On/Offline

Embodied Resistance (October 2018)
In conversation with Tamar Shlaim from Repeater Books, Jakub Mihilewicz, Luz Diaz and Pedro Marum.

How can we figure out when to refuse and when to compromise in a society where the very structures that support us, are at once those that oppress or alienate us? When and to what extent can boycott be an effective strategy, and what other strategies of activism / awareness / protest can be employed, especially in the internet era? What about when points of contention arise within a general framework of the ‘left’ — how to navigate these differences of opinion without absolute rejection resulting in further segregation?

Nightclubs have always been political spaces, spaces of refuge for marginalised members of society, and places for building community. Particularly when we consider communities who are oppressed due to race, class, gender and sexuality, these spaces of communion are integral, but they are often endangered by the infiltration of others who do not share or consider their struggles, or by outside pressures and restrictions of space.

Each of our panelists has their own history with social activism and politics in the club scene, and today i’m interested in hearing each of their stories in depth, to understand particular contextual details, and to discover where are the common points of interest for potential solidarity and a strengthening of what we have been seeing in semi- recent years as an increasingly fractured left.

I want to also acknowledge that although we are talking about activism and protest, there will inevitably be some blindspots as we are all talking from a white perspective and we are aware of our limitations. We wanted to have a more racially diverse panel, but unfortunately due to limitations this wasn’t possible this time.


This conversation was curated by Michał Gulik and Mat Schulz as part of the Presence programme at Unsound Festival, Krakow, Poland