The Brains Trust is a network of local projects cooperating on specific political and technological solutions from play agriculture to 3D printing, from local energy production to independent education.
David Graeber was involved in creating the Brian Trust in the last year of his life at the suggestion of the founding members of the Extinction Rebellion.
A true optimist, David always said, “There’s a problem, let’s solve it together.”
Together with anthropologists, economists, activists, artists, and engineers who gathered in David Graeber’s office at the London School of Economics, they made presentations, held roundtables, and had long conversations with each other.
The aim was for this collective effort to come together in one document – general recommendations to the government, petitioned by Extinction Rebellion -on how to avoid the looming crisis to our shared planet and climate system leading to the loss of biodiversity and the real risks of social and ecological collapse within our lifetimes.
Two years after David’s death, the David Graeber’s Institute is reviving the Brain Trust project. We are inviting anthropologists, economists, scientists, artists and activists to participate in discussions, public lectures, and meetings.
However, there is one big difference – We decided to change our focus and instead of approaching the government with our wish list of what should be done to stop or at least slow down the climate crisis, we will gather a collection of actions that we, ourselves, the people, can do individually and collectively without the permission or participation of governments.
Following David Graeber ideas to work as a direct action network, gathering projects that can be carried out “by the people for the people” without government involvement or permission, to build autonomous zones… in the cracks of the system.
We are asking everyone to spread the message.
We will accompany our program with various artistic and educational projects: exhibitions, theatrical debates, visual assemblies and workshops for children.
We partner with art and academic institutions to expand the project to the widest possible audience.
Brain Trust will start as a series of 12 public lectures around June 2023.
This is our Brain Trust International Board of Advisors who wants to be practical, hands-on and optimistic in the face of the coming collapse.