Abstract
On May 22–24, 2011, 200 participants, including youth activists, community practitioners and organizers, visual and performance artists, social work students, and emerging and senior scholars, came together to share their experiences and offer new possibilities for the future of feminism in social work. The gathering—Unsettling Feminism(s): Disrupting the Center, Dismantling Oppressions, and Transforming Social Work—was sponsored by the Board of Directors of Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work and cosponsored by the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois–Chicago. It was the intent of the Board of Directors and the Planning Committee to situate this event in a place with historic implications for feminist issues then and now. And where better to do so than in Chicago, the home of Jane Addams, a fierce activist and agent of change on behalf of women and children and at the Jane Addams College of Social Work?
On Sunday evening, May 22, 2011, a lively reception proceeded the “official” opening of the “unconference.” Participants who shared a common vision mingled and greeted new and old acquaintances. Present were caregivers, care receivers, mothers, daughters, infants, toddlers, grandmothers, fathers, lovers, activists, womanists, and feminists. At least 15 disciplines or areas of studies (social work, women’s studies, psychology, photography, art education, art and design, counseling and psychology, divinity, public health, anthropology, urban planning, education, criminal justice, public affairs, and human rights) were also represented at the gathering. The air was electric. Something was different. We later discovered that the participants felt cared about. The participants shared that they felt truly welcome and included and that a predominant feeling of love and respect permeated the atmosphere of the event.
Participants from diverse national and cultural backgrounds, 25 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Canadian First Nations, and Israel were in attendance. There were 87 presentations in diverse and creative formats, focusing on organizing, pedagogy, creative expression, research, and justice issues.
Planting the Seeds
It had been more than 30 years since feminist social workers in the United States gathered to address sexism in social work. In September 1980, the National Association of Social Workers sponsored its first and only National Conference on Social Work Practice with Women. A cadre of prominent women, including congressional representatives, governmental officials, deans of social work schools, and leading practitioners addressed discrimination against women in both society and the profession; challenged participants to speak out against sexist public policies; and called for the end of sexism, classism, racism, colonialism, and imperialism. The gathering provided the impetus for feminists to challenge the assumptions, push the boundaries, and advance critical scholarship of the social work profession.
In 1985, a core group of feminist scholars and activists founded Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work dedicated to the discussion and development of feminist values, theories, and knowledge as they are related to social work education, research, and practice. Activists and scholars of color have continued to challenge the privileging of white feminist perspectives and history in social work, and critical scholars have pushed for an examination of the intersectionality of gender oppression with racism, sexism, poverty, and heterosexism in women’s lives. However, after 30 years, there appeared to be diminishing attention to critical feminist concerns in mainstream social work theory, education, research, and practice.
During its 2008 annual meeting, the Board of Directors of Affilia discussed these concerns and proposed the idea of a gathering in which the participants would critically reflect on contributions and challenges, problematize feminist praxis and the tensions therein, and spark the transformative potential of feminism in social work. The board concluded that if we wanted to “build a new house,” rather than simply expand the current structure of feminism, and create new tools to dismantle multiple oppressions, we had to move beyond the narrow focus of U.S. feminism in the 1980s and engage in an inclusive, participatory way with multiple and contemporary conceptions of feminism and womanism as frameworks for change.
The “Unconference”: Creating a Vision
Through a series of think-tank sessions and participatory planning meetings, the Board of Directors of Affilia brought a diverse, intergenerational group of feminist scholars and activists together to share their visions of a gathering that might both interrupt and invigorate current social work thinking and practice and open a space for critical dialogue and transformative action. The culmination of the process was the crafting of the unconference dedicated to unsettling feminisms: disrupting the center, dismantling oppressions, and transforming social work education, scholarship, practice, and the profession as a whole.
In creating a vision, it is important to ask hard questions and engage in challenging work. The implicit guiding question for this visioning process for the unconference was this: What is important in the world and in the lives of women in the 21st century, and what do women need to do about it? It was obvious from the initial stage of this process that multiple platforms were needed to address the unconference’s overarching theme of unsettling feminisms. It was clear to the planners that this event required a paradigm shift that would defy business as usual. We realized that to unsettle, disrupt, and dismantle something did not mean to reform it or assimilate it into something else but to uproot it—that a total transformation was required. Scary? Yes! Many women, as well as those in attendance at the unconference, have real anxiety connected with what the unconference was asking of them: to be their best selves on a personal and professional level and to live authentic lives. To honor this level of being, as well as to create a space for the participants to feel safe to do, say, and think outside proscribed frames, the unconference planners deliberately worked to create a nurturing atmosphere—a place where ideas and innovations might be given birth. Ultimately, the participants were able to explore new ways of being a part of a collective, with a mission to uproot and dismantle a revered perspective on women’s lives as well as to be alone in this process. In essence, the overall intent was to create a context in which the participants would feel free, fluid, and open to their creative, authentic selves. It was within this context that the concept of the unconference came alive. The process of the unconference, although similar to a conference, supported a transformative vision of feminist social work practice. It called for a dynamic, interactive approach in which the participants became partners in creating and sharing learning opportunities and engaged in a critical dialogue through diverse formats of formal and performance-based presentations coupled with connections. It was fueled by inspiration as the participants explored the transformative possibilities of feminisms and social work.
The Gathering
Although the organizers had set the tone for the gathering, encouraging opportunities for critical and creative engagement, it was the interdisciplinary, intergenerational group of participants who brought the possibilities to fruition. The participants came together in think tanks, indigenous circles, experiential interaction, and creative performance to explore power, privilege, and oppression; intersectionality; decolonizing social work knowledge; and liberatory action.
The participants addressed critical feminist possibilities over the life course, from reproductive and birth justice to the disruptive and transformative actions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) young people to gender justice in elder care. The sessions explored possibilities for critical feminist practice in prisons, domestic violence shelters, casinos, and classrooms. The participants considered feminist perspectives on health, human rights, globalization, and social justice. The presenters demonstrated the potential of feminist pedagogy and research methods for disrupting dominant paradigms and bringing to the fore the voices of those who are most affected by colonialism, imperialism, and violence in its many forms. The sessions reverberated with intimate accounts of struggle, resistance, courage, and hope and bold challenges to received representations that constrain bodies and silence voices.
The Strategic Illustration Process
Alchemy, a Denver- and London-based consulting firm, provided a unique service for the unconference. Two graphic illustrators worked to help us keep our focus on the core critical questions throughout the event as they created, in real-time, large-scale (4 ft × 8 ft) visual maps of the event. The core questions were these:
What are we unsettling here? What is being decentered or disrupted?
What is emerging? What emotions, ideas, and possibilities are bubbling up?
What are the transformative possibilities?
What next? How do these possibilities inform actions and commitments?
The Alchemy process of graphic recording captured snapshots of the opening session guided by two questions: What are we unsettling, and What do we hope to learn? The snapshot of the closing session was guided by three questions: What have we learned? What was missing? and What will you take away? These snapshots were sent to all the participants after the closing of the unconference. Snapshots were also recorded of 14 of the 87 presentations.
Visual maps are dynamic and powerful tools that include outcomes and actions that may serve for ongoing planning and provide a historical reference of the event. These visuals also help to build trust, spark ideas, create shared understanding, and assist in a creative critical dialogue about what is occurring in the moment as well as the future. At the unconference, the visual maps were also used to create space for a gallery walk-through and a world café conversational environment. This process facilitated further networking and sharing among the participants.
The Alchemy process extended the presence of a safe space by inviting and encouraging the participants to do the unexpected by speaking to the illustrations or adding their voice by raising questions, writing critiques or addenda, disagreeing, commending, or whatever moved them in the moment. The intention was to make the participants cocreators in the unfolding of this playful, yet profound and transformative process. The two illustrators from Alchemy were completely present in their attention to our process. They listened with every aspect of their being and captured nuances that seemed impossible to do in real time. They were simply superb.
The Harvesting
At the opening and closing of the unconference, the participants came together to reflect critically on what we were unsettling, such as the institutional constraints and stagnation within the social work profession, the master narrative of social work, and the academic and professional hierarchies that support it. We found that people still care deeply about feminism and its relevance for the transformative practice of social work. We found inspiration in new languages and practices of feminism and power in creating spaces for dialogue and reflection. We came to a new appreciation of the complexity of feminisms; the rich and vibrant directions in which feminist practice is being pursued; the possibilities for bold and courageous action in teaching, research, and practice; and the need for communities of connection and support. We found we are not alone in our commitments to feminist research, teaching, and practice. We tapped into a collective desire to build community and translate our inspiration into action.
The Learning, Challenges, and Possibilities for Next Steps
The net effect of the unconference was close to miraculous. The unconference evoked pride, confidence, respect, and genuine caring in the participants. The learning about the personal and the need for connectedness was significant. We were called on to be willing to “unlearn” in order to take our learning in new directions that may “complexify” our thinking and practice. As we move beyond superficiality and engage with difference, we open ourselves to new learning, language, and possibilities. We are then better able to break down barriers and transgress boundaries that separate us on so many fronts—teachers and learners, researchers and “subjects,” “clients” and “professionals,” “First World,” and “Third World.”
Perhaps the greatest challenge will be to maintain the momentum and sense of community that nurture feminist principles and practices. It is important to continue to push the boundaries of the social work community and point the way to transformative action. The possibilities are limitless in terms of building bridges between the disempowered and the privileged and powerful. This process can be achieved by staying in dialogue despite the discomfort that is inherent in the conversations.
Overall, it was the intention of the organizers of the unconference to provide a context for unleashing the potential of the social work profession now and in the future—a potential that has the capacity to transform individuals, communities, and organizations. The unsettling of feminisms that ensued at the unconference has definitely left its footprint on social work and ultimately on the world. The onus is now on the Board of Directors of Affilia to move the process forward and do what the unconference participants mandated.