More activity from the caucus coming soon…
As a “Caucus,” we are an affinity group that exists within other formations—labor unions, cooperatives, galleries, venues, etc.—to organize from the perspective that culture is an essential form of care. The CCC draws heavy influence from the Caucus of Rank-and-file Educators (CORE), which exists within the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) as a left-wing caucus.
The idea that culture should be understood as an essential form of care, and that it should therefore be decommodified (just like healthcare and education), is something that is being seen more and more as common sense among fellow radical and progressive cultural workers and practitioners. Even though there have been a proliferation of radical cultural organizing units since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a need for an ideologically unified affinity group that organizes with this specific position explicitly at the center. We understand this position not only as ethical, but ultimately we believe the most effective perspective to organize cultural workers and practitioners from.
You can see our Points of Unity here for a more detailed description of this perspective. Our article, It’s Not Enough to Get Paid for Your Art starts the work of working out both the ethics and efficacy of this position in detail. You can also see all of our organizational documents if you would like to get a sense for the structure, decision making process, and community agreements. Most importantly, if you are interested in getting involved please fill out this interest form and someone will get in touch with you to set up a one on one conversation.
