Care Revolution event series in Thuringia

Why care is in crisis, why we are increasingly failing to meet our care obligations and what we can do about it were questions that the Care Revolution Group Thuringia addressed during a three-day series of events in Erfurt in May 2016, while also drawing attention to the current care crisis. The event kicked off on 20 May on the Radio F.R.E.I. stage with a well-attended lecture by social scientist and care activist Jette Hausotter. She gave an introduction to the topic of care, explained terms and contexts and then presented the nationwide Care Revolution Alliance with a video clip. The interested audience asked many questions, especially about terms such as care or reproduction, and wanted to know exactly what tasks the alliance would like to take on. Following the presentation, the Thuringian Care Revolution group introduced itself and invited all those present to become part of the group. From 9 pm, the evening became danceable when first the Weimar rapper Nifty MC and then Bernadette La Hengst, "the queen of the discourse beat" (Zeit online), took to the stage. Naturally, Bernadette also played the anthem "I do care", written especially for the Care Revolution alliance. Afterwards, DJs Snazzy Grrrlz and Geschwister feat. Dr Love 2000 offered hip hop, R'n'B and pop. The following day, we met at the station forecourt in Erfurt, from where we set off on our Care Revolution city tour. Led by our mascot - the Care-Kali, who does all sorts of things with eight arms and has the effort written all over her face - we visited places where invisible reproductive work is done and made this the subject of our speeches: Mouse and Elephant on the Anger heard how the double burden in the media industry means that women with children are left out at management level and in "hard" topics such as politics. A report on the conditions in home care for the elderly by relatives near a care home on Wenigemarkt attracted a lot of attention. This was followed on Benediktsplatz by a contribution in which parents reported in interviews on how they try to juggle family and work and how much time they have left for themselves at the end of the day. In Michaelisstraße, in front of the Collegium Maius, there were reports on the difficulties women at universities face in pursuing an academic career and bringing up children (alone). In front of the All Saints' Church, the focus was then on the working conditions in paid care provided by church organisations and at the fish market, it became clear which systematic gaps in camp accommodation mean that the care needs of refugees receive particularly little attention. The event ended with a die-in, based on the actions of the "Care on the ground" group, in which the participants fell down one by one to symbolically show that care is currently on the ground in many different areas. The group met on 28 May to reflect on the kick-off and the city tour. We also welcomed new members to the group and discussed possible political approaches to a care revolution and planned the group's next steps. Anyone interested is welcome to join us at any time, because care concerns us all! Parts of the text were taken from a report by Infoladen Sabotnik.Concert with Bernadette La Hengstand Nifty MCCare-revolutionary city tour in ErfurtCare on the ground at the fish market