At the beginning of the 20th century, feminism and anarchism had a close relationship, to the point of generating a third political and intellectual current, anarcho-feminism – or anarcha-feminism. A century later, this relationship is both stronger and weaker. Stronger because contemporary feminism movements undoubtedly have a libertarian component, in their themes and practices. Weaker because this relationship is rarely made explicit and, both by anarchists and feminists, not fully explored. In feminism, there is a lack of analysis of the historical and theoretical intersections with the anarchist movement, while in anarchism there is a lack of reflection on the inclusion of feminist practices and critiques. Yet, a greater intersection between anarchist and feminist movements is today more urgent than ever. Ecofeminism shows that the climate crisis and the resulting ecological catastrophe are not only attributable to the State and Capital, but also a product of patriarchy, whose desire to dominate the world begins with gender oppression and continues with the natural environment. LGBTQ+ movements and queer theory point the finger at the forms of individual, relational and social oppression based on gender and sexual identity that still persist in our “egalitarian” societies. A century ago, during the rise of totalitarian regimes, personalities such as Emma Goldman, Voltairine De Clayre, He Zhen, Lucía Sánchez Saornil, Noe Ito showed the importance of establishing alliances between anarchism and feminism. Today, we are once again in the eye of the storm of far-right hate politics, aimed on the one hand at reinforcing authoritarian and hierarchical visions of gender identities and relations, and on the other at distracting from the disastrous consequences of the crisis of neoliberalism. It is time to resume the debate, making manifest the intersections that already exist, and committing to create new ones. What does it mean to talk about anarcha-feminism in the 2020s? What practices and theorizations from historical anarchism can be found in contemporary feminist movements? What feminist themes can broaden the horizon of analysis and action of anarchism? What barriers exist, and have existed, to the creation of a closer alliance –intellectual and political– between anarchism and feminism? What kind of places and occasions can today facilitate this dialogue?
Presentations #
Elia Arfini #
Gender Binarism as a tool of domination: transfeminist perspectives
Transfeminism, in its intersectional articulation, brings to light the interweaving of gender, economic exploitation, and colonial oppression, recognizing that gender binarism constitutes a primary form of organization of domination. Transfeminism looks at how the violence of binarism is combined with other forms of normalization and suggests critical practices that move beyond the mere demand for inclusion.
The contribution I intend to present seeks to interrogate queer transfeminism without assuming it either as a completed theory or as a consolidated political subjectivity. I consider it rather as a contingent composition of practices and critical tools in which queer studies, trans movements, and intersectional feminisms are interwoven.
In order to open a collective confrontation around a mode of thought that, while not explicitly appealing to anarchism, shares its anti-hierarchical stance, its attention to non-normative forms of life, and its orientation toward the radical transformation of social relations, the intervention will devote particular attention to the theme of gender abolitionism.
The perspective of gender abolitionism presents itself, first and foremost, as a promise of liberation: if gender is an apparatus of classification and subordination, its abolition deactivates the logic that distributes and organizes power and desire; it dissolves the obligation of “coherence” between body, norms, and social expectations; it allows subjectivities and relations to emerge beyond binarism, loosening the normative grip that binds any existence to gender dichotomy and opening up innovative spaces of expression.
Gender, however, operates not only as an apparatus of inequality but also as an instrument of expression and mobilization. It justifies hierarchies, yet it also enables trans people to name themselves and feminisms to organize. Is it possible to treat gender categories as tactical and temporary instruments, without allowing them to re-solidify? And in what ways might rights and services be reconfigured on the basis of bodily, reproductive, and economic needs rather than fixed identities?
The paradoxical character of abolitionism may function not as a limit but as an analytical lever, through which to interrogate both the possibilities and the aporias of a transfeminism oriented toward the transformation of gender hierarchies and of the material conditions that sustain them.
Erica Lagalisse #
In Defense of the Beautiful Idea
In Anarcoccultismo, Lagalisse illustrates the actual relationship between revolutionism, pantheistic occult philosophy, and the clandestine fraternity from the Renaissance to the 19th century: Studying anarchism as a historical object allows for an anti-colonial analysis of anarchist secularism as mystified theology.
This intersectional feminist history also shows how the development of Leftist theory and practice within clandestine masculine “public” spheres has historically informed 21st century anarchist understandings of the ‘political’, in which men’s oppression by the state becomes the prototype for power in general. Readers behold how gender and religion become “privatized” in radical counter-culture, this historical process being in dialectic with the “privitization” of gender and religion by the modern nation-state.
At BOAB, Lagalisse now introduces for the first time Discipline: The Epistolary Ethnography of June Thunderstorm. This subsequent work synthesizes previous historical analysis with ethnography of anarchist knowledge production in the 21st century. Using the development and promotion of Anarcoccultismo as an ethnographic case, as well as Lagalisse’s (occult) writing as June Thunderstorm, we see that editors and reviewers of anarchist writing limit quality by gatekeeping knowledge in gendered ways.
Note that a related non-mixed workshop, “On Feminist Witnessing, Fascism and ‘Cancel Culture’” follows on September 10 at Centro di Documentazione delle Donne.
Gruppo Anarchico Germinal #
There can be no anarchism without feminism
We believe that the theoretical and practical contributions of transfeminist and queer movements in recent decades are essential for all movements committed to the radical transformation of the existing social order. We believe that these perspectives and reflections — without uncritical adherence, but also without rejection — must become an integral part of our shared foundation. We are convinced of this because we believe that any anarchism that fails to address gender issues is an incomplete anarchism. We think it’s important to reaffirm that these reflections and practices must be shared and expanded, because they are not just “women’s issues” or the domain of certain “specialized” groups. We believe anarchism can rise to the challenges posed by these new movements. With its radical critique of the material structures of society that sustain patriarchy, anarchism can be a “home” for these perspectives — a space free from authoritarian and hierarchical organization. This means weaving relationships and exchanges, and developing areas of struggle and resistance. But more fundamentally, it means remembering that patriarchy pervades every aspect of the reality we live in, and therefore concerns all of us. As a result, there can be no true revolution without the overthrow of patriarchal relations. There can be no anarchism without feminism.