Louder than Words.

From 1976 to 1983, a U.S.-backed military dictatorship ruled Argentina. As many as thirty thousand people disappeared in what's known as the Dirty War?a war by the government against its citizens. In 2001, when Argentina's economy abruptly collapsed under IMF "restructuring," hundreds of thousands of Argentines, from housewives and factory workers to insurance salesmen and teachers, rebelled. I recently interviewed Marina Sitrin, a New York City-based activist, writer and lawyer currently writing a book on autonomous social movements in Argentina.

What's "the 19th and 20th," and what are MTDs and asambleas?

December 19 and 20 of 2001 were days of popular rebellion during which hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets and nonviolently forced out the government. This was a government that decided it would be better to pay off IMF and World Bank loans than feed people: They froze everyone's bank accounts. Imagine waking up tomorrow and finding that the government had taken all of your money, and you had no prospect of feeding your family. The uprisings were not organized by a group or political party; people were out in the street demanding of the government, "they all must go," and "not even one can stay."

From this spontaneous place the neighborhood asambleas, or assemblies, were born. In different neighborhoods people chalked on the street or wrote on the walls, "Neighbors, let's meet here Wednesday at 9 p.m." Tens to hundreds of thousands of people were involved in the assemblies for over a year, and thousands remain involved. In each neighborhood it was different, but meeting basic necessities was an overarching priority. Then people began bartering with one another, creating a parallel economy. Collective childcare and medical clinics, soup kitchens and art workshops have all arisen. Many assemblies continue meeting on the street corners, while others have occupied spaces, some symbolically taking over abandoned banks to make community spaces.

The MTDs are organizations of unemployed workers that formed in a late-90s economic crisis to demand subsidies from the government: Argentina, like most of Latin America, did not have unemployment benefits. Since they were unemployed and could not strike, people shut down major roads and bridges until the demands were met. The organizing was and continues to be led by women and has always taken place in a horizontal way, without hierarchy. After December 2001, neighborhoods began to use the MTDs to develop projects, from bread-baking and organic gardens, to hair-dressing and brick-making. Most MTDs now are communities as well as organizations.

What is horizontalism?

A friend in Buenos Aires describes horizontalism as "a tool constructed from necessity." When I'd ask people what horizontalism meant, most would just say, "It is like this," showing a flat surface with their hands, "and not this," now making an upside-down "V." Horizontalism is a new word that implies the striving for nonhierarchical power structures and relationships, the use of things like consensus-based decision-making and forms of direct democracy. It's also a goal: Many say that, as they still live under capitalism, true equality does not yet exist. Argentines are using horizontalism to relate to one another while constructing a new society, a place of true freedom.

How could what's happening in Argentina inspire the North, specifically New Yorkers preparing for the Republican National Convention protests?

We should open up our imaginations. More is possible than we think. Argentina shows us that, yes, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, can use direct democracy to make decisions and build a new space of respect and affection. Mainly though, I think the essence is creation. We often get caught up in the centrist socialist trap of thinking first about the future and then about how to get there. Real creation of a new society has to happen with our relationships right now. With the upcoming RNC, we should keep this ethos of creation in mind. We can protest and protest, but if we are not simultaneously embodying the world we desire in our everyday activities and relationships, through community-building, the use of direct democracy and horizontalism, we will forever remain in a mode of protest.

How did you get involved with Argentina and this book?

Honestly, when I first heard about what was happening in Argentina, I was dubious. Tens of thousands in a park using direct democracy? Workers running so many factories with horizontalism? Then I met a bunch of Argentines at the second World Social Forum in Brazil, and wow, that and more was true. I was blown away. So I proposed the idea of an oral history of the autonomous movements, and the Argentines thought it was a good idea. I've now spent over six months in Argentina, and the book is well underway. We plan to publish it in Spanish and English, printing it in Chilavert, one of the occupied printing presses in Argentina.