Ima Iduozee gave an interview for Ruskeat tytöt in 2017 where they recalled an insightful moment that affected their understanding of “integration” in Finnish society as a black Finnish person. The full interview focuses on their artistic practice and does not address integration in detail but I assume the working premise is that in a majority white culture “integration” includes a demand to comply to white gaze – without equal pressure for society to change.
Their interview presents a solution, or an angle towards the question of integration.
Military conscripts are not allowed to wear their own clothes when leaving the barracks for holidays, this is a brilliantly effective tool for the army to enforce its presence in public spaces. Iduozee recalls when they were granted leave and moved through the city in uniform. They describe it as passing in the city: the uniform afforded them public acceptance. They present this as “infiltrating” this society, and propose investigating it in opposition to integration. They propose hacking the system.
Uniforms allow us to take space, to circumvent expectations and biases. The interview presents it as a path to outsmart and topple systems, operating in them without compromising ourselves. I think this offers a novel path for organizing progressive spaces. Movements and assemblies may work against integration, yet occupy structures that afford them to pass in the public sphere. This is useful locally, in a society led by the elderly, that still wants to maintain democratic structures, expressed as a multitude of “independent” organizations such as associations.
A classical precondition of progressive movement hinges on a miraculous-amount of study, self-improvement and sustainable community organizing. (In practice I think sustainability is too often defined as something quantifiable but the focus should be on desire, which we should seek to maintain as we progress upstream) This is a utopia we work to achieve and which I believe in, by committing in sharing skills, knowledge and making thought accessible. The premise of collecting a miraculous-amount of people under an umbrella for the revolutionary phase to emerge, is a monolithic approach. I have a feeling that hacking and infiltration offers relevant momentum for organizing.
Hacking works because it does not rely on our best trades, rather it starts from the premise that systems are made vulnerable because we, as humans, are exploitable. Respecting our weaker trades as organizers, affords fluidity and dexterity. In practice, as an organizer in progressive spaces, I can only hope that people share a trajectory, and even accept that they do not articulate their goals in a manner I feel comfortable with. I don’t want to police people’s desires. Hacking leans on trust and enforces trust in others. People do not need to engage from a shared premise to be effective in their revolt against ruling class interests.
As an example, all European independence struggles have been started by conspiring to topple ruling groups. To foster change, it makes sense to maintain tolerance for people who are building movements by enforcing binary models (us vs. them). I choose to trust that people will, through inclusive organizing, favor democratic models because the desire to be together is stronger than a desire for control.
This way organizing emerges as something close to community pedagogic’, where the focus is in facilitating people’s engagements and mutual aid, so that we don’t hurt each other. It respects people’s autonomy and embraces weaknesses. The process is led by a desire to ensure that respect for basic human rights is maintained, rather than testing or vetting the rigor of people’s ambitions or militancy. A common understanding of what people want, will emerge as we proceed in toppling the structures that oppress us.
I know scientific Marxism identifies this as opportunism, which is proven to lead to betrayal and… I’m conflicted. But right now, for me it feels that the local terrain permits shrewdness. The sustainability deficit of our local boomer-generation-erected-institutions is heading towards a full collapse. The responsibilities which a multitude of specialized institutions have maintained are being redistributed, or re-concentrated and positions of power are up for grabs. Social services, and some health services like gambling addictions are now handled as volunteer efforts, and safeguarded positions (like volunteer vote-counters in elections) are crying for community involvement for their upkeep.
There are real openings which progressive groups can choose occupy, with small risks and minimal effort. The moment for this occupy movement is now and won’t wait for proper class consciousness to emerge. While we wait, we risk losing access to the public sphere and the popular support of local democracy initiatives.