As a place of promotion of critical social positions, in 2019, Club MaMa hosted FEMATIK, a feminist-marxist reading group that has been active for more than three years at the initiative of Andreja Gregorina with the aim of expanding the education in the field of left-wing feminism.
FEMATIK members are students, theorists, journalists, social workers, long-term activists, whose initiative for self-education stems from understanding the fact that political action through NGOs and parties often prevents critical thinking and action. And this is not just a consequence of individual fault, but of project-imposed program guidelines and systemically produced precarious working conditions. Although mostly amateurs in political theory and historical studies of the women’s and workers’ movements, members of the group were prompted by their formative activist experience to politicize themselves in a different way. Through theory!
Awareness of the importance of politicization of previously acquired knowledge, but also that which was not available to us through institutional and non-institutional education, led us to critical readings of works by individual authors belonging to the history of Marxist thought and the labor movement, such as Friedrich Engels, Rosa Luxemburg, Alexandre Kollontai, et al., Dealing with specific topics, such as the October Revolution, exploring perspectives important to the liberation of women and queer people beyond the struggles of liberal and radical feminism. The initiative is also dedicated to the study of concepts and methodology used by Marxist-oriented feminisms, and the use of literature that facilitates the adoption of basic concepts derived from such theoretical positions (such as the works of Marxist theorist Michael Heinrich).
Based on readings and discussions, members reflect on current social phenomena – increasing violence against women, strengthening conservative movements and parties, increasing transphobia on the left, attacking reproductive rights, etc. – beyond the established discourses of mainstream feminism and gender theory. Despite the support and participation of members in political actions arising from such positions, the view is that they are both possible and necessary to criticize.
Fematik is now going public with its work. You are all welcome to socialize and participate in the discussion about texts that will be available for reading in advance. Join us in affirming the radical left socialist, Marxist and queer feminist positions within feminist debates, but also within the progressive left.
