A FEMINIST HANDBOOK FOR MUNICIPALIST ORGANISATIONS

The year 2021 was a great chance to gather all the lessons learnt so far and share them with the world in a format that allowed everybody to access the project and meet some of the women involved in the FoP project.

The MOOC “Feminisation of Politics: An enquiry on the feminization of municipalist organisations, structures and practices as a necessary condition for radical democracy” was the tool we used to make it possible!

And how did we produce it? By using digital tools -open source software and safe virtual spaces, free of data tracking, are a must for us!- and making sure that we included diverse voices and experiences.

This mooc was divided into four modules: an introduction and THREE of the axes we have been working on: CARE, POWER and RESOURCES.

Each module contains an introductory video, interviews and a good list of resources and links to continue exploring the topic, ending with a brief, not-so-serious- quiz to wrap up.

We gathered the interviews in a PODCAST where different voices of municipalism shared their point of view on the various topics tackled on the MOOC.

How can we make our organisations more democratic? How can we make our work and activism more inclusive in practice? How can we, as activists, practitioners, educators, citizens, members of different movements and organisations, ensure that we implement feminist values at work and in our everyday lives? That is the first set of introductory questions.

Municipalism + Feminism = Feministisation of politics

It seems a clear combo, but it needs some context and explanation: “New” municipalism came out as a constructive, positive and progressive movement that confronted the lack of democracy and how local governments were acting against the interest of their inhabitants.

Feminist practices from different social organisations, movements and political parties brought up different ways of understanding and doing* feminism.

“Can care be a strong political tool?

– Felipe González Gil, Zemos 98 (Spain)

“This is not just a question of gender and class, but of multidimensional privilege and understanding power as something to compete for.

– Laura Roth, Minim Municipalist Observatory

“Feminist politics” involves not only the external actions but also the internal aspects of the organisations.

The way we design policies, the decision-making processes, the way we organise ourselves, we take care of each other, and how we care for ourselves.

It is still hard to explain this idea -even internally-, but FOP project has realized the existence of common problems and the need for common and shared practices.

What is the role of care in political organisations? Which tasks do we consider as care tasks? What is the relation between care and responsibilities? Does our structure recognise care as a core value?

In traditional political organisations, nobody cared about care. And yet, feminism raises the question of care in political organisations, and how care work should be made visible, evenly shared and considered a collective responsibility. Feminist agendas worldwide put care and the right to sustainable lives at the heart of the political debate. They embrace a holistic view of care that pays attention to people’s caregiving as well as values caring relationships, the need for psychological support, burn-out prevention, self-care and the promotion of well-being.

Care is political – not just a fancy concept- that we struggle to implement beyond the domains we naturally associate it with – that is, child or health care-, but also in political practices and activist collectives. Even in feminist organisations, care is often neglected or put apart.

Moreover, the municipalist experience of many political parties that have been in power, shows that institutions produce segmentation and individualisation.

The MOOC materials depict different faces of care: as an attitude (caring about), as an action (taking care of), as a practice, as something everybody needs to receive, and as interdependency.

How do we ensure to have the means to reach feminist objectives? Do our organisations map how feminist resources are distributed and redistributed? Who is deciding over these resources, and how are decision-makers made accountable? Finally, is feminism challenging the traditional ways of raising and expanding resources?

“Resources’’ sounds like an important thing and important things have long been a male thing. When thinking of resources from a capitalist perspective, what comes to our minds first is money. But feminists know that money is not enough -and too often our feminst projects have used very little financial resources, so we know what we are talking about! We have to consider a broader point of view from what “resources” mean for municipalist organizations, and feminists politics and practices. We all need and use resources that are not only financial (money) but also spatial (physical or digital infrastructures) or human resources (skills, time and expertise).
There is social and institutional capital, as well, the endless resource of trusting each other, knowing your networks or who is taking care of what.

One of the interviewees in this module is Ginelle Skerritt, featured in ‘The banker ladies’, a documentary that provides insights into the crucial role savings groups and credit associations can play in women’s lives as they provide for their families and themselves. Filmed in Toronto, the documentary introduces us to three ‘banker ladies’, Mabinty Bangura, Asha Mohamed and Ginelle Skerritt.

How can we make power more feminist through municipalism? What empowerment means for the feministisation of politics? Does our organisation analyse how leaderships are built, what are the tools to manage conflict, or how decisions are taken?

Power and the feminist understanding is something built collectively through cooperation, not a resource taken from others through competition. Feminising power implies sharing and creating capacity, incentivising collaboration, and abandoning confrontational discourses, even with opponents.

MOOC provides tools to exercise power differently, collecting different experiences from feminist activists and leaders worldwide and questioning the meaning and limits of feminist “empowerment”. As Monica Tapia, from Aúna, México – a platform that promotes new political representations with women’s leadership to achieve more remarkable results in welfare, justice and environmental protection – explains:

“It’s not just women, but women with an agenda of political transformations”, bringing their perspectives into governments, campaigns, elections and policymaking and agendas for reforms. It is not only their perspectives in terms of gender equality but also in questions like environment, economic policies, wealth fare, social protection, access to health and pensions.”

Alternative leadership styles linked with feminist practices include the ability: to listen to other people, pay attention to different voices, take into account experts, community and a diversity of groups – most importantly the most marginalised – when they make decisions. Because- as Mónica Tapia explains –
“We do need more women in politics, but I would say we need diverse women in politics”.