‘To Accompany is Political’ recounts the journey of No Tan Distintes [Not So Different, NTD], a social, political and transfeminist organisation in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This transfeminist essay highlights the challenges and lessons from 15 years of activism accompanying women and queer people who are or have been homeless.
Between political essay, philosophical reflection, gender study and methodology in practice, this book speaks from experience to address harm reduction, self-management of homelessness spaces, interdependence, collective memory and how we sustain ourselves in life and the struggle.
As Milei’s Argentina becomes a testing ground for ultraliberal austerity, this books tells the story of the queer anti-fascist groups leading their own laboratory of resistance, from collective housing to bureaucratic accompaniment, Argentina’s militantes are demonstrating how to resist and create alternatives. This book showcases this learning not just for social organisations working on homelessness, but for the public sector, universities, charities, community spaces and our personal daily practice; showing us how to accompany, as a political act.
The author
Florencia Montes Paez is a militante from No Tan Distintes [Not So Different, NTD]. She managed Frida, the first centre in Argentina to host women and queer people experiencing homelessness and their children, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Alongside this, she organised the first street homelessness census in Buenos Aires and drafted Argentina’s first national law on homelessness.
The translators
Translated by Daniela Camozzi, Beth Knowles Casas and Raquel Arreola Casas. Dani is the author of seven poetry collections, multiple translations from Emily Dickinson to Bram Stoker and a founding member of No Tan Distintes. Dani leads NTD’s workshops on poetry and creative writing, and is part of its publishing arm, abduciendo ediciones. Beth Knowles Casas and Raquel Arreola Casas make up Formas Press, they are militante translators, printers and editors. They bring together their lineages who crossed waters and borders, to accompany radical literature to do the same.
Buy the book in our online shop or through your local bookshop in the UK and US (coming soon).
The Mordisco [pamphlet] version of ‘To Accompany is Political’ is available in our online shop as well as several local independent bookshops in the UK. You can also download the pamphlet in English, Castellano, Galician and Italian for free or if you want to contribute to our work you can donate via the button below.
The full version of ‘Acompañar es Politico’ is available in Spanish through Virus in Spain and abduciendo ediciones in Latin America.