A look back at Feminist Education Week 2020
From February 29 to March 08, 2020, we organized a feminist education week for a different economy in cooperation with numerous local and national organizations and individuals. The education week culminated in a feminist day of strikes and struggles, during which many people took to the streets in loud and large numbers. In the days that followed, news about the coronavirus was overwhelming. This drastically changed social and political life.
Due to the devastatingly rapid global spread of COVID-19 and its life-threatening impact on so-called high-risk groups, the consequences of a healthcare system that has been broken by austerity measures in Germany and around the world for years are becoming acutely acute. Exacerbated by the pandemic, both precarious and poor living and income conditions, as well as the unequal distribution of all paid and unpaid care work along class, gender, and background, are becoming more visible than ever. Inequalities in access to medical care based on social and legal status are also currently being addressed more frequently in the media and society.
But these issues have long been acute: For years, nurses have been fighting for more hospital staff, family caregivers have been advocating for better care in private homes, and women have been fighting for the redistribution and appreciation of care work. Germany-wide initiatives have been advocating for adequate healthcare and livelihood security for all people, regardless of their immigration status, for several decades.
All of these themes, struggles, and demands were also reflected in the program of the Feminist Education Week. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to reflect on what happened and what we experienced during the Education Week. Not least because many of the speakers and participants are key players in the transformation toward a better healthcare system, fairer care relationships, and a socio-ecological economy—which is more urgent than ever in times of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Feminist Education Week aimed to raise awareness of care as a political issue in the Leipzig area and to connect actors from care movements. To this end, we offered numerous events over seven days at three different locations.
Care encompasses many areas – cooking, cleaning, looking after children, caring for others, being there for each other, self-care. All activities that are both paid and unpaid. The actors in this sector are accordingly broad. This was reflected in the opening of the education week on the occasion of Equal Care Day on February 29, 2020 In a well-attended World Café at Frauenkultur Leipzig, participants discussed with six guests from various care sectors (neighborhood care Buurtzorg, Medinetz Leipzig, CABL eV Leipzig, among others) what we understand by care work and the conditions under which it takes place.
"What I found quite surprising, but also incredibly important, was that it's also about being able to do care work at all. It's often the case that you don't have enough time for it, but it's work you actually want to do because it's important to you. Unpaid care work shouldn't just be organized away; it must also be made socially and economically feasible."
– Karin Luttmann, Gender Competence Center Saxony –
A diverse program followed throughout the week. The cornerstones were workshops on the global connections between care and gender inequality, as well as on precarious working conditions in the care sector. Below are a few highlights to illustrate the point.
Women in Exile and Friends
discussed the film they produced “Testimonials from the Uterus – Healthcare for Refugee Women in Berlin and Brandenburg” the lack of access to adequate medical care for asylum seekers. They thus once again highlighted the catastrophic gaps in the German healthcare system and its racist foundations.
MEDINETZ LEIPZIG
demonstrated with the help of an inspiring simulation game in her workshop “Sick and undocumented? – for fair access to the healthcare system” the unequal access to health care that exists in relation to migration and flight, gender and poverty.
"Many migrants are affected by discrimination and bureaucracy in the German system. Language barriers, a lack of interpreters, and fear of being reported and deported make it impossible to get their healthcare costs reimbursed."
– Katharina Reisser, Medinetz Leipzig –
DaMigra
In their workshop, they focused on Brazil and the local colonial continuities in the area of housework. Here, Black women continue to predominantly perform essential care work under precarious conditions. The project was developed from the experiences of local structures in Brazil and other Latin American countries. Community Feminism (communitarian feminism), which the speakers Denise Braz and Catalina Ariza presented with its potential for globally networked feminist and anti-colonial movements.
Carina Flores & Ana Katherine Moreno Carrillo
asked in the workshop “Conflicts and Solidarity in Global Feminist Movements” how it is possible to build a transnational feminist movement. While patriarchal conditions are a common denominator of feminist struggles in many places, the living conditions of activists and the specific power and oppression relations in which they live differ depending on their location and socioeconomic status. In the workshop, participants were able to work on common strategies for global feminist networking that takes these differences into account.
Versatile workshops
In many of the workshops, the question of what options we have to fight for a fairer distribution and reorganization of care work and for a better healthcare system was repeatedly raised. Furthermore, the question of whether the feminist strike on March 08th could be a new and meaningful form of action was debated. “Self-care as resistance”, a BIPoC empowerment workshop for mothers* and FLINT* of Color, speaker Phuong Nguyen points out that
"Not everyone can go on strike because, for example, they have to work for wages under racist and precarious conditions. If they take time off, they risk losing their jobs."
Other people, on the other hand, take on vital care and nursing tasks that cannot be left unattended even for a day. In short, is care work even open to strike action? Transforming care relationships also requires policies that take into account all genders as well as the demands and experiences of people from LGBTIQA communities (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, intersex, queer, asexual). What concrete steps are needed for this?
Feminist Strike Alliance Leipzig
Speaker Alex Gerber addressed these questions in her workshop and attempted to find solutions with the participants that would make an international strike on March 08th possible. An important step toward change for good care conditions is the broadest possible alliance in which alternatives can be discussed and fought for. The strike issue remains acute! One possible area of discussion here would be how collective walkouts can be organized, both at the workplace and in the home, and how solidarity structures can be created, for example, in the neighborhood.
But the education week was more than just a collection of individual workshops. It was also a place for networking for Leipzig stakeholders. For this purpose, the Market of Opportunities Eight projects from various care sectors met and discussed their work with each other and with participants. Among those present were the Feminist Strike Alliance, the ADB Anti-Discrimination Office Saxony, the LAG Queer Network Saxony, Ver.di, and Rosa Linde eV.
During the Education Week events, speakers and participants particularly highlighted: Care work is central to a good life for all and must be at the heart of our economy. Care is an area of action for global justice, because everyone everywhere needs adequate access to the healthcare system. This is more evident than ever in times of Covid-19, when people at Europe's external borders are being denied any healthcare and fundamental human rights are being suspended in many places. We therefore urgently need to revalue and redistribute care activities to all people, needs-based and comprehensively funded. Now, more than ever, it is essential to advocate for a feminist, social, and ecological economy that makes a good life possible for everyone and provides sufficient time and resources for care, health, and healthcare. This economy would be an alternative to the capitalist economy based on unlimited growth and profit maximization. Let’s fight for it!
