Really Really Free Market

The Really Really Free Market (RRFM) movement is a horizontally organized collective of individuals who form a temporary market based on an alternative gift economy.[1] RRFM events are often hosted by people unaffiliated with any large organization[2] and are encouraged to sprout up by anyone, anytime, anywhere.[3] The RRFM movement aims to counteract capitalism in a proactive way by creating a positive example to challenge what they view as the myths of scarcity and competition.[4] The name Really Really Free Market is itself a play on words as it is a reinterpretation and re-envisioning of the term free market, which generally refers to an economy of fair competition governed by supply and demand. The RRFM holds as a major goal to build a community based on sharing resources, caring for one another and improving the collective lives of all. Markets often vary in character, but they generally offer both goods and services. Participants bring unneeded items and food[5][6] as well as skills and talents such as entertainment,[7] massage,[8][9] arts and crafts,[10] language lessons,[11] plants,[12][13] haircuts,[14] yoga,[15] and more.[16] A RRFM usually takes place in an open community space such as a public park or community commons.

Really Really Free Market organized by Autonomous Athens in Athens, Georgia on Mayday 2007
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Origins and spread
Items laid out on a tarp at the Really Really Free Market at Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C.

The first known Really, Really Free Market took place at a Food Not Bombs meal in Christchurch, New Zealand as a protest to a meeting on free trade. The Really Really Free Markets started to spread around Asia. Jakarta Food Not Bombs organized a Really Really Free Market on Buy Nothing Day.

The first Really Really Free Market in the United States happened simultaneously in Miami, Florida, and Raleigh, North Carolina during the anti-globalization protests against the FTAA in 2003. The idea of a "Really, Really Free Market" emerged from a visioning ritual by members of the Pagan Cluster in Austin in preparation of the FTAA Summit in Miami, November 2003. Members of the Green Bloc picked up the idea and made it real. Participants from the SouthEast Anarchist Network (SeaNET)[17] held demonstrations using the Really, Really Free Market to protest the G8 summit in 2004.[18] The idea quickly spread across the United States, Russia, and other countries such as Australia, England, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Africa, and Canada.[19]

In the United States

The movement has taken root in dozens of cities in the United States, with some holding one-time events, annual, bi-monthly, and even monthly markets. Cities include

San Francisco, California

The San Francisco Really Really Free Market[29] was started sometime around 2004.[30] The market was spearheaded by local activist Kirsten Brydum until her death in 2008.[31][32] From around 2007 until 2010, it was hosted on the last Saturday of every month in Mission Dolores Park.[33][4] During this time, the RRFM was a popular event and received some local media exposure.[34][16][35][36][37][38][39] Since then it has sprouted up organically in Union Square, among other places.[2] During 2007–2010 local organizers distributed "seed packets": CDs with a collection of digital flyers, announcements, pictures, and essays. This was part of the ongoing effort to encourage others to start their own RRFM.[40] These packets are now compiled for download online.[41]

In Singapore

The Singapore Really Really Free Market began around January 2009[42] and still exists as of October 2020.[43][44][45]

In Russia
Roll-up at the Absolutely Free Fair in Ivanovo, Russia on 4 August 2012

The first Russian Really Really Free Market was organized in Moscow in 2008. The original name of RRFM was changed to "Freemarket" or "Absolutely Free Fair". Since that time, the idea of RRFM has spread widely across the Russian Federation. Participants of the movement arrange regular meetings in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Ivanovo, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Belgorod, Kirov, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Vologda, Volgograd, Tolyatti, Volzhsky, Petrozavodsk.

Due to the often-harsh Russian climate the markets usually take place indoors, but summer meetings often occur in public parks, yards of apartment houses or city squares. In Ivanovo, for instance, the first free fair was held in Yesenin Square on 19 June 2011, but as winter set in, the RRFM meetings were moved to the reference room of the Regional Public library.[46]

RRFMs in Russia are often accompanied by master classes in handiwork such as mehndi, hairdressing, and making stencils for textile printing; lectures on social and ecological problems; and the collection of secondary raw materials and charity fundraising to aid animal shelters.

See also

References
  1. CrimethInc. "The Really Really Free Market: Instituting the Gift Economy". Rolling Thunder (4). Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  2. "Really Really Free Market!! Union Square, SF Black Friday!!". www.facebook.com.
  3. "The Really Really Free Market". 7 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-10-07.
  4. "The Really Really Free Market". 3 July 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-07-03.
  5. . 3 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110703060708/http://www.reallyreallyfree.org/albums/54sized.jpg. Archived from the original on 2011-07-03. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. . 3 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110703060401/http://www.reallyreallyfree.org/albums/153sized.jpg. Archived from the original on 2011-07-03. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. . 3 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110703060231/http://www.reallyreallyfree.org/albums/135sized.jpg. Archived from the original on 2011-07-03. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. . 3 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110703101243/http://www.reallyreallyfree.org/albums/138sized.jpg. Archived from the original on 2011-07-03. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. . 3 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110703061242/http://www.reallyreallyfree.org/albums/163sized.jpg. Archived from the original on 2011-07-03. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. . 3 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110703061225/http://www.reallyreallyfree.org/albums/165sized.jpg. Archived from the original on 2011-07-03. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. "Photo" (PDF). media1.fdncms.com.
  12. . 3 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110703061153/http://www.reallyreallyfree.org/albums/164sized.jpg. Archived from the original on 2011-07-03. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. . 3 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110703061236/http://www.reallyreallyfree.org/albums/166sized.jpg. Archived from the original on 2011-07-03. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. . 3 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110703060020/http://www.reallyreallyfree.org/albums/8sized.jpg. Archived from the original on 2011-07-03. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. "Really Really Free Market Singapore: Building a sharing and caring community!". www.post-museum.org.
  16. "Slideshows".
  17. "SouthEast Anarchist Network".
  18. Simpich, Bill (June 7, 2004). "Really REALLY Free Market Report". San Francisco Bay Area Indymedia.
  19. "Other RRFMs". The Really Really Free Market. Archived from the original on 14 December 2012.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. https://www.facebook.com/bnreallyreallyfree/?fref=ts
  21. "Des Moines RRFM'".
  22. "KC Really Really Free Market". KC Really Really Free Market. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  23. "Albuquerque RRFM'".
  24. "Buffalo Rising'".
  25. https://sharetompkins.wordpress.com/events/really-really-free-markets/
  26. Moynihan, Colin (January 28, 2009). "East Village Market Where Everything Is Free Faces an Uncertain Future". New York Times.
  27. "Carrboro's 'Really, Really Free Market'".
  28. Fisher, Megan (1 May 2011) "Shepherd Students Host Free Market"
  29. San Francisco Really Really Free Market
  30. "Really. Really Free Market : Indybay".
  31. "Virtual Memorials". kirstenbrydum.virtualmemorials.com.
  32. "S.F. activist slain in New Orleans robbery". 3 October 2008.
  33. "The Really Really Free Market". 3 July 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-07-03.
  34. Short, Steven. "The Sharing Economy: Visit the really really free market".
  35. RyanIsHungry (2 June 2008). "The Gift Economy: Really Really Free Market SF" – via YouTube.
  36. "Slideshow: The Really Really Free Market". Mission Local. October 2008.
  37. "Really Really FREE Market Archives". Broke Ass Stuart's San Francisco Website.
  38. "San Francisco Bay Area Flea Markets (top 10) - Page 9 of 11". Flea Market Insiders.
  39. "The Really Really Free Market - Dolores Park". Funcheap SF. July 30, 2011. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  40. "Basics". Really Really Free. Archived from the original on 2011-07-03.
  41. "Really Really Free Market - San Francisco".
  42. "About Singapore Really Really Free Market (SRRFM)". Facebook.
  43. "Singapore Really Really Free Market (SRRFM)". Facebook.
  44. Tann, James (15 December 2013). "Singapore really really free market" – via YouTube.
  45. Clicknetwork (11 May 2017). "Really Really Free Market - Budget Barbie: EP115" – via YouTube.
  46. The Free Market in Ivanovo
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