This conversation is incredible — it makes the commune form feel less like a historical curiosity and more like one of the few living experiments we have left for imagining a future with dignity.
I was especially struck by Ross’s framing of defense vs. resistance — that defense begins with love, with something worth protecting, and therefore creates a different kind of time, a different kind of solidarity. It makes sense of why occupations from ZAD to Standing Rock felt like more than protests: they were places where people reorganized life around care, use, and collective autonomy.
And the point about land coming back to the center of political struggle feels painfully true. So many battles of our century are really battles over territory, memory, and who gets to shape the lived environment.
Absolutely. It was such a pleasure to talk to her and share the interview here.
Yes, I think her distinction between defense and resistance is so important. That’s why I brought it up in the interview. I’m glad you found it interesting, too.
This conversation is incredible — it makes the commune form feel less like a historical curiosity and more like one of the few living experiments we have left for imagining a future with dignity.
I was especially struck by Ross’s framing of defense vs. resistance — that defense begins with love, with something worth protecting, and therefore creates a different kind of time, a different kind of solidarity. It makes sense of why occupations from ZAD to Standing Rock felt like more than protests: they were places where people reorganized life around care, use, and collective autonomy.
And the point about land coming back to the center of political struggle feels painfully true. So many battles of our century are really battles over territory, memory, and who gets to shape the lived environment.
Thank you for sharing this on substack
Absolutely. It was such a pleasure to talk to her and share the interview here.
Yes, I think her distinction between defense and resistance is so important. That’s why I brought it up in the interview. I’m glad you found it interesting, too.
Definitely going to be seeking the book out now
Excellent interview. Just bought the book.
Haha! A subject well outside my wheelhouse. I’ll leave that to smarter minds than mine. 👆🏼
Ha! I doubt that very much.
Let me know what you think! I found it so engrossing.
I will. It was a timely interview for me as I was pondering some of the issues you discussed on my run this morning.
Oh, that’s so great to hear! Perhaps you’ll write about what you were pondering.