Sunday the 19th of October seen the first International Anarcha-Feminist Conference, aka
AFem2014. The seed from which it would eventually grow fell from the tree back in August
of 2012. That tree was the St Imier International Congress anarcha-feminist round table.
This was series of meetings that took place on each of the five days of that event. In
the closing session it?s participants announced their plans to host an anarcha-feminist
congress of their own within several years. This was met by thunderous applause from the
congress floor. Busily contacts were exchanged, interested parties came forward, and a
group agreed to take lead on the project. ---- Then nothing. ---- Months passed. ---- The
Anarchist Federation started to get occasional contacts asking if we knew of any
organising on the Anarcha-Feminist Congress. Our international secretaries put out
inquiries thought our sibling federations in IFA as well as any other contacts in the
global anarchist movement. After some investigation appeared that no planning had
happened, and those who had stepped forward at St. Imier were out of contact. Sometimes
things just can?t get done, such is the nature of being in a struggle, and definitely not
something to be ashamed of.
That may have been the end of it if it wasn?t for one federation member deciding that this
idea was necessary to both counter the failings of feminism outside the anarchist
movement, with all other branches of thought happy to throw more and more people under the
bus in the name of capitalism; and also within, as we see elements of the anarchist
movement where misogyny and sexism are rife and where little more than lip service is
given to overcoming the power structures surrounding gender, especially in regard to
groups marginalized even by other feminists.
Discussions were had and soon proposals drafted for the fed to kickstart the previously
proposed international event. The discussions were thorough and some of the goals laid out
at this early stage. This wasn?t to be a project hosted only by the AF (as had previous
anarcha-feminist events we had been involved in organising), or just undertaken by our
international the IFA, but was to be born from the AF and gain its own autonomy. It had to
provide a strong class-struggle perspective to provide a counter to the dominant feminist
movement?s lack of liberatory potential. It also had to not only be inclusive to groups
normally marginalized within the anarcha-feminist movement but also counter the prejudices
they face. After some debate the federation reached a consensus of agreement to go forward
and feelers were put out to other organisations.
Early on sibling federations throughout the IFA were keen to help, while here in Britain
the SolFed joined and they made contact with their international federation the IWA. A
meeting at 2013 London Anarchist Bookfair gathered support from independent
anarcha-feminists, as did the creation of a web presence. After several months a consensus
emerged on the criteria for organisation where those involved had to:
Be an anarchist and a feminist
B
Agree with aims of the conference given in the invitation statement
Abide by any agreed safer spaces and community accountability processes
Be able to attend the conference under any agreed attendance policies
Agree to work towards implementing the collectively agreed decisions of the group
As planning went on things looked touch-and-go at times whether an event would be possible
at all. New people got involved and others took breaks. Fundraising took place but money
was short. Speakers and workshops started to came forward but then the programme had to be
made to work. The inclusion policy was agreed along the lines of the form of oppression
suffered which caused ripples in a field normally only looking purely to identity to give
an indication of attendance. The safer spaces agreement was put in place and people needed
to help on the day. Eventually everything started to come together.
Key to the whole event was the way in which different strands of the conference timetable
would be given to groups usually marginalized within feminism (such as the disabled, sex
workers, trans women, etc). This gave longer discussions over the course of the day about
certain subjects, and it was hoped that this would highlight struggles from those who
found their voices normally sidelined, vilified or lost entirely in feminist organising.
The day came and everything went past in a blur. Personally I spent the day either
volunteering, supporting others, or helping to present the community accountability strand
so I?m going to leave the nitty gritty of reviewing the strands to those who were there
purely as attendees This was the first time something like this had been attempted and it
was all a bit experimental ? but if we are ever to succeed in our goal of social
revolution we have to be brave and try stuff. I think AFem did that and made a success of
it all, though not everything was perfect.
I?ve also not kept up with the internet feedback but I know there has been moaning online.
I find forums are a draining, negative space, and hearing that folks were griping (often
folks who were not even in attendance), I haven?t gone to look for it yet ? that can wait
until I?m more rested. On the other hand I spent the days following AFem hopping between
different people who had been in attendance. The feedback I?ve been getting in person has
been overwhelmingly positive. One person said it was best anarcha feminist event they had
attended (and they were not green in this kind of thing). All of them gave feedback of
negative points, but it was fell into fairly similar areas, constructively phrased, and
the positives were overwhelming to them. A quick rundown these:
+ Big open/close
Folks loved the opening and closing sessions which gathered everybody in attendance
together and were kept on track by the organisers. The way people set goals for the day
meant there was a collective feeling of active participation expected from folks attending.
+ Developing ideas
Everyone I talked to had learned new ideas and methods to take back home, and many
otherwise liberal feminists were not only exposed to anarcha-feminism for the first time,
but engaged and took away lessons from an anarchist perspective.
+ Strands
The way in which strands were organised was loved by all. It led for more discussion and
time to work on things. People said this was SO MUCH BETTER than how bookfairs and other
conferences run their meetings and it rarely felt like you were just being talked to but
were part of a discussion.
+ Atmosphere
On the whole people found the atmosphere at the event to be positive and liberating, with
people able to build solidarity against shared opression. ot only that but international
links were forged and space for meeting other anarcha-feminists took place. They also
commented on how easy it was to find organisers and volounteers, and upon how friendly and
approachable they all were.
+ Safer Spaces Policy
Every person commented that it was refreshing to see is attempting a safer space policy
that goes far beyond what most conferences would do, and think we have struck some new
ground in how this could be put in place at similar events, though some areas do need
development.
+ Self Care
Food Not Bombs provided lunch for anyone who was skint and was loved by all. At the same
time a decent quiet space and the readily available interpretation and safer space
volunteers made everything a lot more manageable.
+ Internationalism
The international aspect was seen as being vital to the experience, with at least 19
different countries represented in attendance, and something others would hope to see us
expand.
+ Enthusiasm to continue
Overwhelmingly people wanted to see this happen again, if not next year then in 2016.
The constructive criticisms raised to me were:
- Time table clashes
These can almost never be avoided, and people acknowledged this, but at the same time
everyone said there was some clash at some time for them. We tried the best we could but
always worth keeping this in mind.
- TERF infestation
A group of trans exclusionary radical feminists (known as TERFs for short) undertook a
long-term plan to undermine the event. They had one of their number, Gail Chester of the
London Feminist Library, join the organising group early on and lie outright about their
politics to other organisers. She then positioned herself to help present the Introduction
to Anarcha-Feminism where she went off the presentation planned with the co-facilitator in
order to spout her transphobic bile. At the same time she worked with others to have one
TERF go into each session and parrot the same transphobic talking points. They used the
quiet space to regroup and plan. Attempts were made to remove them by some of the
organisers but Gail protected them and broke down the consensus we had otherwise forged
for the event. Despite this betrayal and sabotage, everyone I talked with found that any
move towards transphobic discussion was quickly shut down and made unwelcome, and that the
issue was handled better than most events. However, there was still a lack of consistency
on how those breaking with the safer spaces agreement were dealt with.
- Cultural appropriation/racism
Lots of white people turned up using fashion displays from cultures that had been othered
by white imperialism with no respect for the cultures they were came from and then got
defensive when this was fed back in a negative light by the POC strand. Again, while the
safer space policy had words on this subject we didn?t have a consistent process on what
we were actually doing about it.
- Lack of resources
We didn?t have enough full programmes for the attendees (though everyone did get a
timetable), and while we had people on hand to read out the timetable we did not have
large print versions. This was a major slip up and something that I will not be repeated.
On Gail and the gang, it is unfortunate that but not surprising that they would go to such
lengths to try and ruin the event. However if after a year of planning the best they could
manage was to get one person to lie about their political intentions and follow that up
with five or six die-hards attending in the center of London then they have played what
may be their hardest hitting attempt to disrupt at a time where the conference was
vulnerable and gone home with plumbs. The problems that have been highlighted have came
with constructive suggestions for improvement and the organising group are already moving
forward with these, thought we are going to need to take a wee break before launching into
any serious planning.
AFem has now been fully realized as its own organisational entity, separate to the groups
that nurtured it early on. As a member of the AF this is a key example of the worth of the
federation, and illustrates the way in which anarchist organisations differ from their
authoritarian counterparts. Where others would use this as a front group and co-opt the
struggles of others for self gain, anarchists work to create mutual aid and forge
solidarity between truly autonomous groups, with struggles directed by those who are
oppressed. I have every confidence that this has been the start of an ongoing series of
truly international events to build a modern anarcha-feminist practice and will start to
ensure that anarcha-feminism is central to anything that could be regarded today as
anarchist practice. As such, the last thing to say is a big thanks to everyone who
contributed to making AFem 2014 a resounding success. Thank you all!
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