There is an ongoing discussion within the Anarchist Federation (AF) about gender balance in our media since the spring, when the issue dedicated to J. Hašek was published. The truth is that the majority of the texts published in our revues are by men, and men often play a central role in the texts themselves. We have therefore decided that in the future we will try to focus on this disproportion and eliminate it as much as possible. Furthermore, young queer people have expanded our ranks, and with their arrival, debates about the language we use have intensified. We will try to reflect on this aspect as well, discuss it further and put the conclusions into practice or at least experiment with them initially. Althought we don´t foresee rapid changes, we would like to see a noticeable shift within a few years. Patriarchy and various forms of discrimination are often rooted in our habits. So let us work together to break them down and create a more equal and welcoming environment. This also applies to our publications.

One such step is the choice of the main theme of this issue of the anarchist review Existence. We dedicate it to Eastern European women anarchists. But there is another reason. The anarchist movement in Eastern Europe has specific needs, which are determined on the one hand by the highly repressive nature of the regimes in Russia and Belarus and on the other by the need to counter Putin’s aggression in Ukraine. We have long supported the prosecuted and imprisoned anarchists in Russia and Belarus, and the full-scale war has led us to take the logical step of showing solidarity with our comrades who have chosen to face the occupation with arms in hands as well with those who do so through non-combat activities. There are many women among them.

The main theme focuses on women anarchists of the past as well as those of the present. We present the fates of M. Steimer, I. Mett, M. Goldsmith, M. Nikiforova, O. Taratuta, A. Galayeva and others. Among the contemporary ones, we highlight women anarchists imprisoned in Russia and Belarus or those fighting on the Ukrainian front. We remember the women’s marches during the uprising in Belarus in 2020. Released Russian academic M. Rachmaninova comments on the relationship of anarchists to the war in Ukraine, a thematically complementary interview in the Dogma podcast by a female anarchist from Belarus. The past and present are thus intertwined in many places in the experiences of repression and emigration.

In addition, the magazine features a geopolitical analysis by P. Gelderloos and a theoretical text by R. Firth on the practice of mutual aid during natural disasters. We remember the anarcho-punker F. Venclik, who was killed 30 years ago. We use the example of J. H. Havel to show that radical history should not be about the careless handling of data. We present obituaries of those who have recently left us.

There are also reports on the activities of the local anti-authoritarian movement, such as protests against homophobia, fundraising events, support for strikes and social and anti -war protests, talks, book festivals, commemorative events and celebrations. Similarly, you can find out about AF activities, read the texts of the A3 wall newspaper for the previous six months and, of course, read lots of reviews of interesting books.

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10.4.2024 Nakladatelství AF

Gender AF/IFA Publikace