The Word 'Anarchist'

Dear SQUAT Readers,

You may have noticed the change from issue one to issue two in the removal of the word 'anarchist' from the title. Some of you have been asking us why that is and we have been working on a response, because like all things political, the answer is complicated.

When I came up with the idea for this magazine last spring I had no idea how it would grow. Jaydee Sperry and I began planning SQUAT camp before we had even put the first issue together. We had no written mission statement, only a clear sense of what we wanted to accomplish with the publication. At the time I identified as an anarchist and I wanted to use the word to show support to midwives and mothers who have been working to bring birth outside of the reaches of the government and modern medical structure. Guerrilla midwives and unassisted homebirths were how I related birth to anarchist action.

Shortly after releasing the first issue, the word anarchist had started to bring a lot of attention in ways that I did not expect. Rather than feeling support from my anarchist community, I began to feel criticized for the magazine not being anarchist enough. People were concerned that the politics were watered down and that there should be more articles that were explicitly anarchist.

I disagreed.

Even though I identified as anarchist and wanted to support anarchist principles in the magazine, I saw the need to include folks who felt alienated by the word or saw the intensity of the young anarchist community as sometimes aggressive, violent and offensive. I wanted everyone to feel welcome to contribute and our use of the word anarchist was causing a lot of confusion both within the anarchist community and outside of it. Everyone had their own interpretation of what an anarchist birth journal should be.

The majority of folks who are reading SQUAT are not self-identified anarchists, but are a part of a radical birth culture made up of individuals who share common goals and together lack formal political definition. Radical means different things to different people, but we reach common ground when it comes to our goals for healthy birth.

A few years ago, while I still strongly identified as an anarchist and I was knee-deep in anarchist philosophy, I was really enjoying and appreciating the magazine Hip Mama (I still do) and thinking that the magazine was a good representation of anarchist parenting. It wasn't until the other day that I realized that Hip Mama defines itself as a forum for "progressive" parents. Progressive? Radical? Anarchist? Whatever! To me, it was still a good example of anarchist parenting and it doesn't even have to say the word anywhere.

We have chosen not to replace the word 'anarchist' with 'radical' because we believe this goes without saying. Putting radical in the title doesn't make it so, it is what is inside the magazine that makes us radical. You can read our mission statement to get an idea of where we are heading:

"We strive to provide a forum where radical, often unheard voices can share their message. It is our goal to promote safe and healthy birth options for all. We celebrate the transformative power of birth in all its varied forms. We acknowledge the need for the midwifery movement to expand its consciousness, scope of practice, and accessibility. We seek to provide a safe space of expression and community for those who wish to shift current birth culture as an essential part of the midwifery and birth movement."

Myself and the other editors of SQUAT have been doing a lot of work to understand how we can best reach our goals for the publication. Part of this is letting go of the word anarchist and finding where our path will take us to next.

I have disable commenting on this post. If you are interested in providing feedback please email us at SquattingBirth@Gmail.com.

Sincerely,
Meghan Guthrie
Founding Editor