“Do not ask who we are but how we act.“ – Conceptualising collectivity with Les Groupes Medvedkine, Scuola senza fine and Precarias a la deriva

Abstract My dissertation examines notions of collectivity based on three cinematic-political practices: In 1967 filmmakers based in Paris and striking factory workers based in Besançon meet and found Les Groupes Medvedkine, the Medwedkin Groups. They collectively produce films until 1972, which address the factory workers' working and living conditions and their political and cultural claims. Between 1979 and 1983 Adriana Monti produces the film Scuola senza fine (School without end) in a collaborative process with unemployed women. The women are acquiring school-leaving qualifications through classes that were implemented by Italian unions. After graduation they do not want to leave the classes and continue with them in a self-organised way. In 2002 the feminist collective Precarias a la deriva organises weekly strolls (derivas) through the city of Madrid during which a changing group of women comes together to walk to the places that are important in their precarious working and living conditions. The experiences that are exchanged during the derivas are dealt with in a collectively produced video from 2003: A la deriva por los circuitos de la precariedad femenina (Adrift through the circuits of feminized precarious work).My research approach is based on intersectional feminist theories of collectivity and collective forms of action. I explore the conditions under which collectivity can come into being and I examine notions of collectivity and collective forms of action based on the cinematic-political practices the three collectives develop. I thereby analyse the construction principles of collectivity as well as questions of positioning, privilege, power relations and representation in collective practices.