What can the concept of ‘the commons’ help us understand about the relationship between individual liberties and the communal good, the history of Chicago itself, and our sometimes contradictory notions of environmental stewardship?

On Saturday, November 11th, join us for an interdisciplinary symposium on land justice and the commons. Topics include the ideological underpinnings of the idea of ‘the commons’ and its application in Europe and the US; how urban farms become microcosms for new social worlds; and how civil rights law can combat environmental racism.

Speakers include: Daniel Loick, Associate Professor in Political and Social Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam; Juanita Irizarry, Executive Director of Friends of the Parks; Nyabweza “Bweza” Itaagi, lead steward of the Englewood Nature Trail, Anthony Tamez-Pochel, co-president of Chi Nations Youth Council, and others.

The event will conclude with a plant and seed swap, and is free and open to the public. Please register in advance to help us plan accordingly.

** On Tuesday, November 14th, at 6pm CST, catch our virtual keynote, ‘A Brief History of Indigenous Chicago,’ with Dr. John N. Low. Please register separately for the Zoom link here: https://goethe-institut.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KGjG4tWTRKKqmme4pRvkcg **

This symposium is organized in partnership with the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Bubbly Dynamics LLC, owner and operator of the former meatpacking facility now known as The Plant.

SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE
Saturday, November 11, 2023
1pm – 1:30pm The Abuse of Property, with Daniel Loick (virtual presentation on-site)
1:30 – 2:30pm Parks as Democracy?: A People’s History of the Chicago Park District, with Juanita Irizarry
2:30 – 3:30pm From Placemaking to Worldbuilding: Reinventing the Urban Farm, with Nyabweza “Bweza” Itaagi, Robert Phillips, and Anthony Tamez-Pochel, moderated by Yaritza Guillen
3:30 – 4:30pm Redrawing Chicago’s Maps: Using Civil Rights Law to Combat Environmental Racism, with Robert Weinstock
4:30 – 5:30pm The Commons and the Public, with Mary Beth Pudup
5:30 – 6:00pm Plant and Seed Swap

1pm – 1:30pm
The Abuse of Property
It is generally argued that use requires property: in order to legitimately use land, for example, one has to have property rights in it. This intervention argues the opposite: property inevitably leads to specific forms of abuse, of things as well as people. In this on-site talk, Daniel Loick, Associate Professor of Political and Social Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam, argues that we need to politically challenge the property regime in order to repair ourselves and the world.

1:30 – 2:30pm
Parks as Democracy?: A People’s History of the Chicago Park District
What does it mean for parks to be democratic spaces? Renowned park designer Frederick Law Olmsted said that parks are democratic spaces, and the assertion that they are is often made. But in practice, not everyone experiences their park as a democratic space. In this look at the social forces that have shaped the Chicago Park District, Juanita Irizarry, Executive Director of Friends of the Parks, will discuss some of the social histories that have shaped Chicago’s parks and the urgent issues affecting the city’s parks and other green spaces.

2:30pm – 3:30pm
From Placemaking to Worldbuilding: Reinventing the Urban Farm
In this panel discussion, three Chicago urban farmers and environmental stewards will weigh in on how community gardens can propel broader neighborhood change. From turning a vacant lot into a cultural space to providing access to fresh produce in food deserts across the city’s South and West sides, urban farming can reshape neighborhood dynamics to model more equitable communities. This discussion will feature Nyabweza “Bweza” Itaagi, steward of the Englewood Nature Trail and co-owner of Englewood community production farm Sistas In The Village; Robert Phillips, owner and lead farmer of Patchwork Farms, which is based at The Plant; and Anthony Tamez-Pochel, co-president of Chi Nations Youth Council and member of the First Nations Garden in Albany Park. It will be moderated by Yaritza Guillen, urban planner and Stewardship Coordinator at Chicago nonprofit land trust NeighborSpace.

3:30-4:30pm
Redrawing Chicago’s Maps: Using Civil Rights Law to Combat Environmental Racism
In our city, public health and environmental burdens are the most present and pernicious where lower-income communities of color reside as a product of racial segregation created and perpetuated by law and legal institutions. Observing this fact leads to an obvious question: if law created this concentration of harms, how can law address and unwind them? Environmental and land use laws are intended to protect the public from the burdens that flow from people living in proximity to polluters. But, federal environmental law is fundamentally siloed and technocratic; built from the perspective of individual polluters, not communities exposed to multiple and cumulative health stressors. And land use law in Chicago is both designed to prioritize development and built on a racially segregated map. Professor Weinstock’s talk will explore the connection between segregation and environmental burdens in Chicago, introduce these conceptual shortcomings of environmental law, and explain how federal civil rights laws are being used to push the City toward true reform of its land use policies to ensure that no Chicago neighborhood bears a disproportionate share of environmental burdens.

4:30 – 5:30pm
The Commons and the Public
In this talk, historical and economic geographer Mary Beth Pudup will identify a few themes and red threads that run through the afternoon’s sessions and reflect on some of the challenges of commoning and governing the commons as policy and practice, suggesting a necessary step towards future commons in any realm of social existence perhaps depends on an urgent project of rescuing and rehabilitating “the public” realm from its currently damaged and derogated condition.

5:30 – 6:00pm
Plant and Seed Swap
A plant swap is an event where fellow plant owners come together to trade plant cuttings and seeds. If you would like to participate, please bring a pest-free plant (or however many you’re willing to part with!). They can be potted or bare root, but please note that we will not be providing soil and pots for whatever you’d like to take home. There will be a table set up at the entrance to The Plant for you to leave your donated cuttings, which will be available for anyone to take for the duration of the full ‘Land in Common’ event. Please label what you bring with basic care instructions. If you’d like to mingle with other plant swappers or have any questions about plant care, meet us at the tables from 5:30-6:00pm!

Dinner and drinks available for purchase on-site at The Plant, including Heffer BBQ at Whiner Beer Co.’s Taproom and MeetStop by Ste. Martaen’s vegan comfort food.

For more information, including speaker bios, see the Goethe-Institut Chicago website.

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Tags: Anthony Tamez-Pochel, Back of the Yards, chicago architecture biennial, Chicago Park District, Daniel Loick, Danielle Koenig, Dilara Miller, Elyse Herrera, Goethe-Institut Chicago, Juanita Irizarry, Land in Common, land justice, Macus Alonso, Maeve Wallace, Mary Beth Pudup, Mary O Conno, New City, Nyabweza “Bweza” Itaagi, The plant, Tonya Whitlock