AWOL doesn’t apologise.

Automous Anarchist Womens Liberation: an attempt at a founding document.

1 Foundation

  • The AWOL perspective is anarchist and feminist.
  • The AWOL perspective is relevant to a class perspective. We are opposed to all hierarchy, and our comrades should join us in this actively, joyfully, as equals in struggle. We do not wish to be relegated to minority status, or elevated as ’specially disadvataged’ heroes. We think our struggle is vital and relevent to all struggles against oppression (of capital, racism, homophbia, poverty, knowlege, privilege, &tc). Our struggle is broader than ourselves but it must be expressed through our means within our own situations.
  • We think that we are deserving of recognition and equality from others also immersed in struggle and yet this is not often forthcoming.
  • The purpose of AWOL is to emplower women (and others disempowered) in a patriarchal society and to ultimately transform this society until it is no longer oppressive of any class of person or individual.
  • Our purpose is not merely to promote the interests of one class of women within a society that is fundamentally flawed. It is not to express ourselves within the rigid character roles that patriarchal capitalism allows to dissenting women (jaded lesbian, suicide doll, downtrodden community worker, neurotic housewife), but to break free of these roles and express ourselves freely without fear or guilt.
  • AWOL has purpose, it has direction, and is not afraid to organise and structure to achieve our purposes.
  • AWOL sometimes desires equality and recognition from our male anarchist comrades. We desire peaceful co-existence and we offer peace in exchange. Too often women come under attack from male anarchist comrades who:
    • refuse to look at their own role in promoting patriarchy
    • bully us because, on a deep level, they do not like assertive women
    • believe in a feminist conspiracy
    • see gender oppression as none of their concern
    • do not see that the actual oppression of us as women by our comrades is a political issue, and refuse to stand by us when it is revealed to them
    • belong to an informal boys club
    • take credit, speak for us, and decide for us (when these actions are against their politics)
    • deny their emotions and expect us to deny our own. They accuse us us of being hysterical when we’re upset, passionate, or speak from personal experience
    • treat us as sexual objects
    • treat us violently or roughly
    • ascribe ‘feminine’ traits to us - they assume we don’t like computers and machines, but that we won’t mind doing their washing up and cleaning the communal space
    • deny there is a gender-based and economically motivated oppression of women as women

2 Direction

The basic direction is easy
1. Smash capitalism and patriarchy 2. Build the new society 3. Enjoy life of equality and freedom

Utlimately, we want to live in peace, in individual and collective freedom with others. How do we get there?

  • attack and expose this rotten society for what it is
  • organise and build the bases of unity among others who agree with our ultimate aims - build solidarity
  • organise in a way which is consicous, effective, but also explores and demonstrates the kinds of new society we would like to build
  • experiement with organising, forms and structures
  • change ourselves; create a safe space for us to become open to personal change and happiness (so we’re not always fighting internally, or simply being critical of others). Happiness isn’t the hippy denial of conflict, denial of life. Neither is it avoiding work.
  • create spaces without hierarchy, abuse and oppression
  • talking / education forums
  • create structure without privilege (or burden).
  • create open and accountable, recallable, rotating hierarchy where hierarchy can’t be avoided (e.g. delegation, discussion facilitator &tc)
  • ?becoming a presence on the activist scene (is this useful - doubtful)
  • writing, thinking, theorising - using our brains in our own ways for our own purposes
  • engaging in political actions that are feminist or anti-capitalist, but on our own terms and with our own autonomous politics / image / presence / reasons
  • refuse to let our struggle become a ritualised repetition
  • deal with issues such as hierarchy, lack of interest, ossification, cadreisation. Don’t fear or worship them. Deny their importance in our struggle.
  • create our own actions (egging anti-abortion protestors, doing zines, making writings, making speeches, educating ourselves, learning skills)
  • freeing ourselves from the larger strokes of a ‘movement’ that barely represents us (the union movement, the socialist movement, the anarchist movement, the anti-capitalist movement - all barely represent women)
  • engaging the broader movement (where we are already involved) on a fem/anarch political basis. If we don’t make AWOL’s arguments, then the arguments won’t get made. Its up to us.

3 Methodology

Discussions

  • facilitate
  • make a safe space
  • equal, fair, enjoyable, educational
  • process. Have process, refine process.

Publications

  • group writing or individual writing - credit the authors where its due
  • allow debate to be generated by differences of opinion, differences of interest, of skills, &tc
  • allow and support open differences. deny the party line
  • publications of the collective should have in principle support of the collective

Speaking for the collective

  • individuals speak for themsleves as collective members
  • individuals are free to say anything reasonable. If they’re a fuckhead all the time, we’ll ask them to stop speaking and listen for a while.

Actions

  • build a presence (do we want a presence? what good is it?)
  • build solidarity, and be open to solidarity without losing our autonomy of action, right of refusal, and independence of motives
  • always critique actions we engage in

4. Meetings, mechanics of function and democracy

this part is just musings on group functions. It all needs to be decided in practice

Funding and membership

  • sell stuff
  • what do we need money for? why would you buy stuff from us? are we just gonna sell stuff for the fuck of it?
  • membership fees?
  • will the same people get stuck paying for exegent expenses?

Membership

  • does AWOL have membership? what’s the point of it?
  • criteria for membership? femalness (transgender women must live as women - not just be boys in skirts; we’re over boys in skirts)
  • openness is subject to abuse; closedness closes us to others

Contacting others, decisions, meetings

  • direct democracy: those affected decide
  • strive for consensus, but sometimes a vote is sufficient. consensus for political positions; vote for mechanical things.
  • are we bound to do what has been decided? if so, its got to be voluntary bonds
  • what about the rights of a political minority. shouldn’t seek to totalise, create uniform unity at any cost, but foster debate

Meetings

  • facilitator, agenda, submit long/complex items in advance
  • try to do justice to all topics

Collectivity / Individuality

  • we are individuals working in a collective. We aren’t faceless or insignificant. We don’t surrender our identity to the group - we are the group.
  • ownership, equal rights of ownership
  • help everyone to become themselves through the group - collective support of individual autonomy