The Old Market Autonomous Zone

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The Old Market Autonomous Zone, or A-Zone, was founded in 1995, in Winnipeg, Canada by local activists Paul Burrows and Sandra Drosdowech, who also co-founded Winnipeg's Mondragon Bookstore [1]. Its name is derived from "Old Market Square," the historic Exchange District in Winnipeg's downtown core area[2], combined with Hakim Bey's notion of a "Temporary Autonomous Zone" (or TAZ). The Winnipeg A-Zone occupies a three-story building, originally built in 1899 and known as the "Imperial Dry Goods Building." Like many buildings in the area, it is classified as a "Heritage" building by the City of Winnipeg. Since 1995, the building has been known locally as both the A-Zone, and sometimes the Emma Goldman Building[3]. Along with Mondragon, the A-Zone has become a focal point of activism and organizing in Winnipeg since 1995. Both the overall space at 91 Albert Street, as well as member groups such as Mondragon Bookstore & Coffee House and G7 Welcoming Committee Records, have become a source of inspiration, as well as a travel destination, for activists, anarchists, anarcho-punks, vegans, and proponents of parecon across North America, and beyond.

1 Purposes
2 Member Organizations
3 Principles
4 Historical Items of Note
5 External Links
- 5.1 Printed Resources Which Discuss the Winnipeg A-Zone

[edit] Purposes

The original aims of the A-Zone were to:

Bring together a diverse array of activists
Share common facilities and equipment
Network
Strengthen communities of activism
Foster a culture of solidarity and resistance to state-capitalism and other forms of concentrated power
Help inspire and fund new projects and worker-run collectives

[edit] Member Organizations

The A-Zone has helped build alternative worker-run collectives, and in turn been supported by them, since starting in 1995. Current member organizations include Mondragon Bookstore & Coffee House, G7 Welcoming Committee Records, Natural Cycle Courier and Bike Repair, Dada World Data, Canadian Dimension Magazine, Junto Local 91 anarchist library, and the Canada-Palestine Support Network (ISM-Winnipeg). Past members (and ongoing allies) include groups such as Food Not Bombs, Arbeiter Ring Publishing, Urban Shaman (Aboriginal art gallery), and Anarchist Black Cross (Winnipeg chapter)[4].

[edit] Principles

The A-Zone's core principles include a commitment to Participatory Economics (or Parecon), autonomy and solidarity, anti-colonialism "at home" and abroad, fair and equitable work, non-hierarchical decision-making, community economic development, and revolution [5].

[edit] Historical Items of Note

In 1999, on the 80th anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike, the A-Zone, Mondragon, and the Winnipeg Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), hosted the Annual General Assembly of the IWW, the first time it had ever been held in Canada.