Author: Errata Date: Subject: [Badgirlz-list] antisemitism, sexism, racism and heterosexism
> Dracaena - Who we are and what we want >
>
> Point of departure and aims
>
> Our point of departure was the urgent wish to
> organise politically
> against antisemitsm; the shared belief that the
> question of gender
> should be central to an analysis of antisemitism;
> and the impression
> that this central question is being neglected in
> left debates. It is our
> aim, therefore, to introduce anti-heterosexist and
> feminist positions
> into debates around antisemitism, as well as making
> antisemitism an
> issue in queer and feminist circles. We would like
> to see antisemitism
> and sexism/heterosexism analyzed together and
> attacked together. In
> general, we want to connect different relations of
> power and domination,
> in terms of theoretical debates as well as in terms
> of political
> practice. Even though our political focus is on
> antisemitism and
> sexism/heterosexism, antiracism and anticlassism are
> central to our
> project. But we are not only concerned with social
> structures, we want
> to know more about the collective subjects and the
> identities that are
> constituted by these structures and which, in
> turn, produce these
> structures.
>
> Projects
>
> Networking with other groups that also approach
> antisemitism from an
> anti-heterosexist and feminist perspective; creating
> a kind of virtual
> archive of different texts in the internet;
> organizing public debates
> and meetings. We are interested in organising and
> participating in
> international debates, including debates that happen
> mainly outside
> Europe. We enter such debates speaking from our own
> perspective, which
> is bound up with the German condition and German
> historical
> continuities. At the same time, we are very
> interested in other peoples
> perspectives and their backgrounds.
>
> Issues
>
> Our point of departure is the interest in the
> interconnections between
> antisemitism, sexism, racism and heterosexism. We
> think they are closely
> interwoven with each other, as well as with other
> relations of power and
> domination. A central point in our critique is the «
> unpacking » of the
> sexual aspects of antisemitic constructions of the
> jew / the jewess, as
> well as the antisemitic images present in
> constructions of gender. One
> example for this is the symbolic overlap between
> constructions of the
> (nonjewish) homosexual and of the (heterosexual)
> jew. What is the
> relation between these ascriptions on the one hand
> and self-images on
> the other ? How are such questions discussed in
> jewish communities,
> among Jewish feminists, for example ? The question
> of the relation
> between ascriptions and self-images, especially in
> connection with
> sexuality and gender, is one we also pose regarding
> other racisms -
> particularly anti-Arab racisms - and the evolution
> of ethnic identities
> - particularly Arab and Islamic identities.
>
> What else are we interested in?
>
> The history of the different forms of antijudaism
> and antisemitism
> also in the context of capitalist social relations
> worldwide ; the
> history of jewish minorities worldwide ;
> international debates on jewish
> identity and gender, especially in Jewish feminism.
> And, in relation
> with the israeli-palestinian conflict : how does the
> militarization
> which the conflict entails affect gender relations
> in the Israeli and
> Palestinian societies? In what way are gender
> relations dealt with in
> different debates on the conflict, worldwide ?
>
> Networking and alliances
>
> We want to network with others who are working in
> the same general
> direction (or would like to do so). We want to
> organise along issues and
> aims, and not according to restrictive political
> codes or « left village
> culture ». We hope this will lead to the evolution
> of political
> alliances that are flexible and able to act.
>
