Taking the State Out of the Body is a guidebook in deconstructing nationalism through trauma-informed praxis.
Embedded
in the political theory and practice of Jewish anti-Zionism, readers
from all backgrounds are invited to build an embodied sense of safety
that has the power to make militarized borders, policing, and
nation-states obsolete. We need the resources offered in this book: from
understanding geopolitical impacts of intergenerational trauma, to
self-regulation in conflict, to transformative approaches to harm, to
cultivating long-haul relationships, to building solidarity across our
movements.
The framework for Taking the State Out of the Body
is situated in the lineages of healing justice and politicized healers
including many anti-fascist Ashkenazi Jewish practitioners in 1930s
Europe. Today, as the terms ?somatics? and ?trauma? have been
mainstreamed, this book is a timely offer to move from individual
awareness to collective action. Weaving anti-imperialist orientations to
historical events with embodiment theory, each chapter opens with a
connection to a plant or body part and closes with a guide to practices
that fuel resistance and resilience. At a time where colonial
imperialism in the US and Palestine are rearing their heads and
right-wing authoritarianism is on the rise globally, this book will
equip you with the tools you need to move from rugged individualist
models of self-help/preservation to liberatory frameworks of collective
care and joint struggle.
