Raphael Arar
@rarar.com
Head of Design @ One Project
Mentor @ NEW INC
Visiting Faculty @ Calarts
Executive Board @ Leonardo / ISAST
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rarar.com
oneproject.org
leonardo.info
Mentor @ NEW INC
Visiting Faculty @ Calarts
Executive Board @ Leonardo / ISAST
---
rarar.com
oneproject.org
leonardo.info
Pinned
Raphael Arar
@rarar.com
· Oct 10
While Trump & Big Tech privatize money creation through stablecoins, we designed an alternative with Yanis. Give that power to the people instead: digital central bank accounts funding a trust fund for everyone without new taxes or debt. See how monetarycommons.com
"…part of the role of radical agitation, of political speculation and of utopian art and culture is to gesture towards the alternative worlds and ways of being beyond the ambit of immediate need."
Jeremy Gilbert and Alex Williams on the new Marxism:
‘This is precisely why it is important not to conceptualise material interests as transhistorical categories existing outside of specific social conjunctures.’
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
‘This is precisely why it is important not to conceptualise material interests as transhistorical categories existing outside of specific social conjunctures.’
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Jeremy Gilbert & Alex Williams, Alternative Horizons — Sidecar
A reply to Dylan Riley.
newleftreview.org
November 15, 2025 at 10:07 PM
"…part of the role of radical agitation, of political speculation and of utopian art and culture is to gesture towards the alternative worlds and ways of being beyond the ambit of immediate need."
Reposted by Raphael Arar
"In an era when Western liberal democracies face mounting crises of legitimacy, the Chinese model offers alternative ways of conceptualising the relationship between popular sovereignty and effective governance."
Building Whole-Process People's Democracy in China
For Building the Future, a research collection on contemporary socialist construction, Paweł Wargan and Jason Hickel look at the concept of “whole-process people’s democracy” in China, a complex…
buff.ly
November 15, 2025 at 9:28 AM
"In an era when Western liberal democracies face mounting crises of legitimacy, the Chinese model offers alternative ways of conceptualising the relationship between popular sovereignty and effective governance."
Reposted by Raphael Arar
The four-decade endurance of Brazil’s MST (Landless Workers’ Movement) is a patient, durational politics woven through everyday life. Our video of the week positions MST as a model of grassroots resilience and prefigurative politics.
Feat. Alex U. Flynn
buff.ly/rPM6rTh
Feat. Alex U. Flynn
buff.ly/rPM6rTh
November 14, 2025 at 12:02 PM
The four-decade endurance of Brazil’s MST (Landless Workers’ Movement) is a patient, durational politics woven through everyday life. Our video of the week positions MST as a model of grassroots resilience and prefigurative politics.
Feat. Alex U. Flynn
buff.ly/rPM6rTh
Feat. Alex U. Flynn
buff.ly/rPM6rTh
Reposted by Raphael Arar
Following up on the two recent #FutureHistories episodes with Aaron Benanav (@abenanav.bsky.social), here you'll find the full versions of his new papers #BeyondCapitalism 1 & 2 -> buff.ly/k23voql
Must read!
Find the two episodes here:
Ep1 -> buff.ly/MkPKGXT
Ep2 -> buff.ly/dqWZ5Q3
Must read!
Find the two episodes here:
Ep1 -> buff.ly/MkPKGXT
Ep2 -> buff.ly/dqWZ5Q3
November 11, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Following up on the two recent #FutureHistories episodes with Aaron Benanav (@abenanav.bsky.social), here you'll find the full versions of his new papers #BeyondCapitalism 1 & 2 -> buff.ly/k23voql
Must read!
Find the two episodes here:
Ep1 -> buff.ly/MkPKGXT
Ep2 -> buff.ly/dqWZ5Q3
Must read!
Find the two episodes here:
Ep1 -> buff.ly/MkPKGXT
Ep2 -> buff.ly/dqWZ5Q3
Reposted by Raphael Arar
"building class consciousness is encouraging individuals+collectives to orient themselves to a horizon beyond that of immediate selfdefence: to instill belief in the plausibility of alternatives.
why the utopian impulse to abstraction can never be fully exorcised"
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
why the utopian impulse to abstraction can never be fully exorcised"
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Jeremy Gilbert & Alex Williams, Alternative Horizons — Sidecar
A reply to Dylan Riley.
newleftreview.org
November 9, 2025 at 5:37 PM
"building class consciousness is encouraging individuals+collectives to orient themselves to a horizon beyond that of immediate selfdefence: to instill belief in the plausibility of alternatives.
why the utopian impulse to abstraction can never be fully exorcised"
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
why the utopian impulse to abstraction can never be fully exorcised"
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Reposted by Raphael Arar
A new episode of Future Histories!
This time I talk to Aaron Benanav (@abenanav.bsky.social) about the second part of his ‘Beyond Capitalism’ essay series in New Left Review (@newleftreview.bsky.social).
Full episode here:
www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blo...
#FutureHistories #Podcast
This time I talk to Aaron Benanav (@abenanav.bsky.social) about the second part of his ‘Beyond Capitalism’ essay series in New Left Review (@newleftreview.bsky.social).
Full episode here:
www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blo...
#FutureHistories #Podcast
November 9, 2025 at 10:01 AM
A new episode of Future Histories!
This time I talk to Aaron Benanav (@abenanav.bsky.social) about the second part of his ‘Beyond Capitalism’ essay series in New Left Review (@newleftreview.bsky.social).
Full episode here:
www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blo...
#FutureHistories #Podcast
This time I talk to Aaron Benanav (@abenanav.bsky.social) about the second part of his ‘Beyond Capitalism’ essay series in New Left Review (@newleftreview.bsky.social).
Full episode here:
www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blo...
#FutureHistories #Podcast
Reposted by Raphael Arar
A printable zine version of Phil Neel's recent article, "Theory of the Party," is now available in our PDF library.
illwill.com/print/theory...
illwill.com/print/theory...
November 4, 2025 at 3:06 PM
A printable zine version of Phil Neel's recent article, "Theory of the Party," is now available in our PDF library.
illwill.com/print/theory...
illwill.com/print/theory...
Reposted by Raphael Arar
Free workshop: Managing shared finances as a team
Nov 6, 3pm EST
Your cooperative runs democratically, but does your bank account?
Learn to set up shared wallets where multiple people control spending and every transaction is transparent.
No technical experience needed.
Nov 6, 3pm EST
Your cooperative runs democratically, but does your bank account?
Learn to set up shared wallets where multiple people control spending and every transaction is transparent.
No technical experience needed.
October 30, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Free workshop: Managing shared finances as a team
Nov 6, 3pm EST
Your cooperative runs democratically, but does your bank account?
Learn to set up shared wallets where multiple people control spending and every transaction is transparent.
No technical experience needed.
Nov 6, 3pm EST
Your cooperative runs democratically, but does your bank account?
Learn to set up shared wallets where multiple people control spending and every transaction is transparent.
No technical experience needed.
Reposted by Raphael Arar
I wrote about public libraries as spaces of civic solidarity, common knowledge, and public infrastructure — all endangered by commercial and federal saboteurs
Extralibrary Loan: Making the Civic Infrastructure We Need
Amid a war on public knowledge, libraries are pushing outward, enlarging the commons through new configurations of civic and creative life.
placesjournal.org
October 28, 2025 at 3:03 PM
I wrote about public libraries as spaces of civic solidarity, common knowledge, and public infrastructure — all endangered by commercial and federal saboteurs
Reposted by Raphael Arar
BADA BOOM! The HM London Conference programme is now online!
Online registrations close Tuesday 4 November at midnight GMT!
Online registrations close Tuesday 4 November at midnight GMT!
Twenty-Second Annual Conference - Historical Materialism
Deadline extended to 27 May! Resurgent Reaction: Marxist Strategies at the End of the Liberal Order 6-9 November 2025, SOAS, Russell Square, Central London Deadline for abstracts: Friday 16 May 2025
www.historicalmaterialism.org
October 24, 2025 at 3:01 PM
BADA BOOM! The HM London Conference programme is now online!
Online registrations close Tuesday 4 November at midnight GMT!
Online registrations close Tuesday 4 November at midnight GMT!
Reposted by Raphael Arar
The claim that capitalism has been replaced by a new digital “feudal order” misreads the dynamics of today’s economy. Instead, our article of the week insists that capitalism endures, reorganized around rent, not production.
By @koheisaito.bsky.social & @ryujisasaki.bsky.social
buff.ly/uTbsnvE
By @koheisaito.bsky.social & @ryujisasaki.bsky.social
buff.ly/uTbsnvE
October 25, 2025 at 11:02 AM
The claim that capitalism has been replaced by a new digital “feudal order” misreads the dynamics of today’s economy. Instead, our article of the week insists that capitalism endures, reorganized around rent, not production.
By @koheisaito.bsky.social & @ryujisasaki.bsky.social
buff.ly/uTbsnvE
By @koheisaito.bsky.social & @ryujisasaki.bsky.social
buff.ly/uTbsnvE
We're looking for a designer who can move fluidly between product and brand to help us build Common—infrastructure for economic democracy at scale. DM me with any questions! job-boards.greenhouse.io/oneproject/j...
Product Designer
Remote Work
job-boards.greenhouse.io
October 23, 2025 at 8:42 PM
We're looking for a designer who can move fluidly between product and brand to help us build Common—infrastructure for economic democracy at scale. DM me with any questions! job-boards.greenhouse.io/oneproject/j...
Reposted by Raphael Arar
“I see just a massive opportunity on the horizon, and not just in Europe but all over the world, to start building a new, good internet outside the U.S. One that’s multilateral, one that’s pluralistic, one that is enshittification-resistant from the start. It’s going to be accelerated by Trump.”
October 21, 2025 at 3:04 AM
“I see just a massive opportunity on the horizon, and not just in Europe but all over the world, to start building a new, good internet outside the U.S. One that’s multilateral, one that’s pluralistic, one that is enshittification-resistant from the start. It’s going to be accelerated by Trump.”
Reposted by Raphael Arar
Downtown Portland has some new art at 5th and Washington🐸 👀
Click the link to read more about Portland's Protest Frog: www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...
Click the link to read more about Portland's Protest Frog: www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...
October 15, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Downtown Portland has some new art at 5th and Washington🐸 👀
Click the link to read more about Portland's Protest Frog: www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...
Click the link to read more about Portland's Protest Frog: www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Raphael Arar
Imagine a similar story where democratic investment banks are instead reporting on the quarterly results of their social investment programs.
It’s not sci fi. China’s massive investments into steel mills and infrastructure come directly from state banks not private capital. Now add democracy.
It’s not sci fi. China’s massive investments into steel mills and infrastructure come directly from state banks not private capital. Now add democracy.
October 14, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Imagine a similar story where democratic investment banks are instead reporting on the quarterly results of their social investment programs.
It’s not sci fi. China’s massive investments into steel mills and infrastructure come directly from state banks not private capital. Now add democracy.
It’s not sci fi. China’s massive investments into steel mills and infrastructure come directly from state banks not private capital. Now add democracy.
"Design is not just production. It's discernment – the discipline of questioning, testing, refining and making choices." via @renderg.host
The Worst Designer I've Ever Worked With Was Also the Most Productive - Annotated by B. Prendergast
When companies mistake volume for value, and incentivise outputs over outcomes.
renderghost.leaflet.pub
October 14, 2025 at 6:45 PM
"Design is not just production. It's discernment – the discipline of questioning, testing, refining and making choices." via @renderg.host
Reposted by Raphael Arar
"In a follow-up to his and Brenna Bhandar's "Slumlord Empire", Alberto Toscano writes about the Trump administration's Gaza ceasefire plan's genocidal logic of displacement and accumulation."
proteanmag.com/2025/10/13/p...
proteanmag.com/2025/10/13/p...
Planning Against Palestine • Protean Magazine
In a follow-up to his and Brenna Bhandar's "Slumlord Empire", Alberto Toscano writes about the Trump administration's Gaza ceasefire plan's genocidal logic of displacement and accumulation.
proteanmag.com
October 13, 2025 at 5:49 PM
"In a follow-up to his and Brenna Bhandar's "Slumlord Empire", Alberto Toscano writes about the Trump administration's Gaza ceasefire plan's genocidal logic of displacement and accumulation."
proteanmag.com/2025/10/13/p...
proteanmag.com/2025/10/13/p...
While Trump & Big Tech privatize money creation through stablecoins, we designed an alternative with Yanis. Give that power to the people instead: digital central bank accounts funding a trust fund for everyone without new taxes or debt. See how monetarycommons.com
October 10, 2025 at 11:47 AM
While Trump & Big Tech privatize money creation through stablecoins, we designed an alternative with Yanis. Give that power to the people instead: digital central bank accounts funding a trust fund for everyone without new taxes or debt. See how monetarycommons.com
"It is a painful irony that in a world increasingly objectified and obsessed with design in every form…that design has seemed to relinquish its desire to change the world. Instead it desperately clings to a few final moments of spectacle, effect and affect."
www.ft.com/content/e637...
www.ft.com/content/e637...
Why designers abandoned their dreams of changing the world
Design was once seen as a tool to improve lives — but as modernism has become marketing, that sense of social purpose has drifted away
www.ft.com
October 3, 2025 at 4:56 PM
"It is a painful irony that in a world increasingly objectified and obsessed with design in every form…that design has seemed to relinquish its desire to change the world. Instead it desperately clings to a few final moments of spectacle, effect and affect."
www.ft.com/content/e637...
www.ft.com/content/e637...
Reposted by Raphael Arar
A new episode of Future Histories!
I talk to Kai Heron (@kaiheron.bsky.social), Keir Milburn (@kmilb.bsky.social) and Bertie Russell (@bertrussell.bsky.socia) about their new book ‘Radical Abundance.’ (@abundance-org.bsky.social @plutopress.bsky.social)
www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blo...
I talk to Kai Heron (@kaiheron.bsky.social), Keir Milburn (@kmilb.bsky.social) and Bertie Russell (@bertrussell.bsky.socia) about their new book ‘Radical Abundance.’ (@abundance-org.bsky.social @plutopress.bsky.social)
www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blo...
September 28, 2025 at 9:39 AM
A new episode of Future Histories!
I talk to Kai Heron (@kaiheron.bsky.social), Keir Milburn (@kmilb.bsky.social) and Bertie Russell (@bertrussell.bsky.socia) about their new book ‘Radical Abundance.’ (@abundance-org.bsky.social @plutopress.bsky.social)
www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blo...
I talk to Kai Heron (@kaiheron.bsky.social), Keir Milburn (@kmilb.bsky.social) and Bertie Russell (@bertrussell.bsky.socia) about their new book ‘Radical Abundance.’ (@abundance-org.bsky.social @plutopress.bsky.social)
www.futurehistories.today/episoden-blo...
"Models…should thus be seen not as approximations to hidden truths but as revisable guides to seeing in the dark, as better than nothing in trying to grasp exceedingly complex systems."
via @eflux.bsky.social
www.e-flux.com/architecture...
via @eflux.bsky.social
www.e-flux.com/architecture...
Intensification - Andrew Pickering - Cybernetics in the Anthropocene
Even when successful, our attempts at lineal control of nature are imperfect and imprecise. This is what we have to expect in dealing with exceedingly complex systems.
www.e-flux.com
September 27, 2025 at 12:06 PM
"Models…should thus be seen not as approximations to hidden truths but as revisable guides to seeing in the dark, as better than nothing in trying to grasp exceedingly complex systems."
via @eflux.bsky.social
www.e-flux.com/architecture...
via @eflux.bsky.social
www.e-flux.com/architecture...
Dyer-Witheford & Mularoni adapt Marx's circuit of capital for big tech, stressing that big tech circulates rather than produces—an important reframe of platform power www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/d... cc @versobooks.bsky.social
Diagrams of Cybernetic Circulation
Our book Cybernetic Circulation Complex: Big Tech and Planetary Crisis examines the U.S. tech sector through the Marxist concept of “circulation.” We focus on the major U.S. tech oligopolies—the origi...
www.versobooks.com
September 24, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Dyer-Witheford & Mularoni adapt Marx's circuit of capital for big tech, stressing that big tech circulates rather than produces—an important reframe of platform power www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/d... cc @versobooks.bsky.social
Reposted by Raphael Arar
#ACFM examines the Future. @jemgilbert.bsky.social, Nadia Idle, and I ask, did young people always worry so much about their futures? Has the currency of emergency been devalued? Does conservatism have an idea of the future? With music from LTJ Bukem and FKA twigs.
novaramedia.com/2025/09/21/w...
novaramedia.com/2025/09/21/w...
What Happened to Our Dreams of the Future? | Novara Media
A weird-left explanation of how the future lost its shine, with ideas from Max Weber, Kate Raworth and Jonathan White.
novaramedia.com
September 21, 2025 at 10:52 AM
#ACFM examines the Future. @jemgilbert.bsky.social, Nadia Idle, and I ask, did young people always worry so much about their futures? Has the currency of emergency been devalued? Does conservatism have an idea of the future? With music from LTJ Bukem and FKA twigs.
novaramedia.com/2025/09/21/w...
novaramedia.com/2025/09/21/w...
Reposted by Raphael Arar
Love is Resistance: a collection of 77 posters from Michael Rakowitz, Aya Haidar, Brian Eno, Dima Srouji, Emily Jacir, Larissa Sansour, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Adam Broomberg, Jeremy Deller and other artists standing in solidarity with Palestine www.loveisresistance.art
LOVE IS RESISTANCE
www.loveisresistance.art
September 20, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Love is Resistance: a collection of 77 posters from Michael Rakowitz, Aya Haidar, Brian Eno, Dima Srouji, Emily Jacir, Larissa Sansour, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Adam Broomberg, Jeremy Deller and other artists standing in solidarity with Palestine www.loveisresistance.art
The 1971 Bariloche Model challenged Limits to Growth by prioritizing basic needs over resource limits. It’s a good reminder that planning models aren’t neutral and encode values www.e-flux.com/architecture... via @eflux.bsky.social
Intensification - José-Carlos Mariátegui - How to Non-Organize
After the devastation of World War II, the importance of technological research and development became increasingly clear, not only for achieving success on the battlefield but also to serve as a foun...
www.e-flux.com
September 20, 2025 at 5:27 PM
The 1971 Bariloche Model challenged Limits to Growth by prioritizing basic needs over resource limits. It’s a good reminder that planning models aren’t neutral and encode values www.e-flux.com/architecture... via @eflux.bsky.social