We kicked off our First International Symposium in May 2013 with a workshop for Paul B. Preciado’s symposium Living and Resisting in the Neoliberal Condition in the Somateca Program for Advanced Studies in Critical Practices workshop series, held at La Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, Spain. Paul invited us to give a workshop titled Ecosex in the Age of Neoliberalism.
Paul described his symposium as an exploration of the “implications of the neo- liberal condition, by introducing new forms of activism and critical languages as responses to the collapse of disciplinary institutions and the revision of medical, socio-political, and audiovisual discourses centered around the body.” He asked us to explore ecosex as a way to counter the policies of austerity that were being forced on the Spanish by their government. Spain, along with the other three southern European Union countries Portugal, Italy, and Greece, had received loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. These institutions provided this funding with the stipulation that if the loans were not repaid in a timely manner, the funds would be collected by taking other resources. International lenders make huge profits by holding national resources as collateral in cases of default. These publicly held asets include property, mineral rights, and national pension funds. Losing these assets severely impacted the quality of life for ordinary people, as the governments of Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain were forced to impose austerity policies on their citizenry in order to repay the loans that they could not afford.
We had experience with similar issues right in our own neighborhood. Part of the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis was the epidemic of foreclosures. It was largely centered on families taking out loans that they could not afford. When they could not pay back their loans, lenders took their homes. Beth started Occupy Bernal during a meeting that took place around our kitchen table. Occupy Bernal saved more than one hundred of our neighbors and families from foreclosure and evictions. But that is another story.3
Paul invited us to present because he saw our focus on love and respect for the natural environment as a way to be in the world celebrating the Earth for reasons other than instrumental profit or gain. For the workshop we could not have asked for a more committed group. The Somateca participants were seasoned activists, professional community organizers, NGO workers, and intellectuals who were living through the economic deterioration of southern Europe. They were extremely critical of neoliberalism and interested in resisting the system.
First we took the group on a walk to Parque del Retiro. We gave each participant a copy of our “25 Ways to Make Love to the Earth” as a sort of trail guide, and we encouraged them to experience ecosex in a variety of ways, using all their senses. When we reached the park’s highest knoll, we invited the participants to repeat our wedding vows “to love, honor, and cherish the Earth.” Later at the museum’s workshop space we formed breakout groups, which we asked to explore possibilities for ecosexual activism using drawing and map making. We received some very interesting comments, including that of one group who suggested that the slowing down of experience and movement during our walking tour was a powerful way to remove oneself from the constant demand for productivity. We also got some interesting feedback from a few folks who were not quite ready to embrace our vision. Overall, we felt our workshop in this context was a big success.