From https://www.healthautonomyconvergence.com/
Durham, North Carolina • Coming May 2023 •
A convergence about healthcare and beyond❋
Anti-authoritarian, abolitionist, and anarchist healthcare workers
Re-imagining and undermining the medical-industrial complex together✹
Conspire with us…
An invitation to deepen connections for health autonomy together.
We invite healthcare workers, caregivers and all who are aligned with our principles to converge in Durham, North Carolina in May of 2023 to find and support one another while creating exits from exploitative medical mazes.
Are you are a healthcare worker or caregiver who wants to share skills and knowledge, plug into an educational track, propose a discussion, screen a film or discuss something we haven’t even mentioned? Submit a proposal!
Interested in tabling for the event? Click submit proposals. Interested in volunteering during the weekend? Register and shoot us an email.
About the convergence
What to expect…
Three days and nights of discussion, workshops, speakers, hands on learning, films, food and fellowship!
We seek experts in their respective experiences, fields, and communities to share skills and knowledge that may be difficult or impossible to access outside of the space we create together.
For those looking to orient around specific fields for the weekend, we will experiment with tracks to (optionally) follow in order to foster self-organizing and reinforce long-lasting networks.
We will create space to vent and grieve all we have lost in the last few years and will provide ample time to nourish ourselves together.
Coming to Durham in May 2023 ❋
The Hospitals belong to the people 3
Who we are
We are anti-authoritarian, abolitionist, and anarchist healthcare workers re-imagining and undermining the medical-industrial complex.
We look towards a future that prioritizes collective care over individualized exploitation.
We honor expertise and undermine professionalism.
We believe that all humans should have access to knowledge of their bodies, unmediated by the hands of state and capital.
We work towards a future wherein all human and planetary life has intrinsic and non-exchangeable value, where we are able to live and die on our own terms.
We look to deconstruct the lines separating patient and provider and hope to collaborate on truly shifting the way power flows in these systems.
We are pro-autonomy, anti-individual, pro-intimacy, anti-commodification, and so joyful to be coming together to do this work.
We are an evolving network.
If these values resonate with you, we invite you to conspire with us.
Comments
maybe
anon (not verified) Tue, 10/04/2022 - 15:49
maybe someone from this group/event/convergence will speak to what "pro-autonomy, anti-individual" means? particularly the anti-individual part. otherwise, this looks like a great project.
autonomy is codeword for
anon (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 04:08
In reply to maybe by anon (not verified)
autonomy is codeword for commie. they wanna sound wholesome, relatable and non-controversial, lower down defenses, get a foot in
anti-individual is the negation aspect of commie, much like some individualists claim to be anti-left or anti-commie
what this means in practice is usually not much more than awkward pauses and giddiness after certain words like “connectivity”, “networks” and “community” which gives these words an air of woo. but it can also mean that they’ll steamroll over any particular person for the sake of their projects
i should clarify, i would
anon (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 07:22
In reply to autonomy is codeword for by anon (not verified)
i should clarify, i would like to know what *this network* means by saying "anti-individual" since this bit is in the "about us" section.
it's highly unlikely they
anon (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 08:18
In reply to i should clarify, i would by anon (not verified)
it's highly unlikely they will answer here, so maybe send them an email: health.autonomy.convergence@protonmail.com
maybe by "health autonomy"
anon (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 08:25
In reply to autonomy is codeword for by anon (not verified)
maybe by "health autonomy" they imply that the category of health as a separate sphere separated from the whole of life has become autonomous and sovereign over the rest of the subordinated aspects of living
well, in that case health
anon (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 08:41
In reply to maybe by "health autonomy" by anon (not verified)
well, in that case health autonomy should be opposed with health anarchy in a similar way the concepts of food sovereignty and food autonomy have been critiqued, proposing food anarchy instead:
"Food anarchy and the State monopoly on hunger" by Hannah Kass
ABSTRACT
"This article applies an anarchist lens to the food sovereignty movement. It analyzes food regimes as capitalist agriculture regimes which rely on the State’s monopoly on hunger, wherein the State relies on the dispossession of people from their land and food systems, the protection of property, and the primacy of capital. The interdependence of this State-capital-property trinity is violently enforced, and manufactures compliance through counterinsurgent strategies of social war. The State monopoly on hunger justifies a new offshoot of the larger food sovereignty movement, a prefigurative praxis which dismantles all food regimes to build new counter-worlds: food anarchy."
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/D33SMDSY9EYFFQTRVTBK/full?target=10…
speaking in terms of the pschology/psychiatric branch of
anon (not verified) Sat, 10/08/2022 - 14:55
In reply to maybe by anon (not verified)
medicine is actually the opposite: pretty much every recommendation is pre-determined and completely controlled by cops (not "individualistic" by any stretch of the word) and pharmaceutical companies (also not not really individuals). Some folks who study psychiatric medicines/methods lament how outdated the SSRI for everything type of approach carries on due to lack of serious research and breakthrough...it's done for typical "individualist" capitalist motives, yet has all the trappings of collectivist nation states and bureaucracies, especially where morality and threat-addressing procedures are concerned.
In terms of the day to day basis, medical institutions are pretty anti individual, even though in the US. doctors still will shake you down if your insurance isn't perfectly amenable to your situation.
It says “The Hospitals belong
anon (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 03:58
It says “The Hospitals belong to the people”. Which people? Is this like a patient-run hospital or a worker run hospital like a co-op? Will they be critical of hospitals and the clinic and how they resemble prisons, factories and schools? Will their abolitionism only for the abolition of prisons, but not factories, schools, and hospitals?
abolish hospitals! abolish
anon (not verified) Thu, 10/06/2022 - 21:38
In reply to It says “The Hospitals belong by anon (not verified)
abolish hospitals! abolish restaurants! abolish houses! abolish cities! abolish language! abolish the internet! abolish abolish! destitute abolish! make total destroy!
inb4 makhno comes in to ask
anon (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 04:10
inb4 makhno comes in to ask what’s their mask and covid policy
What's their mask and Covid
NotMakhno (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 05:54
What's their mask and Covid policy?
Masks will be required only
anon (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 08:25
In reply to What's their mask and Covid by NotMakhno (not verified)
Masks will be required only for white men. Upon donning the mask the white men will be required to say "Covid is a real virus," or not be allowed to attend. Hilarious video montages of grown men crying about masks will follow.
Oh, you also lack humor too?
anon (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 12:56
In reply to Masks will be required only by anon (not verified)
If you noticed the comment was mirroring the one above it.
Oh, you get lost in the long
anon (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 13:01
In reply to Oh, you also lack humor too? by anon (not verified)
Oh, you get lost in the long game. The comment was adding to the extended lulz of the one above it. No entry for you.
Ok so if I go in unmasked...
anon (not verified) Thu, 10/06/2022 - 11:10
In reply to Oh, you get lost in the long by anon (not verified)
....whattaugunna do? You gonna call security, who're gonna call the cops
Yes... Checkmate.
It's a useless exercise to
anon (not verified) Thu, 10/06/2022 - 13:42
In reply to Ok so if I go in unmasked... by anon (not verified)
It's a useless exercise to entertain here because you'll never show up. Just like the last loudmouthed internet warriorman that threatened to show up at the last few anarcho events which requested people wear masks indoors, stating they wouldn't wear a mask but "pEoPLe caN tRY tO MAkE mE!!" Probably you, still hiding at home, afraid to show.
But but... am I not supposed
anon (not verified) Thu, 10/06/2022 - 15:26
In reply to It's a useless exercise to by anon (not verified)
But but... am I not supposed to "stay home", you liberal tool? I'm confused now.
"anti-individual" sounds like
anon (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2022 - 06:29
"anti-individual" sounds like a weasel word to indicate a rejection of personal autonomy in the face of ideological conformism. suss af. has anyone shot them an email to ask for clarification?
Terrible, who on earth would
Anarchs (not verified) Fri, 10/07/2022 - 04:29
Terrible, who on earth would like to oppose all individuals collectively?
ffs
anon (not verified) Fri, 10/07/2022 - 15:34
>anti-individual
>anarchist
please pick one
if my nurse said they were
anon (not verified) Fri, 10/07/2022 - 21:04
if my nurse said they were anti-individual and pro-intimacy id run. just start my iv and go away.
you can tell this was made by
anon (not verified) Fri, 10/07/2022 - 21:21
you can tell this was made by actual nurses because theres no mention of this convergence being for chronically ill/disabled people or anyone who needs to pass through them to access medical care.
So much butthurt in these
anon (not verified) Fri, 10/07/2022 - 22:41
So much butthurt in these comments. Cringe!
Its because some of the
anon (not verified) Sat, 10/08/2022 - 01:42
In reply to So much butthurt in these by anon (not verified)
Its because some of the commenters have misinterpreted anti-individual to be the egoist one, when the health autonomy crew mean a rejection of the Randian-individual societal model which favors the wealthy and successful individuals more.
that's a lot of assumptions
anon (not verified) Sat, 10/08/2022 - 06:34
In reply to Its because some of the by anon (not verified)
that's a lot of assumptions packed into one sentence. if that's what the organizers meant, then they should say so since there has always been an acknowledgement of the role of individuals in anarchism. in fact, one of the main failures (among many others) of marxism and the left more broadly is the distinct lack of discussions about individuals; it's mostly about masses and classes, leaving very little room for radical subjectivity and a healthy distrust of peer pressure and other mechanisms of social conformity.
My assumption stems from a
anon (not verified) Sat, 10/08/2022 - 20:22
In reply to that's a lot of assumptions by anon (not verified)
My assumption stems from a deep understanding of the unique individual lurking within all of us, and how " it's " been coated and obscured by a materialistic selfish Randian self-consciousness, which liberalism is largely based upon.
It's. As you were.
anon (not verified) Sat, 10/08/2022 - 10:35
In reply to Its because some of the by anon (not verified)
It's.
As you were.
You're playing the shame-game in response
anon (not verified) Sun, 10/09/2022 - 09:22
In reply to So much butthurt in these by anon (not verified)
to people not liking a vague and not very well clarified description of an event, not to mention horribly "been there, done that" in terms of alternative approaches to medicine. Durham , where the event will be held, is a fairly large city, and you can't have anti-capitalist communities in such a setting. In other words, its more of the same anti-individualist proselytizing thats part of the day-to-day in US anarchist culture. It would be nice if anarchist writers wouldnt spare so many details. "We don't like individualism" interestingly has a lot in common with the big pharma and pro-state way of doing things.
So you may not like angry responses, its a form of weakness to you...and...nice trolling. If you don't like "individualist" anons, you might like twitter and facebook a little better.
While I appreciate your
anon (not verified) Sun, 10/09/2022 - 09:47
In reply to You're playing the shame-game in response by anon (not verified)
While I appreciate your comments, it's s also important to notice that "anarchist" comes in last on the list of organizers. Clearly the folks putting this thing together are aware and sensitive enough to *nominally* delineate and separate anarchism from anti-authoritarianism and autonomism. This should raise a few (ahem) red flags. Since the mid-1980s in the USA, "anti-authoritarian" has been code for maoist; since the early 2000s, "automonist" has been code for leninists without Lenin. This would very easily explain the "anti-individualist" proclamation.
I don't think its necessarily a code word for moaists
anon (not verified) Sun, 10/09/2022 - 12:38
In reply to While I appreciate your by anon (not verified)
But an attempt to appeal to folks who don't like oppression and cops, but the organizers are certainly more left-wing than anarchists and would say that stalin and mao are preferable to hitler...not saying i'd prefer some racist fascist, but there's really no way of knowing which of the three was the worst. I was born in the 80's and don't have much of a feel for the types of political programs that hardcore leftists have flirted with.
Looking at site though, it does seem kinda maoist in terms of the appeal to the 60s stuff. "Abolitionist" has been being used by a lot of writers in response to the recent criticisms of police brutality.
For people interested in this
anon (not verified) Sat, 10/08/2022 - 20:19
For people interested in this topic, here's a recently published article from Freedom News UK about "Capitalism, big pharma, and the pandemic" https://freedomnews.org.uk/2022/10/08/capitalism-big-pharma-and-the-pan…
Oh, nice leftist gymnastics
CompostToiletGuru (not verified) Sun, 10/09/2022 - 04:04
In reply to For people interested in this by anon (not verified)
Oh, nice leftist gymnastics addressing the problem of big pharma domination, but by actually calling for "the whole of humanity" to receive every single booster shots...
In related news, "Freedom" News keep doing their shit deep down the sewers of Western anarchism, and I'll avoid looking down this shit abyss for too long.
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