Check-in group concept

This year we want to try to collectivise awareness work more. The plan is that you can meet in the mornings in so-called check-in groups. In the check-in groups, we will check in with each other and see what the individual people need at the moment and how people in the group can be supported. In the event of conflicts, boundary violations or criticism of someone’s behaviour, the people within the check-in group should take responsibility for this and offer the necessary support in the event of experienced assaults and boundary violations, but also take responsibility if people within the check-in group have noticed boundary-violating and assaultive behaviour or have brought it to the attention of the check-in group. For this, the check-in groups should address each other and get in touch with each other. 

The check-in groups should also be a place to collectively deal with awareness and discrimination, privileges and positioning. Inputs will be given that are meant to be worked through.

We ask everyone who arrives at the camp and will stay three days or longer to take a check-in group ticket. For shorter stays, you can decide for yourself how important this is to you.

If you want to be in a group with someone you already know, take 2 tickets with the same group number. We recommend that you do NOT join a check-in group with more than 2-3 people you know (as a group) so that there is no major overlap between the people you know and the awareness work that will take place in the check-in group.

There are also separate check-in groups for FLINTA*/women*, BIPoC, people affected by ableism, younger people and older people. If you would like to open a check-in group that is not listed here, please contact the awareness team.

You will find a meeting point on the ticket where you can meet from 10:15-11:00 to check in together.

Please fill out the contact form at first check-in with 2 options how we can get in touch with your check-in group (Signal, Element, e-mail, etc.). You can find the forms at the Awareness tent and hand them in there.

In the first meeting, make sure to discuss how you can contact each other. Further important points for the first check-in as well as the structure of a check-in round and information material can be found on our website (…) or by simply scanning the QR code.

If you are leaving the camp or want to leave your check-in group for other reasons, please hand your ticket back to the Awareness AG (or, if you don’t have the ticket anymore, just let us know). Then we can get an overview and assign newly arrived people to your group.

If any situation goes beyond your capacities within the check-in group or you don’t want to deal with it, there are also our awareness shifts that you can contact at any time.

If you have any feedback, criticism or suggestions, you are welcome to pass them on to us via our letterbox during the camp. Towards the end of the camp, it would be great if you could complete our survey (on the website). 

If you have any questions or uncertainties, please contact Awareness.

Round of introductions: Names, pronouns (if wanted) , How am I doing right now? and an introductory question (see talking points for getting to know each other)

First part: Emotional arrival (snail round [explanation see below])

•     What do I need to arrive well at the camp?
•     What fears do I have about camp situations?
•     What am I looking forward to and why have I come to this camp?

Second part: Organisational matters (speeak in order of raising your hand)

•     How can we respond to the needs towards the camp as a group? How can we as a group counteract the fears that weree addressed?

•     How do you deal with emotional emergencies that might arise?

•     Do you want to have a night standby service for each other? And, if so, how?

•     Feel free to exchange contact options

•     Fill in the check-in group contact form at the awareness tent and include two contact options. 

Third part: silent reflection questions (does not have to be during the Check-In)

•     Which person (outside or inside the check-in group) do I contact if I am feeling bad? Discuss this with the person so that there are no unpleasant situations caused by mismatched expectations.

•     Who do I turn to if I have violated boundaries?

•     How can I make sure I take the breaks and space I need for myself?

    Explanation of snail rounds: In a snail round, it is always the turn of the person to the left of the person who has just spoken. If the person doesn’t want to say anything, they say ‘schneck’ (snail) or ‘check’. Ideally, the snail round continues until no one wants to say anything for one round. It allows each person to have a turn and the opportunity to speak while making space for things that are only coming up during the round.

Round of introductions: Names, pronouns (if wanted), How am I doing right now? And a question for getting to know you each other (see the talking points for getting to know each other).

First part (snail round):

   – How did I feel at the camp yesterday?

   – What did I enjoy?

   – Did I experience a boundary violation or assault? Or was I boundary violating or abusive?

Second part (speech registration chain):

    – What do people in the group need?

    – How can we as a group ensure that people in the group are doing better at the camp?

    – How can we take responsibility for a person who has violated boundaries or has been abusive?

Awareness input

    – Shared round (snail round): ‘What does the input move inside you?’, ‘What thoughts are coming up’?

Chatting part if there is still time:

– What are you looking forward to at the camp today? What would you like to learn today?

– The moment I realised that I want to change the world was…

– When I do this, I am on fire…

– When I want to do something good for myself, I …

– This is weird about me and I love it…

– I usually react to stress like this… maybe the following can help me deal with it…

see concept under the first check-in round

There are two texts to choose from. The second text can be triggering for trans* and questioning people. If a person in your group does not want to read the text for this reason, then read the first text together. Otherwise, read the second text.

Text 1 (no trigger warning):

“One’s role in revolution is determined by “one’s allegiance to either the oppressed or the oppressor.” Morgan Bassichis writes, “In the shadow of structural abandonment, political alienation, family rejection, chronic illness, state violence, and medical neglect, queer friendship saves us. Queer friendship–that thing that is sometimes called mutual aid, solidarity, disability justice, care, organizing, abolition, or maybe just love.” A moral of the story, one I whispered to my new little nibling, is that while not everyone is lucky enough to grow up to be a faggot, everyone can become a faggot’s good friend.”

Taken from https://enfleshed.com/blogs/moments-for-common-nourishment/the-salvation-of-queer-friendship-in-three-parts/

Text 2 (trigger warning: explicit description of the reality of life and everyday marginalization of a trans woman):

“trans girls deserve to be cared about” is such a low bar and yet – we are maybe 1% of the population and have no goddamn money or time or connections or resources and we are STILL so fucking consistently the only people taking care of each other, doctors hold us in contempt so we help each other get medical care across state and even country lines. we can’t afford food, so we buy each other food with money we don’t have. we’re badly traumatized and desperately need therapists and can’t afford those either so we become each others’ therapists. …

vanishingly few will love us, so we give up and simply love each other

the things that ALL of my closest friends are going through make me shake and weep with helpless rage because i wish i could protect and care for all of them like my mothers and sisters have protected and cared for me; and my efforts are so fucking pitiful it makes me nauseous

i can’t even take care of myself, of course, so every time i overextend trying to care for another trans girl, i get myself hurt, and simply pass the burden of care further down the line to the people who take care of *me*. THEY can’t afford this either, and so they pass it furth

will this ever stop us from trying? of fucking course not. what choice do we have. we’re birds with broken wings and the earth swarms with our predators: to let one another touch the earth is a death sentence, so we have to give everything to each other until someone else does.

do you understand the hate we feel for this dying world that slowly eats all of those we love most, and spits their bones at us to try and snipe us from the sky? 

do you know how it feels to live not because you want to, but because you know that your death will cause five more?

every fucking trans woman in community with other trans women, is *load bearing*. every fucking loss is one we can’t afford. every fucking loss causes a CASCADE of further loss and grief

this works in reverse, too: every ounce of support that comes from *outside* becomes a lifeline of exponential power. our caregivers can rest. some of our nonrenewable resources are renewed. we can fly further. outside help gives us so much more than it costs. this isn’t a secret. we collectively throw ourselves at anyone outside our struggle for even the smallest, most performative, most token acts of allyship, because even those table scraps make such an impact that it shames us. …

it’s easy to be a bigot, that’s the whole point: you need only fail to understand or not care enough to empathize. hatred, though? true, clear-eyed, icy contempt? that’s forged. it takes time and lucidity and perspective and endless betrayals of the hope to be loved as we love.

bring a trans girl into your home. send her food. help her get hormones. help her get to work or school. go shopping with her so she’s not alone in the lingerie aisle. help her match foundation. FIGHT for her. love her love her love her love her love her love her LOVE HER

Text 1

The text is not written in simple language. If you prefer simpler language, read text 2.

Verbatim excerpt from: Rampe Reicht Podcast by simo_tier & SchwarzRund

The models of dis_ability

Content Note: Description of structural dis_ability/discrimination 

The medical model of dis_ability says that you are disadvantaged because of your “deficital” body and have to fight for help. This individualises the struggle for support/access.

Our society today is largely structured according to the medical model.

According to the social model, dis_ability is not due to a “deficit” in your body. This model says, that society is structured in such a way that you are socially forced into this role.

For example, I am currently applying to various authorities for more assistance in everyday life. I’m told at almost every appointment: “But it costs so much. You need to think about that.”

In other words, people don’t realise that the world’s ableism and inaccessibility exists at the expense of those affected. Instead, it is recognised that you as an individual are a medical problem that causes costs for society.

From a neurodivergent perspective in particular, there are nevertheless important indications of the limits of the social model of dis_ability: Even if society was structured differently and less ableist, dis_ability can be stressful and cause grief for those affected.

Text 2:

Extracts from: 

https://www.bpb.de/themen/inklusion-teilhabe/behinderungen/539319/ableismus-und-behindertenfeindlichkeit

(Content Note: Description of an ableist discriminatory situation from the perspective of an affected person) 

In the bakery. I’m standing in the queue in front of the bread counter. No – I’m sitting down. I am a wheelchair user and of small stature. When I look straight ahead, I see the waistband of the person waiting in front of me. The shop assistant obviously doesn’t see me. How could she: the counter is about one metre fifty high, her viewing angle is unfavourable. Or does she see me? It’s hard to say. Another person comes before me, although it’s actually my turn. That can happen. When she wants to take the next person standing, I draw attention to myself. I wave and shout loudly “Hello, down here!”. She looks down and says “Sorry! I thought the person next to you was your carer”. Embarrassed, she comes round the counter and takes my order. It’s a friendly exchange and the misunderstanding is quickly cleared up. As I take the bag of rolls and stow them in my bag at the back of my wheelchair, she says approvingly: “I can see you don’t need my help. You’re a complete professional – very accomplished!”.

Ableism has very different effects on the realities of life for all people.

However, it is particularly disabling for people who are categorised as “dis_abled” and who face a variety of structural and interpersonal barriers on a daily basis.

Note: In the above example, a very frequently visible image of ableism and dis_ability is taken up. Many other forms are less present in our understanding and are therefore no less important. People affected by several forms of discrimination in particular are often given too little consideration.

Today we would like to inspire you to think about who takes on care work and when, and who – for what reasons – does not, and what problems are associated with passing this work on to others.

Excerpts from:

https://communia.de/vergesellschaftung-ist-feministisch-die-sorgen-vergesellschaften-aber-wie-1

https://communia.de/gastbeitrag-vergesellschaftung-ist-feministisch-die-sorgen-vergesellschaften-aber-wie-2

They are the airbags of crises, the gap fillers when the state reduces daycare places, the hand-holders when there is no one else around. Women and queer people in particular often not only bear the in the form of mental loads, but also contribute to the continued existence of society by society by working disproportionately in caring professions and with a second working a second shift in the private household. The aim of a feminist project cannot be to further privatize and outsource care work. privatized, outsourced and placed in the hands of mostly migrant and racialized people. and racialized people. … Care work fundamentally reshaping, (re)distributing and democratizing care work is not an easy demand, mainly due to the characteristics of care work. care work. It is difficult to rationalize, reduce and automate. automated to a limited extent. Care work is “hands on”, it is personal, localized and has to be done. … Care work is often isolated and fragmented in the private sphere, instead of in companies, where it is easier to organize than at the kitchen table during the at the kitchen table during 24-hour care or between the changing table and the office desk. office desk. The socialization of social reproduction (the activities necessary to necessary for the maintenance of immediate life) is by no means a new far from being a new feminist demand. … 

From canteens and kindergartens to public baths and laundrettes, a broad repertoire of proposals can be drawn on historically. We should also remember the demands of the international Feminist Collective, in which various political groups around the world networked around a wage for domestic work (1972-1978). For some years now, the feminist perspective has also increasingly been looking at the experiences of municipalist movements in Spain or integral care systems in Argentina or Chile. … The municipalist approach stands for a new political approach aimed at (re)communalizing public infrastructures, the feminization and democratization of politics and political space. … In order to overturn the current social relations of reproduction, we need not only a change in the material conditions under which they take place, but also a new lived practice: a practice of care work that is not gendered, migrantized and racialized, but distributes care responsibilities fairly. Such practices are already being tried out in so-called commoning practices – i.e. a communal, self-managed organization of certain activities. …

Zechner describes this as an ecosystem of care in the form of child rearing and considers commons more as a process and interwoven social relationships. Commons are thus able to transcend the rigid separation of micro- and macro-political approaches and function as “social-familial-local ecosystems that try to weave spatialities and temporalities of care together responsively, supporting one another in the daily struggle to extend lives and families beyond the nuclear and individualist paradigm.” … Commoning and caring communities function alongside municipalism as an answer to the question of what feminist socialization beyond the market, state and private households can look like and how it could be achieved. … One ambivalence of caring communities, commons approaches or even municipalist initiatives is the danger of co-optation and expropriation of care resources by the capitalist state apparatus, which regulates, controls and orders reproduction. … 

The problem is that caring communities, alongside women and other marginalized groups, often fill the (care) gaps when the existing institutional forms and structures are not sufficient: The fewer people available as housewives, the more care gaps there are to fill. It is a development of capitalism that mostly migrant, racialized and precariously employed women or other marginalized people then fill in for white middle-class women or volunteers help out professional care workers. The sociologist Tine Haubner showed … that capital does not shy away from using the community as a resource. In a research project together with Silke van Dyk, she points to the emergence of community capitalism as a social formation that arose in the course of neoliberalization and economization. … Haubner observes an increasing socialization of civil society, especially in the area of care work, which utopianizes voluntary work instead of making it visible as unpaid and precarious work. Especially in the area of care work, voluntariness is a pitfall and leads to exclusions: who do I like to care for voluntarily, and who takes care of those who are left behind?

There are two texts. One on classism and poverty and one on racism. Choose for yourself.

Text 1:

#IAmAffectedByPoverty Hi, I’m Anni, 39 and I’m fed up! I live on HartzIV and it’s simply not enough! No, I can’t cut any more costs. No, I can’t do without the fuel-efficient car. No, I’m not spending money “unnecessarily”. I’m just trying to to eat a reasonably healthy and balanced diet and to keep a semblance of normality for my child. #IAmAffectedByPoverty because I am ill🤷‍♀️ And I do everything I can to counteract this. If bills tumble into the house like insurance or I have to push something off one month and pick it up the next, my financial capacity sometimes amount to less than €300. That’s reality for many people affected, whether they are working, studying, retired or whatever. We can’t do any more. We are way over the limit. #IAmAffectedByPoverty and I’m tired of being pigeonholed. Not being seen. Not being taken seriously! Something has to change.

Translated from: https://twitter.com/Finkulasa/status/1526438138918445056

Text 2:

“Left-wing movements obviously find it particularly difficult to face up to debates and their own misconduct. … Being against racism is … no guarantee that one has not been socialized in a racist way, that one has not internalized racism and therefore thinks, speaks and acts in a racist way. But how is a white person who describes themselves as anti-racist supposed to know that their self-image may deviate from the propagated catalog of values? By not only allowing themselves to be mirrored by other white people, but also by comparing their external perception with their self-perception and letting experts – and these are first and foremost those affected – tell them what the reality and credibility of their anti-racist stance is. However, this is exactly what rarely happens. In most cases, white punk people who were already fighting with Nazis in their youth are not the ones who are willing to critically listen to their record boxes for racist (or sexist, ableist, etc.) aspects or consciously weed out discriminatory slogans.”

Translated from: https://veto-mag.de/sookee-antira/

To be published