Who Is Oakland: Anti-Oppression Activism, the Politics of Safety, and State Co-optation
A pamphlet out of Oakland, CA, challenging tendencies in anti-oppression politics centered on personal attitudes, notions of coherent and homogeneous “communities”, and the conflation of identity and solidarity. It also challenges the role of nonprofits in creating social change, writing:
Social justice nonprofits in particular exist to co-opt and quell anger, preempt racial conflict, and validate a racist, patriarchal state. These organizations are often funded by business monopolies which have profited from and campaigned for the privatization of public social services. This has been argued extensively by many who have experienced the limits of nonprofit work firsthand, most recently by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence.
Who Is Oakland: Anti-Oppression Activism, the Politics of Safety, and State Co-optation
