Date/Time
Date(s) - Saturday 7th July
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm

This workshop is organised by the Radical Transfeminism zine and Edinburgh Action for Trans Health. It’ll be facilitated by Mijke van der Drift, with support from Nat Raha.

Many activist groups currently organising around a particular, marginalised identity are grounded in responding to the particular oppressions and experiences that we, as people of that identity, have faced. Within such groups, we work to build an multifaceted understanding of our daily experiences – especially given the lack of representations of our oppressions and duress within wider culture. While this is often urgent to our political projects, it can produce a certain homogeneity within groups (eg. most of the group are white, or able-bodied), which reproduces problems (eg. cultures of whiteness, ableism). Such homogeneity can also produce limited visions of the future, of how to envision and build a ‘good’ world.

How can we move beyond these limits? This workshop aims to provoke a discussion about collaboration and visions of the future <not> based on the direct experience of duress and oppression. The workshop will consider how social connections and collaborative struggles can be organised without further marginalising people by erasing experiences. Considering ideas of anti-purity (Maria Lugones) and how reaching out to different struggles and different understandings of the world is necessary to envision both a radically transfeminist future and to build beyond a direct ‘identification = experience => needs [homogeneity]’ group model.

In order to set up a discussion we will look at Ruth Gilmore Wilson’s Ten Theses as a way to build collective struggles. We will also spend some time discussing parts of Adrienne Maree Brown’s Emergent Strategy to link to grounded tactics of social struggle. Mindful that these works come from the USA (including the understanding that this does not mean ‘national’ or ‘homogenous’) the discussion will focus on local insights and translation of these proposals for social change.

This meeting is open to all trans, non-binary and genderqueer people.

Mijke’s Biography:
Mijke has been involved in different projects, political and/or cultural with and without a queer and trans focus. Currently they are involved with Action for Trans Health London, and various short term projects. They have a background in dance, Philosophy, are a stage technician, and did farm work. Together with Nat Raha and Chryssy Hunter they have explored Radical Transfeminism since 2014. Mijke made films together with Alex Reuter, as a way to explore questions of belonging without available descriptions.

We’ll be screening Mijke’s film ‘A way of dying…’ on Friday 6th July.

Accessibility:
The Autonomous Centre has level access throughout. The toilet is wheelchair accessible, with one additional bar for support. Doorways are all a ‘standard’ size, so may not fit larger powerchairs. The venue is not fitted with a hearing loop and we do not have access to BSL interpreters for the event. If you have any other requirements or questions please do get in touch.

Location
The Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh