For Sorge – Strengthening queer-feminist movements

Report on an education and networking weekend organised by Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie

The following report was provided to us by Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie. Konzeptwerk is a partner organisation within the Care Revolution network. We would like to thank the Careworking group for organising the weekend! The original article can be foundhere.

What happens when social infrastructure is cut back? Who steps in to fill the gaps? What do feminist and trade union activists need, particularly in Saxony, and where are the structures currently lacking?

We explored these questions during our queer-feminist educational weekend in Torgau. Together, through workshops, a film screening and a panel discussion, we examined different forms of care work. We looked at both paid and unpaid care work, labour struggles and trade union organising, migration and precariousness, bodies and emotions – and at the question of how we can build caring relationships and strong feminist alliances (in Saxony).

For our vision is fundamental: care should be placed at the heart of society and reorganised.

Feminism on the Move: United against cuts and the shift to the right

Care work is systematically devalued by society and is often carried out under precarious conditions. At the same time, social and public infrastructure – such as care, healthcare and counselling services – is increasingly being cut back, organisations are coming under pressure, and staff are being expected to do more and more. We are seeing a political trend in which the state is increasingly shirking its responsibilities. As a result, many projects in Saxony that have been working for years to promote inclusion and empowerment are also losing their financial foundation: for example, funding has been withdrawn from the long-standing Queer Refugees Network run by the Rosa Linde association in Leipzig. The new draft budget in Dresden also contains massive cuts. A wide variety of projects and sectors are affected, including children’s and youth work.

We discussed the impact of funding cuts on queer, feminist and migrant projects and networks in Saxony during our panel discussion with Delal Atmaca, managing director and co-founder of Damigra e.V., Konstanze Morgenroth, equal opportunities officer for the district of Saxony, Tanchik Kulbakina from RosaLinde Leipzig, Elisabeth Koch, an active member of the Alliance Against Cuts, and Claudia Kurzweg from Torgau. They also debated strategies for tackling the current challenges and shared what gives them the strength to continue fighting for a society based on solidarity.

Different perspectives – shared struggles

The workshop‘Migration, Precarity & Care Work’ with Vân focused, amongst other things, on the situation of Vietnamese contract workers in the GDR. It became clear just how closely working conditions, physical subjugation and care structures were interlinked. At the same time, it became clear that the workers were by no means merely passive victims of their migration history, but instead created spaces and opportunities for action. A key form of resistance was the networking that took place in the halls of residence. These became places of encounter, exchange and community.

During the workshop ‘New Perspectives on Gender Equality Work’ with Fatma and Karin fromthe Gender Competence Centre, the question of feminist infrastructure in Saxony was raised. We used mapping to highlight queer-feminist actors, thereby also identifying gaps. It became clear that feminist initiatives must become less reliant on state funding and structures, without losing sight of the importance of public accountability. Trade unions can be important allies in this regard. There is also a need for stronger networking between full-time and voluntary staff in gender equality work, as well as the use of existing umbrella organisations and shared structures.

Independent radio was also seen as a political space. The workshop ‘Your Voice Counts’, led by Sinah from Radio Blau, focused on how independent radio stations can create spaces for democracy and social diversity. For marginalised groups, such spaces can provide opportunities to bring their own issues into the public sphere and to determine for themselves how these issues are discussed.

The documentary film “48 Gün (48 Days)” took us to meet the migrant women who were on strike from their jobs at Charité Facility Management (CFM) in Berlin. The film and the subsequent discussion with the producer, Betül Yılmaz, vividly demonstrated how trade union organising in the care sector can become a means of achieving greater dignity, recognition and better pay.

Under the title ‘Cutting day-care centres to the bone’, Laura – a nursery teacher, staff representative and ver.di activist – spoke about her day-to-day work and trade union struggles. It became clear just how crucial industrial action is in the care sector: those who fight for better working conditions, higher wages and more staff are not just fighting for the workers themselves. It is always also about the quality of care and, consequently, the question of what importance we, as a society, attach to care work.

Under the title ‘Cutting care centres to the bone’, Laura – a nursery teacher, staff representative and ver.di activist – spoke about her day-to-day work and trade union struggles. It became clear just how crucial industrial action is in the care sector: those who fight for better working conditions, higher wages and more staff are not just fighting for the employees themselves. It is always also about the quality of care and, therefore, about the importance we as a society attach to care work.

Paid and unpaid care work continues to be distributed unequally both globally and within society. At the same time, there are numerous forms of resistance, struggles and visions for a fairer economy and communities based on solidarity – as Kleo demonstrated in the workshop ‘Visions of Care Work Based on Solidarity’. We learnt how individuals and collectives are already fighting today for more solidarity-based forms of care work, what approaches they are taking and what care utopias they are envisaging. During a collective journey of imagination, we devised our own solidarity-based utopias.

In the workshop ‘ Hey Sib, how are we doing?’ with Senja and Shiva, we embarked together on a somatic exploration of care in relationships. Using our whole bodies, we perceived and expressed emotions such as anger, fear, grief, love and gratitude. We learnt about the intertwining of care with structures of power and discrimination: different ways in which society affects us manifest themselves in everyday life, in our bodies and in our relationships. Friendships can be spaces where we share these experiences, process them and bear them together. Particularly at a time when neoliberal logics of utility, performance and growth are increasingly shaping all areas of life, and when AI is giving rise to new notions of efficiency and optimisation – we need spaces where we can feel ourselves and simply be. Friendship can thus be a political practice of care and resilience.

In another workshop, we focused on workplace and community organising. Tashy from the Centre for Transformative Organising made it clear to us that this isn’t about grand, abstract strategies, but about the many small steps that make up organising. And the question: “Which people do we need to mobilise to bring about change?” A key insight: organising has a lot to do with emotions. If we only talk about political demands in abstract terms, we can create a sense of distance. Through shared experiences and emotions, on the other hand, we can connect with one another.

Eva from Haus des Wandels offered a further perspective. Her workshop focused on security issues facing left-wing projects in rural areas and on the question of how political activists can remain effective there. A key approach, similar to that taken in the organising workshop, was to focus on key individuals: who has influence locally? Who is trusted, and who can raise awareness of positions and help drive political debates?

Our educational weekend brought together different perspectives on care work, labour disputes and alliances. It became clear just how diverse care work is, and how similar the experiences of devaluation, overwork and a lack of funding are across very different sectors.

At the same time, we experienced many moments of solidarity and resistance over the weekend. We discussed strategies to combat cuts and the shift to the right, and talked about how feminist networking can become stronger and more sustainable. Alongside these discussions, we bonded through cooking and eating together, going for walks and doing craft activities. We strengthened our bonds and forged alliances so that we can remain active as feminists in the long term and stand together for a society in which care work is not exploited but supported in a spirit of solidarity.