Feminist Anti-imperialism 4 Ver Pay Task

The last national activity which brought together anti-imperialist women and feminists occurred last March. International Women’s Day became a focal point for self-organisation and solidarity with the Armagh women prisoners. In both Dublin and Belfast marches were organised and conferences held which between them attracted several hundred women activists. International feminist delegations also turned up.

But since then little or nothing has happened. The Armagh women are no longer considered central (it is true they are not on Hunger Strike) and work on united activity among women on the five demands rapidly subsided. it has now ceased altogether, The lack of an immediate focus has thrown some anti-imperialist women off balance - indicating their basic lack of — clarity on how to answer the needs of the prisoners campaign and build an anti-imperialist-feminist current. A new group has emerged (mainly involving the IRSP) ‘Irish Socialist Women in Struggle’ which PD believes is in danger of making sectarian mistakes. The building of an anti-imperialist feminist current in the broad diversely structured women’s movement and the anti-imperialist movement is a double sided task. But some think it is a straightforward question of raising an awareness of women’s oppression Vote ee 8 acmene -s The most dynamic force behind the present H-Block/Armagh campaign has been that of youth. But youth have yet to be organised as a separate body which will show the real strength of youth in the campaign. Serious attempts have been made by the various youth committees around the country to do this.

Although the NHBA/Committee has recognised the vital role youth play they have done very little to prioritise this or give support and back up to the youth committees that already exist. Because the NHBA/ -OLTT t3\% FOR THE WOMEN into the anti-imperialist movement. Initiatives are organised solely within anti-imperialist organisations and the H Block/Armagh Campaign itself, Thus the setting up of 1.S.W.S. is calculated to address itself in the main, to these layers of women. And even then, the appending of ‘Socialist’ may stand as an obstacle to large numbers of Republican women.

Chere is a real danger in this approach. We have seen some of the results. Without real and ongoing involvement in the broad women’s movement (in spite of its pro-imperialist weakness) on the issues that concern women we run the risk of being sucked in to alleviate the immediate needs of the moment. Pressure to accomodate to the backwardness of the Republican movement becomes intensified.

This is precisely what happened tc Women Against Imperialism in Belfast. Because of this very critical situation around the Hunger Strikes, the self-organisation of women was swamped and downgraded.With Armagh no longer immediately central, links with the sympathetic feminist layers were broken. Many of these women did getinvolved in the general campaign but only in a marginal way.

Of course problems like this are inevitable — but we must begin to overcome them. To start with we must first understand the importance and dynamic of the women’s movement. The fight against the restrictions on women is a challenge to capitalist —_— - = eee Committee has not taken a stronger position on youth, youth themselves are less confident to organise autonomous activities.

DUBLIN YOUTH The Dublin Youth Committee attempted to do this with a certain amount of success, by organising a march to RTE protesting about the coverage of the royal wedding. The march attracted about 400 young people. This march could have been a good starting point in broadening the base of youth involvement with groups like Comhaltas Ceoilteori Eireann, Ogras, Connolly Youtli Movement participating. We need to make a real effort at involving these groups and also youth involved society. Secondly we must fight for the recognition of this fact among anti-imperialist activists, We cannot go round the broad women’s movement, we must go into it and build links with those women struggling in the Northern ghettoes, in the workplaces, inside campaigns and organisations. As we spell out in another article, this process can begin by elaborating a clear anti-imperialist programme for women’s liberation, By doing this, we can clearly assess what our priorities are and avoid subordinating the overall needs of women to short-term crises.

lrish Socialist Women in Struggle have called a conference for October - which could begin the building of such a current if certain tasks were carried out, PD believes that this conference should be based around the Kind of programme we suggest. It should be clearly aimed at bringing the two experiences of anti-imperialism and feminism together. The Conference should therefore be built in an open and democratic way -- with a broad organising body open to all those women who are interested. I.S.W.S. actively seek this broad participation.

If this conference is built outside this framework, its appeal will be reduced and it will fall far short of taking up the real opportunities that exist. Opportunities that pose the task of building the independent struggles of women as a part of the fight against British Imperialism. in action groups if the youth campaign is to go forward. We need the back up and support of the NHBA/Committee to organise a National Youth Conference in the near future.

Working class youth are ready to actively back the prisoners. They are looking for a political framework within which they can harness this energy and their anger. The NHBA Committee would be doing a grave disservice to both the prisoners and the anti-imperialist movement as a whole if they failed to utilise their energy. A broad democratic mobilisation of youth now will bear rich dividends in the years to come.

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