Intersectionality in food systems
ASEED recognises the need to embed an intersectional approach in the way we organise and act as a social movement aiming for food autonomy, climate justice, and overall systemic justice. This text serves to clarify the relevance and value of intersectionality as a concept and in practice for our organisation. Here, we also detail a clear set of commitments to the way we organise and collaborate.
ASEED acknowledges that the majority of its organisation, the (Dutch) climate justice movement and the alternative food movement (1) of which it is part are overwhelmingly represented by people with white, middle-class, academic, cisgender (cisgender: when a person’s sex and gender identity align), and Western identities. It is crucial for us to be aware of these multiple power positions that define the content and format of our work, as they can lead to systematic silencing of other demographics.
Agroecological and organic food is no longer widely accessible to most peoples, especially those facing multiple, intersecting forms of systemic oppression. The movements in this Western European context that seek justice and liberation for all peoples from the corporate food regime and climate change injustices are not accessible, represented or decided by all peoples (2).
ASEED acknowledges that the very concepts and practices we work towards (agricultural justice, climate justice, food autonomy, etc.) are not concepts and visions originally created by white/Western climate movements, as it often seems. The agricultural practices we envision in food autonomy have been commonplace long before these relatively recent movements within indigenous and peasant cultivation practices all over the world.
Yet often those whose forebears that were long involved with these practices and others that experience structural oppression are excluded from attempts to create holistic solutions. By not holding ourselves accountable for taking up space where it is not ours to take, we are holding on to and legitimising power structures which continuously configure whiteness (and other privileges) as the norm. Interlocking systems of power and oppression are likely to be reproduced even by those who are well-meaning in creating alternative food systems. This must change, and an intersectional approach to organising provides possibilities to reduce power inequalities, exclusion, and marginalisation within and across progressive movements.
Without intersectionality at the heart of the movement, we cannot obtain system change. Hierarchies of oppression are the pillars of the capitalist, colonial, and patriarchal system that has put us in a state of humanitarian, environmental, and climate crisis. As in the words of Audre Lourde (1984):
“The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.”
Intersectionality explained
Intersectionality is a framework to understand how persons, or groups of people, are disadvantaged or advantaged by multiple sources of prejudice, power, and discrimination due to their uniquely overlapping structured identities and experiences, such as race, class, gender, age, sexuality, disabilities, migration status, geopolitical location, etc. When approaching privilege and oppression, one should not only look at individual categories (such as race or class), but always take the layers of intersections into account. For example, a white woman will face oppression in the form of sexism and misogyny but still retain the power of being white, whereas a black woman will face both racism and gender-based oppression. To these can be added distinctions of class and/or different forms of ableism or ageism. Therefore, we cannot look at oppression and privilege from only a gender or a race perspective but should always take any given intersections into account. We give thanks, respect, and recognition for our increased awareness to black anti-racist, feminist, and queer theorists and activists for the origin of intersectionality (4). We think that activists, advocates, lawyers, artists, scholars, cultural workers, farmers, and everyone else involved in the climate justice movement can (and should!) use intersectionality to understand and work alongside each other (5).
ASEED’s commitment to intersectionality
ASEED commits to embed intersectionality in our work by putting it into practice and applying it as an organising principle. We have translated this intention into a set of action-oriented commitments:
1. ASEED commits to constantly checking our privileges and to become aware of how these create blind spots in our work. Since we work within a system of oppression our work will be influenced by this, and we will commit to dismantle and make evident our biases and internalised oppressive behaviour.
2. ASEED commits to recognising and raising awareness of multiple, systemic barriers to opportunities and multiple forms of prejudice and privilege. Within this we commit to learning about and engaging with intersectional oppressions/privileges in which multiple forms of oppression/privilege overlap and create complex, unique and reinforcing barriers/gains to opportunities.
3. ASEED commits to centring the voices of those most affected by agricultural, climate, and food injustices. We will step aside and be supportive of these marginalised voices and contribute to removing the oppressive struggles they are facing.
4. ASEED commits to participating in and learning from and with different, intersecting struggles, beyond our own work for food autonomy and climate justice. This includes solidarity work and trainings in anti-racist, feminist, anti-fascist and working-class struggles, as well as building relationships with and between these struggles.
5. ASEED commits to crediting and recognizing the originators of ideas and practices which are used in our social movement work. Many of the ideas and visions the climate justice movement are striving for are based on those of the working class, black and anti-racist movements of the 18th through 20th centuries.
References:
1. Bobby J. Smith, Food justice, intersectional agriculture, and the triple food movement, 2019
2. Bobby J. Smith, Food justice, intersectional agriculture, and the triple food movement, 2019
3. https://www.opportunityagenda.org/explore/resources-publications/ten-tips-putting-intersectionality-practice
4. The Spark, INTERSECTIONALITY/DECOLONIALITY: Information for Facilitators, 2016
5. https://www.opportunityagenda.org/explore/resources-publications/ten-tips-putting-intersectionality-practice
6. https://www.guidetoallyship.com/
Safer space agreement
This is an agreement on behavioural attitudes to abide by as a collective. It also guides our interactions at events hosted by ASEED:
• Racism, ageism, homophobia, sexism, transphobia, ableism, or prejudice based on ethnicity, nationality, class, gender, gender presentation, language ability, asylum status, or religious affiliation, etc. is unacceptable and will be challenged.
• Respect each other’s physical and emotional boundaries, always get explicit verbal consent before touching someone or crossing boundaries.
• Be aware of the space you take up and the positions and privileges you bring, for instance racial, class or gender privilege.
• Avoid assuming the opinions and identifications of others.
• Recognise that we try not to judge, put each other down, or compete.
• Be aware of the language you use in discussions and how you relate to others. Try to speak slowly and clearly and use uncomplicated language.
• The group endeavours as much as is feasible to ensure that meeting spaces are as accessible as possible to the widest range of people.
• Foster a spirit of mutual respect: Listen to the wisdom everyone brings to the group.
• Give each person the time and space to speak. In large groups, or for groups using facilitation: Raise your hand to speak.
Respect the person: challenge their behaviour.
If someone breaks these agreements, a discussion or mediation process can happen, depending on the wishes of the person who was affected. If a serious violation happens to the extent that someone feels unsafe, the violator can be asked to leave the space, speak with a person, and/or participate in a process nominated by those present.
While ground agreements are a collective responsibility, everyone is also personally responsible for their own behaviour.
This safer spaces policy is adopted from the Climate Justice Action Network.
A longer and more detailed version of our Safe Space Policy created for events we organized such as the Food Autonomy Festival can be found here.