At the beginning of this summer, in the context of Manifestiamo at Villa Romana Florence, the International Society of Proudhonian Studies (I.S.P.S.) is to be founded more than 100 years after the burial of left’s diversity by Marxist totalitarianism.
I.S.P.S.’s objective is to revisit Pierre-Joseph Proudhon’s legacy through the creation of a floating institute that will carry out various activities such as reading-groups, encounters, research, publications, creation of floating libraries, to trigger a reflection on the concepts of creation, reciprocity, mutualism, liberty, and justice.
Proudhon foresaw an organization of society’s collective force through a decentralized federative system warranted by justice and reciprocity. He developed his theories by reflecting on the meaning of creation and society, envisaging society as the common administration of the products of creation. It follows that his thought is capital for our conceptions of art, and creative processes, but at the same time, it is important to start seeing human activities as a whole as part of creation itself.
Over these days the I.S.P.S. will be launched through a conversation with Franco Bunčuga, Edouard Jourdain and Massimo Mazzone, and the presentation of I.S.P.S.’s ongoing library.

Juan Pablo Macías, Mexican artist, living in Livorno.

Franco Bunčuga (Brescia, 1949), dopo essersi laureato in architettura nel 1974 all’IUAV di Venezia ha lavorato all’École Polytechnique d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme (EPAU) di Algeri in un progetto di cooperazione coordinato da Carlo Doglio e Giancarlo De Carlo. Ha poi insegnato Storia dell’Arte e Architettura nelle Scuole Superiori italiane. Attivo nel movimento anarchico sin dagli anni settanta è stato animatore del Centro Sociale Libertario di via Margheriti e del Gabinetto di Lettura Oskar Panizza a Brescia e partecipato alle attività del Centro Studi Libertari Pinelli di Milano. Collaboratore di varie testate anarchiche tra cui A rivista anarchica è stato redattore di Volontà, direttore del Seme Anarchico e tra i fondatori di Libertaria e di ApARTe° di cui è stato temporaneamente coordinatore redazionale. Riveste il ruolo di consulente per i settori di arte e architettura presso l’editore Eleuthèra per cui ha curato il libro Conversazioni con Giancarlo De Carlo. Architettura e libertà (Milano 2000, 2001) e Come vivere con gli altri senza essere né servi né padroni di Yona Friedman (Milano 2017). Si occupa principalmente delle relazioni che intercorrono tra arte e architettura da una parte e pensiero libertario e utopico dall’altra.

Massimo Mazzone (1967) artist and activist spokesperson for the Escuela Moderna/Ateneo Libertario collective; carries out research into the relationships between body, sculpture and architecture. He teaches Sculpture Techniques at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts; he participated in the Venice Biennale in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2018 and published books and articles with Stampa Alternativa, Mimesis, Libertaria, ApARTe, Artslife, Artribune, Hipo-Tesis, Catedra, Metalocus, UTET, Bordeaux, Milieu, Prospettive, Argòs.

Edouard Jourdain (1981) is a french political theorist, teaching political sciences at the University of Versailles Saint Quentin. Among several books he has written three books about Proudhon (Proudhon Dieu et la guerre, L’Harmattan, 2006, Proudhon un socialisme libertaire, Michalon, 2009, Proudhon contemporain, CNRS Editions, 2018) and his works are related to the actuality of contemporary political anarchism.