Report from the network meeting on 9 November 2018 in Göttingen

The second supra-regional Care Revolution network meeting in 2018 took place in November. The venue was Göttingen, where active and interested parties from over nine regions in Germany gathered for a one-day meeting. The age range was between 1.5 years and over 60, with everything in between. The thematic focus was on the one hand the exchange and joint coordination of plans for the anniversary year 2019 and on the other hand the possible participation in the nationwide feminist or women* strike on 8 March 2019. The former was discussed by those present with the questions: 1) What is important to us for 2019? and 2) What concrete forms of action can we imagine? There was a wide-ranging discussion on this - but the overall importance of using the 5-year anniversary of the Care Revolution as a milestone to create positive, high-profile and militant momentum 'outwards' and at the same time to use the year to strengthen the network internally was emphasised. Possible areas of implementation were seen in alliance possibilities for industrial action in nursing (home) care as well as joint actions with care workers who are marked by migration, but also in the visualisation of unpaid care work. The debate on participation in the strike on Women's Struggle Day as the second focus of the network meeting was very lively in this sense and confirmed the importance of the network as a platform for many care activists, workers and recipients and their participation in such an endeavour. At the end of the substantive part, a possible finale to the anniversary in the form of an action conference or festival was discussed. Those present agreed on joint actions on important dates such as 8 March 2019 (Women's* Struggle Day), 12 May (International Care Day) and on holding an anniversary conference/festival in the autumn. Local preparations and networking for the relevant dates and activities are already underway in some cases. Interested parties and fellow campaigners are particularly welcome to join the preparatory group and contribute to the preparations for the anniversary conference/festival. During the course of the day, the participants of the network meeting also discussed and adopted a joint paper on the anniversary of the Care Revolution and agreed on content-related positions. Important and not to be forgotten, questions regarding finances, the continued existence of the non-profit status as a legal structure of the network and the new composition of the coordination group were also addressed. Finally, those present agreed to schedule the next network meeting for the weekend of 6 and 7 April 2019. A venue and a preparatory group are urgently needed for this.