"Collapse Camp" | "We understand the catastrophe as a strategic space"

And what distinguishes you from Hans-Peter with the bunker in the front yard and the gun in the bedside table?

Müller : Seriously, always putting the idea of ​​rational preparation for crises and disasters in the right-wing prepper corner is starting to get a bit retro. Disasters are bound to happen in times of polycrisis and collapse, and anyone who doesn't prepare for them will end up looking stupid. Preparation or "prepping" comes in various flavors: individualistic fascist prepping, standard prepping (as suggested by the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Management, for example), and now finally: solidarity prepping . And solidarity prepping isn't primarily about supplies, but about relationships. Peter : We want to ensure that Hans-Peter doesn't build a bunker just for himself and defend it with a gun, but that he helps create spaces and structures for many people, so that in the event of disasters and the fundamentally threatening deterioration of our everyday lives, we can support and protect as many people as possible, so that we can all better deal with future crises and disasters together.

What content is particularly important to you at camp?

Peter : We're focusing on two things: firstly, emotional work in light of the collapse we're all already in, so that people don't get stuck in anger, grief, despair, and overwhelm. Secondly, practical offerings and practical knowledge. For example, we'll learn how we can work together to defend Christopher Street Days against Nazi attacks, how we can help others in an acute disaster, such as flooding, or how we can communicate with each other when telephone and internet are unavailable—for example, via radio. I'm personally looking forward to the practical part and will refuse to do any organizational work at the camp (sorry, fellow campers) so I can participate in as many workshops as possible. Müller : Personally, I'm interested in content that addresses my own fears and worries during the disaster: The rise in anti-queer violence scares me greatly. So, I'd like to learn how to effectively defend myself against violent Nazis. I'm HIV-positive: What happens if my medication is no longer readily available—which medications can we produce ourselves?

What do you think can be learned from the collapse camp for activism at home?

Peter : Fundamentally, we want to give people an introduction to topics that may not have been so close to their hearts before. And show that activism has many facets we haven't even considered before. That we aren't incapacitated even in a collapse, and that prepping isn't the domain of the right-wing. Müller : At the collapse camp, an incredible number of new relationships will be formed between people who are in solidarity, and since, as I said, prepping in solidarity is about relationships, that's quite something—finally getting to know others who no longer suppress things but want to become capable of acting together again.

What positive perspective can collapse politics have?

Peter : Self-empowerment and overcoming the perceived powerlessness in the face of ongoing and future catastrophes. Also with regard to the climate justice movement, which is clearly struggling at the moment, seizing the strategic space created by the collapse can make a huge difference and hopefully bring new momentum, new people, and new ideas. After all, we still need to overthrow the system, fight for every tenth of a degree, and seriously challenge fossil capitalism. Müller : If more and more severe catastrophes are coming our way, then that means that catastrophes are becoming increasingly important and powerful political spaces. So far, with the exception of the aforementioned THW, it's primarily fascist structures that have been preparing for catastrophic or even collapse scenarios. We "left-wing, green, filthy" people have nothing, absolutely nothing, to counter them. A policy of collapse based on solidarity has the potential to wrest the catastrophe—and that means the future—from the hands of the Nazis and to make solidarity action possible and tangible on a mass scale. We consider this progress.