Reading Creative Interventions Toolkit brought up a thousand thoughts and feelings. As a result, this review ended up being both a review of the book and a blog of the thoughts and feelings (moreso than usual) that it awakened in me.
The Creative Interventions Toolkit was assembled by the organization by the same name and is available for free via PDF on their website or in print version via AK Press. I really liked the design of the print version. It was easy to read, follow, navigate, and I felt engaged by the layout. I have not examined the PDF version to be able to say if it is similar. The print version is gigantic- think of a textbook. This is intimidating, which the authors do acknowledge, and at first I found myself frustrated with it. I wanted to read it cover to cover in order to give it a proper review, but there is so much repetition. I finally reassessed how I should be reading it and that improved the experience. This book works less as a "read this cover to cover if you want a successful accountability process" and more of a combination between a textbook (where a teacher would assign only some relevant chapters throughout class) and a collection of independent sections that can be read alone (with the proper foundation set up in the beginning of the book.) Reading it like this meant "cover to cover" was more like reading only certain long form sections.
Even with the reading adjustment, I do think it could have been condensed into a shorter volume. I adore that this book is written with everyone in mind- not just small communities of far left organizers with extensive vocabularies and organizing skills. I think they do a good enough job explaining things that condensing a lot of it would make the book far less intimidating and more likely to be used by those who need it most. This book is clearly written by people who wanted it to be able to be used by a far larger audience. They are true abolitionists who clearly have put immense thought and care into its creation. I am very grateful it exists.
Here's where I talk about myself too much and the thoughts this brought up. Let me get one thing clear- this part of this post is me talking to an audience of "my" people. So, I am writing with the assumption that we all agree that most sexual assault accusations are the truth, much -but definitely not all- harm happens within or is worsened by oppressive and authoritarian power dynamics (patriarchy, white supremacy, etc,) capitalism is a hellscape, authoritarianism is never a good thing, and violence* should be reserved for defense or when other options don't work. Many people who rape are cis men, men who are raped are usually raped by other men, people who use sexual and domestic violence often do so repeatedly to multiple victims. The state often ignores, belittles, abuses, retraumatizes, or is violent to survivors especially of marginalized groups and is especially hard on people of marginalized groups who do harm (especially towards the dominant group such as a Black man accused of harming a white woman.) The vast majority of the time, courts and the police do not solve the problem and/or make things worse. Some people are so horrifically manipulative, devoid of empathy, purposefully predatory, and may never be ready for or interested in accountability. Some people unfortunately need their asses kicked, faces spread around, and to be kicked out for the safety of communities. Some even are killed in self defense by survivors of their violence or their community. But, these outcomes (I will argue usually) are not the case. What I am saying is that my discussion in this post of the messy nuances around violence and accountability is not meant to undermine these central realities.
*What constitutes appropriate and effective violence (or violence at all) is a whole other essay and this is already long, but you catch my drift.
I generally had a very complicated and traumatic life before I found sobriety and then organizing. I've had chronic physical and mental illnesses since childhood, a slew of really screwed up experiences and violent traumas, drug addiction from a young age that wrecked my life, all on top of being what my current psychologist calls a "hypersensor-" meaning I am generally a mess inside my head and easily overstimulated even in normal, everyday scenarios. About 15-20 years ago, I got really involved in various forms of anti-authoritarian organizing and LGBTQ communities, the former of which I ceased most participation in around 4 years ago due to my health worsening. I saw and learned a lot in that time- including how to fail at accountability and transformative justice both in my own life and watching the efforts (or lack thereof) of others. Despite our strong desires for an abolitionist society, we're all products of this world and we bring that and all of our trauma and internalized oppression with us. Despite our willingness to fight together in the streets, sometimes we struggle to call in our friends when we see abuse happening right in front of us. That is why this book brought up so much for me. It covers real life, not simply (sometimes imaginary) binaries.
Humans in general (in my limited USAmerican experience) really like to point the finger at others. We love hating rapists, abusers, and fuckups of all sorts. We love thinking of them as one dimensional monsters- completely different species from ourselves. We love calling out that Karen's racist joke on twitter or shaming the ignorant in order to prove to ourselves that we're not like them (anymore.) Get a big enough group together and those dynamics can make canceling someone incredibly intoxicating and feel like "community." Sometimes, even often, the person being canceled doesn't deserve it at the far reaching levels that canceling extends to.
We are often hypersensitive from our own traumas and experiences with oppression. We truly want to see a better world and society. The ideas that people who do harm might actually still be complex and human, that situations of violence are often very complicated, that sometimes people who make accusations can be wrong, that entire communities can be responsible for abuse (not just the person who directly did harm,) and that we can't just solve abuse and violence by tossing out the trash... well... suck. We all do harm. We all cause conflict. Sometimes we do harm because we grew up learning it was normal. Sometimes we are more vulnerable to harm because we grew up learning it was normal.
In small communities especially, social capital can sometimes outweigh everything else.
In my own mental health struggles, I have perceived and declared things that were minor issues as being bigger forms of abuse. Sarah Schulman discusses "overstating harm" like this in Conflict is not Abuse. I have weaponized callout culture in ways that- in hindsight- I realize made the situation worse. I once completely cut off a dear friend when I found out she had been abusive to multiple women. I later realized it would have been far more helpful to do things the hard way and try to help her acknowledge the harm and do better. During a mental health crisis, a generally nonabusive partner of similar demographics was scary and violent towards me, had far more social capital, then tried to paint me as at fault/abusive to escape responsibility. I had a close friend who once helped me leave an abusive relationship, then started a partnership with the abuser 2 weeks later, never denying what he did and ghosting me. He abused her for years after that. He was celebrated as a pinnacle of trans community when he died. I have met multiple men who have done harm and agreed to "accountability processes" that were not processes at all. Some of their actions were minor and done once- even according to the survivor- but other folks took out their past trauma on them while offering them no way to do better (and they were actually willing.) It was a mess that didn't heal anyone. I have had friends deal with an extremely violent and unstable housemate who weaponized oppression lingo and community leaders to make said friends (who were also marginalized in more ways) out to be "unsafe," even while he was the one literally holding the axe. I have one parent who was an extremely neglectful and sometimes abusive alcoholic and died by suicide. I have another parent existing in a state of active paranoid psychosis, who refuses treatment, and constantly accuses people of poisoning, attacking, gang stalking, assaulting, etc her- including me at times. Regardless of reality- they are completely real experiences for her.
This book covers all of that shit. It doesn't go into the kind of detail I have here, which is why this post is more personal than a review, but it actually leaves room for real conflict resolution, discussion, and problem solving. Creative Interventions acknowledge that things can sometimes be clear cut (a man serially assaulting women and hopping from community to community) or more confusing (partners accusing one another of abuse at the same time.) They acknowledge that things can be messy (the survivor may be a straight up unlikable asshole, the person doing harm may be well loved.) They acknowledge that most if not all of us tend to feel and/or act defensive when confronted with the idea that we have done harm- especially if it was unintentional or out of ignorance. They acknowledge that some mental and intellectual disabilities may prevent someone from being able to be accountable in ways someone without said disabilities could be without ignoring the harm done and the need to do something about it. With all of these acknowledgements and many more, they offer real, concrete solutions. Neither I nor the authors have any illusions of perfection. I am sure mistakes can still be made. But, they're far less likely with these methods and far more likely to be mended in this sort of system.
Some of the stuff that was most enlightening for me were the sections on "the person doing harm" and their role in things. I have seen a lot of the survivor, community, and ally transformative justice tactics that they explain. I have rarely seen texts that go deep into what we can do when we're the one who has done harm. The section is thorough and covers a wide range of stages that a person doing harm may exist in. These range from those in a state of pure, unempathetic lack of remorse to those whose defensiveness is protection from their own shame to those who are ready, willing, and enthusiastic about doing better and healing the harm they have caused. It was freeing to read and be reminded that there will always be ways to do better, rather than wallow in shame and guilt (that can motivate, but can also take up massive space, and center the person doing harm.) Fearing and running from accountability can sometimes take more time and effort than the scary process of facing it head on. The skills in this book would apply across the board to all harm and conflict in my opinion- not just violence. I can see myself using things I learned in every day interactions with people in everything from very minor, one time mistakes to chronic, deeply entrenched problematic beliefs and behaviors. The authors acknowledge the reality that accountability does not mean a community will feel comfortable or that relationships will remain intact. It does not mean the person who was harmed will forgive everything and we'll all run off into the sunset alongside unicorns. It does mean, however, that the future is full of promise and the ability to do better and live better, regardless of how extreme the harm(s) someone has caused.
One thing on violence: Creative Interventions states that they are generally against violence used to shame or seek revenge on the person doing harm which, I admit, made me bristle for a second. I've seen some pretty awful predators do some really horrific things (including discovering I narrowly escaped a skillful grooming by a serial assailant that was committing horror movie style sexual violence against people throughout the community.) The idea of them being hurt feels perfectly justified to me. CI's explanations gave me a new outlook on how violent retribution can actually be giving the person doing harm what they want. In one of the personal stories (which are all extremely helpful and enriching to the text,) there is a description of a man who sexually assaults someone and submits himself in front of the group that confronts him, begging for forgiveness and not to receive the consequences the accountability team had planned. While some of them wished violence had happened, some said that it is exactly what he wanted in those moments- to get his ass kicked and therefore claim he had repented and to walk away from it all. If a man rapes a community member, we all go kick his ass, and tell him he's not welcome (which as I said, is occasionally all that's left to be done,) is that better than taking away his ability to access more victims, to get him to interrogate his issues, to support him in doing so, etc? It depends on the situation, but sometimes violence is the less effective way out. And, if you're a sensitive person like me, violence towards someone even if they "deserve it" can fuck you up. Sometimes the kindness of providing a process of redemption for someone who has done something despicable is really worth it.
If you made it this far, thank you for giving me your time and attention. This was actually even longer and I cut a lot out, but hopefully still made my points and intentions clear. I find that real conversations around this stuff, however difficult, can be immensely enriching and healing. If I've said some shit here you hate or just disagree with, and you want to have a real conversation about it, hit me up. Go get this book. If able, and you know someone who can't access this book due to language barriers, disability, etc, consider finding ways to help them access it. CI is also clear about that- they want everyone to be able to use these tools to prevent and heal harm in their relationships and communities. I hope to become a better human with the stuff I have learned in this book and I think others can, too.
This was also posted to my goodreads.
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