Feminist Hackers

A Feminist Server was born at the TransHackFeminist Convergence, which happened this summer in Calafou (Catalona). The raison d’etre for the creation of a feminist server is to start creating independent and autonomous feminist infrastructures to resist: the (digital) targeting of women, feminist, queer and transgendered individuals (in particular, but not exclusively as also targeted are people of color, migrants, refugees, etc.), the centralization of the internet and its transformation into a consumption sanctuary and a space of surveillance, control and tracking of dissent voices by government agencies, among others. All these factors and more have led to a situation where the internet is not a safe space and where it is common to see feminist and activist work being deleted, censored, and/or prevented from being seen, heard or read. Freedom of expression is part of the feminist/queer/trans struggle and a feminist server is one of the multiple ways to ensure that our right to speak up remains accessible online, offline and wherever and under any format of expression. There will be no feminist internet (see e.g. APC Feminist Principles of the Internet) without properly managed autonomous feminist servers.

During the First Feminist Server Summit held in Brussels in December 2013, there was an attempt to define what a feminist server is. The collective of people present came out with:

A Feminist server…..
– Is a situated technology.
– It is run for and by a community that cares enough for her/they to exist.
– It builds on the materiality of software, hardware and the bodies gathered around it.
– It opens herself/themselves to expose processes, tools, sources, habits, patterns.
– It knows that networking is actually an awkward, promiscuous and parasitic practice.
– It is autonomous in the sense that she/they decide for her/they own dependencies.
– It treats technology as part of a social reality, and finally
– It takes the risk of exposing her/they insecurity while trying hard not to apologies when she/they sometimes is/are not available.

The Queerness of a Feminist Server: Building Resistance Communication Technologies

According to the Merriam Webster’s Dictionary a server is defined as “a computer in a network that is used to provide services (as access to files or shared peripherals or the routing of e-mail) to other computers in the network”. This technical and somewhat neutral definition tend to obscure the possibilities for understanding the political aspect behind the setting up and management of a server. Can a server, a node within a decentralised network, have a feminist queer posture? This was the question a group of feminist, queer and trans hackers asked themselves at the First Feminist Server Summit held in Brussels in December 2013 and at the TransHackFeminist convergence in August 2014.

In this upcoming article, I will investigate the reasons behind the importance of setting up a feminist server. The constellation of factors include: the increased interest by feminist, queer and trans hackers for a politically-oriented queer and feminist server, the desire to have a clear queer feminist posture to communication technologies including having control and autonomy over its structures and infrastructures, the necessity to respond to the relationship between online and offline violence towards LGBTQI (Cárdenas 2013) and, the censorship towards some of the practices and ideas embraced.

I will then attempt to decipher and analyse the meaning(s) of a feminist server that has been put forward by feminist, queer and trans hackers. This will be in an effort to locate their practices in queer (Butler 1990, 2004; Ferguson 2003; Muñoz 2009), feminist (Haraway 1988; Harding 1986, 2004) and technological frameworks (Coleman 2008, 2012; Kelty 2008; Winner 1988). In their words, a feminist server is a situated technology. It is run for and by a community that cares enough for her/they to exist. It builds on the materiality of software, hardware and the bodies gathered around it. It opens herself/themselves to expose processes, tools, sources, habits, patterns. It knows that networking is actually an awkward, promiscuous and parasitic practice. It is autonomous in the sense that she/they decide for her/they own dependencies. It treats technology as part of a social reality and finally, it takes the risk of exposing her/they insecurity while trying hard not to apologise when she/they sometimes is/are not available.

The article will aim at demonstrating that the queering of a feminist server is a political act, which rests on non-essentialist and non-universal principles. The queering of a feminist server, I will argue, is about hacking heteronormativity, patriarchy and capitalism while reclaiming independence and building autonomous infrastructures. It is also based on the breaking of boundaries between the theoretical production and the practice (Brown and Nash 2010) and it is aimed at opening up new imaginaries for understanding communication technologies and our relations to them. As one of the participants involved in this project both at the conceptual and technical level, I will follow and embody throughout this article a queer methodology (Brown and Nash 2010) and build on what Chiara Brambilla (2012) calls relational space between theory and activism.

Keywords: Hacker culture; Feminist server; Queer methodology; Communications technologies

Bibliography

Brambilla, C 2012, Constructing a Relational Space between ‘Theory’ and ‘Activism’,or (Re)thinking Borders. ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies, 2012, 11(2): 215-221

Butler, J 2004 , Undoing Gender. Routledge, New York.

Butler, J 1990 , Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge, New York.

Coleman, G 2012 , Coding Freedom: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Hacking. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

Coleman, G 2010 , ‘Hacking In-Person: The Ritual Character of Conferences and the Distillation of a Life-World’. Anthropological Quarterly, vol. 83, no. 1, pp. 47–72.
Coleman, G & Golub, A 2008 , ‘Hacker practice: moral genres and the cultural articulation of liberalism’. Anthropological Theory, vol. 8, pp. 255–277.
Cárdenas, Micha. “FROM A FREE SOFTWARE MOVEMENT TO A FREE SAFETY MOVEMENT.”
Mute Magazine, 2013. http://www.metamute.org/editorial/lab/free-software-movement-to-freesafety-movement.

Ferguson, R 2003 , Aberrations in Black: Toward a Queer of Color Critique. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Haraway, D 1988 , ‘Situated Knoweldges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective’ in Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives, 2nd edn, eds C McCann, & S Kim, Routledge, New York, pp.370-383.

Harding, S (ed.) 2004 , The feminist standpoint theory reader : intellectual and political controversies. Routledge, New York.

Harding, S 1986 , The Science Question in Feminism, Cornell. University Press, Ithaca.

Kelty, C 2008 , Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software. Duke University Press, Durham.
Muñoz, JE 2009 , Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity. New York University Press, New York.

Winner, Langdon. The Whale and the Reactor: A Search for Limits in an Age of High Technology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.

English follows

Le Collectif FemHack vous invite à FemCrypt!  – Un atelier sur le cryptage des courriels
8 fevrier, 1214, de la montagne

Contexte
L’objectif de cet atelier est de vous introduire aux concepts de chiffrement et du cryptage des communications électroniques (encryption, en anglais) et de vous initier à la pratique de cryptage des courriels selon une pédagogie féministe et dans un environnement anti-oppressif et politisé. Le recours aux communications cryptées devient de plus en plus pressant, en particulier à la suite des révélations d’Edward Snowden concernant la surveillance massive sur Internet. D’ailleurs les premières tentatives de contact entre Edward Snowden et le journaliste Glenn Greenwald ont échoué, car M. Greenwald ne savait pas crypter ses communications, particulièrement ses courriels. Du coup, c’est à Laura Poitras que Snowden a confié les documents fuités, car celle-ci utilisait le chiffrement. Le chiffrement devient donc un outil incontournable pour toutes personnes (hackers, activistes, chercheurs, journalistes, etc.) désirant protéger ses données et est par conséquent un outil que tous et toutes doivent connaître. 
 

Descriptif
L’atelier sur le chiffrement se fera en deux temps. Tout d’abord, une partie plus théorique abordera la notion de cryptage et son importance grandissante en particulier dans le contexte des révélations d’Edward Snowden sur la surveillance de masse sur Internet. Dans un deuxième temps, une partie pratique vous guidera dans l’installation de logiciels libres vous permettant de crypter vos courriels.

Objectifs spécifiques
À la fin de cet atelier:
–        Vous aurez une meilleure idée du bien-fondé de l’utilisation du chiffrement;
–        Vous devriez être en mesure de chiffrer vos courriels;
–        Vous aurez développé une curiosité pour la sécurité numérique.

À faire avant la formation
Vous devez vous créer un nouveau compte de courriel. Les services proposés par les grands monopoles étasuniens, tels Hotmail, Yahoo ou Gmail sont peu sécuritaires et font l’objet de surveillance systématique de la part des agences gouvernementales. En tant qu’activiste s’inscrivant dans une démarche féministe, queer, anti-oppressive et anti-capitaliste une ré-approriation technologique non-corporative est essentiel. Nous vous demandons donc d’utiliser un autre service que ceux-ci tels que Riseup.net, Resist.ca, autistici.org, Poivron.org, aktivix.org ou autres. Pour une liste complète visitez : https://help.riseup.net/ca/security/resources/radical-servers N’oubliez pas que ces services sécurisés qui ne vendent/donnent pas vos données à des tiers parties sont produites par des bénévoles. Les dons sont les bienvenus!

    
Où : La Passe, 1214 La Montagne
Quand : Dimanche 8 février, 13:00-16h00.
Langue : bilingue
Matériel à apporter: ordinateur portable
Pour vous inscrire à l’atelier envoyer un email à femhack@lists.riseup.net et indiquez nous :
– Votre type de système d’exploitation : Mac OS, Windows, Linux – Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, etc. ?

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Femhack invites you to FemCrypt! – A workshop on How to Encrypt your Emails
Feb 8, La Passe, 1214 de la montagne

Context
The objective of this workshop is to introduce you to the concepts of encryption more generally and to email encryption practices more specifically. The workshop will follow a feminist pedagogy and expect everyone to create an anti-oppressive and politicized space.The use of encrypted communications is becoming increasingly pressing, especially in the wake of Edward Snowden’s revelations on mass surveillance on the Internet. Besides, the first communication attempts between Edward Snowden and journalist Glenn Greenwald failed, because Mr. Greenwald did not know how to encrypt his communications, especially his emails. Snowden turned instead to the video documentarist Laura Poitras who new how to use encryption. Encryption has become an essential tool for everyone (hackers, activists, researchers, journalists, etc.) who wish to protect their data and is therefore a tool that everyone should know.

Description
The plan for the encryption workshop will be two-fold. First, a theoretical part will address the concept of encryption and its growing importance in particular in the context of the revelations of Edward Snowden on mass surveillance on the Internet. Secondly, a practical part will guide you through the installation of free software that allows you to encrypt your emails.

Specific objectives
At the end of this workshop:

– You will have a better idea of the merits of the use of encryption;
– You should be able to encrypt your emails;
– You will have developed a curiosity for digital security.

Things to do before training
You must create a new email account. The services offered by the big Americans monopolies such as Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail are unsafe and are the subject of systematic monitoring by government agencies. As activists who follow a feminist, queer, anti-oppressive and anti-capitalist stance, it is essential to think about (re)appropriating non-corporate technological tools. We ask you to use a service other than the big corporate ones such as Riseup.net, Resist.ca, autistici.org, Poivron.org, aktivix.org. For a complete list visit: https://help.riseup.net/ca/security/resources/radical-servers

This article was publish in the Jounal of Peer Production in October 2014. The following is an excerpt for the publised text. To read the full article visit: http://peerproduction.net/issues/issue-5-shared-machine-shops/peer-reviewed-articles/feminist-hackerspaces-the-synthesis-of-feminist-and-hacker-cultures/

By Sophie Toupin

Introduction

Between 2013 and 2014 three new hackerspaces popped up in rapid succession along the west coast of the USA. These spaces were significant; they offered, for the first time, a clear vision of how intersectionally-inflected feminist principles might inform a new breed of hackerspaces. New models of hackerspaces seemed capable of narrowing the gap between hacker and feminist cultures.

Feminist hacker, maker and geek initiatives have existed, in the USA and elsewhere, under different shapes and forms — both physical and virtual — for more than a decade. North American feminist geeks connect virtually via Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Twitter or the Geek Feminism wiki and blog, meet face-to-face at conferences (such as WisCon — a feminist sci-fi convention — Ada Camps, and others) and participate in groups such as LinuxChix, Lady Py and Girl Geek Dinners. But until recently, more permanent hackerspaces attuned to feminist principles have been largely nonexistent.

Hackerspaces have spread rapidly across North America throughout the past five years. They have been influenced by the dominant German model, based on a particular understanding of openness: anyone interested in hacking and technology is welcome to attend open nights and, ultimately, become a member. Despite the ideal of openness at the heart of this model, groups such as women, queers, people of color, etc. have remained either largely underrepresented or completely absent from these spaces. In order to attempt to correct this lack of diversity, a number of hackerspaces have crafted or proposed remedial strategies, such as women-only hack nights and the adoption of codes of conduct, among others. Some of these strategies, such as the women-only hack night, have been met with controversy; It is and often deemed to go against the sacrosanct principle of openness.

As a new phenomenon, very little scholarly work has appeared on the subject of feminist hackerspaces to date. However, criticisms of mainstream hackerspaces have appeared recently in personal and non-scholarly venues, written primarily by feminist hackers, makers and geeks. These written tracts have been buttressed by numerous informal and verbal discussions on the subject — and as a result there has appeared a marked desire to rethink the core concept of openness from the perspective of feminist hackers, makers and geeks (see Henry 2014; Toupin 2013). [i] Critics have highlighted the need for spaces to enable feelings of safety rather than simply openness. They also point to issues of privilege commonly obscured by open and meritocratic cultures (or what Nafus (2012) calls “pushyocratic” cultures). These tensions within hackerspaces and the hacker community (see Spinks 2013; Wolf 2012) have led some feminist hackers, makers and geeks to desire spaces of their own, framed by their own boundaries.

The following women-centered/feminist and/or people of color-led hackerspaces have emerged in the past years: Mz Baltazar’s Laboratory in Vienna (feminist space created in 2008-2009), Liberating Ourselves Locally in Oakland (people of color space created in 2012), Mothership Hackermoms in Berkley (women-centered space created in 2012), Seattle Attic in Seattle (intersectional feminist space created in 2013), Flux in Portland (intersectional feminist space created in 2013), Double Union in San Francisco (intersectional feminist space created in 2013) and Hacker Gals in Michigan (women-centered space created in 2014).

In this article, I apply feminist standpoint theory in order to better understand the ideologies at work in feminist hackerspaces and the communities, which surround them. Practically, this means analyzing the unique experiences and positions of the women, genderqueer and trans individuals who comprise the membership of these hackerspaces. As most of these recently created spaces adopt principles of intersectional feminism, I will at times adopt the framework in my own analysis. Intersectional feminism is a framework that looks at the world through plural perspectives highlighting the relationship and intersection between gender, sexual orientation, geographical location, ethnicity, class, among others. At a practical level, intersectional feminist hackerspaces aim at being inclusive in creating safer space while also recognizing privileges that certain individuals have in society and which play out in hackerspaces. Also, I will argue that feminist hackerspaces’ contribution is towards a different understanding of the concept of openness based on feminist principles. Feminists debunk the myth of openness and meritocracy associated with hackerspaces culture, question the use and/or the narrowness of the term hacker and hacking in addition to foregrounding a new understanding of openness which is at the intersection of feminist and hacker culture. My focus is less on the subject of feminism, and its tensions, but rather on the ways in which feminist hackerspaces are redefining and reconfiguring the meaning of openness, which is what unites them. This helps not get bogged down by irreconcilable tensions, but nonetheless does not shy away from outlining them. Moreover, I will argue that feminist hackerspaces function as the spatial manifestation of a feminist hacker, maker and geek culture. The emergence of feminist hackerspaces furthers the visibility of feminist hackers, makers and geeks and seemingly helps cement a different social imaginary of feminist hacking practices. Their shared vision enables them to maintain a certain form of association, or what Kelty (2008) calls a recursive public, while not necessitating the establishment of identical boundaries in their respective spaces. The different feminist practices that are embodied in the newly created feminist spaces of hacking help move scholarship away from discussions of female hackers (Adam 2003; Jordan & Taylor 2004; Taylor 2003) and their absence, and towards discussions of a vital community of feminist hackers, makers and geeks. It will become clear that this community has firmly consolidated its existence through the establishment of feminist hackerspaces.

To continue reading visit: http://peerproduction.net/issues/issue-5-shared-machine-shops/peer-reviewed-articles/feminist-hackerspaces-the-synthesis-of-feminist-and-hacker-cultures/

The TransH@ckFeminist (THF!) convergence, organised in collaboration with Calafou &  /etc (eclectic tech carnival) will be held from August 4-11 in Calafou (Spain). THF! is a gathering of intersectional feminists, queer and trans people of all genders interested in better understanding, using and ultimately developing free and liberating technologies for social dissent, as an alternative to the corporatisation of technologies and the digital world. We understand technologies in their broadest sense including computer systems, (distributed) networks, “pirate”, community and/or independent radio/ tv, guerilla knitting and gardening, looming, hardware hacking as well as gender hacking.

For more info visit: www.transhackfeminist.org