May 25th – October 26th 2023, 6.30 – 8.30 pm
at xart splitta (Hasenheide 73, 10967 Berlin)
This literature circle will take place in English spoken language.
In recent years, there has been growing awareness about how forms of work reinforce and partly substitute hierarchies of power, systems and legacies of oppression. In capitalism, the categorisation and definition of what labour is and whether or how it is acknowledged or compensated render many forms of labour invisible or unaccounted for.
From care work, which is often undervalued, underpaid and invisibilised in various contexts, to sex work, which is stigmatised and criminalised, to the ongoing legacies of colonialism and the rebranding of (free) labour, to the struggles and emerging solidarity of people living within capitalism, to counterstrategies of survival under the oppressive systems, the definition and understanding of what labour is influenced many facets of our lived realities.
The reading circle aims to understand and discuss different aspects of labour, labour resistance and labour organisation, by exploring various forms and their contextualisation intersectionally. We will approach the literature from the perspective of our lived experiences. Therefore, by linking our understanding of the literature, our personal experiences and (political) practices with theory, we aim to create a space where we can exchange, enrich and understand theory not only as ‘academically produced and usable’. With room for discussion and exchange, we want to foster a space of imagination informed by history, thought of in the present and envisioning a future (practice).
Information on registration and participation
The reading circle will take place every last Thursday between 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm (25 May – 28 Nov 2023) and consists of seven meetings with following topics:
25. May: Care Work
29. June: Labour and Rest
27. July: Stigmatisation and Criminialisation
31. August: Racial Capitalism
28. September: Borders and Illegalisation
26. October: Community, Solidarity and How to Organize
30. November: A Future Without Through a Present Within
This sessions will take place in our facilities at Hasenheide 73, 10967 Berlin. We will open our room an hour before the start of the reading circle and are inviting participants warmly to read the literature there or acclimate to the space at the point of arrival.
The reading circle is held in English spoken language and literature will be made available in English. Reading the literature fully is not a prerequisite for participation. However, we encourage you to share your suggestions and wishes regarding the suggested literature.
The literature will be made available to you after confirmation of registration. It will be in English written/spoken language and abstracts of a non-fiction mixture of academic publishings, articles and poems. Reading the literature fully before a session is not a prerequisite for participation.
The reading and discussion group is explicitly aimed at people who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color.
The offer deliberately takes place outside of an academic setting and is explicitly also aimed at people who do not position themselves as parts of academic circles and/or theories. The basis for the meetings is mutual recognition of different forms of knowledge and one’s own experiences.
Please send registrations by Friday, April 28th 2023 to: contact@xartsplitta.net
It would be great if you could write something about the following points in your registration:
- Why you have decided to participate in the literature circle?
- What your expectations and hopes are concerning the literature circle and it’s topics?
This event takes place within the framework of the LADS funded project #CommunitiesSolidarischDenken.