Weaving a feminist power tapestry: feminist governance in practice

Governance is being rewoven by feminist organisations and movements across the world. In this chapter we explore feminist governance praxis that seeks to mirror the broader social transformation that feminists advocate. Using case studies, we outline ways that feminist organisations define and work with feminist ethics and leadership, interrogate the embedded and often invisible power in organisations, recast concepts like strategy and risk, challenge constructs of accountability, reframe concepts of time, and create organisational frameworks that incorporate and value the care work that sustains our societies and political and economic systems. In our discussion we explore how feminist governance reimagines the hierarchies of power, knowledge, privilege and the values embedded in mainstream patriarchal governance practice. We offer an alternative vision to the one in which organisational decision-making is predicated on vesting extraordinary power for strategy, oversight and operations in the hands of a very privileged few.