w o m e n i n s t r u g g l e

Interview with ’s March From Nation to Home NINOTCHKA ROSCA, A writer “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights” to the of poetry and fiction as well as and we were amazed at its a long-time feminist and revo- immediate popularity. lutionary activist, received the It was both a good time and a bad American Book Award for her time to establish an organization since the novel Twice Blessed. Forced into Philippine-based movement was undergoing exile from the in 1977, a fractious time and there were splits all Rosca has lived and worked in the over the place. In the unleashing of what United States while maintaining came to be known as the “anti-deep pen- close ties with the revolutionary etration agent” hysteria [when the CPP and women’s movements in the leadership accused members of being infil- Philippines. In 2010, she helped trators — ed.], approximately a thousand to found Af3irm (Association activists were killed by their own comrades of Filipinas, Feminists Fighting and more were tortured, including men and Imperialism, Re-feudalization and women who’d been with the movement Marginalization), an anti-imperial- from the very beginning. ist, transnational feminist women’s This was a line struggle but it was also organization (www.af3irm.org). a power struggle. And it was somewhat Johanna Brenner interviewed her shocking to witness the absolute fury and for Against the Current. rage with which it was waged. In the United States, the broader sol- Johanna Brenner: How has idarity movement crumbled and the only your feminist perspective and organization which remained was our wom- activism evolved in relation to the was agitation from international organiza- en’s organization. By accident, and perhaps experiences you have had, as a revolutionary, as tions like PEN and media organizations, the fortuitously, it grew up almost autonomous a diasporic writer, as an advocate of women’s military decided to claim I had something to in its line-making and operations. Although liberation? do with a little ship that smuggled arms for we carried issues from the Philippines, we the guerrillas. That was bizarre. Ninotchka Rosca: My life has been a focused on those with a direct link here. constant swinging between politics (as an I went through five interrogations and We were instrumental in organizing organizer and polemicist) and literature, spent six months in detention — which against U.S. military bases and raising aware- two extremes in character, one being very convinced me that the dictatorship just ness about the sex trafficking around them. social and the other, solitary. I fell into pol- simply had to be overthrown. So for the We launched the first campaign on the itics almost by accident while my wish to next five years, I did what I could and it was comfort women issue [women forced into be a writer was deliberate; I had no wish at getting worse all the time. People I knew — sexual slavery in wartime — ed.] as well as all to be involved in politics but had from middle class, intellectuals — were being tor- on Asian American children abandoned by childhood been afflicted with the impetus tured and killed; women were being raped fathers. to write. and assassinated. These campaigns led directly to the issue It just so happened that he who would When I got word that a case was being of mail-order brides and global sex traffick- become chair of the new Communist Party filed against me before the military tribunal, ing, for which we practically had to invent of the Philippines (CPP) was an English liter- I ran. I got a fellowship to University of Iowa a language as almost no one was interest- ature major at the university, so we writers and thought I’d cool off for a year. I was on ed in it. Our work led to IMBRA — the grew familiar with the burgeoning political my way home (1977) when word came that International Marriage Brokers Regulatory turmoil. I ended up involved somehow and my name was on the blacklist and I might be Act — passed by Congress in 2005. just kept saying yes, all right, sure I can do arrested at the airport. So I filed for political The Big Split (which we ironically that — not even aware we were making asylum. And then proceeded to do whatev- referred to as the BS) in the Philippines history. And the left-wing political argument er I could to help people back home while rolled along for a decade — 1988-1998; it was just so rational and explained a lot writing novels, short stories, articles. began at the top levels of the movement of things in the Philippines — in contrast around issues related to combat strategy to the obscurantism of religion and the The Movement in Crisis and tactics and occurred among a handful divine-ordained class structure I grew up in. In 1989 I helped create Gabriela of tight-knit men. The initial ideological When Marcos declared martial law, I was Network (GabNet), to provide solidarity for discourse would soon devolve into name imprisoned, of course. [Martial law under Gabriela, a large and militant women’s orga- calling and labeling; some friends who didn’t U.S.-backed dictator last- nization connected with the left back home. want to take a position were called count- ed from 1972 until 1981 — ed.] Since there Two years before, I had brought their slogan er — whatever and hounded out of the AGAINST THE CURRENT  15 movement. NR: The notion that circular migration is was a means to alleviate poverty was These events, which came to be known positive because it creates “transnational” accepted even by the Left. It was only last as the 2nd Rectification, had both negative people is convenient for imperialism as it year, I believe, that the call was made to end and positive aspects. Negative aspects: they hides the trap of impermanence for migrant labor export — a call GabNet made some destroyed the consolidation of organiza- workers who are forced to move from 15 years ago. tions, dumped practically all which had been country back to home and out again. We This question of focus became urgent kept hidden from the State into the open, have seen the institutionalization of circular when the demand came for us to become a distracted everyone from the business of migration through guest worker programs, formal chapter of the “home-based” wom- waging revolution, demoralized a great num- dual citizenships, work visas, overseas con- en’s organization. We had to take a long ber of forces. Positive aspects: they opened tracts with term limits etc. hard look at that word “home.” up ideological discourse, called into question The Philippine government’s current tar- The proletariat, as the saying goes, has some of the memes by which work and pro- get for overseas deployment has been dou- no country; in which case, we reasoned, it cess were conducted, and compelled some bled from one million to two million going was time to make every country a country to examine theory and strategy. to 200 different countries. The majority are for the proletariat, wherever he/she finds For those of us who would eventually women. The government has worked very himself/herself. There was also the question found AF3IRM, the question was, where do hard to ensure that migrants remain tied to of ideological, political and organizational we make history. By “we” I mean transna- their Philippine identity as part of a “border- leadership — which, through the years, had tional persons. If the focus of work is on less nation.” The condition of impermanence been selected often arbitrarily, based on the the movement at home, we are not there. created by circular migration justifies disen- “old-boys-network.” And because the focus is over there, rather gagement from the politics of the receiving than here, then we’re not here, either. We It’s a constant source of disappointment country and from the need and duty to cre- that despite 40 years of women’s engage- found ourselves simply trying to determine ate change wherever we find ourselves. which material condition or objective reality ment in the Philippine movement, we have Acceptance of this mythical “global should take precedence in our struggle. yet to see any formal ideological/theoret- nation” affects political work around trans- ical work that reflected this history. The Struggling Where We Are national labor. When a Filipino worker Philippine movement regards feminism, envi- JB: A few years ago you gave a talk in Canada suffers a mishap in, say, Saudi Arabia, the ronmentalism, etc. as petty bourgeois dis- where you pointed out that circular migration response is to attack the Philippine govern- tractions, although such issues are seen to has become the basis for a new ideal of the ment — which is fine; but there’s no com- be useful when they can be used to under- “borderless nation,” through which the Philippine mensurate attempt to change conditions in score class exploitation. government attempts to maintain overseas Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and other places. Gabriela Philippines is considered and workers’ ties to their home country. The idea that exporting surplus labor considers itself a national democratic orga- 16  MARCH / APRIL 2013 nization — following the analysis of the experience. We did learn a lot from the ing globalization, so we can take full measure CPP that the Philippines is a semi-colonial Philippine movement; we learned ideology; of the new phenomena it has unleashed and semi-feudal society and needs a rev- we learned practice; we learned how to act on the world. Around 250 million men and olution that would establish collectively; we women comprise transnational labor; this is national independence versus learned how to a nationless nation, a floating population. imperialism, and democra- use power. The “Transnational” is a term ironically used cy versus feudalism. It called last was import- for corporations, whose ownership and itself feminist for a while but ant because character remain the same, wherever their that was changed during the women are operations are located. People, on the 2nd Rectification campaign. not socialized other hand, change and amend their lives, Individual members may refer toward power. based on their material conditions. to themselves as feminist but I JB: During the JB: What are you working on right now? am not aware that the organiza- Occupy move- tion as a whole does. NR: We are working on the 2nd Congress ment in New of AF3IRM which will be in October 2013 The tension between polit- York, you helped around the theme “Building for the 4th ical work fitting the material to organize an all Wave of Feminism.” conditions of where we live, women march on The intent is to look at and build on the versus political work demanded Wall Street for gains of the first three waves and rectify by material conditions of the November 25, what’s not there or does not apply to our “home” country, had many which the global specific experiences as women of transna- layers. women’s move- tional origins and histories. Our work as a solidarity organization ment has institutionalized as the International We are in search of an issue, a word — was successful because we had limited our Day for the Elimination of Violence Against much like “equality” — to define the core of concerns to those which had a clear enough Women. What were you trying to accomplish? transnational feminism and make it indelible. link between the United States and the NR: AF3IRM took the position, for the 16 We want to make history and to make his- Philippines: the military bases, trafficking, Days of Activism, that identifying violence tory where it will matter to people like us, migration, etc. It was not possible to carry against women should include economic to transnationals like us. the entire program of the Philippine move- violence.* We worked with a few other We’re still evolving and developing, look- ment — a program based on an analysis groups and gathered 250+ women to march ing for commonality among women of color, of society as semi-colonial and semi-feudal on that day, from Foley Square to Liberty poor women of color; and still devising both — into the material context of an advanced Park (Zucotti Park). I overheard a male our issues and plans of action; and most capitalist country. Occupy organizer say that he’d never seen importantly, reflecting on our experience as For me personally, the demand that as many women down there. creations of globalized imperialism and what we take direction from a male-dominated Our theme was WALL STREET IS that means in terms of theory and analysis. movement was made more acute by reading VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN! DIS­ We don’t have all the answers but we think and re-reading Gerda Lerner and her thesis MANTLE IT!!! Violence against women is we have some of the right questions. § regarding women’s deprivation of historical too often viewed — by mainstream femi- signification. That decisions could be made nists and often by “progressives” — sepa- Crimes of Wall Street about our future, our status, and what we rately from other institutionalized violence. • Women continue to suffer huge should be, by those who were not directly We wanted to educate the Occupy move- income disparity under the patriarchal engaged in our work, just made Lerner’s ment and to highlight the many connections system of gender/race discrimination. thesis quite palpable. After all, our purpose between capitalist globalization, impoverish- • Women constitute 64% of U.S. for activism is to help make history, more ment here and abroad, militarization, patri- minimum wage workers. than anything else. archy and racism, and how they reproduce •Single mothers of color are the Our internationalism was best expressed, and reinforce gender violence. harest hit in the current mortgage crisis. we felt, in dealing head-on with the material It was admittedly a difficult endeavor, • Women are both consumers and conditions in which we found ourselves — one of those that underscore my status as commodity in corporate culture; wom- as our numbers were growing by leaps and a diasporic person. On the one hand, it was en’s bodies are the main merchandise bounds in the United States. clear I had the most experience — both of both the sex and labor trafficking We had to evolve — in one direction or operational and ideological — in guiding the markets. another; and, following our impulse to con- thrust of this coalition. On the other hand, it • Multinational corporations derive tribute to the making of history, we chose was also clear that I was from “elsewhere.” 68% of their global profits from women collectively to become AF3IRM and engage This kind of Other-ing is irritating, to say workers who are paid the equvalent of fully with the situation here. The theme of the least; and it comes from Black, white and $2 a day while creating products sold our founding congress, if you recall, was Asian, women. This is why Af3irm prefers for hundreds of dollars in the United From Nation to Home. We weren’t just U.S. the use of transnational women rather than States and Europe. nationals but this was our home, and we (im)migrant women, since the latter implies • 200,000 women are in the U.S. mil- would work to make it more amiable to our either or both temporariness or a stranger itary; half are deployed overseas. 30,000 presence as transnational women. (coming from elsewhere). single mothers have been deployed to Personally, it cost me. I had remained As in the trafficking issue, we are trying Iraq and Afghanistan. a permanent resident all these years; but to create a more accurate language regard- • The right to suffrage of women, when we made this decision, I took out U.S. *The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence was particularly women of color and female citizenship. It dang broke my heart but the established in 1991 by the global women’s movement. It senior citizens, is under attack. gesture had to be made. I still have to sigh begins with November 25, the International Day Against —crimes sited in the leaflet for the heavily when I think back to this time. Violence Against Women and ends with International Human Rights Day on December 12 in order to empha- November 25, 2011 action These conclusions are the stuff of our size that gender violence is a violation of human rights. AGAINST THE CURRENT  17