On "Collective Empowerment"

Collective Empowerment

Collectivity is about doing something together that individuals cannot do alone. It often fills in for a need that the community has identified.

 

I like to think a lot of the younger crews that have started out in Cairo over the last 2 or 3 years or so. They all realize this: that if I’m not getting booked somewhere, I might as well just do it myself. So it’s a balance. […] And that’s not at all intended to be exclusionary in every way. Like someone can be a wonderful person and who’s a great friend of ours, but if they don’t play the music we like, we’re not going to book them […]. (MOSHTRQ)

It’s a learning space, and, for example, none of us is a carpenter, has built a boat, or has created a floating circus. […] Each year it’s a new adventure, a new fantasy. […] We are all learning from each other. Over time, we developed a sense of whom to ask for specific things. So within the collective, someone became—not an expert—but a guide, let’s say, for the group in that technique. (El Warcha)

By adopting a descriptive framework for collective practices, we aim to counter the tendency to regard collectives, groups, or shared work practices – regardless of their self-applied label – as entirely unique. When collectives are seen solely as new frontiers of experimental societies, there is a risk of evaluating them based on normative ideals, rather than observing what actually takes place within these spaces. While each collective is undoubtedly shaped by its specific circumstances, it is equally important to develop a critical language that allows us to name and discuss their practices from an external perspective.