September 3, 2019

We often wonder why we think k.ö.k is so important to us, why we want to continue working together and, not least, how we should continue. That k.ö.k is crucial for us, we have no doubts, but why? Of course, there are as many reasons as there are members, and so that must be. And we know it is enough that we show that we care, to see and listen to each other and to do things together. But we often ask ourselves, what is the difference between k.ö.k and The Women’s Centres’ regular activities; what is different in what we do and how we do it. The question is not entirely easy, and should not be, because we depend on each other. Or if truth be told, k.ö.k is far more dependent on The Women’s Centre than the other way around, and for the key reason that k.ö.k has grown from The Women’s Centre. In this way, we see ourselves as a little sister to The Women’s Centre. The Women’s Centre is an organization that actively mobilizes women, and organizes regular activities that women can participate in to learn new things, whereas kök is more of a place where we, at a very slow pace, together think through what it means to practice feminism in a global order, what you mind call a kind of feminist course where we learn from each other. Perhaps the most important thing we try to practice is radical care, which for us is about developing strategies for how we can take care of each other in precarious times. How can we take care of each other so that we survive, mentally, financially, physically and politically. The Women’s Centre practices radical care on a daily basis, which k.ö.k is inspired by and learns from. Together with members of the The Women’s Centre and kök, we collectively try to think about how we can share this practice with others. How to attend to the immediate needs of everyday life and the long-term slow common thinking about struggles and sicknesses, which we see as both equally important and indispensable in a collective feminist practice. The relationships between the various activities and the platforms are something that we want to continue to think through, and work with. And something we will definitely return to many times.