Today's Topics:
1. anarkismo.net: To strengthen the popular organization to
deepen the fight -- The Opinion Letter of the Uruguayan Anarchist
Federation - fAu for the month of September 2018. (ca, it)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. France, Alternative Libertaire AL Alsace - Red flag on the
cathedral, November 6 in Strasbourg (fr, it, pt)[machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. France, Alternative Libertaire AL #286 - Book: All to gain,
feminist issues, union issues (fr, it, pt)[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. US, black rosefed: A FEMINIST MOVEMENT TO END CAPITALISM,
PART I (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
WAGE TIPS ---- Two clear examples of how the bosses come for everything: one, layoffs in
Saman arguing that production has declined, closing a stockpile in Rio Branco when there
was still work and reorganizing production in another location and the Association of
Growers of Rice will rise from the negotiation table of the Salary Councils, after having
proposed a 0% salary increase. Two, the strong patron barrage in Conaprole to destroy
union conquests denounced as "privileges" by the employers. These two examples speak
clearly of employers' pretensions: salary reductions, non-existent or weak unions,
piecework and no time limit, etc. Return to nineteenth century working conditions if they
could, -- For now here they press and play thinking about the electoral campaign. But they
are getting concrete returns: this class offensive is not restrained by the government;
only a lukewarm debate but that does not place concrete measures to touch the employer's
interests. Nor is it possible to put a stop to the popular movement, beyond concrete cases
and fights that occur, today there is not enough strength and mobilization to stop the
strong popular organizations against this bosses' onslaught. For some actors, the
electoral campaign also weighs.
What is at stake is the processing of the adjustment. To the Uruguayan, but of an
adjustment to the end, which will surely unfold after the elections and have by 2020 -21
an important impact on the popular classes. The only way to avoid the adjustment is with
fighting and pulling conquests. And the executor of the adjustment, the one who carries it
out, can be any government, whatever sign it may be. The only variant would be the greater
or lesser graduality of it.
THE ECONOMIC SITUATION
Salary Councils will have little impact on the economic situation, because even if the
negotiating guidelines of the Executive Power are exceeded, there will not be a
redistribution of wealth or anything like that. With luck, some sectors will compensate
for inflation.
But fundamentally, the country's economic situation is deteriorating at a steady pace. The
economy is still growing, but there are fewer and fewer jobs in the industry. It is
estimated that globally there are 50 thousand fewer jobs. Many expect the "salvation" of
UPM, millionaire investment that will impact on the GDP and in a segment of employment
surely, but that will not modify the general conditions of the economic and social
situation (on the contrary, it will aggravate it in the long term) and that It will
deliver even more to foreign capital to an important sector of the economy (port,
railroads, etc.) and natural assets (water, land).
This "injection of capital" will only prolong the current economic situation a little more
over time, but the general deterioration of it will not be stopped. Moreover, surely this
"capital injection" of UPM will be a real bridge to the outside, since virtually none of
the inputs with which the plant will be built will be manufactured in Uruguay, which
increases economic dependence and undermines the work possibilities in the country. These
projects are already designed from abroad and thus apply.
But the other interesting factor is how certain "neutral" actors, economists of certain
prestigious bourgeois consultants, make their economic projections, painting a panorama of
heavy clouds, but the "economic measures" that they propose, are simply and simply,
download the adjustment about the town.
Let's see: the first point is to delimit the Salary Councils to a negotiation by company
and at a general level only to discuss minimum wages by category; Another axis is to
reduce the fiscal deficit by not allowing the entry of public officials during 4 or 5
years, with which the State "would save" two points of the GDP. Others propose directly to
reduce strongly the number of public officials. With this, certain services would be
liquidated and others could be privatized. Would not more than two points be reduced if
the budget of the Ministry of the Interior is lowered which takes 9% of the GDP and the
Armed Forces are dismantled?
Another fundamental axis is to increase taxes, but on workers: VAT, IMESI and IRPF, but
that is not recommended, increase the IRAE, the only specific employer tax "because
companies do not have sufficient profitability." A whole tax policy of class: not to touch
the bosses' profits and make the people pay.
And the strawberry of the cake: devalue, follow the path of Argentina and Brazil to
"improve competitiveness", lowering costs of labor. With the consequent increase in prices
and its social consequences. A whole social policy in favor of the rural bourgeoisie,
mainly. Practically the same proposals were heard at the closing of the Prado Expo by the
Rural Association.
THE ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN TO FULL ...
They started with everything at the beginning of the year. In these months, with the
situation indicated above, pre-candidacies appear. In the National Party already there are
six precandidates, the FA has not yet defined them but unusual names appear, even in the
Colorado Party the bid is fierce. Novick remains unscathed. But there is still time for
the dance of names to follow. Basically there are two speeches: for the fourth FA
government or the focus on efficient management, business. No programs and great debates.
The space of government has been reduced to that: to manage. And in addition to that the
space of the policy has been reduced, emptying of content all proposal and general
political debate. That ideological role that the electoral campaign fulfills today, that
of bastardizing the notion of politics in a broad sense, focusing everything on cheap
bourgeois politicking, It also has effects in the popular field. This discourages all the
participation of those at the bottom in the substantive debates and the class struggle, it
undermines the political capacity of the people and turns it into a mere spectator and
receiver of an empty discourse.
But she also demonstrates that the political class is a mere manager of bourgeois power;
you do not even have to debate and think about how you are going to govern, the recipe
book is coming, which only admits some small variations in some ingredients. But the
substantial is already.
We expect more than a year of sale of candidates; but in all this period the popular needs
will be absent: the salary, the education, the housing, the work, the health, they will
only serve as decoration to the canopies of the candidates. But for those below, the
elections do not indicate anything or mark the times or limits to fight for our rights and
claims.
NOISE TO SABERS ...
Since his assumption as Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Guido Manini Ríos has been making
statements of a clear political nature. The draft Law of the Reform of the Military Box
and the vote of it in the Senate, have triggered the meetings and statements of the
Military Center and other organizations of military retirees (many of its members linked
to the dictatorship), but also of Manini Rivers that has come to question the project and
to make policy in defense of the Army. His sayings and publications on the networks have a
whiff of coup, among others frequently greet the Brazilian Army and its Commander, General
Villas Boas, who has expressed the possibility of military intervention and has strongly
opined on the domestic policy of his country.
Manini Ríos comes from a family of the most rancid oligarchy, belonging to the most
reactionary sectors of the Colorado Party, with members of the Uruguayan Youth Standing as
Hugo Manini Ríos, former president of the Rural Association and ally in multiple instances
of the FA government, owners of coup newspapers like "La Mañana" and "El Diario", etc. An
exemplary family ... exemplary fascist.
The sanction that the Executive Power imposed on Manini Rios for his public statements,
has unleashed a barrage of statements and movements, especially from the military retired
and the Army itself, in support of Manini. They circulated a series of audios where some
military mentions reserve movements, going to receive Manini Ríos at the airport on Monday
17 and other actions that would take place in the past days. Beyond much of the content of
these audios is crazy or unlikely real occurrence, it is worrisome that circulate this
type of audio and above all: who makes them circulate?, Who thought and made these audios
and with what purpose?
The own Manini has been in charge of asking that nobody is going to receive it and of
lowering the profile of these manifestations, which indicates the veracity of some of
these audios and movements.
This shows that the Army and the military retirees are not quiet, they are not in the
barracks drinking quiet mate. They are operating, as they operated since 1985 spying
without anyone knowing, the entire popular movement. The Army is an institution that does
not admit modifications in its bosom: today they are directed by the same last names that
participated in the dictatorship. It is a closed, oligarchic institution with a clear
spirit of body and class. Any political movement of the Army or military retirees is
worrisome and we must be alert, because once the Army begins to express its opinion then
it will continue with other actions and we already know from our recent history how these
processes end.
Worse still, when the military is backed by the political system itself, and not only
traditional parties do it. Former President José Mujica went out to support Manini Ríos
saying that "it was good: soldiers do not have unions and can not demonstrate, so someone
has to defend their interests." Mujica omits that neither the Army Commander can manifest
himself and if he is allowed to do so, he allows the Army to openly do politics. But it
reflects the pro-military policy of the leadership of the MLN, initiated in the talks of
the Florida Battalion in 1972, continued with the meetings with the Lodge "Lieutenants of
Artigas", fascist military lodge and to which all the current leadership of the Army belongs,
The intonation of the "March of Three Trees" not only shows the adhesion of the military
leadership to the National Party and support for Manini Ríos (who belongs to said party),
but also a clear manifestation of the movements that occurred in its internal in these days.
THE REGION
It was in Argentina where the businessmen decided directly to take over the government.
The cabinet team of Cambiemos brought together (and gathers) the most select of the
managers of the multinationals installed in the neighboring shore. Even several surnames
of the stale oligarchy of Buenos Aires and several characters that participated in
governments prior to the 2001 crisis.
The story seems to repeat itself, but with some slight variations. However, the measures
taken by Macri and his retinue are very similar to those taken by Cavallo and others, and
there is already talk of a possible future default (cessation of payments). For now, the
dollar has climbed to 40 Argentine pesos, benefiting the agro-export sectors - already
benefited since the nineteenth century as the social base of the country's economy - the
industry is being destroyed, there are countless layoffs and dismissals of workers, cuts
in the public budget, etc.
The conflict that the Mapuche people have been demonstrating in claiming their ancestral
lands, has had as a response from the State the total militarization of the south of the
country and the extradition to Chile of the Lonko Facundo Jones Huala, a reference of the
Mapuche resistance, in spite of active campaign in Argentina and abroad to avoid such
measure. This fact adds to the murder of Santiago Maldonado and Rafael Nahuel.
Those at the top continue to play hard. On the 12th of this month a teacher was kidnapped
in Moreno, south of Buenos Aires. Comrade Corina de Bonis was kidnapped and tortured by a
group of clear fascist orientation and hatred of those below: "no pots" tattooed him with
a sharp object in his abdomen. Who are those groups? It is clear that they are trying to
intimidate to demobilize, but the response must be more mobilization and the greatest
demonstrations of solidarity among the Latin American peoples.
The question is: when does Argentina break out? Popular mobilizations are large and
growing. Sectoral stoppages multiply and there was recently a great general strike. The
neoliberal gale comes with everything but there is a people willing to face it. There
undoubtedly, there will be possibilities to travel new paths for those below, building
Popular Power and new prospects for the advancement of the oppressed.
In Brazil, however, the elections are next month and there is no certainty as to what will
happen. An election called by the coup leaders where even a minimal "openness" is not
proposed, but on the contrary, what is at stake is how to deepen the neoliberal model and
the adjustment. The Brazilian bourgeoisie does not have total control of the political
situation; the instability has won the stage, but the certain thing is that the government
that emerges - whatever it is - will govern for the benefit of the industrialists of San
Pablo and the ruralistas.
Corruption, a subject that is repeatedly placed by the corrupt themselves, is not the main
problem in Brazil or in the region. Corruption is a phenomenon inherent to the capitalist
system; It's in your genes. Therefore, there is no government that escapes a greater or
lesser corruption scheme. Its magnitude is amazing, but it is not the central issue, but
with it the focus of attention is diverted from the real problem, which is the constant
plundering of wealth and resources made by the ruling classes and multinationals to our
peoples.
The Brazilian people will find through their struggles a path of their own, a path that is
not that of the ballot box but that of the people in the street and in the countryside,
occupying the spaces of struggle and developing direct popular action.
In Colombia, the popular movement continues to suffer paramilitary violence. They are
killed day after day, social activists and others receive threats. This has increased
since the conversion of the FARC into an electoral force, leaving large areas of the
country free for the paramilitary advance, the narcos and the Colombian Army.
Venezuela suffers another clear attempt of aggression, this time by the Uruguayan Almagro.
"As for military intervention to overthrow the regime of Nicolás Maduro, I think we should
not rule out any option." Almagro, as Secretary General of the OAS, deepens the historical
imperialist policy of this organization and of the fascist court, and the letter of a
military coup has been playing a strong role and, if this is not possible, the invasion is
plain and simple. It should be remembered that Almagro was the Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Mujica government, and he promoted it to that office.
AND HERE, HOW DO WE CONTINUE?
It is almost like wondering how we get rid of the electoral campaign that crushes
everything. How do we continue fighting? In the immediate term, there are two important
battles: the wage struggle and the signature campaign against the Irrigation Law. It is
necessary to reach the necessary signatures to plebiscite this law and repeal it, a task
that brings together the trade union movement, the neighborhood, student and social
organizations in general in a campaign or common theme and that can be an axis of social
agglutination towards other fights, a confluence space below.
On the salary, it will be the task of the unions to unify the struggles, joint measures
and other mobilizations that avoid the separate fights, the fragmentation and the
weakening of the union organizations in a moment where the bosses are emboldened and come
to crush us.
It is time to go together, to come together, to be in the fight and recognize each other
as class brothers. And it's time to build the tools for the Resistance.
The times that are coming are hard and hard has to be the fight. To build muscle and
practice solidarity, conflicts are not resolved in the corridors of the Government House,
they are resolved in the streets.
Strengthen popular organizations, provide them with immediate and medium-term action
plans, nourish the militancy debate elements, are the priority tasks of today.
FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF POPULAR POWER!
UP THOSE WHO FIGHT!
URUGUAYAN ANARCHIST FEDERATION
https://www.anarkismo.net/article/31142
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Message: 2
Strasbourg 1918-2018: the Red Flag from the past to the future. Die rote Fahne von der
Vergangenheit in die Zukunft ---- In November 1918 the red flag floated a few days on the
spire of Strasbourg Cathedral. ---- The city lived under the authority of a council of
soldiers and workers created following the return of sailors from Alsace-Lorraine who
participated in the mutiny of the German imperial fleet. ---- On November 10 the
proclamation of the decay of the imperial power was followed by that of the social
republic. But the accelerated arrival of French troops on November 22 put an end to the
revolutionary experience. ---- Today and in the future the red flag represents the banner
of those who want to conquer social justice jointly in our country and internationally.
Read also: " Red flag on Strasbourg Cathedral " in Alternative Libertaire of November 2008.
Tuesday, November 6 from 14h to 23h at Aubette, 31 place Kleber
2 pm - 5 pm Historical Conference on the November 1918 Revolution
17h - 19h Itinerant event linking the places of activity of the workers 'and soldiers'
councils
7 pm Inauguration of the Franco-German historical exhibition
20:00 International trade union meeting with Philippe Martinez, General Secretary of the
CGT and Michaël Rudolf, Head of the DGB of the Länder of Hesse and Thuringia
The event will be hosted by the PTK (Prolet Tanz Klub).
The inauguration and the meeting will be accompanied by the following artists: Daniel
Muringer, Liselotte Hamm, Jean Marie Hummel and Peter Kuehn
The following organizations support and participate in this action Red Flag: FSU,
Solidarity, PCF, NPA, POID, Libertarian Alternative, PCOF
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Strasbourg-Il-y-a-100-ans-le-drapeau-rouge-flottait-sur-la-cathedrale
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Message: 3
It was in spring 2017 that the Syllepse editions published All to gain , a book-report on
the occasion of the twenty years of Intersyndicales women. ---- The Intersyndicales women,
these are the days that gather each year between 300 and 400 people, trade unionists of
the CGT, the FSU and Solidaires, or from the associative or university world around issues
related to women's rights. Days both anchored in the daily struggles, which allow to
exchange on the practices on feminism in the union framework, and also parentheses
inviting to take a step back and time for reflection. It is this double objective that the
book also fulfills. ---- Comprising sixty-six contributions, in which we find some
well-known names such as Annick Coupé, Josette Trat, Daniele Kergoat, Elsa Dorlin, etc.,
they are spread on fields that seem very different, ranging from work and unionism from
women to gender-based violence to women's issues and the great feminist issues of our time.
This diversity of subjects, at the center of which is the work, illustrates the goal of
these feminist syndicalists: to start from the patriarchal dominations suffered by women
in their workplace, to show that this domination, they undergo it in their whole life, in
the sphere that one would like " private " to hide it, as in the " public " sphere
where they are not much safer. At work, at home, in the street, in the union: these are
the same women who evolve in these different spaces and who have a specific way to carry them.
Leave the workplace, because that's where we meet women, we create professional, friendly,
union, political. As class interests are revealed in everyday struggles, the experiences
and common interests of women are also revealed. Therefore, it is understandable that the
women's commissions of the unions of struggle and the feminist associations have
permanently links to create, to renew.
A must for any wrestling library
There is therefore an issue to be addressed with union women. There is also a challenge to
encourage them to fight at work. Because the fight gives confidence, self-confidence,
confidence in the collective. It is often said that after the hard strikes in highly
feminized companies, many women ask for divorce ...
The book also gives pride of place to internationalism. Nawla Darwiche and Wassila Ayachi,
comrades from Egypt and Tunisia, discuss the role of women in the Arab Spring, while the
topics of globalization and migration are widely discussed.
And it is obviously the part that analyzes the relationship between women and unionism
that particularly challenges us. If of course the big names of unionism that were retained
are male names, it is not only because their wives were to take care of the house while
they ran the Labor Grants. It is also because the history of the labor movement is no
exception to history in general: women, their existence and their actions are
systematically erased for various reasons. The five contributions of this part are
therefore indispensable to repair this injustice which prevents us from understanding a
whole section of the feminist movement.
All to gain is essential, for a feminist library of course, but also for any library of
struggle. Its format of short articles makes it accessible, and its wide field of interest
gives it an interest for each one.
Adèle (AL Montreuil)
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Livre-Toutes-a-y-gagner-enjeux-feministes-enjeux-syndicaux
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Message: 4
The first of a two part series on looking at anti-capitalism feminism in South America and
with a wealth of concepts and analysis that we can draw from in the US. Part two will
include the article in pamphlet form for download and distribution. See below for a
glossary of terms. ---- A Feminist Movement to End Capitalism: The Rise of Multisectoral
Feminism in Chile ---- I. A Feminist Fall ---- It's May of 2018 and as winter descends on
Santiago, Chile, something new is growing. Graffiti blooms on every surface and the
wheat-pasted posters accumulate on the walls like leaves on the ground. This is a familiar
site to any Santiaguino; it marks the beginning of a new cycle of struggle for one of the
major social movements. Student issues are always well-represented, but you are just as
likely to spot a slogan in support of a Mapuche political prisoner or a poster advertising
the latest day of action from the Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras
No+AFP (the coalition organized against the corrupt Chilean pension system). However, if
you step closer, you will notice that there has been a shift in theme, tone, and
frequency: feminism is on the rise, and while there may be messages of sorority in
abundance, they are sharpened by an intense anger directed squarely at those who have
wielded patriarchal power against the women of this country.
NO es NO. YO TE CREO. PRACTICA LA VENGANZA.
NO is No. I believe you. Practice revenge.
"Practica la Venganza" or "Practice Revenge!" Feminist graffiti spotted in downtown
Santiago, May 2018
When I walk to work in the morning, I run into marches or the evidence of their recent
passing. It's not unusual to hear the echoes of distant drumming bouncing down the wide
streets of Downtown. On social media, friends and acquaintances are making posts that have
transitioned from cautious inquiries to joyous declarations: "Is the downtown campus of
PUC occupied?" "Was UCEN taken over?" "Instituto Arcos on feminist strike!" Every week, I
spot a new collection of feminist banners hung from the fences of Santiago's most
prominent institutions. All the universities are falling to the feminist strike and
somehow, it only feels like the beginning.
II. The Water is Rising
When I arrived in Santiago in 2015, I was nothing short of starstruck by the Chilean
feminist movement. As a North American accustomed to the moderate, anemic social movements
of the US, I wasn't prepared to witness the sheer numbers that would mobilize for almost
any cause. I marvelled at the variety of organizations that filled the marches and snapped
photos of every spray-painted slogan. I teared-up at the sight of fathers carrying their
children on their shoulders during the demonstrations against gendered violence. I was
sure that I was witnessing a strong, unified feminist movement for the first time in my
life. It took me years to realize that I was viewing events through the lens of my
political experience in the US: what I took for a well-developed expression of feminist
power was, in reality, quite fragmented. Behind the scenes, conflicts were erupting in
every sphere of the Left. Most organizations were struggling to change their sexist
internal cultural (with differing degrees of success) while others were experimenting with
new political forms and ideas. Many female radicals were resigning from traditional
Leftist groups, often in favor of joining or starting feminist separatist projects. It was
a time of great instability, but also a time of great political potential. The frustration
and outrage felt by women, trans people, and queers were clearly intensifying, but the
tension had yet to find release in a mass, popular movement. Everyone could feel something
coming, but no one was sure which combination of events would finally crack the dam. Even
now that the tsunami has hit, feminists are still struggling to analyze the moment in
which they have found themselves. This process will doubtless be ongoing, but I believe
that several contributing factors can be identified: the surge in global feminist
visibility, the parallel ascensions of other social movements, and the pressure exerted on
all Chileans and indigenous people through the continued application of the neoliberal
policies instituted since the return of democracy.
First of all, Chileans are very aware of international political trends, especially those
arising in other Spanish speaking countries. For that reason, you will see significant
upsurges in Chilean feminist activity in response to global events. The #metoo movement in
the US and its equivalent in Spain, #yotecreo ("I believe you"), aligned neatly with
Chile's history of funas, a tactic where people congregate around the homes of public
figures in order to denounce and shame them for human rights violations or patriarchal
violence. Known originally as an escrache, this tactic was developed in the mid-1990's by
HIJOS, an Argentinian organization consisting of the children of those "disappeared"
during the dictatorship, and has since been adapted in many other countries. Funas or
escraches are tools used when people believe there is no other recourse for justice, which
is often the case with individuals who escaped criminal prosecution for the roles they
played during their respective military dictatorships. Unfortunately, this also applies to
abusers who, absent a community intervention, are often free to live their lives and
perpetuate their violent behavior without experiencing any social or legal consequences.
In the current era, funas have gone digital and young women bravely post photos of their
bruised faces on social media accompanied by explicit accounts of their abuse.
Celebrities, musicians, and politicians have come under fire, but so have former romantic
partners, friends, co-workers, and classmates. Young Chilean women are naming names and
sharing screenshots. I can't help but notice that the photos documenting intimate injuries
are now frequently interspersed with selfies of smiling young men with damning captions:
SEXIST. ABUSER. RAPIST. Another common slur is "macho de izquierda (sexist Leftist),"
which is used to call out male Leftists who exhibit the same anti-feminist behavior as
their right-wing counterparts. These funas serve not only to visibilize the daily
struggles of young women, but to create social and political consequences for those who
have done wrong. It is clear that perpetrators of gendered violence will no longer be
given quarter: not at school, not at work, and certainly not in political spaces.
"Like Che[Guevara]in the streets, but like Pinochet at home. Sound familiar?" Source:
@RevueltaVioleta
A war cry against misogynistic violence, #NiUnaMenos ("not one[woman]more") is a slogan
that originated in Argentina and resonates strongly with Chilean feminists who are all too
familiar with the prevalence of femicide. At home or abroad, it seems like every week
brings new headlines about a woman being murdered out of violent jealousy or as a
punishment for stepping beyond the traditional limitations imposed on her by society. For
example, June 25th 2018 marked the two year anniversary of the death of Nicole Saavedra, a
young lesbian from a rural, religious community who was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered
by unknown assailants. Family members and the feminist network that has taken up the cause
have stated that they feel the investigation of Nicole's death was neglected due to the
lack of importance placed on the lives of women, lesbians in particular. This is a
recurring theme for Chilean feminists, who are met with resistance from both the
government and media when they insist on the existence of femicide as a unique category
that cannot be simply understood or combatted in the same way as other homicides.
"Who killed Nicole Saavedra?" Photo: @ledezma_x
The persistent themes of domestic abuse, sexual violence, and femicide have been targeted
by organizations such as the Red Chilena Contra la Violencia Hacia las Mujeres (a network
dedicated to the eradication of violence against women and girls) and the Coordinadora
#NiUnaMenos (the ‘Not One More' Coordinator or NUM), which successfully instigated massive
mobilizations throughout 2016 and into 2017. In May of 2018, the latter called for a
"march against rape culture" in response to reports of the rape of a young woman by a gang
of football fans and the horrific rape and murder of a 2-year-old girl at the hands of her
uncle. The story of young Ambar's death lit up the media not only due to its gruesome
character, but because it served as a grim reminder that as of 2017, half of the reported
victims of sexual violence in Chile are under 14 years old. Unfortunately, the news
continues to deliver up dead women and girls and even the most terrible crimes are swiftly
forgotten by the public. For many, the fight against apathy and resignation is a struggle
in and of itself. In Chile, remembering is not only about personal reflection. Rather, it
is political process that prevents the loss of collective knowledge and preserves the
memory of martyrs. Contemporary feminists use the politicization of memory in the same way
as the older generation who lived under the dictatorship: by honoring victims of femicide
through art and political struggle.
A patchwork memorial or Arpillera to the femicides that occurred in Chile in 2017.
Arpilleras, now a symbol of resistance in Chile, used to be made by working-class women to
depict life under the dictatorship. Text and Photo: Giulia Dessi
In late 2017, the struggle against femicide and gendered violence converged with the
nascent immigrant rights movement with the death of Joane Florvil, a young Haitian woman
who was accused of abandoning her infant daughter and was subsequently arrested and held
in detention until her death 30 days later. As a recent migrant who didn't speak Spanish,
Joane was placed in a position of hyper-vulnerability, unable to explain her actions to
the police or to defend herself against their accusations. Her crime was being a black
migrant and mother in a country that is quickly learning to see her and others like her as
an invading force. Joane was neither the first nor the last migrant woman to suffer or die
from xenophobic discrimination, but the notoriety surrounding her case was so great that
the image of her tear-streaked face as she was led away in handcuffs has come to stand as
a symbol of the cruelty of the Chilean state towards the rapidly expanding migrant
population - an antagonism exacerbated by anti-black racism and misogyny. Joane is
remembered by her church, her community, and her partner, also a Haitian migrant, who gave
a heartbreaking interview last May in which he famously said, "Chile taught me misery."
This tragedy continues to motivate those struggling to defend and improve conditions for
migrants, as demonstrated by the recent founding of the Escuela Popular Joane Florvil, a
popular education initiative designed to provide free Spanish languages classes to Haitian
women. Joane's memory is also honored through the Coordinadora 30 de Septiembre (the
September 30th Coordinator), a pro-migrant and anti-racist organization named in
commemoration of the day Joane died in the hospital without knowing justice or being
reunited with her baby. With the passage of a new decree that singles out Haitians for a
more restrictive immigration process, conditions will only become more precarious for this
vulnerable group and feminism may come to be the lens through which these crises are
understood and confronted.
A mural "In honor of Joane Florvil" in the Bellavista neighborhood, Source: Civico
The themes of income disparity, reproductive labor, and precarity at home and in the
workplace have been taken up most notably by the Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores y
Trabajadoras No Más AFP (the National No More AFP Workers' Coordinator or No+AFP), the
massive coalition organized to reform and/or replace the corrupt pension system installed
during the dictatorship. While not immediately recognizable as a feminist formation, this
movement has been propelled forward by female trade unionists (among others) and hasn't
hesitated to highlight how women are uniquely disadvantaged under the current capitalist
system due to gender-based income disparity and the uncompensated nature of work in the
home (only 48.5% of women participate in the formal job market and on average earn 31.7%
less than men). This movement is a national phenomenon, but it is also grounded in
neighborhood and zonal formations where neighbors and co-workers meet to discuss and
advance the struggle. Whereas the feminist wing of the student movement presents itself as
young and transgressive (imagine: balaclavas, body-paint, and performance art), the women
of No+AFP are less ostentatious in their mobilizations. However, this doesn't mean they
are any less aggressive in demanding their rights. In fact, many of them are seasoned
militants active in neighborhood assemblies, labor unions, and political parties. The
tension emerges when the feminism of the labor movement and poblaciones (shantytowns or
working-class communities) intersects with the feminism of the student movement, which has
largely, but not exclusively, been developed in the context of the most politicized high
schools and universities. Certainly there is a vast gulf of experience between poor, rural
Chileans and those who are able to attend the best universities in the capital city of
Santiago, but it is the project of every social movement to identify the common threads
capable of binding these groups together across and through their diverse experiences.
The neoliberal policies instituted under the dictatorship and expanded on by subsequent
right-wing governments have touched the lives of all Chileans and indigenous people, and
not with a soft hand. When seen from this perspective, the movements against privatized
education, privatized social security, privatized healthcare, neoliberal labor reforms,
and state violence (particularly against indigenous people) have everything to gain from
recognizing and acting on their complementary objectives. This multisectoral approach is
exemplified by the national organization Movimiento Salud para Todas y Todos (Healthcare
for All Movement or MSpT), which unites healthcare workers, medical students, and patients
to demand healthcare as a public right. They pursue this goal through many diverse
campaigns, including support for Mapuche hunger strikers, improvement of patient
conditions, public health education workshops, and the decriminalization and expansion of
abortion rights. In the language of the Chilean Left, sectors are defined areas of
struggle, such as labor, territorial (grounded in land and community), and student.
Multisectoralism means having a cross-sectional analysis of these social movements and
developing relationships of solidarity across these sectors, resulting in multisectoral
support for specific demands.
The multisectoral movements of today reflect the experiments and advances of the past, as
evidenced by the Revolución Pingüina (the high school student uprising in 2006), which
opened the door for students to collectively interrogate the dynamics of oppression in
other spheres of their lives. This heritage is clearly visible in contemporary political
formations such as MSpT and the feminist organization La Alzada, which emerged from the
student movement and went on to focus its political energy in the labor sector, where it
offered anti-sexist trainings and supported the union struggles of both local and
immigrant domestic workers. La Alzada was one of many university-based organizations
empowered by the demand for an educación no sexista (non-sexist education), which was
formulated in the peripheries of the student movement but went on to be a major force in
shaping all struggles occurring within the educational sphere.
The student movement has proven itself to be remarkably flexible, capable of incubating
new ideas and putting them into practice at a rate that the traditional Left can only
watch with envy. One of these ideas was "sexual dissidence," a radical answer to the
neoliberal politics of inclusion and diversity. Popularized within the student movement by
such groups as Colectivo Universitario de Disidencia Sexual (Sexual Dissidence University
Collective or CUDS), sexual dissidence denotes "constant resistance to the prevailing
sexual system, to its economic hegemony and its postcolonial logic" and rejects the idea
of subversive identities (gay, lesbian, queer, trans, drag, etc.) in favor of subversive
analysis and action. The result is an inclusive, combative politics that cannot be easily
co-opted or institutionalized, no matter how many privileged individual participants are
peeled away by token reforms. Since the theorization and practice of sexual dissidence
developed in conjunction with the growth of student feminist activity, there is a
significant movement tendency (concentrated in the capital city of Santiago) that has
proved resistant to trans exclusive radical feminism or other regressive forms of feminist
thought. This positive influence is visible in popular feminist assemblies and public
demonstrations where trans and nonbinary feminists show up in far greater numbers than can
be seen in the US and even hold leadership positions in their various organizations.
Contemporary Chilean feminism is refreshingly experimental and resilient, grounded in
historical Leftist analysis, but open to integrating new theories and tactics as they
emerge on the global level. By maintaining a class struggle orientation and infusing their
analysis with lessons learned from Black and indigenous feminisms, this generation of
feminists has created an opening for themselves to advance the struggle much farther than
was previously considered possible. However, there are a number of forces that stand in
ideological opposition to feminism and seek to sabotage the movement at every opportunity.
A young Felipe Antonio Kast pictured with Jaime Guzman, one of the most significant
ideological leaders of the Pinochet regime. During his presidential campaign, Kast was
quoted in an interview as saying "I was very close to Jaime Guzmán[. . .]. Jaime Guzman
did a lot for the defense of human rights, as much in the laws he dictated as in how he
dealt with people." Source: The Clinic
III. Co-option, Fascism, and Threats From Within
The first threat comes from the Piñera administration, which is actively seeking to defuse
and institutionalize the feminist movement by rolling out reforms under the banner of
neoliberal gender equality. His proposed projects include ending the rule prohibiting
women from remarrying until 270 days after the dissolution of their first marriage,
instituting a project of "sala cuna universal" which entitles mothers with formal,
salaried employment to childcare, introducing the right to breastfeed and the right to
accompaniment for those with vulnerable pregnancies, and providing additional resources
directed to the prevention of teen pregnancy, among others. This is the carrot dangled in
front of political moderates, while the stick is represented by harsh new policies which
seek to further criminalize both migrants (especially those with either Haiti or Colombia
as countries of origin) and Mapuche (the indigenous people who inhabit central and
southern Chile as well as parts of Argentina) who are locked in conflict with the Chilean
state over issues of autonomy and land recovery.
Piñera's neoliberal strategy can be understood as the "gentler" institutional approach
when compared with the borderline fascist positions taken by contemporary far-right
politicians such as congressman and failed presidential candidate José Antonio Kast, whose
2017 campaign drew support from conservative, libertarian, nationalist, pinochetista
(supporter of the former Pinochet regime), and retired military groups, among others. He
took traditional conservative stances against abortion and gay marriage, but stirred
controversy by publicly declaring Chilean transgender actress Daniela Vega was "a man" and
stating in an interview that he wouldn't hesitate to shoot any criminal that entered his
home. Together with his "law and order" approach towards illegal immigration and crime,
these positions made him an inspirational figure to members of far-right groups organizing
on the grassroots level. While it is presently unacceptable for a politician to openly
identify as a pinochetista, it is no secret that many people in positions of governmental
power were active supporters of the military government and benefited greatly from that
participation. On the streets, however, fascists have no such reservations about making
their violent agenda known and are increasingly bold in their mobilizations. The ascent of
nationalist and ethno-suprematist movements in the US and Europe has given Chilean
fascists a feeling of increased legitimacy and the threat of organized political violence
against Black migrants and mobilized feminists is transitioning from empty posturing on
social media to real violence on the streets.
Unfortunately, the final and possibly most potent threat comes from within the movement
itself, which has been plagued by ideological splits and power struggles. After
instigating massive mobilizations throughout 2016, the Coordinadora NiUnaMenos (NUM)
effectively tore itself to pieces. The first split came as a result of the actions taken
by Pan y Rosas (Bread and Roses), one of the larger member organizations, which acted in
defense of a distant member of their partner political organization (Partido de
Trabajadores Revolucionarios or Revolutionary Workers Party) accused of sexual harassment.
After receiving considerable blowback for this stance, they attempted to use their numbers
to force NUM to throw its support behind one of their besieged members, Bárbara Brito, who
was serving as vice president of the Student Federation of the University of Chile (FECh).
This blatant power-grab resulted in their expulsion from the coalition, but tensions
remained high. Political factions had coalesced around two main tendencies: the feminists
who promoted and were members of mixed gender political organizations and the
anti-organizational feminists who rejected participation in all mixed organizations in
addition to traditional Leftist groups or parties. The latter took a hardline position,
going as far as accusing their opponents of being mere mouthpieces for the male members of
their respective organizations. The atmosphere grew toxic and political debate devolved
into bullying and personal attacks.
A second crisis rapidly emerged, stemming from a funa publicized through the NUM Facebook
page. One of the rapists outed in this process threatened legal action and, instead of
pursuing a collective response to this threat, a member of the anti-organizationalist
faction chose to turn over the names of the page administrators to the police. This
individual went on to make a deal with the rapist where NUM would publicly apologize for
the funa and retract the charges against him. Before this series of events had finished
playing out, the remaining pro-organizational feminists collectively determined that the
coalition was no longer a safe or productive vehicle for their politics and chose to make
their exit.
This rise and fall was mirrored throughout the Chilean Left, as the constant flood of
funas and unsatisfactory disciplinary or transformational justices processes fragmented
the smaller groups and caused deep rifts in the larger ones. For some, the disintegration
of NUM must have been a cruel disappointment, especially after experiencing such a vibrant
resurgence of feminist activity. However, the women who had discovered political affinity
while navigating the myriad conflicts of NUM were far from despondent. On the contrary,
the adversity they experienced forced them to hone their political analysis and articulate
fresh alternatives to the positions and practices they opposed. These lessons were
transmitted to the surviving mixed organizations and in this way, the metaphorical blood
shed in this difficult period came to fertilize the soil from which the next stage of the
movement would grow. As the dust finally began to settle at the close of 2017, some
feminists continued to turn to groups of friends or separatist spaces to do their
politics, while others began to grapple with the project of defining feminism as something
transversal, multisectoral, and far more ambitious than what had come before.
"Working Women Against the Precaritization of Life," taken during the 2018 march for
International Working Women's Day. Source: El Grano
IV. Naming the Moment
Thus we arrive in January of 2018, with a mosaic of social movements, leftist parties,
cultural collectives, neighborhood assemblies, and politicized individuals repositioning
themselves to confront the new political landscape unfolding as the Piñera administration
prepares to take power. Feminists are freshly outraged at the appointment of Isabel Plá
(an anti-abortion right-wing extremist) to lead the Ministry of the Woman and Gender
Equity and International Working Women's Day is fast approaching. It is in this context
that the Coordinadora 8 de Marzo (March 8th Coordinator or C8M) met to discuss the
coyuntura (the combination of factors and circumstances that characterize a situation in a
determined moment) of Chilean feminism.
C8M is an open coalition with a deceptively simple mission: to bring together a variety of
social organizations, labor unions, and individual feminists to plan the annual march
associated with its name. Every year, veteran participants and newcomers must coalesce
around a common analysis of the state of feminist struggle and identify a theme capable of
uniting a heterogeneous and conflictual movement. Recent years have highlighted the deadly
effects of patriarchal violence with slogans such as "all the women against all the
violence" and, of course, #NiUnaMenos. However, naming the moment in a way that speaks to
women's struggles in all their diversity is no small task.
As most modern feminists will admit, there is no universal experience of womanhood or
gender-based oppression. Each individual stands at a unique intersection of identities and
associated oppressions, a conclusion that has led some feminists to divide the movement
into ever smaller organizations in order to insulate the hyper-oppressed from the
moderately oppressed. When toxic dynamics produced by racism or transphobia divide the
movement, a separatist approach is more than justified. That said, a potent movement is,
by necessity, one that weaves together women of diverse backgrounds and experiences into a
force capable of challenging patriarchal power on a systemic level. The feminists of C8M,
many of whom were veterans of the conflicts of the #NiUnaMenos era, knew that isolationist
separatism was a dead end for their political objectives. To build the movement they all
felt was necessary, they needed to find the common thread that passed through the lives of
all working-class women and gender dissidents: something to bring people together instead
of tearing them apart. Towards this end, they adopted a transversal feminist approach.
Transversal politics is an organizational method designed to generate collective identity
in non-hierarchical coalitions across and through the diverse positionalities of their
members. In fact, these very differences are considered an asset, since it is only through
analyzing a problem from multiple perspectives can "the truth" be ascertained. This method
seeks to avoid the excessive universalism of the Left (which flattens differences, often
in an ethnocentric and exclusionary manner) as well as the excessive relativism of
contemporary identity politics (which are often essentialist and substitute individual
identity for collective identity). Furthermore, transversal politics are not at odds with
intersectionality (an analytic framework to understand the intersecting nature of systems
of oppression and exploitation). Rather, they are an application of that theory in an
inclusive coalition setting. In Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the
Politics of Empowerment, Patricia Hill Collins writes of how transversal politics show how
we can remain rooted in the unique struggles of our own group while finding commonality
with others experiencing a different facet of the same oppression. In order to build bonds
of solidarity across our differences, "Empathy, not sympathy becomes the basis of
coalition." C8M would come to define two commonalities through which to channel this
politicized empathy: the experience of individual and structural violence and the
condition of working for others. The latter was interpreted in a broad way, acknowledging
that women's labor takes many forms, both salaried and informal, and must be visibilized
in all places it occurs. This analysis opened the door for feminist struggle on all
fronts, permeating all social movements positioned against capitalist exploitation and
state oppression. It was possible, they posited, that feminism itself could become the
commonality to unite and reinvigorate the Left as a whole.
What slogan could possibly speak to this common condition of labor exploitation and
violence in all its myriad expressions? This year, C8M decided, feminists would mobilize
"Against the Precaritization of Life" in solidarity with the call for an international
women's strike. This theme spoke to the effects of 30 years of neoliberal policies
instituted in Chile after the return to democracy. While not always explicit in their
targeting of women, the result of these policies was the further immiseration of a group
already placed at a historical disadvantage. Whether a Mapuche on her ancestral territory,
a student in the classroom, a worker on the job, a mother or care-taker maintaining her
home and family, or an immigrant building a new life in a strange land, all women have
felt the sting of intimate or structural violence and the systemic stripping of their
autonomy and resources. C8M went on to identify four areas in which this slogan would
enable the recognition of our interconnected struggles: racism and territory, salaried
labor and social security, sexual and reproductive rights, and sexual dissidence. This
year's march would, by necessity, weave together the territorial organizations of the
poblaciones, the zonal formations of NO+AFP, the typical female-dominated trade unions,
the myriad student feminist organizations, immigrant organizations such as 30 de
Septiembre, and many, many more, essentially representing a complete picture of Chilean
social movements, all united through feminism.
This convergence of struggles was evident on March 8th 2018, when a never-ending stream of
feminists of all ages, races, and genders overflowed the streets. I chose to follow the
boisterous immigrant contingent and joined in the chants of "Mujeres migrantes, la lucha
está delante! (Migrant women, the struggle lies ahead!)" and "Chilena o extranjera, la
misma clase obrera! (Chilean or foreigner, the same working class!)" Although I didn't
have the words to describe it at the time, I could feel that something significant had
shifted, that forces were coming into alignment. Months later, members of C8M would
reflect that they knew discontent was rising in the universities as early as their first
meeting in January. That said, few could have anticipated the feminist wave, better
described as the feminist tsunami, that would sweep away schools and universities
throughout the country just a few short weeks later.
Bree Busk is an American anarchist living and working in Santiago, Chile. As a member of
both Black Rose Anarchist Federation (USA) and Solidaridad (Chile), she is dedicated to
building international coordination across the Americas. She currently contributes to
movements in both countries through art, writing, and providing the invisible,
reproductive labor that organizations need to survive and flourish.
If you enjoyed this article we also recommend by Bree Busk "A Conservative Threat Offers
New Opportunities for Working Class Feminism" and the critical anarchist feminist piece,
"Breaking the Waves: Challenging the Liberal Tendency within Anarchist Feminism," also
authored by Busk together with Romina Akemi.
Students feminists direct their rage at La Moneda, the presidential palace. Source: Alma
@alpezmar
Glossary of Terms
Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones (AFPs): Private financial institutions responsible
for the administration of the funds of individual pension saving accounts. This system was
installed during the Pinochet dictatorship, under the advisement of the "Chicago Boys."
Coordinadora: A coordinating organization, umbrella group, or coalition
Coyuntura: The combination of factors and circumstances that characterize a situation in a
determined moment.
Educación no sexista: A demand for an educational environment free of institutionalized
patriarchy, especially gender or sexuality-based discrimination. Since the initial
emergence of this demand in 1981, it has been picked up again and again by the student
movement, evolving and deepening throughout the process.
Funa: A tactic where people congregate around the homes of public figures in order to
denounce and shame them for human rights violations or patriarchal violence.
Macho de izquierda: A slur used against male Leftists who exhibit the identical
patriarchal behavior to their right-wing counterparts.
Militant: A disciplined member of a political party or group
Multisectoralism: A term used in?the Chilean Left. The three main sectors are labor,
territorial, and student movement. Multisectoralism means having a cross-sectoral analysis
in offering solidarity support for demands and actions in other sectors. The Mapuche
struggle is also considered another sector, but autonomous. The environment, feminism, and
colonialism are not considered separate sectors but rather transversal issues that must be
addressed in all sectors.
Población: Poblaciones are best understood as a shantytowns or poor, working-class
neighborhoods. However, poblaciones around Santiago have a deeper political significance
since they evolved as land takeovers by people who migrated from the countryside to the
city. Some poblaciones have strong political and Leftist traditions, such as La Legua,
Villa Francia, and Nueva Amanecer.
Sexual dissidence: Popularized within the student movement by such groups as Colectivo
Universitario de Disidencia Sexual (Sexual Dissidence University Collective or CUDS),
sexual dissidence denotes "constant resistance to the prevailing sexual system, to its
economic hegemony and its postcolonial logic" and rejects the idea of subversive
identities (gay, lesbian, queer, trans, drag, etc.) in favor of subversive analysis and
action.
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