Today's Topics:
1. Britain, LONDON AF SUPPORTS REBEL UNIONS' PICKETS
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Greece, Libertarian Thessaloniki Initiative: Calls against
the adoption of new measures by anarchist Federation (gr)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Britain, Members of London AF did another successful distro
of London's anarchist news sheet Rebel City on Tuesday May 16th
outside Brixton tube (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. France, Alternative Libertaire AL #272 - Hungary: A movement
against Orbàn (fr, it, pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. US, black rose fed: FEMINISTS AGAINST CAPITALISM by Romina
Akemi (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. Britain, London's anarchist news sheet Rebel City: Reclaim
Holloway: Turn a symbol of pain and oppression into something
useful (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Members of London AF attended and supported the joint actions by Independent Workers Union
of Great Britain and United Voices of the World Union at the LSE and Senate House in
support of cleaners and security staff on Wednedsay May 17th.
Later on the same day London AFers supported the picket by Cleaning and Allied Independent
Workers Union outside HSBC at Canary Wharf in support of cleaners there.
https://aflondon.wordpress.com/2017/05/18/london-af-supports-rebel-unions-pickets/
------------------------------
Message: 2
One of the same or a new beginning? ---- The worst that can happen to you in chains is to
get used to. Already, for 7 years, periodically state capital "bite" and a new song from
the past into the world of work for survival. It resembles natural phenomenon every 1.5
years, after an "agonizing" period of supposed negotiations Greek state with the patrons,
the EU and the IMF, to the announced new cuts in wages and pensions, lost new workers
rights, We underestimated our class more and more. Not even the phraseology does not
change from PASOK and ND ND in SYRIZA. ---- But it is not a natural phenomenon. It is a
political phenomenon produced by the racing demobilization of the oppressed society. And
that means one thing: you will still depreciate more. Today's action is the precursor to
the next which is the precursor of the next one. Till chapter to achieve full sovereignty
over every aspect of our lives.
SYRIZA, for anyone / know a political history that he promised. Not to us. But the regime
always serve the regime left and social democracy. He absorbed the dynamic social
counterattack raw mnimoniakon years, dragged her to the humiliation of the polls and after
an exchange with a position not only in power today, but also as a fixed pole of the new
two-party system in the coming years. Not bad for Eurocommunists 4%, very bad for all of
us. Because the best way to get used to your chain is one that promises to send you to
tell you that it is necessary to wear. SYRIZA was the best gift, the most safe solution
for the state and capital to the historical period in which we live has decided to "pick
up" everything.
And then we are facing a new memorandum.
We call on the world to accompany the fighting demonstrations called throughout Greece
against new measures on 18/5. To the frame without any illusion that as these remain
limited because the vote will not be anything other than racing rituals that give a
certain discontent message. To the frame having in mind that from that very moment to
begin a new procedure. A political and social militancy process, participation and planned
counteroffensive on all fronts: on the sidewalk, in the street, at work, in the
neighborhood. A match that will last long and will be difficult. So difficult, the worse
it has become our class position and possible blackmail power over us. The cost of
resignation already paying and the next time will be voted "understandings" will be even
bigger than today. As long as we tolerate these chains will become heavier.
The lies have ended long as we avoid the battle so we will know defeat. On the occasion of
this memorandum to begin a new period of militant and political reconstruction,
participation and conflict. Until the hand of the working world become strong and cause
fear in the state and capital.
Until we realize our strength and rid once and for all from the capitalist parasites and
any color tint of power managers and our lives.
We need a new beginning.
All the streets.
ATHENA:
COURSE
Pl. Constitution 18/5 19:00
THESSALONIKI:
COURSE
Arch 18/5 19:00
HERAKLION:
CONCENTRATION
Lions 18/5 19:00
anarchist Federation
anarchist-federation.gr
info@anarchist-federation.gr
twitter: twitter.com/anarchistfedGr
fb: facebook.com/anarxikiomospondia2015
------------------------------
Message: 3
"The UK has one of the most unequal distributions of land in the world! ---- Over a third
of this is in the hands of the aristocracy- a legacy of the Norman conquest. London is a
prime example of how private interests dominate what happens to land. Four aristocratic
families still own much of prime land in central London. (see box overleaf) However, a new
breed of landowner has come to London- the wealthy of the world who want to live and/or
invest in London. ---- The Qatari Royal family, for example, are now rivalling the
home-grown aristocrats. They own 1 billion pounds of property in Mayfair, all of Canary
Wharf and 34% of the 15 most expensive skyscrapers. Other landowners hide behind offshore
companies. In the central London borough of Westminster, almost one in ten properties is
owned by an anonymous offshore company and can't be directly associated with a specific
owner, says Transparency International. (Kensington and Chelsea: 7.3%, and the City of
London: 4.5%) Across London there are estimated to be more than 36,000 such properties.
And on a smaller scale, many people with some money to spare or who already own
something have become buy-to-let landlords. So fewer and fewer people actually own
any piece of land at all.
Why does it matter? At the recent land for what conference (Nov 11th - 12th:
landforwhat.org.uk) over 200 participants discussed how the lack of access and control of
land for the vast majority is the main cause of the problems we face. (continued overleaf)
These include a lack of truly affordable
housing, erosion of green and public spaces,
closure of social, cultural and community
spaces and a general degradation of the
environment. Land is a limited resource and
as the wealthy buy up London, the price
goes up and up. So no one can afford to buy
or rent what is on the land, whether it be a
home, a community garden or a cultural
space. In addition, local councils and the
Greater London Authority, trying to raise
funds as a result of central government cuts,
can't seem to resist selling off public land.
So the vast majority of Londoners are being
priced out of the market and we are losing
valuable community assets such as social
housing.
If we are going to effectively create an equal
and just society we need to get hold of land,
ending the system of private property and
turning land into a resource for all. This is the
aim of most who attended the conference.
However, the mayor of London and other
politicians seem uninterested in giving land
to the people. It is very much ‘business as
usual'. Two campaigns in particular, the St
Anne's campain in Haringey and Reclaim
Holloway in Islington, show how
communities are fighting to take control of
what land is used for and who benefits.
------------------------------
Message: 4
The Hungarian regime is faced with a wave of opposition manifestations which reveal a
cleavage in Hungarian society - between the popular classes and the province on the one
hand and the urban middle class graduated on the other - and which Orbàn tries to
manipulate For its benefit. ---- For several weeks, a mobilization has been developing in
Hungary against the regime. Good news: the construction of an authoritarian regime in
Hungary faces increasing opposition. Bad news: these oppositions are structured around
liberal aspirations and a sociology of middle classes in Budapest, constituted instead of
beneficiaries of the globalization that pretends to fight the regime. This should not
allow the construction of a massive popular movement against the regime.
The Orbán regime, in power since 2010, is struggling to show its electorate that it is
indeed what it claims: anti-European, anti-globalization, anti-liberal. To get out of its
contradictions, it regularly takes initiatives at little cost but with great
reinforcements of communication. Thus, in October 2016, he organized a referendum backed
by a monstrous display campaign against the decision of the European Union to set up in
Hungary. 250 migrants and migrants [1]. Today, the government is passing a law to
Parliament on the restructuring of higher education, in which it attacks a well-chosen
target, the CEU, Central European University, financed by the US billionaire of Hungarian
origin Georges Soros.
The staging is therefore well-crafted: Orbàn versus Soros, the Hungarian University
against US funding, the homeland against globalization. And behind that, the popular
classes and the province, supposed supporters of the regime, against the middle and upper
classes of Budapest, supposed to be pro-European and liberal, support of the CEU of Soros.
Orbàn fed his fictitious crusade against Soros by regular attacks against NGOs funded by
the Soros Foundation, the Open Society Foundation.
The provocation took place: as of 9 April, a demonstration at the call of the staff of the
CEU gathered in Budapest almost 80 000 people. On 11 April a spontaneous demonstration was
held around 10 pm in front of the presidential palace and at 1 am in the direction of the
headquarters of the Radio House, symbol of the 1956 insurrection against the Soviet
occupation.
On 12 April, a gathering of about 10,000 people in support of threatened NGOs turned into
a nocturnal occupation of the Oktogon crossroads, referring to the Parisian Nights. Tens
of thousands of people gathered again on 16 April in the Place de la Liberté. At the time
of writing, a new demonstration was organized by the satirical party " du chien à deux
queues " [2]on Saturday, April 22nd. The order words are " Democracy ", " Europe ", "
Fidesz Out ".
What about this mobilization ? First it reveals a real divide within Hungarian society,
between the popular classes around Budapest and the province in general and, on the other,
the urban middle class. This cleavage is structured between the losers of the capitalist
transition and the winners (real or expected) of globalization and integration into the
European Union. Orbán manipulates these divisions by pretending to be the defender of the
former against the latter.
The fascist logic is at work in the basic strategy and in the discourse: the government
treats protesters and demonstrators as " deviant ", uses a widespread anti-intellectual
and anti-Semitic repertory, and the right-wing press threatens to let go of the dogs .
Zsolt Bayer, a popular journalist in nationalist circles, threatened demonstrators with
the following words: " We can confirm that in the near future we will also be on the
streets to defend what is important and sacred to us. (...) Then you will understand what
it means to be persecuted and threatened. As I said, we are very angry. You enter ? " In
fact, as in previous mobilizations, repression is relatively low,
The outlook is blurred. There is certainly in these manifestations the sign of an
exasperation against the regime that goes beyond the circles directly concerned. On the
whole, however, we can see the willingness of the young graduates of Budapest to retain
what they consider to be their class interests: integration into the European Union,
connection to Budapest with fashionable metropolitan networks, Internationally recognized
studies. The prominent figure of the mobilization, Màrton Gulyas, famous for his 72 hours
of incarceration, is the typical figure: theater man, famous youtube, today calls for the
creation of an anti-Fidesz political party Around this " Hungarian Spring ". Moreover,
The challenge for this mobilization, as well as for those of recent years in Hungary, is
to put forward, rather than the liberal and pro-European illusions, the convergent
interests of the popular classes, against this authoritarian regime, Antiliberal than the
image and against the capitalists who crush them. The mobilization of education in recent
years, against the destruction of a park in Budapest, but also workers' strikes in this
backyard of the German automobile industry, which is Hungary, can give hope.
Gyula (AL 93-center)
[1] See AL of October 2016.
[2] See AL of September 2015.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Hongrie-Un-mouvement-se-dresse-contre-Orban
------------------------------
Message: 5
On May 8, 2017 the LA-based feminist collective Intersectionality NOW organized an event
at the Women's Center for Creative Work titled Feminists Against Capitalism. The panel
participants included Miranda Sklaroff from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)
Left Caucus, Solîn Bendewa who is an editor for the social media platform The Middle
Eastern Feminist, Romina Akemi for the Black Rose Anarchist Federation, and was moderated
by Karlynne Ejercito from the Jacobin Reading Group. Sklaroff spoke in detail about a
paper she recently co-wrote about Universal Basic Income (UBI), as a possible strategic
demand for feminists. Bendewa discussed their organizing experience with Serve the People
in East LA. Below is the talk script by Romina Akemi who is an educator and anarchist
feminist militant in LA and Santiago, Chile.
"Feminists Against Capitalism" Panel
Event organized by Intersectionality NOW
At the Women's Center for Creative Work
May 8, 2017
I want to begin by thanking Intersectionality NOW for coordinating this event and the
Women's Center in Highland Park for providing the forum for this discussion. I am also
honored to be asked to speak on the subject on why we need to have a working class
perspective in our feminism. I realized recently that I have devoted a great part of my
life organizing among working class women, mostly garment workers, and been active in
revolutionary circles, but have never been asked to speak on this question.
In the last several years, we have seen feminism grow in the public dialogue, focusing on
sexual assault cases and attempts to hold perpetrators accountable. Most cases were
exposed by high school and university students, which is not surprising for two reasons.
First, high school and college campuses have been a foci of feminist and queer activism,
confronting instances of rape culture and heteronormativity in their institutional
environment. Second, statistics demonstrate that the majority of social media users are
women, under 30 with college education who have an income of over $75,000.[1]This is not
to say that poorer men and women with non-formal education do not participate in social
media because they do, but their voice is less dominant. In consequence, there tends to be
an imbalance in the public discourse about how to implement feminism or the recognition of
many feminisms. Furthermore, this is further perpetuated by the idea that class is not
considered a social barrier in US society, even though social mobility has declined; or as
an accurately titled article by The Atlantic stated, "Poor at 20, Poor for Life."[2]
Social class is a determining factor in both the rate and how women experience gender
violence and femicide. While college campuses have received much of the attention,
statistically a woman is more likely to be sexually assaulted if she or they are poor.
According to a study that used data by the Department of Justice's "National Crime
Victimization Survey", it stated that 6.1 per 1,000 college students are sexually
assaulted, while 8 per 1,000 of non-college educated women are assaulted. This means that
working class women have a 30 percent greater probability of being assaulted. The study
goes on to say, "Women in the lowest income bracket, with annual household incomes of less
than $7,500, are sexually victimized at 3.7 times the rate of women with household incomes
of $35,000 to $49,999, and at about six times the rate of women in the highest income
bracket (households earning $75,000 or more annually). Homeownership is another example of
how economic advantage serves to protect women from sexual violence. Woman living in
rented properties are sexually victimized at 3.2 times the rate of women living in homes
that they or a family member own...Single women with children living in the home have the
highest rate of sexual victimization."[3]Another study about farmworkers in California
states that between 80-90 percent of women farmworkers reported sexual violence by a
foreman or co-worker.[4]If you include femicide in this analysis, you will find that
Native American women who live on reservations and poor Black women are the most
vulnerable.[5]If you include profession, sex workers - in particular trans sex workers -
are murdered at higher rates. Even how women experience and understand their assault is
associated with class.[6]According to one researcher who interviewed women from different
social classes, they noted that middle class women described surprise that they were
assaulted, while working class women tended to rationalize those experiences as expected.
Class and race also weighs heavily in how institutional power treats victims of assault
and femicide. This is not meant to pit college victims against working-class survivors,
but in order to confront the normalization of patriarchal violence in our homes, in the
streets, and in our workplaces, feminists need to develop discourse and demands that
reflect the realities of those who are the most affected. This will also highlight the
type of feminism we are fighting for.
In the last several years, the term white feminism has been used to critique white
supremacy and, at times, used tangentially to highlight classism, transphobia, and US
exceptionalism. However, someone can also be conscious of said oppressions and opposed to
racism, heteronormativity, and injustices produced by class society, and still support
capitalism as a natural order of human social organization which is what we call
liberalism. The term, I am saying, is not enough to highlight our disagreements with
Ivanka Trump and Sophia Amoruso (self-proclaimed Bossgirl) feminisms.[7]Even though people
are aware that celebrities accumulate enormous wealth and are active participants in the
dissemination of cultural imperialism, they are often described as individuals that
represent no social class and who can be silly just like us. Yet, not only do they benefit
from capitalist exploitation but are the face brand of capitalism. As one contributor to
The Guardian noted, "The celebrities you see most often are the most lucrative products,
extruded through a willing media by a marketing industry whose power no one seeks to
check."[8]
The last introductory point is why I chose anarchist communism as my political home.
Communism underlines the future social organization that I support, while anarchism
underscores both the prefigurative and horizontal politics that I am committed to. In
practical terms, this means that the Black Rose Anarchist Federation is my political
organization that allows me to reflect and exchange experiences with my closest comrades,
while my political activity is grounded in social movement work, either in my workplace as
an educator or in the social arena as a feminist activist. Black Rose is ideologically
positioned as especifista-which means that we think that the specific anarchist
organization is necessary to develop an anarchist communist political current within the
working class-and we are tactically committed to social insertion that places focus on
strengthening popular power and autonomous organizing within working class social
movements.[9]We are politically sceptical of non-profits, avoid taking positions of power
that has us direct rather than fight alongside fellow workers. And, above all, we consider
the nation-state not to be a malleable entity, but a nineteenth century institution
created to protect private property and the efficient governance by the capitalist class.
I cannot expand further on that question since it will lead us into a debate about
"Reform or Revolution" or whether the state can wither away.
Today I plan to speak about the tactics and strategy by Latin American feminists who have
galvanized feminism into the social movement arena, placing the working class as their
political base. It is necessary, first, to offer some political background to historical
particularities of the Latin American experience that has contributed to their feminist
current. My examples will concentrate on South America, since that is the area I am most
familiar with.
Outside of the Western world, most women who fought for social equality did not fall into
the feminist waves. The struggle for suffrage was also an early twentieth century
phenomenon in Latin America, however, many countries did not grant suffrage until
mid-century due to male liberal concern that women were too pious and conservative, and
would vote in the interest of the Catholic Church. Following the 1959 Cuban Revolution,
revolutionary movements spread like wildfire across the continent, causing the US concern
in engendering interventionist organizations such as the Peace Corps (which functions
under the Department of Justice) and counterintelligence programs led by the CIA. The rise
of communist guerrilla movements and political organizations reflected a generational
radicalization. Beginning in the late 1960s and through the 1970s, the US government
coordinated and funded the overthrow of governments and installed military dictatorships
that led to thousands of radicals being tortured and disappeared.[10]In Chile,
approximately 3,000 disappeared and in Argentina the disputed number is between 10-30,000.
In the case of Argentina, the accounting for lost loved ones proved difficult since
thousands were disappeared by drugging them and throwing them out of helicopters into the
Rio de la Plata. These numbers do not account for thousands upon thousands who were
tortured and the psychological trauma that affected society as a whole that continues to
linger today. According to the Chilean feminist Julieta Kirkwood, the military
dictatorship was the embodiment of patriarchy. Some of the women who were forced into
political exile continued their political militancy. In the case of Italy, the women
exiled there were exposed to Lotta Femminista (Feminist Struggle), a working class
feminist organization that worked with the Wages for Housework movement. In some ways,
that organization shattered their perception that feminism was only a middle-class or
elite cause. They reflected on their experiences in the revolutionary currents and how
they had to hide or were silenced when they tried to expose patriarchal violence.[11]But
even with a more visible feminism movement at the time in Italy, there was still minimal
space to confront gender violence. In some ways, such experiences mirrored those by women
in US-based political organizations in the Black Power and Chicano movements, as well as
communists organizations during that same era.
The rise of feminism as a social current since the early to mid 2000s is largely a product
of deepening neoliberal policies, the re-rise of social movements that have not been seen
since the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the spread of feminist and queer theory. There
are certain realities that must be noted: abortion is illegal in Latin America (except for
Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Uruguay) and is the number one cause of maternal death, and Latin
America accounts for over half of global statistics of femicide (with Central America and
the Caribbean with higher per capita rates).
The first shift that I noticed took place in Argentina a couple of years after the
collapse of the Argentine economy in December 2001. Since 1983 (the return of democracy)
there had been a yearly women's conference called Encuentro de Mujeres that would gather
approximately 1,000 women, mostly academics, professionals, students, and revolutionary
militants. In 2003, two years after the collapse, the number of participants jumped from
1,000 to 10,000. If you look at conference photos you can visibly see the high presence of
working class women; many wearing their union or unemployed organization smocks. Within a
few more years that number spiked to 30,000, which is currently the average number of
yearly participants. I learned, from following these movements, that during the feminist
gathering in the early 80s, Latin American feminists decided on mark September 28th as the
Day to Decriminalize Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean and November 25th as the
Day Against Violence Against Women (a date that simultaneously commemorated the murders of
the Mirabal Sisters under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo). These dates, along with
March 8, have become anchors to coordinate the rhythms of struggle and social demands.
The call for the legalization of abortion exploded across the Southern Cone around 2007,
gaining moment year by year. This momentum led to the legalization of abortion in Uruguay
in 2014 and congressional discussions in Chile to allow abortion in cases of rape, incest
or if the woman's life is in danger. Chile and El Salvador have the strictest abortion
laws, criminalized under all circumstances. There are women across the continent serving
sentences for pregnancy interruptions. Many of you have also heard how many countries in
Latin America, including Argentina, have passed progressive identity laws allowing trans
citizens to change their identity on government documents without the approval from
doctors and the court, which continues to be a form of social violence used in the US.
However, it has become clear, that the Catholic Church has decided to place more of their
resources and institutional weight in assuring the continued criminalization of abortion.
How do Latin American feminists make working class women their organizational base?
I will begin by describing where they are located. Some years ago, I interviewed a
feminist doctor, Zulema Palma, who in 1995 was one of the founders of a women's center
called Mujeres al Oeste (Women to the West) in the shantytown of Morón in Buenos Aires
Province. In a 2009 interview she explained that 1993 "was a convalescing moment in which
we realized we could continue working in the West[of Buenos Aires]for our interests where
women who lived in the most marginalized sectors could be approached about themes they
lacked."[12]This group of feminists decided to concentrate their efforts by offering
workshops and needed resources to women whose marginalization prevented access to
information or the financial means to tap resources due to low wages, distance,
transportation, or even familial violence. In Chile, during the dictatorship,
revolutionary women organized sewing circles in Catholic parishes to teach poor women to
make arpilleras (embroideries) which gave them an income and organizers used the
opportunity to discuss and teach politics.[13]In the case of Mujeres al Oeste, their space
became a community entity, creating dialogue and cultural change in the neighborhood.
Their latest public event was titled: "Debate and Proposals Cycle: In Face of the Violence
Against Women, What's up Men?"[14]The Mujeres al Oeste recently spoke out against a public
communication by the Department of Health in a Morón public hospital informing staff of
their legal obligation to report suspected cases of pregnancy interruption. Because of
their community ties and respect, Mujeres al Oeste were able to publicly denounce this
"lack of ethics and systemic violence against women's health," as Zulema Palma
noted.[15]It also helped that Zuelma is a doctor, giving her comments a level of
legitimacy among the press.
The feminist movement does not consider themselves a separate cause from other social
issues. Yes, it depends on the organization. I want to highlight the anarchist feminist
organization La Alzada - Acción Feminista Libertaria (La Alzada - Feminist Libertarian
Action) that is mostly composed of college students. In 2014 they coordinated their
presence at a port workers strike, offering solidarity while at the same time discussing
feminism. They also published a zine that included their declaration, interviews, and
reflections.[16]I am going to quote from an article I co-wrote with Bree Busk titled
"Breaking the Waves: Challenging the Liberal Tendency Within Anarchist Feminism":
La Alzada's defining divergence from other feminist groups is that they are a social
political organization in which membership requires a predetermined level of political
activity. An Alzada militant participates in insertion work with working class women,
within the student movement, and advances their own political interventions within the
anarchist and feminist movements. Membership is open to all and they encourage the
inclusion of male-identified militants. They work closely with the domestic worker unions
SINTRACAP and SINAICAP that are divided by Chilean-born (the former) and foreign-born (the
latter) members who mostly hail from Peru and Bolivia. They organize union workshops, such
as teaching oral and body expressions to build confidence and political development for
rank-and-file members.[17]
What do these two examples have in common? They represent the coordinated efforts by a
group or organization. They are not individual decisions to get a job or volunteer some
place, but collective decisions that have lasting impact. Another example of the class
conscious character of the Latin American feminist movement can be observed through their
demands. For example, in 2009, the lead banner at that year's Encuentro de Mujeres march
stated, "Legal abortion so we don't die, free contraceptives to not abort, and sexual
education to not get pregnant." The first hurdle that feminists have is the legality of
abortion, then to make sure it is free, and then the issue of accessibility.
The legacy of military dictatorship is another important factor, affecting discourse,
chants, and demands. First, about the question of life. During the dictatorships, the
mothers of the disappeared called for "aparición con vida" (to appear alive) and human
right's organizations emphasized the sanctity of life to be protected from state violence.
Some individuals in the Left, began using that discourse against the growing calls for
legal abortion. And, of course, the Right, that includes fascists, began using the
language of human rights organization, even though they thought killing communists was for
the greater good of society. In response, one chant stated: "Ahora, ahora, ahora quieren
vida, cuando en dictadura mataban con la DINA (Now, now, now you want life, when during
the dictatorship you killed using the DINA." The DINA was the Chilean secret police that
organized disappearances, kidnapping, and torture. Second, I want to mention human rights
organization tactics. During the 1990s, after the return of democracy, the majority of
torturers and murderers who committed state violence were free and in high positions of
power. Due to the lack of justice and social repression, human rights groups began to
organize funas or escraches, which is a coordinated effort to publicly shame these
individuals. In the case of Victor Jara's murderer, Edwin Dimter Bianchi, they went to his
workplace making lots of noise, posting and leaving flyers denouncing him and letting
everyone know what he had done.[18]Feminists and queer activists began using similar
tactics to denounce rapists, sexual abusers, and homophobes who refused to take
accountability or faced no repercussions for their actions.[19]
The last two examples I want to give are Educación No Sexista (Non Sexist Education) and
#NiUnaMenos (Not One Woman Less). Non Sexist Education is a feminist demand within the
student movement. It not only complements, but strengthens the student movement demand for
free education, which is a direct attack against neoliberal policies and the class
prejudice and limits placed on access to higher education.[20]The demand for a Non Sexist
Education forces the student movement to commit to fighting patriarchy in campus life and
political circles, but also forces the institution and professors to look inward on how
they contribute to the perpetuation of patriarchy through departmental appointments,
courses materials, etc. The other movement I mentioned is #NiUnaMenos that has pushed the
term femicide into the public dialogue.[21]Latin American feminists have called for
governments to acknowledge femicide as a legal to collect data and for use in prosecution
cases. It was recognized under law in Argentina in 2012, and in Brazil and Colombia in
2015. These last two examples highlight a few things. Their success have been because they
have supported a demand; some demands have more mass appeal like opposition to femicide
and others are still within the battle of ideas such as legal abortion. Another
contributing factor has been feminist coalition building, using the National Encounter as
a place for debate, to reflect on the success and shortcomings of the previous year, and a
place to decide on actions and demands for the following.
Review difference between US and Latin American feminism:
Social issue versus individual: Feminism has become a cause for personal betterment and
not social change. While that has altered a bit recently in the US, the dominant voices
from the Women's March expressed moral outrage against patriarchy, but little about
specific demands to anchor our energies and create social momentum for change.
Visibility of issues versus criminalization: There is a tendency among US middle-class and
elite feminists to focus on higher sentencing or gun laws as the root of the problem with
patriarchy. The further criminalization of black and brown bodies will not end gender
violence. The focus should be visibilizing issues, not criminalizing.
Reforms: Some resist making specific demands for change for fear of seeming reformist. I
have also heard some radicals opposed to abortion as a demand from the state because it is
reformist or asking for the state for anything is simply wrong. I always use the example
of the voting rights struggle. Yes, the Civil Rights struggle that expanded the legal
right to vote in the US was a reform, not social revolution, but it was reform that
directly confronted white supremacy. There are similar examples when reforms open doors to
challenge the parameters of power. However, where I disagree is spending too much time and
resources on trying to change the system from within, when that energy can be better spent
creating autonomous organizing.
Memorialization of martyrs: The public memorialization of women who have died because of
complications from abortion or femicide have become powerful symbols that underlie the
class character of who dies. They are also remembered as victims of patriarchal and state
violence.
Commemorative dates become the cycle or rhythm of struggle: I mentioned this earlier,
about the rhythms of political action. In Chile, we have seasonal protests that also have
their anomalies. Commemorative dates tend to be important indicators when organizations
plan actions and organize public discussions, in which we organize most of our actions
between March and November This does not include strikes that can happen at any moment. We
take February (the last month of our summer) "off," allowing us to revitalize for the
coming year. Wouldn't it be nice to blackout the month of August collectively to
reinvigorate our political energy? But, more importantly, planning ahead for certain dates
that we already know are on ‘the revolutionary calendar' to organize our resources and
build momentum toward a demand or a cause.
Make working class women, not celebrities, our heroes: In the last couple of decades,
mainstream popular culture has taken more of a center stage in what we call popular
culture. We are less likely to create local art projects that centers the working class as
the intended audience. As mentioned earlier, social media is dominated by college
educated, middle-class. Youth culture, statistics show, have greater desire to become
celebrities over the course of the last twenty years, in which social media does produce
microcosms of celebrities and group popularity. This is complemented by feminists who
uphold female celebrities, politicians, entrepreneurs as role models, in which the foci is
more access to power, not changing social relations. The cultural tempo in the US has
become deeply embedded and dictated by mass and social media, or what Noam Chomsky called
the manufacturing of consent.
We are at a turning point, in which deconstruction has reached its use, and now we need to
construct. Whether we make class a core issue of our philosophical vision will determine
the character of our organizing and it will determine the social changes we are able to
accomplish.
[1]"Social Media Fact Sheet," Pew Research Center in Internet, Science, Tech posted
January 17, 2017 (accessed May 7, 2017): http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/social-media/
[2]https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/07/social-mobility-america/491240/
[3]Callie Marie Tennison, "Privilege, Among Rape Victims," New York Times (December 12,
2014):
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/22/opinion/who-suffers-most-from-rape-and-sexual-assault-in-america.html
[4]Sara Kominers, Working in Fear: Sexual violence against women farmworkers in the United
States (Oxfam America, 2015), 15:
https://www.northeastern.edu/law/pdfs/academics/phrge/kominers-report.pdf
[5]Mary Annette Pember, "Missing and Murdered: No One Knows How Many Native American Women
Have Disappeared," Indian Country Media Network (April 16, 2016):
https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/native-news/missing-and-murdered-no-one-knows-how-many-native-women-have-disappeared/
[6]Allison Phipps, "Rape and Respectability: Ideas about Sexual Violence and Social
Class," Sociology 43, no. 4 (August 2009): 667-683.
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.958.2282&rep=rep1&type=pdf
[7]http://jezebel.com/everything-really-hit-rock-bottom-how-nasty-gals-cultu-1711454805
[8]Geoge Monibot, "Celebrity isn't just harmless fun-it's the smiling face of the
corporate machine," The Guardian (December 20, 2016):
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/20/celebrity-corporate-machine-fame-big-business-donald-trump-kim-kardashian
[9]For further information, read Social Anarchism and Organisation by FARJ:
https://libcom.org/files/social_anarchism_and_organisation_farj_en.pdf
[10]In Latin America the term desaparecido is used to refer to victims who were
disappeared by the state. At times, their bodies were later identified in mass graves, but
many were never recovered.
[11]Patrick Cuninghame, "Italian feminism, workerism and autonomy in the 1970s: The
struggle against unpaid reproductive labour and violence," libcom.org (October 25, 2010):
https://libcom.org/history/italian-feminism-workerism-autonomy-1970s-struggle-against-unpaid-reproductive-labour-vi
[12]Entrevista a Zulema Palma, "La violencia contra las mujeres está naturalizada,"
Defensoría del Pueblo del Municipio de Morón (22 de agosto de 2009).
[13]Jacqueline Adams, "Movement Socialization in Art Workshops: A Case from Pinochet's
Chile," The Sociological Quarterly 41, no. 4 (Autumn 2000): 615-638.
[14]http://mujeresaloeste.blogspot.com/
[15]http://comunicacionsocial.org.ar/un-centro-de-salud-en-moron-promueve-las-denuncias-por-sospechas-de-aborto-es-una-aberracion-desde-el-punto-de-vista-etico-medico-y-legal/
[16]La Alzada-AFL, Solidaridad Feminista con el Conflicto Portuario Hacia una Sindicalismo
de clase, de lucha y feminista (enero 2014): http://issuu.com/laalzadaafl/docs/port_feminismo
[17]Romina Akemi and Bree Busk, "Breaking the Waves: Confronting the Liberal Tendencies
within Anarchist Feminism," Perspectives: Anarcha-Feminism by Institute of Anarchist
Studies (May 2016):
https://anarchiststudies.org/2016/06/29/breaking-the-waves-challenging-the-liberal-tendency-within-anarchist-feminism-by-romina-akemi-and-bree-busk/
[18]"Funa del asesino de Victor Jara." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA9lGZMgoQc
[19]"Funa a violador." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGXqODeDCEs
[20]http://www.cladem.org/campanas/educacion-no-sexista/prensa/69-ens-otros-medios/443-dia-internacional
-dela-Educacion-no-sexista;http://eldesconcierto.cl/por-que-es-necesaria-una-educacion-sexista-en-chile/
[21]http://nacla.org/news/2016/11/01/niunamenos-not-one-woman-less-not-one-more-death
http://blackrosefed.org/feminists-against-capitalism/
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Message: 6
Holloway Prison, in the borough of Islington, the largest women's prison in Western
Europe, has now closed. Its residents have been rushed to overcrowded, unfit facilities
outside of London. The 8 acres of land are worth potentially £2.5 billion to a developer
if the land is used to build luxury housing. This is likely to be the government's aim as
house prices range from £450,000 to 550,000 in the area. This is the first example of the
government's programme to shut old prisons, sell the high value land in London, and build
new mega prisons outside big cities. ---- Selling off prison land to property developers
will contribute to housing difficulties and lack of support services for prisoners,
ex-prisoners and the rest of the local population. Local people and former Holloway
prisoners need this land for themselves. There are 20,000 households on Islington's
housing list. Local people know luxury flats at Holloway will raise rents, forcing more
people out of the area. Now that prisoners have been displaced, locals will be too.
The campaigns aims to "turn the site into one which can serve the needs of the most
disadvantaged in the community. It is black and brown, working class, migrant and queer
people and their families that suffer most from state violence, from incarceration, from
the closure of support services and from homelessness. It is not just about building
social housing but of building a community, the kind of community that will show why
prisons are unnecessary". The campaign is working on their own plans for the site which
include housing, a women's support centre and community gardens.
http://reclaimholloway.strikingly.com/
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