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Even when those struggles are not our own: Storytelling and solidarity in a feminist social justice organization

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  • Ruth Weatherall

Abstract

This article draws on an eight‐month ethnography in a feminist social justice organization that supports survivors of domestic violence and shares the storytelling practices that fostered solidarity. These storytelling practices stemmed from decades of decolonizing work undertaken by Māori women to have their knowledge and ways of being equally integrated into the organization. The storytelling practices, grounded in Māori knowledge, emphasized that the land is actively productive of our identity and knowledge; our actions and beliefs are part of a non‐chronological intergenerational inheritance; the personal is collective. I contend that these practices fostered solidarity and situated feminism in a collective history of localized struggle. Accordingly, this article expands our imaginative capacity for how solidarity can be thought of and fostered between feminists in different contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruth Weatherall, 2020. "Even when those struggles are not our own: Storytelling and solidarity in a feminist social justice organization," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 471-486, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:27:y:2020:i:4:p:471-486
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12386
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yvonne Benschop & Patricia Lewis & Ruth Simpson & Patricia Lewis & Yvonne Benschop & Ruth Simpson, 2017. "Postfeminism, Gender and Organization," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 213-225, May.
    2. Raewyn Connell, 2019. "New maps of struggle for gender justice: Rethinking feminist research on organizations and work," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 54-63, January.
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    3. George Kandathil & Rajeshwari Chennangodu, 2024. "Postfeminist individuating of a women collective and the strugglesome emergence of a relational collective feminist solidarity: The story of Kudumbashree, a Kerala state‐instituted women empowerment p," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 115-132, January.
    4. Fitri Hariana Oktaviani & Bernard McKenna & Terrance Fitzsimmons, 2021. "Trapped within ideological wars: Femininities in a Muslim society and the contest of women as leaders," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 1152-1176, May.
    5. Léa Dorion, 2024. "Why are conflicts about race a point of no return for feminist organizations?," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 192-210, January.
    6. Ajnesh Prasad & Ghazal Zulfiqar, 2021. "Resistance and praxis in the making of feminist solidarity: A conversation with Cynthia Enloe," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 722-734, March.
    7. Rhea Ashley Hoskin & Lilith A. Whiley, 2023. "Femme‐toring: Leveraging critical femininities and femme theory to cultivate alternative approaches to mentoring," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1317-1333, July.

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