[A-Tage] Mutual Aid, Trauma, and Resiliency: Text Discussion

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Mutual Aid, Trauma, and Resiliency: Text Discussion

Together we want to have an exchange about the text „Mutual Aid, Trauma, and Resiliency“ by The Jane Addams Collective. This event will take place in the context of the A-Tage Leipzig.

Impressions from the text:

„It is equally our duty to care as it is to fight; one cannot exist without the other, often, they are intimately intertwined. for us, we who live lives of antagonism against authority, it is expected that we will find ourselves tied up in the consequences of violence inflicted on us by colonizers and fascists (…). For us, the brutality of those consequences is very visible in short bursts, around which we most often strategize, but is more insidiously inflicted over the long haul on our collective emotional wellbeing. This particular arena is very familiar to us: it takes the shape of disenchantment, hopelessness, burnout, isolation. This is the particular arena in which strategies are sparse and the work of care is inequitably distributed. The purpose of this text is to act as a resource for those who see the value in engaging in the work of collective care, for those who want to expand their knowledge and practices of responding collectively to trauma.“

„Whether the rebel employs pacifist or more active resistance tools, she can expect to encounter trauma either directly or indirectly. Creating traumatic experiences is a favorite and indispensable weapon of any power structure, and the more unjust the power structure the greater its reliance on trauma for social control. In fact, without trauma there would be little to stop power structures from being dismantled by rebels. Trauma is both a relatively cheap and effective tool for maintaining tyrannical systems, whether they are familial or national. It is not the trauma per se that is effective (often times it is not)—it is the corollaries (fear, shame and debilitating post-trauma injuries) of trauma that make it the go-to of tyrants everywhere, from the halls of governments to our dinner tables.”

In addition to a critical exchange about the text, we want to ask ourselves questions, such as:

– How can we counter the traumas weaponized by the various oppressive forces that divide and diminish us, thereby building our long-term capacity for rebellion against them? Which tools, skills, practices do we currently use and/or want to develop?

– How can we cultivate a practice of emotional knowledge and preparedness, how can we counter isolation and distance, which can exacerbate the effects of trauma, within our friendships, affinity groups, communities, movements?

– What if we included emotional and psychological preparedness in action planning the same way we do physical and tactical preparedness? How can we better care for ourselves and each other?

– What do we think about the group and individual questions the authors propose in order to increase emotional and psychological preparedness and to help facilitate a shared understanding of community care? Do we have experiences with similar approaches already? If not, what hinders us to engeage in these conversations?

You can find the text here: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/the-jane-addams-collective-mutual-aid-trauma-and-resiliency

Please read the text already before the event, bring your questions, (critical) thoughts and vegan snacks :)