DAMN* READER 

Topic: Community & Accountability

IDEA

This reader is an accompaniment for the upcoming DAMN* open discussion meetups dedicated to topics surrounding political community organizing. Each topic has its own reader.

For a very long time there has been an urgency to dive deeper into issues and carefully dissect what these huge terms such as community, representation, activism, solidarity actually mean in theory as well as in action. Beyond algorithms, fast-paced information consumption, call outs, likes & shares. All in regards to - what we will bluntly call - the political Asian movement in Germany. This is collective groundwork that can be revisited over and over again.

The aim is to create spaces to theorize, reflect and discuss recurring conflicts within Asian diasporic organizing/groups/initiatives and take time to discuss and learn about international liberation movements, anti-Blackness, imperialism, abolition and how these relate to, and influence current agendas of Asian organizing in Germany.

The first reader is a collection of texts on the topic of accountability in organising spaces. What does accountability mean in community and political organising?

We must acknowledge that we all move and live in the systems and structures of the world, which means that we cannot extract ourselves from it. We cannot extract ourselves from the harm we receive, nor from the complicity of oppressing others. Be it structurally, or personally.

This is not only about leadership, but also the community itself; how must each person hold themselves accountable especially when relating with each other?



Thao Ho & Litchi Ly Friedrich, may 2021



[PDF]