Fantifa

Last updated March 26, 2024

Fantifa (sometimes rendered as f_antifa^[1] or f*antifa;^[2] a contraction of German Feministische Antifa, lit. feminist anti-fascism, or Frauen Antifa, lit. women's anti-fascism) is an umbrella term for anti-fascism movements centering on women as a branch of the feminist movement. The term mostly refers to a formal movement of feminist anti-fascist groups that emerged from German-speaking countries in 1985 but also encompasses historical German groups such as the 1925 Rote Frauen und Mädelbund (the women and girls' branch of the Roter Frontkämpferbund ) and broader European groups such as the 1930s Spanish anarcha-feminist group Mujeres Libres , the 1934 French women's branch of the World Committee Against War and Fascism, and the 1942 Yugoslavian partisan group Women's Antifascist Front of Yugoslavia.^[3]^: 5 The main fantifa movement holds an anarcho-communist philosophy and is specifically an anti-fascist variant of anarcha-feminism, as is sometimes represented in the use of a purple and black flag with a symbol derivative of that of the men's antifa group Antifaschistische Aktion .

History

1980s and 1990s

Fantifa has its roots in the West German antifa movement and in anti-fascist sentiments of German second-wave feminist groups such as Rote Zora , which emphasized anarchist defiance through terrorist action. In 1980, Rote Zora issued a statement urging feminists to take action against every form of oppression, including that imposed by the state. Concerns of theirs included genetic engineering as a form of eugenics and § 218 of the German Penal Law limiting abortion.^[4] 1980s Black and Jewish feminist criticism of Rote Zora in displaying aspects of white feminism coincided with women's resentment toward machismo in the antifa movement and led to the creation of fantifa, beginning with a Northern Germany women's antifa meeting in 1985.^[3]^{: 11–14, 18} As it came as a response to restrictive second-wave feminist politics and extended into the 1990s, this era of fantifa can be classified as third-wave feminism.

The term "fantifa" was coined in 1988,^[5] with small meetings of no more than fifteen people occurring in 1989, which covered topics including violence against women.^[3] Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first nationwide German fantifa meeting was held on the weekend of January 20-21, 1990,^[5] covering the topics of lesbophobia, eugenics, anti-abortion movements, and § 218. It was the first antifa meeting to feature daycare, to allow women with children to participate.^[3] By the end of the 1990s, there were twenty-five fantifa groups.^[6]

Fantifa initially met with conflict from antifa men who viewed women's rights groups as fascist, perceiving feminism's antagonism toward patriarchy as misandry equivalent to antisemitic hatred.^[5] Further confusion was caused by the historical example of fascist woman Sophie Rogge-Börner writing to Adolf Hitler in 1933 to preach for uplifting women who wished to take on more traditionally masculine gender roles within the Nazi movement,^[7] but she distanced herself from feminism and fantifa activists did not consider her one either, merely a fascist seeking an androgyny within patriarchy.^[5] In the mid-1990s, a Hamburg men's antifa group accepted fantifa and promoted feminist talking points within the context of antifa academic discourse,^[3]^: 23 as did a 1998 Berlin leftist newspaper.^[8] However, very few men showed up in solidarity at 1990s fantifa protests.^[3]

Internal discord over how to handle the intersection of racism and sexism and if fantifa's primary focus should be lesbian rights threatened to fracture the movement early on but antisemitic violence in 1992 brought the movement together with a common enemy: neo-Nazism, manifesting in groups like the Free German Workers' Party. Like in the main German antifa movement, neo-Nazi antisemitic violence throughout the 1990s emboldened fantifa in response. 1990s fantifa feminist activism included anti-pornography efforts, distributing flyers to advocate for closing down sex shops and encouraging men not to view pornography, as well as protesting anti-abortion movements, supporting the anti-nuclear movement, and demonstrating on International Women's Day.^[3]^{: 23–27, 30}

Another nationwide Germany fantifa meeting was held in Berlin in 1999,^[3]^: 111 but the movement lost momentum after that.^[2] In 2000, a fantifa member accused an antifa man of raping her in 1998.^[9] The resulting fallout caused a divide in men's antifa groups, either choosing to embrace feminism as a worthy cause or deny it as relevant to anti-fascism.^[10] Fantifa dwindled after that for a variety of reasons,^[3]^: 35 but it saw a resurgence in the 2010s.

21st century

The general German antifa movement fractured in 2001, splintering off into competing anti-nationalist groups. Following the September 11 attacks, far-left movements increasingly turned their aggression toward other leftist movements instead of viewing the threat of neo-Nazism as important enough to actively target. Antifa groups lost their perceived relevancy, and fantifa likewise diminished into obscurity.^[3]^: 111

Simultaneously, the fantifa of the 1990s couldn't continue in its same form very far into the 2000s due to the changing nature of feminism. The influence of Judith Butler disrupted the radical feminist politics of German feminism.^[3]^: 112–3 When fantifa was revived, feminism was transitioning from its third wave to its fourth and fantifa incorporated queer feminist ideology as part of this shift.^[11]

In 2016, fantifa participated in a Goethe University Frankfurt student effort to aggregate reports of abuse committed by pickup artists.^[12] By 2017, fantifa was celebrated among common German feminist protest chants with the English/German chant, "High kick, low kick, Fantifa; Feminismus schalala!" ("feminism sha la la").^[13] After the 2018 Brazilian election of Jair Bolsonaro, the fantifa flag was flown as part of the Ele Não movement.^[14] In 2020, fantifa activists performed various destructive but nonviolent acts of vandalism such as throwing a stink bomb into a neo-Nazi tattoo parlor.^[15]

As the German far-right saw increased popularity with the founding of Alternative for Germany, there was a corresponding increase in anti-feminist sentiment. Fantifa became more relevant, encouraging fantifa protest activity in response to high-profile homophobic and transphobic violence that feminists associate with misogyny.^[16]

Theory and ideology

Treatment of fascism

Fantifa addresses fascism in its aspect as an antifeminist movement. Fascism is analyzed as a phenomenon encompassing male and female gender roles and fantifa theory discusses the roles of fascist women (as well as gender relations in the anti-fascist movement). Though some feminists are so biased by antagonism to men that they may characterize fascism as equivalent to the way all men are perceived to demonstrate domineering and aggressive traits, fantifa theorists believe the only effective way to address fascism as an antifeminist movement requires a complete dissolution of gendered conflict and oppose this perspective. Fantifa rejects the view that women are too peaceful by nature to take part in aggressive movements, both antifa itself and fascism, and it pushes for a more inclusive understanding of both to recognize the role of women within them.^[3]^: 6–7

A 1989 fantifa brochure describes fascism as an institution based on patriarchal aggression. It suggests that fascism could not exist without society already embracing patriarchy and encourages antifa members to embrace the feminist movement to target a root cause of fascism.^[17] Members of Bonn-based fantifa group Fantifa Bonn identified anti-abortion activist Dr. Ferdinand Oeter as a former Nazi seemingly attempting to bolster the reproduction of white German citizens as an exercise in eugenics and to seed the culture with values that would support a return to fascism, having previously made a 1937 statement indicating the importance of keeping women in traditional gender roles as mothers and homemakers to rescue a perceived dying essential whiteness and bolster cultural Nazism.^[3]^: 32 Oeter was a member of the Deutsche Liga für das Kind (German League for Children), an antifeminist group part of a movement fighting for a state subsidy for women to become stay-at-home mothers.^[18] The campaign was explicitly derived from Nazi policies, brought into the modern day by former Nazi eugenicist Friedrich Burgdörfer, and Oeter contributed the narrative that West Germany taking this route would lead to economic growth.^[19] This effort escaped notice of men's antifa movements as what they would consider an issue of concern before fantifa called attention to it.^[3]^: 31

Relation to other ideologies

Though rooted in radical feminist theory, fantifa's focus on the opposition of fascism generally keeps it from embracing conservative variants of feminism. Particularly, the persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany and neo-Nazi targeting of transgender and intersex people influences fantifa to reject gender-critical feminism. An early focus of fantifa was the movement for lesbian rights, calling attention to Nazi persecution of lesbians as relevant to antifa, and it maintains a strong element of LGBT advocacy.^[3]^: 7^[20] Fantifa members may specifically use the acronym FLTI (Frauen, meaning Women; Lesbians, Transgender people, and Intersex people) as a single group they seek to uplift. Fantifa embraces intersectional feminism and opposes forms of feminism that reproduce oppression against marginalized groups.^[2]

The fantifa movement has internal tensions. Early fantifa was marked by strains of lesbian separatism critical of involvement with men's antifa groups but this eventually gave way to cooperation between genders, if not always allowing cisgender men into individual fantifa groups.^[3] As is shared by the greater antifa movement in Germany, there is controversy over handling of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, with some fantifa groups such as the Antifaschistischer Frauenblock Leipzig viewing support of Israel as anti-fascist while others view Israel as a fascist state whose opposition is a part of the anti-fascist cause.^[21]

Relation to men's antifa groups

Fantifa brings a critical look at gender relations within antifa movements. Though antifa men may intellectually oppose sexism, they may also display unconscious sexist behavior. Women can often feel marginalized and not taken seriously in male-centric antifa groups and seek relief in women's groups.^[2] Women may also be unable to receive proper education on antifa culture and practices that antifa men learn as youths in antifa groups for young people and are not forthright with knowledge themselves.^[22] Another focus of fantifa's criticism is how male antifa can harbor sexual predators as an aspect of rape culture, as was shown in a 2000 rape scandal.^[10]

A provocative early 1990s demonstration asserted that antifa men who refuse to be critical of patriarchy actually support fascism by implicitly embracing male dominance and antifa women would be unable to trust them. One meaningful change fantifa brought to antifa was pushing for the widespread availability of daycare at antifa meetings, without which women with children were often unable to participate.^[3]^: 22

In contrast to men's antifa movements favoring violent direct action techniques of punching neo-Nazis in direct confrontations, fantifa activists often believe this is contemptible toxic masculinity, inefficient for fixing the larger societal problem of Nazism as a phenomenon, and should not be undertaken in cases where violence can be avoided. To prepare for cases where violence is unavoidable, fantifa promotes women learning self-defense skills such as Wen-Do but emphasizes not delivering the first blow. Activists trained in Wen-Do or similar martial arts provide a line of defense to protect untrained demonstrators from neo-Nazi aggression and take part in urban patrols to protect women on the streets who may otherwise suffer sexual assault or other violence at the hands of men. Fantifa is critical of antifa men employing first strike violence on neo-Nazi women, often viewing it as a form of violence against women when not undertaken solely as self-defense.^[3]^: 26 However, fantifa will engage in property destruction under the perception that it does not count as violent action if no one is harmed.

Related Research Articles

Antifa may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Racist Action</span> North American far-left political cells

Anti-Racist Action (ARA), also known as the Anti-Racist Action Network, is a decentralized network of militant far-left political cells in the United States and Canada. The ARA network originated in the late 1980s to engage in direct action and doxxing against rival political organizations on the hard right to dissuade them from further involvement in political activities. Anti-Racist Action described such groups as racist or fascist, or both. Most ARA members have been anarchists, but some have been Trotskyists and Maoists.

Pro-feminism refers to support of the cause of feminism without implying that the supporter is a member of the feminist movement. The term is most often used in reference to men who actively support feminism and its efforts to bring about the political, economic, cultural, personal, and social equality of women with men. A number of pro-feminist men are involved in political activism, most often in the areas of gender equality, women's rights, and ending violence against women.

Antifeminism, also spelled anti-feminism, is opposition to feminism. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, antifeminists opposed particular policy proposals for women's rights, such as the right to vote, educational opportunities, property rights, and access to birth control. In the mid and late 20th century, antifeminists often opposed the abortion-rights movement.

Antifaschistische Aktion was a militant anti-fascist organisation in the Weimar Republic started by members of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) that existed from 1932 to 1933. It was primarily active as a KPD campaign during the July 1932 German federal election and the November 1932 German federal election and was described by the KPD as a "red united front under the leadership of the only anti-fascist party, the KPD."

The Iron Front was a German paramilitary organization in the Weimar Republic which consisted of social democrats, trade unionists, and democratic socialists. Its main goal was to defend democratic socialism and liberal democracy against what was viewed as totalitarian ideologies on the far-right and far-left. The Iron Front chiefly opposed the Sturmabteilung (SA) wing of the Nazi Party and the Antifaschistische Aktion wing of the Communist Party of Germany. Formally independent, it was intimately associated with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). The Three Arrows, originally designed for the Iron Front, became a well-known social democratic symbol representing resistance against monarchism, Nazism, and Marxism-Leninism during the parliamentary elections in November 1932. The Three Arrows were later adopted by the SPD itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Fascist Action</span> British anti-fascist organisation

Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) was a militant anti-fascist organisation, founded in the UK in 1985 by a wide range of anti-racist and anti-fascist organisations.

African feminism includes theories and movements which specifically address the experiences and needs of continental African women. From a western perspective, these theories and movements fall under the umbrella label of Feminism, but this categorization is misleading for many branches of African "feminism". African women have been engaged in gender struggle since long before the existence of the western-inspired label "African feminism," and this history is often neglected. Despite this caveat, this page will use the term feminism with regard to African theories and movements in order to fit into a relevant network of Wikipedia pages on global feminism. Because Africa is not a monolith, no single feminist theory or movement reflects the entire range of experiences African women have. African feminist theories are sometimes aligned, in dialogue, or in conflict with Black Feminism or African womanism. This page covers general principles of African feminism, several distinct theories, and a few examples of feminist movements and theories in various African countries.

The far right in Switzerland was established in the course of the rise of fascism in Europe in the interwar period. It was a mostly marginal phenomenon in the Cold War period, excepting a surge of radical right-wing populism during the early 1970s, and it has again experienced growth alongside the right-wing Swiss People's Party since the 1990s.

The Antifascistisk aktion (AFA) is a far-left, extra-parliamentary, anti-fascist movement in Sweden, whose stated goal is to "smash fascism in all its forms". Some of its members are influenced by the theory of triple oppression, and all of its members claim to oppose sexism, racism, and classism. The point of the organization is to exchange information and to coordinate activities between local groups.

Autonome Nationalisten are German, British, Dutch, and to a lesser degree Flemish, nationalists, who have adopted some of the far-left and antifa's organizational concepts, demonstration tactics, symbolism, and elements of clothing, including Che Guevara T-shirts and keffiyehs. Similar groups have also appeared in some central and eastern European countries, beginning with Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Romania and Greece and others.

Feminism in Germany as a modern movement began during the Wilhelmine period (1888–1918) with individual women and women's rights groups pressuring a range of traditional institutions, from universities to government, to open their doors to women. This movement culminated in women's suffrage in 1919. Later waves of feminist activists pushed to expand women's rights.

Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were opposed by many countries forming the Allies of World War II and dozens of resistance movements worldwide. Anti-fascism has been an element of movements across the political spectrum and holding many different political positions such as anarchism, communism, pacifism, republicanism, social democracy, socialism and syndicalism as well as centrist, conservative, liberal and nationalist viewpoints.

Antifa is a left-wing anti-fascist and anti-racist political movement in the United States. It consists of a highly decentralized array of autonomous groups that use nonviolent direct action, incivility, and violence to achieve their aims. Antifa political activism includes non-violent methods like involving poster and flyer campaigns, mutual aid, speeches, protest marches, and community organizing. Some who identify as antifa also use tactics involving digital activism, doxing, harassment, physical violence, and property damage. Members of antifa aim to combat far-right extremists, including neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

Post–World War II anti-fascism, including antifa groups, anti-fascist movements and anti-fascist action networks, saw the development of political movements describing themselves as anti-fascist and in opposition to fascism. Those movements have been active in several countries in the aftermath of World War II during the second half of the 20th and early 21st century.

<i>Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook</i> 2017 book by Mark Bray

Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook is a 2017 book written by historian Mark Bray and published by Melville House Publishing, which explores the history of anti-fascist movements since the 1920s and 1930s and their contemporary resurgence.

Antifa is a political movement in Germany composed of multiple far-left, autonomous, militant groups and individuals who describe themselves as anti-fascist. According to the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Federal Agency for Civic Education, the use of the epithet fascist against opponents and the view of capitalism as a form of fascism are central to the movement. The antifa movement has existed in different eras and incarnations, dating back to Antifaschistische Aktion, from which the moniker antifa came. It was set up by the then-Stalinist Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during the late history of the Weimar Republic. After the forced dissolution in the wake of Machtergreifung in 1933, the movement went underground. In the postwar era, Antifaschistische Aktion inspired a variety of different movements, groups and individuals in Germany as well as other countries which widely adopted variants of its aesthetics and some of its tactics. Known as the wider antifa movement, the contemporary antifa groups have no direct organisational connection to Antifaschistische Aktion.

The Jeune Garde is a French anti-fascist organisation.

References

↑ "10.02. Alles F_Antifa? Zur feministischen Perspektive von Antifa". Antifa Café Dortmund. 2022-02-10. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
1 2 3 4 "Ein Plädoyer für die F*antifa". Antifaschistisches Info Blatt. 2017-02-01. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Fantifa: Feministische Perspektiven Antifascisischer Politik. Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia: Edition Assemblage. 2013. ISBN 978-3-942885-30-0.
↑ Paterson, Tony (2007-04-17). "Germany's 'Red Zora' terrorist spared jail". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2007-05-15.
1 2 3 4 Struchtemeier, Thea A. (1990-01-28). "Feminismus und Faschismus - verenbar oder nicht?". Schwarzer Faden . Retrieved 2023-01-13.
↑ Bray, Mark (2017). Antifa: The Antifascist Handbook. Melville House Publishing. p. 57. ISBN 9781612197043.
↑ Bogumil (2020-02-14). "A National Socialist Feminist Writes to Hitler". ARPLAN. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
↑ "Faschismus" (PDF). K-Butt. No. 17. 1998. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
↑ "Achtung Vergewaltiger". Nadir.org . 2000-03-01. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
1 2 "Tag X-Demo Leipzig Aufruf Teil II". Antifa Frankfurt. 2022-12-17. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
↑ "Antifa heißt (auch) Feminismus!". Antifaschistisches Info Blatt. 2012-04-01. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
↑ Fittkau, Ludger (2016-01-21). "Streit um Pickup Artists". Deutschlandfunk. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
↑ "Schrei, Wenn Du Des Teufels Bist!". Internet Archive . 2017-10-07. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
↑ Wayland, Alis (2018-10-20). "marcha 20/10, florianópolis, #elenão". flickr. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
↑ "Wildcat Zirkular 1994-2002, mit Lücken". Internet Archive . 2022-07-14. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
↑ "„Die widerliche Vereinigung!" - Vorabenddemo". Indymedia. 2023-10-28. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
↑ "Fantifa – Gegen den Neonaziaufmarsch am 18. März in Leipzig". Indymedia . 2017-03-11. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
↑ Torstendahl, Rolfe (1999). State Policy and Gender System in the Two German States and Sweden 1945-1989. pp. 146–148. ISBN 978-9150613476.
↑ Moeller, Robert G. (1993-01-11). Protecting Motherhood: Women and the Family in the Politics of Postwar West Germany. University of California Press. pp. 112, 122–124. ISBN 978-0520079038 . Retrieved 2023-01-15.
↑ "[Berlin] trans*geniale f_antifa goes Mad Pride". Indymedia . 2013-07-14. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
↑ Uni, Assaf (2006-12-27). "The Good Men of Leipzig". Haaretz . Retrieved 2023-01-13.
↑ "Handlungsfähigkeit und Frauen*quote". Antifaschistiches Info Blatt. 2017-02-01. Retrieved 2023-01-15.