Awareness means establishing and maintaining a considerate, responsible and solidary way of dealing with each other. The aim is to create spaces that strengthen the self-determination of different communities - in a spirit of partnership and solidarity. With awareness work, we learn together to respect the boundaries of all and to counter discrimination and violence. And we learn how to support people who (have to) go through discriminatory experiences.
The term awareness means consciousness and attentiveness. For us, awareness means dealing with each other in an appreciative and respectful way and minimising discriminatory, violent conditions. It is about taking responsibility for each other and for oneself. The aim is to create a safe atmosphere in which everyone can basically feel comfortable and personal boundaries are respected. In the context of events, this can only succeed if organisers and visitors develop an attitude and practice that counteracts discrimination and (sexualised) violence. The aim of awareness is to promote consensus-based action and to dismantle structures of exclusion and inequality.
In addition, the approaches and practices of the Transformative Justice and Community Accountability movements from the USA have influenced awareness work in Germany. Women* and LGBTIQ* of colour developed their own community-based solutions against discrimination and violence. Due to racist structures in the police and the state, BIPoC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) could not rely on these institutions. A confrontation with violence and safety should be established within the communities. Awareness was and is often understood in Germany as an anti-sexist practice. However, it has been shown that different forms of discrimination and their intersections must be included.
Our society is strongly characterised by power dynamics, so that devaluation based on (ascribed) characteristics is not uncommon for many. It can be clearly recognisable that discrimination happens because of (perceived) group membership. It can also be unconscious or hidden and not recognised as discrimination.
Discrimination has many different faces. Attacks take the form of verbal, physical and psychological violence, such as nasty remarks, insults, harassment and threats. Sometimes it is hardly noticeable to outsiders. It can be irritating looks or a vague feeling that certain groups of people have been excluded or have only limited access to a place or certain resources.
Different forms of discrimination are described in the glossary.
There are different levels at which discrimination happens. These are interrelated and influence each other. Discrimination takes place on the individual level, for example between guests and bar people, artists and the organising crew or two visitors. The social/cultural level can be seen in the diversity of a speaker list or a line-up. Why are BIPoC and/or non-cis male DJs less common? The structural/institutional level describes discrimination that is manifested in rules or laws, for example when an emergency room is basically obliged to report people without papers to the foreigners authority.
The consequences of discrimination can be felt directly. Affected persons react to situations in very different ways, both internally and externally. Often a feeling of powerlessness and helplessness remains. People may feel excluded or isolated. There may be anger, aggression, sadness, disappointment or cynicism. Physical or verbal altercations may occur. Existing trauma may be triggered. If the situation and involved emotions are not addressed, new traumas can arise. Awareness tries to create education and understanding for different realities of life, to balance power imbalances, to protect those affected and to prevent (re-)traumatisation.
In 1989, the US lawyer and activist Kimberlé Crenshaw described the specific experiences of oppression of Black women in the USA. In her view, identifying and combating sexist and racist discrimination is impossible as long as we use a one-dimensional lens and look at each form of discrimination separately.She coined the term intersectionality to describe the interactions and intersections of forms of discrimination. She illustrated this with the image of a crossroads where there is a hustle and bustle from many different streets. Accidents regularly occur at this intersection where cars come from a single direction or from different directions.We can only effectively prevent the accidents (discrimination) if we have a good overview of which roads (forms of discrimination) lead onto the intersection. Wrong analysis can have fatal consequences. It is important to check whether preventive measures against a form of discrimination create new exclusions.When there are several accident participants from different roads, the accident often cannot be reconstructed at first glance. It may be that there is a situation with changing roles of the discriminating/violent person and the person affected. It may be that a person tells about his or her experiences of discrimination and expresses himself or herself in a dismissive, racist or homophobic way. On the other hand, a person who discriminates/perpetrates violence may at the same time be a victim elsewhere.
The individual violations depend on where the person is on the intersection. A situation in the hidden object picture shows how sexist and racist ways of thinking can intertwine. Let's say the person is a Woman of Colour. The question about the opinion of the woman's parents and brothers implies that because of her appearance it can be concluded that firstly, she comes from a certain cultural group and secondly, that this cultural group has a certain patriarchal imprint and thirdly, that she therefore cannot be self-determined as a woman* and that her decisions depend on her family.
In order to effectively counter discrimination in the context of events, we need to know about different social axes of power and their intertwined effects.
Furthermore, the approaches and practices of the Transformative Justice and Community Accountability movements from the USA have influenced awareness work in Germany. Women* and LGBTIQ* of colour developed their own community-based solutions against discrimination and violence. Due to racist structures in the police and the state, BIPoC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) could not rely on these institutions. A confrontation with violence and safety should be established within the communities. Awareness was and is often understood in Germany as an anti-sexist practice. However, it has been shown that different forms of discrimination and their intersections must be included.
