Does Intersectionality Spread Us Too Thin? | Anark Stream Clips

[mm-rjvo]

Intersectionality doesn't work us thin, it makes our focuses more robust and adaptive to the circumstances that they specifically apply to

[allanjmcpherson]

Not only is an intersectional approach morally correct, it's also good strategy. For example, I've heard some other leftists argue that the fight for queer rights is either a distraction or should wait until after we've achieved economic revolution. That really doesn't make me inclined to stand in solidarity with them. If we don't stand in solidarity with others, why would they stand in solidarity with us?

(Note: I don't think this is what the original question was asking. It's just something I've heard that someone might interpret that question as asking.)

[satyasyasatyasya]

Anyone who suggests that we can't or shouldn't walk and chew at the same time vis a vis class stuff and "social issue" stuff, is suspect and shouldn't for a second be taken seriously or listened to further. *Solidarity for everyone. Solidarity always.*

[volcryndarkstar]

That "you might hope so" carries the weight of exhaustion of a man who has talked at length with numerous oppressed people who love their chains. I feel you on this, big dog. Been there.

[LectionARICCLARK]

Oppression is a seamless garment. If you're unraveling your corner and I am unraveling mine, we are working on the same smothering cloth from different points.

[lotsodhliwayo]

In other words, anarchists need to appeal to LGBTQ+, POC, women, and disabled people.

By ingraining intersectionality into our activities, we provide more ground for fighting oppression.

[umbraemilitos]

The most oppressed have the best information about their sections of the problems.

[Dongobog-pstz]

Intersectionality is an analogue thing. If you take intersectionality too far then you paradoxically revert back to hyper individualism. Apply as much intersectionality as is necessary to find allies and organise around issues.

[confused_lefty]

When I said we need to prioritize certain major hierarchies in a region, I didn't mean that we should ignore others. All oppressed people of the region should be given safe space in our orgs but we should spend our resources and energy on worst affecting hierarchies of that given region. Because in reality you can't possibly fight against all hierarchies at once. For example, people don't organize against caste system in the US(outside Indian diaspora) because it mostly doesn't exist in the US. I'm not excluding organizing against patriarchy, hetero-normativity etc. If those hierarchies are affecting people in that given region, then do organize against it. Also we need to federate our org with other orgs which are fighting against specific hierarchies which we don't actively fight against so that we can cover our blind spots as much as possible. I hope this clarifies my opinion on this.

[Nyiawa]

Exactly, lots of communists and even anarchists insist on minimize others struggles while that struggles are literally vital for survival, so no, lgbt, women, vegan and race struggles are not inferior, even if that means more work, being vegan and not harm women and natives and afro and lgbt is mostly easy.

[joelewis]

we really gotta chop shop....

For me, its recognizing the throughline and not letting my throughline ending up being the center....


there's a throughline with Black Americans and Gaza but I cannot let my voice be the CENTER of that struggle. It can be present, but the tonic and especially not the third of the chord.

I think the 2020 protest were a good example of those pitfalls and why we ought to be careful

[mm-rjvo]

It's like saying that post humanist ethical frameworks "water down" humanism by including other entities, when it isn't a "watering down" but an expansion of nuance, a specification, allowing for specialization of responses to complicated problems.

Yes, there are the most effective hierarchies that hurt people more than others, but it doesn't matter what kind of hierarchy it is, it's fucking wrong, period.

Intersectional understandings of hierarchy allow us to apply a universal ethic!

Anarchism is in every human interaction, between every facet of human life. Intersectionality improves anarchism in its ability to meet the varied needs of varied peoples.

[BardovBacchus]

I try not to tell other people what to do, what to prioritize. I can not say what the will do, so I do not feel qualified to give instructions. Whatever you can't walk away from for very long, do that. We can't do it all, so we need pick an area. We need specialists, in my not so very humble opinion. Take a break when you need to, but do what you can, when you can, where you can, for as long as you can. I focus on food and shelter, and I'm glad there are others with different priorities. A multiplicity of stratagems and tactics will be needed against a pervasive and entrenched foe. Unless someone is actively causing harm or blocking your goals, don't put much energy into nit picking what other people are doing, says I. I want to apply our ideas IRL, build alternative power structures, not pass a course and get a degree in how to be a proper leftist

[Diskaria]

Important advise on building anarchist fronts, build a popular front to popularize anarchist ideals to justify it.

[oleschulten]

I’d like to add on to this that, according to my limited understanding of intersectionality, *fighting one hierarchical structure inevitably latches onto another*. Surely, someone who is disempowered due to gender related discrimination, racism, ableism or any other kind of social power structure, is by nature of being oppressed also unable to join us in the cause of winning the class struggle and overthrowing the bourgeoisie. By showing solidarity in any way possible, not only are you giving these intersectionally oppressed people more space to broadly emancipate, but you are also recruiting them as an ally

[thekingoffailure]

This is exactly the issue that our encampment in winnipeg is facing at the moment. A bunch of university educated lefties wanting to “score woke points” and have an opinion on 100 social issues instead of actually focussing on a few tightly woven issues (palestine genocide, indigenous genocide, divestment and democratization of universities)
We could have five strong opinions that we are pushing daily, or 100 weak performative opinions with zero teeth to back them up.

Instead we focussed and incredible amount of energy on feeding houseless community members and setting up logistics and straining ourselves to deal with interacting with them all night, all hours of the day. We ended up attracting threats and people breaking in to steal and damage our supplies.

All while the street outreach experts were rolling their eyes at how unexperienced we were (as if we werent doing out absolute best)

I want to solve it all. But 50 people who also have jobs/school simply cannot. Now everyone is burnt out and emotional and it feels like we failed. Because again, we cant actually solve all social problems in practice. Only in theory does it sound good to begin by liberating the most oppressed and work our way up to everything

[Sixthhokage]

Betteridge's law of headlines strikes again. No. Absolutely not.

[kx]

It could if you think everyone needs to know every problem with maximum depth at all times or something. But you should start where you stand

[Rt_Pck]

Economic reductionism disregards or regards other systems of oppression as inferior to class struggle. Where certain Marxists have a very narrow lens through which they see systems of oppression and blueprints for liberation, anarchists generally have a much broader understanding of the interconnectedness of the systems of oppression. For certain people intersectionality lacks focus whereas others would contest that it unifies various overlapping struggles broadening the movement and understanding of radicalism. For many Marxists feminism, anti-colonial solidarity struggles, anti-racism movements, ecological movements, animal rights movements, housing and public services movements etc. are ('life style') distractions from class struggles and economic analysis. These movements however are complementary. Those who are generally concerned with the concentration of power will revert to divide-and-conquer techniques to maintain their grip on the movement while alienating many others. That is the consequence of reductionism.

[valuelight]

Anark, love your channel. You’re one of the few who actually talk about organization and provide solutions. Quick question, what’s needed for us to end capitalism? Like, no lie, I’m fucking done with it. I hate how it’s turned “living” into this repetitive monotonous thing. And we don’t realize it, but the labor we pour into these corporations is “forced”. We’re victims of forced labor, and I’m so drained because of it. This whole thing, born out of the Protestant work ethic, has influenced billions of people to place work itself as the top priority, judging those based off whether or not their productivity is high. We fucking shun people if they either fail to participate in the hamster-wheel hustle culture or choose not to. I’m so done with it. I live in a metropolitan area, and the people, especially the WASPs, are very, very fucking cold. Everyday it’s “workout, eat, go to work, have a lunch break, chat with friends about something meaningless, go back to work, go home, watch Netflix, and repeat cycle”. It’s a system that really, and I mean really makes people nasty. I see it in their eyes man, it’s this refusal to tolerate people, unless it directly benefits them. The system influences us to see other humans as nuisances and distractions, and it mainly does so because it wants us to devote ourselves solely to whatever corporation we’re tethered to. It’s not natural, and I’m neither built for the big city nor am I built for capitalism. I overhear people’s conversations. We love to call those who don’t “work hard enough” losers. We pick our dating partners based off whether or not they possess the signifiers that show they’re productive. It’s always conversation after conversation about business deals, etc. No heart. No heart whatsoever. This shit is unnatural, and it turns people into these ruthless automatons who care about nothing but working hard and accumulating wealth. We divert our gaze whenever a stranger looks at us. We either laugh at the homeless or lower our heads when we walk past them. We cling onto our small group of friends because talking to people outside our immediate group is “time consuming” and takes one’s attention off the “flow of things”. In reality, we’ve been trained to distance ourselves from nature and to look down on spontaneity and adventure. We’ve become neutered and rigid. There will be a few who will look around, naively wanting the rest of the world to share in their joy, but it’s not their fault. It’s not the fault of the people who want to break out of the cycle, the people who are genuinely interested in people, the people who just want to have fun and abandon these lame, archaic constructs that have dominated our lives for so long. I want to embrace people, but the people around me, especially in this city where it’s literally built to make you lonely and want to further isolate and atomize yourself, are too fucking scared. I see it in their faces man. One thing that’s frustrating about us humans is our incredible ability to adapt. It’s not that what we’re seeing is a manifestation of human nature but that this is the result of us having to adapt to our current circumstances. And it’s just so fucking frustrating. Instead of lending a shoulder for someone to rest on or giving just a smidge of compassion, we instead blurt out these stupid fucking neoliberal, self-help platitudes uncritically. IT’S LIKE WE DON’T EVEN LISTEN TO EACH OTHER! I want this to end. I hate it. Capitalism will just continue swallowing up, reselling and repackaging more revolutionary ideologies and turning promising, outspoken rebels into sellouts. Do we need to form militias? Death is something that I’m beginning to fear less as time passes. I mean, we’re slowly killing ourselves anyway since we’re living under capitalism and doing nothing about it. Why do I gotta justify my existence by working in the first place? Who do we have to target and hurt? I’m dead serious. I want this to end.