Author: ayc

The following list of positions and values are not exhaustive, nor are they final. If something is missing from this list or should be removed or changed, this is something we can, and will, collectively improve. These are the values we try and live by when creating space together:

We are autonomous. Capitalism and the state will not solve the problems we face. We co-create space and take action to build a better world together. Autonomy also means caring for each other – we look out for and love each other, embed a culture of care across all of our organising, and carefully consider the risks we take and encourage others to take. We take collective responsibility for improving our own and each other’s behaviour by challenging oppressive behaviours and attitudes when we see them occurring, and collectively figuring out how we can change our own actions and our spaces to resist these behaviours and attitudes.

We are internationalists. The struggle against oppression is a global one. We stand in solidarity with all those fighting for theirs and others’ liberation across the world, and recognise the unique role we have to play in supporting those struggles from the belly of the beast. We understand that we have so much to learn from revolutionaries across the world in both their struggles and their ways of living, and we recognise that their right to resist oppression is non-negotiable.

We are anti-hierarchical. We recognise that hierarchies of various kinds always and inevitably exist within and outside our spaces. We recognise especially that pre-existing oppressive social dynamics are reflected within our spaces, and that hierarchies of pre-existing social relationships, and differences in the quantity and visibility of work that has already been taken on, affect individuals’ power within the space. We fight to dismantle all these hierarchies, whilst recognising that we will not completely abolish hierarchy in the short time we have together, and that it is more dangerous to pretend that we can. We try to make all decisions collectively and democratically, especially uplifting the voices and concerns of the quietest and most marginalised. We actively work to include and support everyone to get involved and contribute however they are able to. We try and work in different ways to honour everyone’s skills and don’t assume that one kind of work is more ‘valuable’ or ‘important’ than any other. We share our skills and knowledge, and are patient with each other.

We believe in the power of youth. We recognise that formal education, on the whole, currently seeks to make us into compliant, productive, and “moral” workers, who accept the violence of the status quo. Instead, we can work together towards liberated forms of education that empower us to make a new world together, beyond capitalism, the regimes of racism, patriarchy and ableism it depends on, and the ecological destruction it fosters. We hope that the “youth” in Autonomous Youth Camp can be more than just a label & can instead represent a collective commitment to youth liberation, too. We recognise the key role that youth have had in the past, and still have, in the fight for the collective liberation of us all. We recognise the unique experiences of those who are legally children, and explicitly welcome under-18s to our spaces.

We are feminist. We struggle against patriarchy and the family. We recognise that we all, no matter our gender, are conditioned by and reproduce the patriarchy in many ways, and struggle against this conditioning, fighting misogyny in all its manifestations, from overt bigotry and violence to conscious or unconscious dismissal and silencing of certain voices and allocation of labour along gendered lines. Our feminism is trans-liberatory: we respect people’s total bodily autonomy and chosen form of address, and understand that misogyny does not only target or affect cisgender women. We do not believe that masculinity or men are essentially dangerous or that femininity or women are inherently safe and radical.

We are anti-racist. We fight against whiteness. We understand we live in a racist, white-supremacist society and we all intentionally or unintentionally reproduce racism and white-supremacy. We must try and unlearn this, and work together to act to oppose these dynamics in our spaces.

We struggle against all forms of oppression. There is no exhaustive list of forms of oppression, but it may be helpful to list some common ones so we can take collective responsibility to fight them. These include, but are not limited to: misogyny, racism, colonialism (including zionism), ageism, transphobia, queerphobia, classism, ableism, xenophobia, islamophobia, antisemitism, and anti-GRT prejudice. We take responsibility for being aware of our own privilege and aim to be aware of how our privileges impact our behaviour, including how we harm each other without meaning to. We recognise that our words and actions can harm other people even if this is not our intention, and we understand that if we do or say something that causes harm we can expect to be challenged in a way that respects us as a person but actively challenges our behaviour. We challenge oppressive behaviours when we see them and always aim to help each other understand where they have caused harm. We remember that it is never the responsibility of those who experience that oppression or harm to educate others on why the behaviours are oppressive. Challenging harmful behaviour in ourselves and others is a collective responsibility.

We learn from each other. When our behaviour is challenged we agree to remain open to constructive feedback and criticism rather than becoming defensive. We remember that if we come from a place of privilege in a discussion, feeling uncomfortable because we are challenged is a sign that we need to look at our own behaviour and not a sign that we are being discriminated against. When we are challenged we agree to listen and reflect on what we are being told, even if we disagree. We work to create an environment where it is okay to ask if we don’t understand something, and where a wide range of different ways to learn are available. We remember that we won’t always agree but we listen to each other and take the time to understand each other’s opinions. We take responsibility for our words and actions and are not afraid to change our minds. We recognise the importance of healthy conversation between different people with political disagreements about their different understandings of things and different solutions they pose to tackle issues in society, within the bounds set out in this anti-oppression statement. We are opposed to dogmatism (“laying down principles as undeniably true, without consideration of evidence or the opinions of others”)

We treat everyone in the space with respect. We all have different physical, emotional, sexual and online boundaries. We don’t assume all of us are comfortable with the same things. We always respect other people’s boundaries, including when they are different to our own, and we expect our own boundaries to be respected. We ask for consent before touching someone, discussing sensitive topics, taking photos or sharing someone’s personal information with others (especially police or journalists).

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We organise extended in-person gatherings bringing together new and experienced youth organisers to learn from each other and build towards stronger and more unified social movements. 

We are youth who see the need to strengthen organising for collective liberation by bringing local groups together to be more effective, unified, and connected to each other and wider international struggles. We also aim to learn from other struggles and youth movements from around the world. We believe in autonomy, anti-imperialism, and the struggle against oppression in all its forms, including patriarchy, racism, capitalism, and the state.

Many youth organising groups are short-lived and jump from important issue to important issue which means we are not focused on laying down foundations for the long run. This forces new organisers to reinvent the wheel without having access to the experiences and knowledge from the past. We see ourselves as a continuous thread from the 2019 youth climate movements, 2021 rent strikes, recent Palestine solidarity movements and other youth movements, and aim to create a way for future movements to connect into these networks and build on collective knowledge and relationships.

We hope that the gatherings can also be a regenerative space where people can take a step back from the day-to-day urgency culture and insular focus common in our groups, taking the time for more in-depth, long-term, and bigger-picture thinking and discussions.

Our gatherings are for education and conversations – about practical skills, reflection, long-term strategy and internationalism. We also aim to facilitate a shift away from university-student-centered politics. We aim to be a space for both students and non students to explore how to organise outside systems of miseducation together.

We are all crew, expecting everyone who attends to chip in and help out. We are a youth-only organisation, ensuring our gatherings are organised by youth, for youth. The spaces we build can also be an opportunity to experiment with living in alternative ways, prioritising communality over individualism and practising democratic structures.

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We are Autonomous Youth Camp. We’ve organised this camp every year from 2022, and and we’re back again in 2026. If the statement of purpose below interests you, why not come along to this year’s camp on the 23-30th July? We’ll publish a sign up form soon!

Have any other questions? Get in touch with us at autonomousyouthcamp@gmail.com

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