Women Organising and Transforming the World
Today I have been reading the reports, listening to the podcasts and looking at the pictures from the AWID (Association for Women's Rights in Development) conference in Cape Town last month, and if you haven't, I urge you to do so too.
From Srilatha Batliwala's closing speech at the final plenary session, The Future of Movements:
We need to reframe and create a new trajectory of feminist political analysis and practice… we need to recreate mobilisation and organisation strategies… we need to address our organisations and movements so that they are truly multigenerational… and this includes grappling with our own deep structures of power and hierarchy… we need to recognise the forces that divide us from ourselves and each other… and we need to engage in a rigorous analysis of macro-economic policy and how it impacts women’s lives. The reality is still that the majority are living without adequate food, hygiene and water. This is unacceptable!
(click on the link above to read more, plus a useful breakdown of the currents, undercurrents, absences/silences and big leaps of the conference)
And from the plenary 'Women Organising and Changing the World', listen to this brilliant talk [link to audio recording] by Nadine, from Lebanon, where among other great insights, she reclaims the word 'cunt':
C = Creativity. We can reinvent the feminist wheel over and over again - but we need to make it personal. Personal connections change our lives. We need to meet each other as women - not as representatives of our organisations and projects.
U = Unity. None of us are free until all of us are free.
N = Numbers. We need to mobilise as many women as we can.
T = Time. Continuity is key - and multigenerational dialogues are incredibly important to the future of our movements.
Now go already!
(h/t Black Looks)
From Srilatha Batliwala's closing speech at the final plenary session, The Future of Movements:
We need to reframe and create a new trajectory of feminist political analysis and practice… we need to recreate mobilisation and organisation strategies… we need to address our organisations and movements so that they are truly multigenerational… and this includes grappling with our own deep structures of power and hierarchy… we need to recognise the forces that divide us from ourselves and each other… and we need to engage in a rigorous analysis of macro-economic policy and how it impacts women’s lives. The reality is still that the majority are living without adequate food, hygiene and water. This is unacceptable!
(click on the link above to read more, plus a useful breakdown of the currents, undercurrents, absences/silences and big leaps of the conference)
And from the plenary 'Women Organising and Changing the World', listen to this brilliant talk [link to audio recording] by Nadine, from Lebanon, where among other great insights, she reclaims the word 'cunt':
C = Creativity. We can reinvent the feminist wheel over and over again - but we need to make it personal. Personal connections change our lives. We need to meet each other as women - not as representatives of our organisations and projects.
U = Unity. None of us are free until all of us are free.
N = Numbers. We need to mobilise as many women as we can.
T = Time. Continuity is key - and multigenerational dialogues are incredibly important to the future of our movements.
Now go already!
(h/t Black Looks)