[Anarchafeminists] Fw:invite to @Fem2014]

[butterflea at riseup.net]

Organising for @Fem2014: an anarcha-feminist conference in London on
October 19th 2014 (and hopefully annually). Please get involved.

In spite of the supposed gains of mainstream feminism, women have not
achieved equal status with men. This is the case in legal, economic,
social and political terms, and also in the bedroom. In the current crisis
of Capitalism, women are suffering more than men. Mainstream reformers and
authoritarian-left political parties achieve little for us. But Capitalism
is not the only cause of our oppression. Women are kept down by religion
and patriarchy too, which can operate outside of capitalism. Capitalism
supports these oppressive forces. In some cases they impact on women as
much as economic exploitation.

But in the anarchist movement too, we are still not equal. We are not
represented in equal numbers and often are not taken seriously. Barriers
to our full political participation remain intact. Whilst on paper we are
equal, we sometimes face straight-forward sexism in our movement and even
in our own groups and organisations. This means that our anarchist
movement is not truly ‘anarchist’.

These sentiments were expressed at the Saint-Imier gathering in 2012 too.
An initiative towards an international anarcha-feminist conference was
approved by anarcha-feminists there, but nothing has come of it as far as
we know. But this does not mean that there is no need for it. The high
attendance at anarcha-feminist meetings in Saint-Imier and at
international bookfairs is proof of this. At the annual London Anarchist
Bookfair, it is difficult to find a room big enough to hold such meetings.
So the Anarchist Federation has initiated the organising of an annual
Anarcha-Feminist conference in London, beginning 2014, and lots of other
groups and individuals are supporting the idea so far. It will be on the
day after the London Anarchist Bookfair, which will be on October 18th. So
@Fem2014 will be on October 19th 2014. The Bookfair collective is
supportive and promote the event.

We want to establish continuity with this conference, so that we can build
towards the transformation of women’s experience year by year. We want to
break with one-off meetings which often repeat the same ideas, but do not
achieve much else. We want to build towards toppling the institutions and
ideas which oppress us. Towards this end, it is proposed that thematic
strands be established, with actual outcomes by the end of the conference
in terms of ideas and activity. These can be established by planning
meetings. The conference should also have a safer-spaces policy, which is
made explicit, and which supports the full and free participation of all
women, of all races and cultures, abilities, and sexual and gender
orientation.

The organising started with a meeting at the Bookfair this year, when an
organisers group was set up. The group will hold its first meeting in
Nottingham on December 14th, although some progress has already been made.
We are hopeful that the International of Anarchist Federations will agree
to ‘official’ (i.e. practical) support at its meeting in late November,
and several federations have already expressed a willingness to be
involved.

Please get in touch if you would like to join the organising group. Even
if you can’t make meetings, we are looking for a reliable volunteers even
at this early stage, for example to set up and maintain a closed e-list
for the group, a website, booking and liaising with a venue.

There is a bottom line for involvement as follows:

'The organising meetings, like the focus of the conference, are for cis
and trans women, and trans people who have been oppressed as a woman. We
are working towards a conference which will have class-struggle anarchism
and the fight agaist economic inequality at its heart. The agenda will be
set as far as possible by cis and trans women who are LGBTQ, black and of
colour, disabled, with mental health issues, and involved in the sex
industry. At too many feminist events, women in these groups do not set
the agenda and are effectively excluded, and we want this conference to be
different'.

We are also keen that women and trans people who are in anarchist
organisations play a part and build towards ‘official’ and practical
support in those organisations, and represent their group in the @Fem
organising group.

So please get in touch soon if you would agree with the above and would
like to join the organising group. Because we don't have a secure e-mail
list yet, could you please contact me at info at thesparrowsnest.org.uk and
mark it 'fao Claire'.





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