the role of important people and power structures Flashcards
the internal structure in the belief system or ideology:
Who was Marry Wollstonecraft?
Referred to as the ‘first feminist’
1784 -death (1797)
- she was very critical of the way girls were educated and she argued that women are capable of rationality but men and their upbringing encourage them to be frivolous → (not having any serious purpose or value)
- marriage and education - woman have moral virtue
- Author of ‘Vindication of the Rights of Women’ (1792)
- she was the first to issue an unspoken rally cry to middle class women
Women should be able to enter the world of medicine and politics
Women’s interest in dressing up and looking pretty is primarily a case of nurture, rather than nature
If women are shamed for having sex before marriage, then maybe men should be as well
Women should speak their minds without worrying about being perceived as “masculine” or other undesirable traits
betty Friedan
- American feminist writer and activist
- published feminist mystique in 1963
Equal pay for equal work
End to sexual harassment in the workplace
Legalisation of abortion - the feminine mystique was dedicated to simone de beauvoir
What Simone de Beauvoir
- published ‘The Second Sex’ and became a feminist classic and the starting point for what is known as second wave feminism
- many feminist after de Beauviour claimed that they were influenced by ‘The Second Sex’
- 1949 til death (1986)
- she believed that the right to vote would not make a difference to women if they did not have, for example, adequate health, education and money
- author of ‘the second sex’ → created controversy, shifting discussions about women’s rights towards the cultural construction of women - shifted the way women looked at the world as they began to observe and critique the cultural practices that formed and constrained women
Naomi Wolf
American feminist who is known for starting the third wave of feminism
1990s onwards
What philosophical issues were they addressing?
The beauty myth published in 1990
It’s the beauty myth, an obsession with physical perfection that traps the modern woman in an endless spiral of hope, self-consciousness, and self-hatred as she tries to fulfil society’s impossible definition of “the flawless beauty.”
As the social power and prominence of women have increased, the pressure they feel to adhere to unrealistic social standards
She became the leading spokesperson for what is known as the third wave of feminism
Emma Watson
English actress who is known for her involvement in feminist activities such as talks, campaigns, advertisements
current
HeforShe campaign in 2014
Equal respect, leadership and pay
Safety is not a privilege but a right
Speech such as the HeforShe campaign at the United Nations
Why is these women’s involvement in the ideology important?
These people played an important role in bringing awareness to the feminist ideology
Feminist leaders have played a key role in connecting individuals and providing a sense of collective identity through common doctrines, also role of challenging male power structures
First wave power structure
The First Wave of Feminism established a platform for women to advocate their determination for equal opportunities, seeing the introduction of the suffragettes.
Suffragettes promoted the right to participate in the important social ritual of voting, and actively challenged the traditionally male power structures of society and the institutionalised male views they perpetuated.
Second wave power structure
By the 1950’s-1970’s the Second Wave of Feminism emerged, breaking away from the ideological framework of the prior movement of ‘less militant feminists’.
‘Second wavers’ critiqued the first waves’ ‘liberalism’ and ‘essentialism’ on the basis of its failure to address the entrenched gender constructs and stereotypes that continued to govern women.
Society’s increased access to technological outlets invited a female presence to the international stage, seeing potential for the erosion of men’s authoritarian role in the hierarchal institutions of society.
Third wave feminism
Third wavers have, however, maintained the continuity in ideology of empowering women to challenge gender roles and hierarchical patriarchy.
Traditional gendered interactions and hierarchical structures of discussion continue to delegitimize and disempower the contributions of women within the technological domain, and in correlation with female categorization as ‘technological inept’, the potential for the Internet to assist progressive feminist diffusion has been hindered.
Collective Feminism
Collective action involves women discussing their lives, analysing their shared experiences of injustice and oppression, and developing common goals.
leadership and hierachy
In 1970s, leadership was a difficult word for feminists
Leadership was associated with hierarchy and hierarchy was seen as inextricably with patriarchal domination of women
To exclude patriarchy, women tried to organise through collective networks
Leaded to unacknowledgement and unacceptable as informal power structures emerged
Freeman called this the “tyranny of structurelessness”
Better to have democratic structure than none at all
Feminism approach of “shared leadership”, not an individual aspect shared respectable among members
Determination to avoid mirroring masculine organisational structures was true even of the second wave organisations most dedicated to to “reformist goals”
1996, Eva Cox argued many women feel discomfort with the concept of leadership and power, identified with masculine values
Models of shared leadership have allowed women to become comfortable with power
Feminist leadership
“Transformative feminist leadership recognises the leadership capacity of every person in a change process because leadership is about to and committing to and taking responsibility for that larger change and contributing to each in our own way”
Since our primary understanding of leadership comes from traditional male forms of authority, it is crucial to examine more collaborative and creative models and approaches that are emerging from feminists and others interested in innovation and participation. By analysing different approaches to leadership and how they contribute to social transformation, people can define for themselves the qualities and behaviours they see as most crucial to leadership.
Patriarchal leadership reinforces a dynamic of dominance and subordination. It makes power a zero sum game: if I get some, there is less for you. Feminist leadership seeks to transform that dynamic: it tells us that we can become powerful by making those around us feel empowered, able and respected. It seeks power with others instead of power over others.
Feminist values
- self awareness
- self care and caring for others
- dismantling bias
- inclusion
- sharing power
- responsible and transparent use of power
- accountable collaboration
- respectful feedback
- courage
- zero tolerance
Power structure
The power structure is normally an overall system that tends to influence the relationship between an individual as well as every other person in any selected group of individuals. Normally the description of a power structure ought to capture ways in which authority as well as power is distributed amongst people in groups such as the governments, institutions, organisations, nations and also societies. Normally such as these ones are of great interest to different fields (Gumucio and Tufte, 2006). This includes government, economics, sociology as well as business. Usually power structures are normally constructed either formally or intentionally in order to minimise value such as efficiency and fairness.
On the other hand power structure could also be an informal set of roles, for instance those that are found within a dominance hierarchy where members of the social group tend to interact in order to construct a ranking system. Usually cultures that are organised in dominance hierarchy are usually a dominator culture.
Visible dominant groups and elites who tend to hold authority and power in a power structure are often referred to as the establishment.
The power structures are also fluid, with the changes occurring constantly.
This could be rapidly, slowly, evolving, violently, peacefully or even revolutionary.
Leadership diamond
power, politics & purpose, practises, principles & values
power
“Leadership is first and foremost about gaining power”
Visible power - is the one we are most familiar with, and have all experienced. It determines who participates - and who is excluded from - decision-making in the public realm.
Visible power is held by political leaders, police, military, and the judiciary
Direct power is similar and operates in both the private and public realms
Example: the direct power held by male heads of household which dictates that women will perform certain household and production tasks that are critical for household survival, but they will not have the right to equal wages, control over their income or even control over their bodies
Hidden power - sometimes called agenda-setting-power - is about who influences or sets the agenda behind the scenes, and the barriers and biases that determine which issues can be addressed, whose voices are heard or who is consulted on a particular issue.
Invisible power - or indirect power is in many ways the most insidious and problematic of all to challenge and confront
It is the capacity to shape people’s self-image, self-esteem, social attitudes and biases, without any apparent role in doing so
The media and marketing/advertising industries are classic purveyors of such invisible power
Every day’s television news is instilling in us a sense of what are the most important issues of the day
The advertising industry exercises invisible power by shaping meaning and creating new norms about what is good, desirable, positive, or bad, regressive, negative
Feminist leadership will strive to make the practice of power visible, democratic, legitimate and accountable, at all levels, and in both private and public realms
Intrinsic power - is the force of the personality traits, charisma, talents, capabilities, knowledge and experience that the individual leader has
The role of the SELF, of our psychic structures, experiences and attributes in a leadership role
Extrinsic power - the authority that comes to a feminist leader outside of herself
Assigned authority: she is given it by others - people elect her to be leaders
Positional authority: the leadership role gives her - managing people
Earned authority: the power that is gained by using her assigned and positional authority carefully and fairly
Power to refers to the agency and capacity to act that leadership must leverage, within itself and in others, to create change; it is about the strategic skills, experience, insight, etc., that can be marshalled and mobilised towards the transformative agenda that has been adopted; power to is the recognition of what we, the change makers, bring to the table
Common with feminism
Power over - Derives from direct power and positional/ assigned authority, the control (direct or indirect) over the human and other resources within the process, and the way such control can very quickly slip into domination; also control over the use and deployment or resources, decision-making etc.
Common with patriarchy
Power with - the effective empowerment and enabling of all those engaged in the transformative process to create solidarity, mutual support systems, safety nets etc.
Common with feminism
Power within - Often the source of sustainability of feminist organisations and movements (relates back to intrinsic power mentioned earlier)
Also includes “intangible resources” like knowledge, access to information, influence and contacts
Power under - most complex but pervasive expression of power in women’s organisations
Helps us understand why people who have experienced abuse, oppression and trauma, when they gain power, often become abusive, authoritarian and oppressive themselves.
‘power under emerges from the powerless range’
Politics and purpose
Politics: analysis of socio-economic realities, and the ideological lens that informs that analysis
Politics begins at home, from within (internal) the organisation, movement, or other location, from which it is attempting to change to larger reality
Purpose: Refers to the longer-term vision and mission for change that emerges from that politics
Transformative feminist leadership - analysis of gender and social discrimination in a particular society, community, or setting → an attempt to transform the structures or institutions towards a more gender and socially equitable institution. External
The history of feminism as political history necessarily embraces women’s ongoing quests for educational equity, economic opportunity, civil rights, and political inclusion
The history of feminism recaptures the gendered critique of the meanings and capaciousness (acquired over centuries) of fundamental concepts in political theory such as democracy, representation, nationality, and citizenship, a critique that gained momentum with the rise of print culture and literacy.
Even in less revolutionary settings, such as running a business, feminist leaders are still transforming something. This could be things like the “psychic structure” of staff, the way staff problems are dealt with or what is an organisational issue and what is not.
Feminist politics – seeks to analyse social order that seeks changes through gender and social justice – “assume that social justice (such as labour or land rights) cannot be achieved without centering gender justice within the process.” - both external and internal
Feminist politics, based on contextually defined and situated feminist ideology, must inform feminist leadership and the political agenda it pursues.
External internal
Leadership development must therefore bring to the surface and equip people to articulate their politics and purpose in clear, conscious ways.
Inputs of information, analytical tools, concepts, and ideas a play big part - as women are unfamiliar with human rights framework, or feminist concepts like patriarchy
Shows the need and importance of feminist education in forming feminist leadership (spreading awareness)
Politics and purpose is different from feminine leadership/women’s leadership (where leader(s) may be female/male) → it is about adopting feminist political agenda which centres around women’s empowerment and gender equality within its social transformation goals, internally and externally. - third wave
Feminist values and principles
Values
- Equality, equity, and inclusion for all regardless of race, gender, religion, age, ability, ethnicity, class, caste, nationality, location, or sexual orientation
- The human rights of all people to achieve their full potential, as long as it does impeded the strengths of others
- The basic right and entitlement of all people to food, shelter, health, education, and livelihood
- Physical security and integrity, freedom, from violence or coercion in the right to choice in the reproductive and sexual life
- peace
- a healthy planet
- honour, diversity, difference
- democracy, transparency, accountability
- changing the use and practise of power
Principles
- Equality under law
- Equity and equality in policies
- transform all social relations of power that oppress, exploit, or marginalise, and men, on the basis of gender, race, religion, age, ability, ethnicity, class, caste, nationally, location and sexual orientation
- Enforcement of the full body of human rights through existing new International instruments
- against fundamentalism of all kinds
- economic justice, including equitable access to productive resources, employment and basic services for all
- zero tolerance for gender based and other forms of violence; freedom of choice in sexual and reproductive life
- nonviolence; stand against all forms of war, conflict, militarisation
- sustainable; ecologically sound in practise in personal, organisation life for public policy that promote sustainability
against religious, ethnics, racial, and other fundamentalists
voice and vote for all people; participatory, transparent and accountable governance at all levels and in all institutions, private and public; right to public information
associational freedom and right to freedom of expression
- sharing power, consultative, collective, transparent, and accountable decision making
Norms and values
Norms and Values:
Leaders must have:
A guiding vision as well as a personal vision - they must be inspiring, have the capacity to conceptualise and be able to translate their ideas into action
Open engagement, emotional involvement, passion/compassion, commitment, social involvement
Moral authority, morality, applying moral standards
feminist Non-negotiables
Active participatory attitude
Inclusion at all levels of the organisation - intersectionality and empowerment of marginalised groups
Feminist leaders must have an extensive knowledge of the issues that are being engaged in within the organisation
Leadership is only sustainable when women are able to balance aspects of their lives (e.g. leisure, family)
Decision must be transparent- this includes a clear, shared decision-making process that allows everyone to have power and facilitates everyone’s strengths. Authority is democratically shared- participants must have tools, information, responsibility and accountability
Same rights apply to all
Feminist leadership must be used to intervene in dominant masculine power structures that keep the world unjust. Organisations must challenge multiple oppressions, but gender justice must be a priority
Leadership is a process, a goal, a practice and a means
A feminist organisation needs to have an affirmative vision of change rather than focusing only on oppression
There must be a space for leaders of all ages, races, sexualities, etc; we must embrace diversity, inclusiveness and mutual respect
Feminist leaders must be transformational agents who recognise that those who hold formal power aren’t necessarily the best leaders
Practises
Practice is the largest domain of leadership - it is the transactional, lived, quotidian realm of practice.
Transformative feminist leadership is about doing and enabling a myriad of things, which re categorised as different types of “work” these practices fall into:
Visioning Work
(coming up with goals, objectives)
Developing and articulating a theory of change
Clarifying vision and objectives
Determining focus and approach
Political Work
(Maintaining good political relationships and building alliances)
Assessing political environment and opportunities
Social power analysis of the context and intervention area
Anticipating political reactions
Building alliances
Strategic Work
(managing how to implement, steps, impact etc)
Developing and guiding strategies
Monitoring implementation
Evaluating impact
Analysing gains and setbacks
Revising direction and approach
Relationship Work
(refers to how people are organised, and their interactions with each other)
Inducting and training others (bringing in + teaching feminists)
Mobilising feminists
Sustaining energy + morale
Imparting and inhibiting passion and commitment
Building alliances and good will
Resolving conflicts and tensions
Communication Work
(How communication is used to spread the ideology)
Internal/External communication systems
Ensuring quality content
Strategic communication when required (eg. use of media)
Use of new technologies to create effective and strategic external communication
Use of traditional technology (folk theatre, song, etc.)
Resourcing Work
(Using resources well to maximise the progress)
Finding and sustaining financial and other resources that are critical to the transformation process
Eg. relationship building; skills such as proposal writing, building networks to access expertise, etc.
Managerial Work
(Managing all areas e.g. resources, legal obligations etc)
Democratic, transparent and accountable policies and mechanism for internal functioning
Managing financial and legal obligations and requirements
Allocating human and financial resources
Reporting to external stakeholders
key notes on feminist leadership
Skills are shaped by our values and politics
Development of leadership should not disconnect practices from power, politics, and values.
Feminist leadership should enable practitioners to use all four dimensions of leadership in any setting
Older feminist women’s organisations and movements are ageing out because their leadership is failing to invest in developing young leaders, or because their culture and environment are unwittingly unwelcoming to younger women
Active discussion is being created about this, trying to include multi-generational approaches.
Encourages people to go outside of their comfort zone.
Deep structure
deep structure - where most of the indirect and hidden power is located, and from where direct and visible power is resisted, sabotaged, or subverted
unstated personal biases that override organisation norms e.g. based on class, race, ethnicity
Informal groups/cliques who wield indirect power/influence
informal/covert decision making (the friends whose advice influences organisation decisions)
what kind of behaviour is rewarded/ valued in practise
actual vs stated work norms
gossip, back-bitting, character assassination, spreading rumours, etc
Popular myths regarding feminist leadership
- women will lead differently because their women
- Women will share power more readily and equally
- Because were all women we dont have to worry about within the organisation/movement
- because we are feminist, we/our organisation can’t be oppressive, exclusionary, or undemocratic
- our organisation is ‘flat’ - we don’t believe in hierarchy, we are all equal here, and have equal say in the decision
- having formal leadership roles will reproduce patriarchal organisation
formalising decision making and accountability system is patriarchal and bureaucratic - we are accountable to the movement, so we don’t have to be concerned about accountability
