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We would like to announce that there will be for the third time an international A-Camp in Austria, taking place from the 18th to the 27th of
July 2008. An anarchistic summer camp, where we can exercise a liberated life beyond the constraints and structures of domination that shape our daily existence in our societies; a place where we can try to transpose that what we are fighting for into a common practice.

In order to spread the announcement of the camp especially outside of Austria, we depend on your help. Therefore it would be nice if you could
spread our posters & folders in your ity/localities/rooms. We will gladly send you material! In order to do so, please just send us your mail address and the approximate amount of posters and folders needed.

Thanks a lot in advance if you can help us spread information about the camp! A longer announcement of the camp is attached to this mail bellow.

Love & Strength,
The organising group of the acamp 08

Resistance - we hold this to be a synonym of vitality. In this spirit, the third anarchist summer camp in Austria should be a week spent living together, loving, laughing, debating, making plans, dancing, gathering ideas, cuddling and doing whatever else comes to our minds.

The camp should not be seen as a "holiday", for this expression implies the separation of work and leisure time. Rather, we wish it to be an
opportunity to freely mould our shared life during the camp, get to know each other and to live our dreams of a liberated life, during debates and workshops as much as in everyday life.

We are aware that such a freedom can only ever be relative, firstly because we carry the legacy of authority around with us in our heads and
bodies, and then because the anarchist camp is an island, which is limited in time and place, surrounded by an oppressive society.

But maybe we can still manage to create a free space outside of dreary social normality, where we can experience what it is that we are fighting
for and aiming at.

In order to make this possible, it is crucial that no forms of discrimination or oppression are tolerated at the camp, and that everyone
considers it as her or his responsibility to ensure this to be the case.

This means: be aware, get involved, and if you observe any such behaviour (in others or in yourself) then make sure you bring it up. Solidarity and freedom from authority, when genuinely experienced, gives us energy and
encouragement for our daily struggle.

You neither need to know any theories nor be active in any political groups to participate at the a-camp. Everybody is welcome who can identiy
with emancipatory and anti-hierarchic ideas.

What you will find and what you could find

The campsite has various fields with trees, wilderness, a small river and campfires. As well as enough places for tents, the camp offers a varied infrastructure. There are dry rooms, a kitchen and sanitary facilities, as well as a limited number of beds for those who may need them. There will be computer facilities, which could for example be used for producing a
camp newspaper, workshops and internet access. Nearby there is also a pond where you can swim.

Shared cooking will follow the principle that all should be able to eat (including vegans, persons with allergies, breastfeeding women…). If we
cooperate and share the daily chores fairly (food shopping, cooking, cleaning, tidying up), they will take up very little of everyone's time.
Solidarity and voluntary mutual help will however remain nothing but empty words, if in practice the same few people will end up doing all the work.

What will actually happen at the camp will depend on what the participants will want to make out of it. Don't expect to find a ready schedule of
lectures and workshops: rather expect to get involved, create the workshops and debates yourself and together with others. The experience of previous anarchist camps has shown that many varied and interesting topics and activities will arise spontaneously on site. The following and much more took place at the camp in 2007: workshops and debates on subjects as diverse as sex/gender/queer, migration, legal advise, anarchosyndicalism, a clowns' army training, …

The scope of subjects and possibilities should go beyond traditional anarchism. We would like to discuss the most diverse topics from a critical perspective: from (anarchist) utopias and theories, gender relationships and the critique of romantic two-person relationships to
action forms, practical examples of political activism or alternative forms of living together. The camp's size and nature should allow it to be
multifaceted: filled with theory and praxis, workshops, games, music, presentations and debates, cooking, movies, dancing etc.

What the organising group does

The organising group arranges the location, spreads the happy news that the camp takes place, sets up the initial infrastructure, etc. However
nothing will work on site if the camp's participants do not get involved and pitch the tents, organise the kitchen activities, procure food, cook, tidy up, look after the children, clear up once the camp is over and so on. We are aware that the existence of an organising group implies the persistence of a knowledge-hierarchy, and will therefore do our best to ensure that information at the camp is spread as transparently as possible, so that other collectively developed forms of organisation may
arise.

Nevertheless, there are a couple of basic decisions that we have taken in advance. These have been the result of intense discussions and of
experiences that were gathered at various camps in the past, and we do not wish them to become a subject of argument once the camp begins. We are
well aware that not everyone will be equally happy with these (particularly as far as dogs are concerned)!

· Leave your dogs at home! A large number of dogs at a camp is an annoyance to most participants and hinders the participation of children. For this reason and out of past experiences we have taken the deliberate decision that this camp will not be open to dogs.

· A large tent will be reserved for women/lesbians/transgender. This tent may function as a meeting point, a free space, or whatever else people may choose to make of it.

· We encourage people to come with children. The site is vast and offers plenty of opportunity to play around; furthermore a children's tent will
be set up. Bring ideas and toys!

Like all work the caring for children should not stick to individuals but be our shared task. Normally limited to the core family, we would like to make it differently and therefore all feel responsible.

· For Travellers: No cars may be parked on the campsite but there are enough parking places
nearby. People who live in vans or buses will be able to park a limited number of these on a small field on the campsite. In order to contain
damage to this field (and given it's small size), vehicles parked there may not be moved for the whole duration of the camp. In case this field is
full, any additional vans or buses will have to be parked offsite.

What it could be

The 2008 anarchist summer camp wishes to bring together people and experiences from different places, regions and backgrounds. Societies that
have done away with authority cannot spring out of books and straight into reality, but must be tried and developed in real life. The practice of
living and acting together at the camp can provide us with experiences in self-organisation, on which we may build in our everyday life and
political engagement. At the same time, the occupation with anarchist and antiauthoritarian theories and concepts can provide us with tools to
review our own practice and to develop new ideas.

Shaping a camp together does not mean that we won't have any differences and conflicts. It is important to bring up disagreements and be critical of each other and ourselves, so that we can learn and become able to question our own behaviour. And it's okay to argue! Nevertheless, our behaviour in an anarchist camp must be shaped by the principles of solidarity and mutual respect, which imply the acceptance of different
approaches and points of view.

love & strength,

the organising group

Our website: www.a-camps.net/AST