really, really free". Athens Banner-Herald. http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/100207/news_20071002051.shtml/.
[edit] External links
- Wilmington, NC RRFM Info
- San Francisco's RRFM homepage
- Carrboro, NC RRFM Info
- Baltimore Free Store
- Greenville, NC RRFM
- Toronto, ON RRFM
- Milwaukee Network for Social Change
- Tucson AZ RRFM
- Austin, TX, RRFM Info
- Naples Florida RRFM