Intersectionality - the advanced version

Dear all,

            I am sorry that I could not participate in the MFC meet, an opportunity to interact with likeminded people from a range of backgrounds and to learn from these interactions, to build solidarity.  This post-meet discussion about an aspect of social oppression/exploitation (intersectionality ) is quite interesting.

            In this welcome discussion on the complexity of caste/gender/class oppression and exploitation, I would like to point out that there is one more dimension of this complexity and that is – the historical specificities and the contradictions of the oppression/exploitation.  The complexity of caste/gender/class oppression was also there 300 years back and in the history before it, throughout  feudalism; it continues today albeit in a different form. There is both commonality and break in the situation, say 400 years and now. Both need to be taken into account and the reasons for both.  Secondly the social system has not been a static system. It has contradictory tendencies because of which things don’t remain the same; things move forward. These contradictions need to be grasped because these  show the way forward. We want to understand the complexity of caste/gender/class oppression not for it’s own sake but to move forward, to throw away the yoke of this centuries old system of complexity of caste/gender/class oppression.  

            What are these contradictions, for example, in today's patriarchy? Capitalism has on the one hand has accentuated women’s exploitation and oppression -  There is more intense exploitation of their labour leading to longer, more arduous working schedule in degrading jobs. Their bodies have  increasingly become targets of the market through advertisements, porn-industry, generalized prostitution and in health care, objects of unnecessary medical interventions. In India this is truer for women in lower castes, especially dalit castes. But at the same time in contrast to feudalism women have got educated, have acquired proficiency in all kinds of modern jobs, roles, and have tested equality with men. The mystery surrounding menstruation, reproductive functions and their disorders etc has been left behind and contraception has expanded women’s choices regarding begetting children. All these have led to the call for women’s liberation. This was not possible in feudalism. Capitalism and the women’s movement in it have made women’s liberation a realistic possibility. Similarly feudal caste system has been transformed into capitalist caste system because of which now it is possible to transcend it only as part of  transcending the whole of the oppressive/exploitative system. Such transformation was not possible 400 years back.  All this is elementary. But when we discuss the intolerable and very complex reality of life of caste/gender/class oppression today, I think this needs to be kept in mind because it gives us hope that howsoever powerful and pervasive the oppressive system may be, it has it’s own contradictions which show us the way towards transcending the existing system.  Thus while going through the finer aspects of’ inter-sectionality  of caste/gender/class oppression at the level of individual experiences, we need to take care that we also need to discuss what makes it possible for the majority of the oppressed, exploited people to come together and seek overall transformation.   

      The liberal democratic ideology told us that patriarchy, casteism would wither away with modernization, progress, enlightment, democratization etc. In a way the traditional Marxism also argued that this change will happen due to thoroughgoing   “democratic ” revolution and certainly with Soviet type of Socialist Revolution or Chinese type “New Democratic Revolution '' in which the yoke of these old fashioned feudal vestiges will be thrown away. But apart from other lessons, the 21^st century experience of these and other attempts have told us that patriarchal, racists, casteist relations have not only been at the cultural-social level, but they have been deeply entrenched in the socio-economic structure; have been part of the capitalist development, socio-economic structure. Thus mere cultural revolution is not enough to overcome these oppressive/exploitative relations but caste/gender/race relations must be overcome in all walks of life along with class relations through a thoroughgoing revolution. It is not possible that first capitalism will be overturned and then casteism, patriarchy, racism because of all of the oppressive/exploitative relations are interwoven together.

            Apologies for this longish mail.

Anant   

            Dear all,

            When it is said that MFC should do this or do that it may please be kept in mind that there is no organizational framework in MFC beyond the executive committee and the editorial committee. There is no MFC position on most issues because that would imply a lot of discussions to arrive at a consensus position within a reasonable time frame. Taking any position on paper has no value unless there is some organizational mechanism and some commitment by members to do any follow up. Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, which was formed in the year 2000 is meant to be a network for action on health issues and MFC is one of the National Organizations which is part of this mega network. Unfortunately even JSA has not been very active even during covid-19 epidemic.

            When views are expressed about what MFC should do, the positive thing is that different individuals are interested in MFC as an organisation being more active. However at the same time one should think of what national level collective action MFC has done during the last 50 years beyond organising annual meets and running the bulletin and what happened when attempts were made go beyond this. This could be done only half a dozen times and it was --- MFC members from different parts of India came together at a certain place and did some collective action. Nothing beyond this was done as a national level effort. At every such time it was realized that it was very difficult for MFC members to go beyond this in collective action. Voluntary energy and time and coordination was not possible very often at the national level often and doing things on a sustained basis has not been possible for MFC because of a variety of reasons. One important factor has been - a lot of diversity in the ideological perspective of leading individuals in MFC. Collective action on an agreed minimum program can be done despite wide ranging perspectives. But to achieve this with a lot of discussion and debate about everything involves far more time and energy than individual MFC members were ready to spare for MFC.

            This point about MFC being a thought current was articulated consistently, I think by Ravi Narayan, who had tried a lot to foster a number of things. There was a broad consensus around this formulation and this was not out of any dogma but through a simple realisation of reality of MFC. As I communicated in earlier mail, different Cells were formed to have a focussed discussion and action on specific aspects. I had mentioned the Primary Health Care cell, the Rational Drug policy cell, the Women and Health cell, as examples. These Cells did not function for a long time.

            In my view, younger MFC members can come together to reactivate these Cells or form any other Cell for focussed discussion and action on any health issue. The only care to be taken would be to broadly follow the overall MFC ethos of dialogue, discussion, debate.
           Importance and role of MFC has been as a unique National forum for health activists which has provided a platform for the last 50 years (with zero institutional funding) for discussions on many relevant health issues and in this discussions offers space for grass root experiences from different parts of India, for dialogue and debate amongst different pro-people activists which are informed by different theoretical analyses but whose democratic and humanist concerns overwhelm everything else and need for mutual solidarity is not lost sight of. There have also been fights, sharp and sometimes sharp, even bitter debates and some personal clashes leading to mutual distancing. Sometimes the discussion does not seem to take things forward or gets stuck up with distractions etc etc. However on the whole the discussions and the meetings are enriching and moreover, many health activist remain in touch with each other through MFC; they exchange ideas and experience and many times work together for some time on some specific issues without the banner of MFC but they are together because of the MFC"s humanist ethos.

            The most important feature of MFC meetings is the informality and the conscious effort to keep presentations to the minimum and to keep half the time reserved for open ended discussion on the topic. I do not know of any other non funded voluntary forum in India which has been doing this consistently over such a long period.
            Overall MFC has played a very limited but nevertheless an important role in the People's health Movement in India. People like me in the older generation would be very happy to see younger leadership taking this forward by making MFC more active on the discussion front as well as on the front of collective action. To begin with, collective effort may be put in to restart the online bulletin which was published this month after a gap of 3 years!

TY

SY

Anant