MAIZ_ Autonomous Center for and by Migrant Women

maiz is …

maiz is – Self-organization – Participation – Autonomy – Resistance – Transformation – Utopia

…an independent organization by and for migrant women. Our goal is to better the lives and work situations of migrant women in Austria and to promote their political and cultural participation, as well as to transform the existing unjust social conditions.

Austria we love you! We will never leave you!

foto vom 1. mai 2010

In 1994, our self-organized association began to analyze our own situations as migrant women in Austria – as workers in the sex industry, as cleaners for leasing companies, as cleaning and nursing staff in offices and homes, as caregivers in the health and care sector, but also as illegalized persons, as asylum-seekers, as unemployed persons, as housewives, as students, as academics…

We are fighting for the legal and social betterment of all migrant women, and we actively engage in social conflicts related to migration and (anti-)racism. Besides counseling and education services, our work here includes: political cultural work, public actions and scientific research projects.

We place ourselves in opposition to the victim discourse and voyeurism of the media and focus on protagonism, self-articulation and collective action.

The important thing to us is the debate among migrant women themselves. Within the tension of all the existing contradictions, we are trying to create collective spaces for sharing in order to promote the interests of migrant women and in order to and making their demands public.

read more: www.maiz.at