DAY0: anarcha-queerfeminist networking and organising
this years’ balkan anarchist bookfair will start on the 6th of July, one day prior to the officially announced date, with an event we call DAY0 – anarcha-queerfeminist networking and organising. the inspiration of this event comes from last year’s BAB held in cluj, where people identified the need to deepen the discussion about antisexism in our anarchist organizing. the initial idea in cluj was to point out the fact that “usual feminist topics” should concern the whole movement and we should not be left alone to deal with them, with respect to the need of queers and women to organize autonomously as well. to comply with this need, a special assembly was held, which resulted in interesting discussions, connections and a FAQ zine. this year we aim to continue this process by offering an extra day to update each other, discuss, expand our network and organise further. the day is organised by local anarchists and others from further away.
the situation in eastern-european and balkan countries is becoming more and more hostile. fascist groups as well as authorities are pushing their patriarchal, anti-queer agenda, while the church and its followers are threathening the right to bodily autonomy. these outbursts of hatred are also manifested in violent attacks on our bodies and spaces. the necessity of organising around specific queer and feminist issues as anarchists is so becoming all the more important.
in the meantime, a lot of lgbtq+ spaces and activists are getting absorbed by the ngo sector. this process further pacifies the movement, disconnects it from everyday life and offers only a few spaces where queers are told to be safe, while collaborating with the police. we, as anarchists are outraged by the disempowerment they want us to internalise – we will never call the cops to come to our rescue, we do not trust the cop that says they are not homophobic, we do not trust the cop that says they will protect us. we will stand together and protect ourselves and each other against the threat of clero- and ethnonationalist-fascist violence.
we have to continue building radical counter-violence to protect ourselves and to retaliate! connecting over borders, sharing experiences, knowledge and solidarity has to also be part of this process – this is the only way to fight against isolation and build up strong, interconnected movements!
in this spirit, we urge all of us to vocalise our balkan+ anarcha/queer/feminist perspectives, and especially to address problems that are often excluded from “usual” feminist discussions. just to start with a couple of ideas, here is a collection of some broader themes we propose to discuss on the DAY0:
why it’s important to explicitely relate queerness and feminism to anarchism?
how to strengthen our connections over borders and how to build international networks/alliances?
anti-militarism and war
borders, migrant solidarity and anti-racist struggles
labour rights, syndicalism
can you imagine yourself or your group to facilitate any of these discussions? would you like to bring up another topic or make a workshop? do you perform or DJ and would want to take part in the evening program? reach out to us and lets organise!
*** the space will be mixed – it will be open for everyone regardless of gender, but we want to hold it for people from the balkans+ and from diasporas.
*** accommodation: we will try to arrange free accommodation for the participants of BAB2023, including the participants of the DAY0. however, as we are expecting large number of comrades coming from all over this will be a big challenge for the local organization team. this is why we encourage everybody who has the means and the opportunity to organize accommodations by themselves, to do so.
you can find more information about accommodation and your participation on the Logistics page
*** soliparties: if you have an option of organising benefits or soliparties to support the organisation of the DAY0 financially, get in touch with us! any kind of support is welcome and will be greatly appreciated!
come, participate, let’s make the DAY0 happen together! reach out to us with your ideas and if you have any other questions or if you need support in any way, don’t hesitate to contact us at: anarchabab23(at)riseup(dot)net
love & rage from ljubljana,
your local anarcha crowd
. . .
call originally published:
https://bab2023.espivblogs.net/program/day0/
