This print is one of nine apart of the Autonomous Democracy project open edition from 2021. The series focused on highlighting the history of direct democracy within freedom movements. Since screen printing the original edition at Spudnik Press Cooperative the series has been wheat paste around the world from the streets of Chicago to Montreal to London to Mexico City.
This print celebrates the uprising in Seattle against the WTO and is based on a slogan shared by Direct Action Network organizer David Solnit who notes, “ 'This is what democracy looks like' came out of the WTO shutdown as a street chant. And "Ain't no power like the power of the people, cause the power of the people don't stop. Say What?” did not start in Seattle, but was a popular chant."
In November 1999, protesters mobilized in response to the call to “Shut Down” the World Trade Organization conference in Seattle and to “Globalize Liberation Not Corporate Power”. In what is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Seattle activists, unions, and community groups implemented a Direct Action Network strategy that shut down the World Trade Organization conference. The demonstrations, estimated at no fewer than 40,000 protesters, dwarfed any previous demonstration in the United States against neoliberal globalization.
Autonomous Democracy installation London, 2023
Autonomous Democracy installation Chicago, 2021
