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 References
6 External links
- 6.1 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:

Canada-Palestine Support Network (ISM-Winnipeg)
Canadian Dimension Magazine
Dada World Data (DWD)
G7 Welcoming Committee Records
Junto Local 91 anarchist library
Mondragon Bookstore & Coffee House
Natural Cycle Courier and Bike Repair
Rudolf Rocker Cultural Centre

Past members (and ongoing allies) include groups such as Food Not Bombs, Arbeiter Ring Publishing, Urban Shaman (Aboriginal art gallery), Manitoba Action Committee on the Status of Women, Amnesty International (Winnipeg), Okijida Warriors' Society, Manitoba Women in Trades and Technology (MBWITT), Anarchist Black Cross (Winnipeg chapter), and others[4].

In 2007, the Rudolf Rocker Cultural Centre (r2c2) was founded on the third floor of the building, and according to the r2c2 website, functions as a "gallery and multi-purpose venue for social, political, and cultural events of interest to the anarchist, activist, and wider Winnipeg community."^[1]

[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.