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[PODCAST] E.A.S.T. and the Transnational Social Strike: organizing women, migrant and essential workers

Note from LeftEast editors: We share this podcast with the permission of its producers from Contrasens. “Contrasens” is a podcast which explores current themes in the field of the social sciences. The project aims to bring to the forefront and make as accessible as possible research conducted by sociologists, anthropologists and other specialists from related fields. Content hosts and producers are students from the Faculty of Sociologu and Social Assistance, Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj: Marina Mironica, Matei Mlinarcic, Karol Pataki, Pati Murg, Vlad Bejinariu and Maria Martelli.

contrasens · Transnational strike: organizing women, migrant and essential workers

Are you celebrating this 1st of May? And how did you spend the 8th of March? In this episode, we talk about the transnational organizing of E.A.S.T., Essential Autonomous Struggles Transnational, a network born to respond to the pressures of capitalist exploitation, migrant precarity and the additional burden of the COVID-19 pandemic. E.A.S.T., together with Transnational Social Strike, emphasize the importance of connecting existing struggles beyond the national level and of standing against patriarchal and racist violence. We hear from three feminist activists on these matters and more.

Invited guests:
Eleonora Cappuccilli, from EAST, Transnational Social Strike and Precarious Disconnections
Orkide Izci, from EAST, Precarious Disconnections, Women’s Assembly of Migrant Coordination and Transnational Migrants’ Coordination
Sopo Japaridze, from EAST, Transnational Social Strike and the Solidarity Network in Georgia

Rundown:
min 2:30 – What is E.A.S.T.?
min 6:00 – Eleonora about transnational organizing against patriarchal, capitalist and racist violence
min 10:10 – Sopo on how transnational social strikes work and the importance of the collective
min 15:00 – Orkide on the dangers of conservative backlash and Turkey’s retreat from the Istanbul Convention
min 22:24 – Eleonora on “the traditional family” and women’s roles and exploitation
min 27:51 – Sopo about the gendered division of labour
min 34:00 – Orkide on the structural instruments that enforce the status-quo, such as residence permits
min 43:42 – Eleonora on institutional racism and Eastern European migrants during the pandemic
min 49:00 – Sopo on the need for social services, Eleonora on transnational welfare
min 57:40 – Orkide on how some forms of welfare relegate women to the domestic space
min 1:00:40 – Eleonora on the need for higher wages for all
min 1:06:00 – About the 1st of May and onwards

Production, edits & visuals by Maria Martelli.

Intro from a feminist protest with Non Una di Meno Bologna.

Useful links:
The essential strike manifesto for the 8th of March
A transnational response to the attacks on The Istanbul Convention  
May 1st: Call for a transnational migrants struggle

Follow E.A.S.T. and their public assemblies here

In February, in a podcast episode of Leneșx Radio, Isabella Consolati and Nóra Ugron, two members of E.A.S.T. – Essential Autonomous Struggles Transnational –  talked about the EAST network, the Essential Strike Manifesto and the preparations for 8th March.

You can listen to it here: Web, Soundcloud,  Spotify, Apple Pod 

Or read the transcript in English or in Romanian