Creating Safer Spaces: The Disjuncture Between Feminist and Liberal Individualist Approaches
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This document discusses the challenges of creating safer spaces that balance inclusion, comfort, and transformation. It notes the disjuncture between feminist and liberal approaches to safer spaces. A feminist approach sees problems as structural and aims to raise consciousness and challenge institutions. A liberal approach individualizes problems and risks medicalizing or criminalizing issues. The document also examines tensions in a campus women's center between staff/volunteer and administrative understandings of providing safer space.
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Creating Safer Spaces: The Disjuncture Between Feminist and Liberal Individualist Approaches
- 1. Creating Safer Spaces:The Disjuncture Between Feminist and Liberal Individualist Approaches Melanie Carroll mcarroll@ucalgary.ca Melanie Carroll
- 2. Safer Space Research VAW - safe space for women who are victims/survivors of violence LGBT safe space safety from anti-LGBT violence and harassment feel comfortable being out as LGBT promote acceptance/challenge homophobia Melanie Carroll
- 3. Safer Space Research Analysis and critiques Intersectionality Identity politics limits who feels welcome in a space. How to correct this but still be identi鍖able as a space for marginalized people. Politics of declaration Safe space stickers,Ally as an identity Being of a marginalized identity exempts one from confronting their privilege. Melanie Carroll
- 4. Safer Space Research Safer space politics and practice must contend with: problems/limitations of identity politics Who is the safer space for? balance between sometimes contradictory aims for comfort/safety and challenging beliefs/ assumptions How does one articulate and practice safer space when the people within have different understandings and institutions have greater interest in some models over others? Melanie Carroll
- 5. In what practical ways do these problems play out in safer spaces and in how safer spaces can work within larger institutions? Melanie Carroll
- 6. A Campus Womens Centre Researching the Womens Resource Centre at a time when its safer space practices were under threat. Disjuncture between volunteer and staff understanding of their work in providing safer space, and the University administrations understanding of the core aspects of the Centres work. Melanie Carroll
- 7. two key moments where disjuncture apparent safe space relegated to crisis peer support Respect Guidelines enacted to silence marginalized voices to avoid discomfort of other marginalized people. Disjuncture Melanie Carroll
- 8. Doing Safer Space - Campus Womens Centre Everyday welcoming practices made explicit and procedural Training across identity/social justice issues Workshops/Awareness Raising affecting public/private discourses Managing Con鍖ict - Respect Guidelines honouring each individuals experience encouraging all genders to work towards gender equality peer model: each individual is an equal and all individuals responsible for atmosphere of space Melanie Carroll
- 9. Misunderstanding Safe Space a space where all people are free from violence and discomfort/feeling unwelcome harm is something that happens outside of the space and support in the form of peer support treats it Melanie Carroll
- 10. Liberal Approach individualizes problems both: in framing of how problems occur victims and bad apples in framing of how problems are treated medicalizing and criminalizing peer support risks falling into this Melanie Carroll
- 11. Feminist Approach structural problems as enacted by institutions and individuals raise consciousness of structural problems challenge institutions and larger culture existing as an alternative space take personal responsibility, challenging ourselves, being challenged by others con鍖ict management Melanie Carroll
- 12. Creating Safer Spaces structural --------------------- individual transformational ------------ comfortable inclusive --------------- exclusive (safety) Who is the space for? What are the aims? How might these create con鍖ict? How will you manage con鍖ict? Melanie Carroll