to give visibility to female surrealist artists, such as Nancy Cunard and Anaïs Nin, authors of a fervent literary counter-narrative permeated by the recusal of the dominant values and declined in terms of feminist and anti-fascist militancy. In addition to the public reading of their writings, some of which were translated into Italian for the first time by our group, the event included the exhibition of surrealist thematic posters and the screening of some short movies by Luis Buñuel, with simultaneous musical accompaniment. From a rebellious and eccentric subculture was thus born a seductive and dreamlike crossover of genres, in an evening that was a memorable experience of a riot of lights, sounds, colours and poetic verses.
Continuing our reflection on gender issues and in preparation for the global strike of the trans-feminist movement of NonUnaDiMeno, we developed a collaboration with the independent theatre company Ortika. This collaboration has led to the staging of a show on the topic of femicide. Femicide is an abomination that is still very prevalent in Italy and that needs to be addressed also changing narratives and discourses on violence against women. Indeed, our group will soon author a play script written collectively on the issue of gender-based violence. It is superfluous to continue enumerating the many events that have taken place in addition to those already mentioned: the history of Quaderni Urbani, although brief, already includes a rich haul of experience and achievements.
Conclusions: on sustainability and the role of militancy
A hungry belly has no ears.
(Jean de la Fontaine)
It is impossible for a call for justice to sprout in ground suffering from severe material scarcity, and in economically deprived contexts. This is the problem to which cultural activism remains exposed. Those who work through the arts or through knowledge must be aware that those who are receptive to cultural inputs are not the entire population but, on the contrary, represent a small privileged minority. Next to them, there is an endless multitude of people whose life has the appearance of a daily struggle for survival. Anyone who advocates the cause of social transformation only through culture and education is unaware that these same means can be used to achieve the opposite purpose, that is, they can be used as instruments of the reproduction of a system of inequalities. Culture can educate to the indifferent acceptance of injustice and to voluntary servitude too. This ‘culture’ hides from the more deprived groups the material conditions that could allow them to empower and emancipate themselves. This culture, like every attempt to make knowledge the prerogative of the few, entails ill-concealed authoritarian tendencies.
As I have previously argued, this is not the kind of culture that interests the political activist. The principles that inspire cultural activism are exactly opposite. It is truly worthy of us only when it is good for everyone, and knowledge becomes a form of oppression when it is not understood as collective achievement. The experience of Quaderni Urbani can represent a model of activism in which intellectual work is placed at the service of the community and where the horizontal sharing of knowledge gives rise to a commitment to social equality. However, the ultimate goal of liberation from inequality, in order to be achieved, requires that this commitment should not remain only at the intellectual level. This commitment must be translated into practices aimed at the concrete deconstruction of the system of inequality. True cultural activism must entail a two-fold emancipatory aim: cultural activism should work towards the liberation of bodies, no less than of the spirits. Only then, following Mayakovski’s invitation, can we avoid art being simply a mirror that reflects the world, and allow it to become the hammer through which the world can be forged.
References
Benjamin, W. (1935) ‘Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit’ [The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction] in Walter Benjamin Schriften, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag.
Bourdieu, P. and Passeron J. (1970) La Reproduction: Éléments pour une Théorie du Système d’Enseignement [Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture], Paris: Les Éditions de Minuit.
Gentile, A., Tassinari, F. and Zoboli, A. (2018) Indagine sul Mercato degli Alloggi in Locazione nel Comune di Bologna [Inquiry on Housing in Bologna’s Municipality], Bologna: Instituto Carlo Cattaneo. Available from: www.cattaneo.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Indagine-sul-mercato-degli-alloggi-in-locazione-Bo.pdf
Horkheimer, M. and Adorno, T.W. (1947) Dialektik der Aufklärung: Philosophische Fragmente [Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments], Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Verlag GmBH.
It’s okay to think freely: how participation changed us
Christina McMellon, Katherine Dempsie and Myada Eltiraifi
Introduction
While there is a significant literature exploring the theory and practice of young people’s participation, there is less written about young people’s experiences of taking part in participation activities. This chapter, co-written by two young people who volunteer with a project called Young Edinburgh Action (YEA) and a member of staff who used to work with YEA, provides a rich exploration of such experiences. The chapter comprises a ‘story’ written by each individual author detailing their time with the project. The stories do not have a common structure but rather reflect the aspects of the individual’s experiences that they consider to be the most important and meaningful.1 After the three stories there is a discussion section that was generated from a group discussion between the three authors about the commonalities and differences between the three stories (see also Chapter 13 in this book).
Box 3.1 Young Edinburgh Action
Young Edinburgh Action (YEA) was established in 2013 as an innovative approach to implementing the city’s participation strategy.
Action research groups are at the heart of YEA’s approach and enable a core group of young people to explore a topic and research the views of other young people in Edinburgh. Three topics for action research groups are chosen by young people each year.
A ‘Conversation for Action’ is convened at the end of each action research process and is an important interface where young people and senior decision makers invited by the young people come together to discuss the topic and develop an action plan. Young people present their learning, ideas and recommendations in order to facilitate meaningful dialogue between young people and relevant policy makers and senior officers.
More information about YEA is available from: https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/16875/CRFR%20briefing%2085.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Myada’s story
I remember not really wanting to join YEA; my mum just wanted to get me out of the house and she said, “Oh there’s this thing at the council, I’ve signed you up for it, you have to go.” I don’t remember much about the event except there was food there and I enjoyed it! I remember giving them my phone number and then very quickly I was going to up to three different meetings every week.
Everyone in the groups was from different backgrounds and everyone had a different story and I really liked that. I liked how crazy and fun it was. We’d be doing stupid stuff all the time but it was okay to be stupid. I didn’t like high school and I didn’t have a lot of friends there, so it was nice to be in an environment where people didn’t know me already and I could just be myself and people liked me for me. I could talk about things that were important to me with people my own age and no fear of getting in trouble or being judged like at school or at home.
I didn’t feel that strongly about politics when I joined YEA, but through going to the meetings I started thinking, “Actually, yeah, 16-year-olds should