CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS

WHAT DOES FEMINIST ABOLITION LOOK LIKE IN THE BALKANS?

(Prevod ispod)

How do we radically reimagine safety in the Balkans? What do relationships of care that prevent the death of people on the move on our borders look like? Can we end violence against women without harsher prison sentences? How do we find the words to talk about the racism that ultimately leads to disproportionate numbers of Roma people behind bars? Does police violence against LGBTIQ+ people and other minorities make us any safer? In this summer school, we will explore answers to these questions from a feminist abolitionist point of view. Feminist abolition is both a theory and practice that challenges power relations and facilitates anti-racism, social recovery, transformative justice, and anti-imperialism by deconstructing oppressive structures without further reproducing violence and harm. This approach was originally developed by radical black feminist groups in America through critiques of and opposition to the industrial prison complex as a continuation of the struggle for the abolition of slavery prison and the oppression of black Americans. This approach has not yet been applied to our local context on a more systematic level and this is what we want to investigate through the summer school – how we can deal with violence, nationalism, racism, war and other related problems in our society through the application of the principles of radical feminist concerns and theoretical and practical insights of abolitionist activists.

We are socialised into the idea of being punished as a logical and common-sense response to “wrongdoings”. Feminist abolition challenges this notion and asks who receives punishment and who evades it; it enquires into the class-based, sexist, homophobic, ableist, xenophobic, etc. root causes of punishment and asks “What is the purpose of selective punishment?” It goes further to conclude that not only do carceral logics – the variety of ways the idea and practices of imprisonment have shaped our bodies, minds, and actions – not make us safer, they reproduce and proliferate violence.  

These carceral logics have shaped our post-conflict reality. The liberal demands for the criminal punishment system to remedy social issues ignored the complicity of the system with state-sanctioned violence. State-sanction violence in the Western Balkans is nothing new. For decades, football hooligans have had seemingly paradoxical close ties to both criminal organisations and the police. In the 1990s, we saw how easily the police and army were mobilised to violently expel and/or murder and otherwise erase those populations seen as a threat in the new ethno-nationalist order. We saw brutal crimes perpetrated by members of the police in the name of covering up state crimes, like the transporting of corpses of Albanians killed by Serbian forces in Kosovo in 1999. Recently, we have been seeing more cases of police violence against marginalised peoples, like the racially-motivated attack on the Roma community and homophobic torture of members of the LGBTIQ+ community in their own home in Belgrade, and the rape by police officers of a woman in Lika, Croatia. The criminal legal system is also implicated in the state-sanctioned violence by prosecuting cases of civil disobedience, such as the case of Aida Čorović who ultimately received a two-month prison sentence for throwing eggs at a mural of war criminal Ratko Mladić. The criminalization of femicide in Croatia is being hailed as a win for feminist efforts, but what good are higher sentences once a woman has already been killed? Who is being protected? Will this new legal amendment do anything to change the socio-political climate in Croatia and the region when violence against women and other marginalised groups thrives and victims of violence are routinely disbelieved? How can arms of the government created for state-sanctioned violence, protect from violence?

The Novi Sad Summer School for Feminist Abolition is a grassroots initiative focusing on the topic of abolitionism from a feminist perspective. As abolition is a process, the goal of the school is to open a dialogue about imagining and creating a society that is not based on criminal policies, prisons and the police, but on radically different principles of building relationships and establishing justice – with a special focus on the gender dimension and feminist ethics. The school is envisioned as a place of coming together and collaborative work. Participants will actively work on knowledge production during the summer school and a publication intended for further dissemination will be produced.

The school will take place in Novi Sad, Serbia, as a four-day gathering arranged thematically during the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th of June 2024. 

1st day: Introduction to the summer school and abolition and getting to know each other 

2^nd day: Feminist abolitionist challenges to prisons and police as solutions for societal problems (focusing on the context of Serbia and the region)

3^rd day: Feminist abolitionist care, through theoretical and practical elaboration

4^th day: Establishing justice with feminist and gender dimensions and finding answers to feminist issues from an abolitionist perspective

We are inviting applications from feminist activists, researchers, members of queer feminist collectives and organisations, as well as others interested in the topic, including those active in public life and interested in radically changing society.

How to Apply

If you are interested in attending the summer school, please apply here by May 20th. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to nsfeministabolition@gmail.com. 

There are no admission fees, but we kindly invite you to give a solidarity donation if you can. Please drop us an email for payment info.

We have limited funds to cover accommodation and travel expenses for those who cannot use their own or institutional funds. These will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

KAKO FEMINISTIČKA ABOLICIJA IZGLEDA NA BALKANU?

Kako možemo da radikalno promislimo bezbednost na Balkanu na nove načine? Kako izgledaju odnosi brige koji sprečavaju smrt ljudi u pokretu na našim granicama? Da li možemo da okončamo nasilje protiv žena bez oštrijih zatvorskih kazni? Na koji način možemo da smislimo reči kojima bismo mogle govoriti o rasizmu koji neizbežno dovodi do disproporcionalnog broja Roma_kinja iza rešetaka? Da li nas policijsko nasilje protiv LGBTIQ+ ljudi i drugih manjinskih grupa čini bezbednijima? Na ovoj letnjoj školi mi ćemo istraživati odgovore na ova pitanja iz feminističke abolicionističke perspektive. Feministička abolicij je u isto vreme i teorija i praksa, koja preispituje odnose moći i omogućava anti-rasizam, društveni oporavak, transformativnu pravdu i anti-imperijalizam, kroz dekonstruisanje opresivnih struktura bez da dalje reprodukuje nasilje i štetu. Ovaj pristup su originalno razvile crnačke feminističke grupe u Americi kroz kritike i protivljenje industrijskom zatvorskom kompleksu kao nastavak borbe za ukidanje ropstva i opresije nad Crnim Amerikancima. Ovaj pristup nije još uvek primenjivan na naš lokalni kontekst na jednom sistematičnijem nivou i ovo je ono što želimo da istražimo kroz ovu letnju školu – na koje načine se nosimo sa nasiljem, nacionalizmom, rasizmom, ratom i drugim povezanim problemima u našem društvu kroz primenu principa radikalnih feminističkih pitanja i teoretskih i praktičnih uvida abolicionističkih aktivista_kinja.

Mi smo socijalizovani u ideju da je kažnjavanje logičan i razuman odgovor na “zločine”. Feministička abolicija preispituje ovu ideju i traži od nas da razmislimo o tome ko biva kažnjen a ko uspeva da izbegne kaznu; ona propituje klasne, seksističke, homofobične, abilističke, ksenofobične, itd. korene kažnjavanja i postavlja pitanje “Koja je svrha selektivnog kažnjavanja?” Ona dalje zaključuje da ne samo da nas zatvorske logike – različiti načini na koje je ideja i praksa zatvora oblikovala naša tela, umove i postupke – već i reprodukuju i šire nasilje.

Ove zatvorske logike su oblikovale našu post-konfliktnu stvarnost. Liberalni zahtevi za sistemom krinimalnog kažnjavanja da bi se rešili društveni problemi su ignorisali učešće sistema u državno-odobrenom nasilju. Državno-odobreno nasilje na Zapadnom Balkanu nije ništa novo. Već decenijama fudbalksi navijači imaju naizgled paradoksalne bliske odnose i sa kriminalnim organizacijama i sa policijom. Tokom 90-ih smo videle kako lako su policija i vojska bile mobilisane da bi nasilno proterale i/ili ubile i na druge načine obrisale one populacije koje se smatraju pretnjom u novom etno-nacionalističkom poretku. Svedočile smo brutalnim zločinima sprovedenim od strane policije u ime sakrivanja ovih državnih zločina, poput prevoza leševa Albanaca koji su bili ubijeni od strane srpskih snaga na Kosovu 1999. godine. U poslednje vreme viđamo sve više slučajeva policijskog nasilja nad marginalizovanim zajednicama, poput rasno-motivisanog napada na romsku zajednicu i homofobičnog mučenja pripadnika LGBTIQ+ zajednice u njihovom sopstvenom domu u Beogradu, kao i silovanje žene od strane policajaca u Liki, u Hrvatskoj. Kriminalni zakonski sistem je takođe odgovoran a državno-odobreno nasilje kroz procesuiranje učesnika_ca akcija građanske neposlušnosti, poput slučaja Aide Ćorović, koja je na kraju dobila kaznu od dva meseca jer je mural ratnog zločinca Ratka Mladića gađala jajima. Kriminalizacija femicida u Hrvatskoj je pozdravljena kao pobeda za feminističke napore, ali čemu služe više kazne u trenutku kada je žena već ubijena? Koga štitimo na taj način? Da li će ovaj novi zakonski akt učiniti bilo šta da promeni društveno-političku klimu u Hrvatskoj i regionu dok nasilje nad ženama i drugim marginalizovanim grupama opstaje i žrtvama nasilja se redovno ne veruje? Kako delovi vlade koji su stvoreni za sprovođenje državnog nasilja mogu da nas zaštite od nasilja?

Novosadska letnja škola feminističkog abolicionizma je samoorganizovana inicijativa koja se fokusira na temu abolicionizma iz feminističke perspektive. S obzirom da je abolicionizam proces, cilj škole jeste da se pokrene dijalog o osmišljavanju i stvaranju društva koje nije zasnovano na kaznenim politikama, zatvorima i policiji, već na radikalno drugačijim principima izgradnje odnosa i uspostavljanja pravde – sa posebnim fokusom na rodnu dimenziju i feminističku etiku. Škola je zamišljena kao mesto susreta i zajedničkog rada. Učesnice_i će aktivno raditi na proizvodnji znanja tokom letnje škole i publikacija koja je namenjena daljoj distribuciji će biti napravljena.

Škola će biti održana u Novom Sadu, u Srbiji, kao četvorodnevni skup koji će biti tematski raspoređen tokom 13, 14, 15. i 16. juna 2024. godine.

1. dan: Uvod u letnju školu i abolicionizam, kao i međusobno upoznavanje

2. dan: Feministički abolicionistički izazovi zatvorima i policiji kao rešenja za društvene probleme (sa fokusom na kontekst Srbije i regiona)

3. dan: Feministička abolicionistička nega, kroz teoretsko i praktično razmatranje

4. dan: Uspostavljanje pravde sa feminističkim i rodnim dimenzijama i pronalaženje odgovora na feministička pitanja kroz abolicionističku perspektivu

Mi pozivamo feminističke aktivistkinje, istraživačice_e, članice_ove kvir feminističkih kolektiva i organizacija, kao i druge zainteresovane za tematiku da se prijave, uključujući i one koji su aktivni u javnom životu i koje zanima da radikalno menjaju društvo.

Kako da se prijavite

Ako vas interesuje da učestvujete u letnjoj školi, molimo vas prijavite se ovde do 20. maja. Ako imate dodatna pitanja, slobodno nam se javite na nsfeministabolition@gmail.com

Ne postoji nikakva cena za učešće, ali bismo želele da vas zamolimo da donirate solidarni doprinos ako ste u mogućnosti. Molimo vas da nam napišete mejl za više informacija za doniranje.

Imamo ograničena sredstva za pokrivanje smeštaja i prevoza za one koji ne mogu da koriste sopstvena ili institucionalna sredstva. Ova sredstva će se deliti na osnovu toga ko se pre za njih prijavi.