Critical Race Feminist Principles for Service-Learning Engagement

Critical Race Feminist Principles for Service-Learning Engagement Begum Verjee Presentation at IARSLCE International Perspectives: Crossing Boundaries through Research October 29, 2010

Background to the Study • My experience • Initiation of S-L conversations at the University of British Columbia (UBC) 2000 • Critical Race Conference (OISE, U of Toronto) • Critical Race Theory • Doctoral research at the University of British Columbia (UBC) 2002-2005

Map of Presentation • Conceptual framework for the research • Research questions and approach • Participant experiences • Principles for service-learning engagement • Recommendations for Institutional Transformation

Critical Race Theory as Conceptual Framework • Proposes that racism is ordinary • Challenges Eurocentric ideologies of meritocracy, neutrality, equal opportunity and colour-blindness • Utilizes counter-storytelling as methodology • Critical race feminist theory

Research Questions... • What perspectives and experiences do women of colour have at, and with, UBC? • How can these inform the development of a critical race feminist approach of service-learning at UBC?

Research Questions... • What are key elements of a critical race feminist model of service-learning and partnership for supporting the well-being of individuals and communities of colour? • How can this model be implemented at UBC?

Research Approach • Fourteen women of colour (students, staff, faculty and non-university members) • Semi-structured, in-depth interviews • Counter-storytelling • Two interviews each - member checking • Pseudonyms to ensure confidentiality (no identification of faculties, departments and community organizations)

…UBC was very very white, very very sexist, very very right-wing… not [a place that encourages] a liberal thinker … not open to what I considered critical thought. • Clara

Counter-stories of... • Othering • Surveillance • Oppression • Backlash • Punishment • Disconnection • Disembodiment

Counter-story “Being a woman of colour is certainly evident….it’s not like I can come home or go out and take off my skin and blend in….I definitely feel that I am marginalized, that I’m not present, [that] what I have to say is not valid…. “ Minou

Counter-story “ In fact, I was noticing that I was doing poorly as I started to realize that it [education] wasn’t working… There was a disconnect between who I am and what [UBC] was teaching. “ Minou

Counter-stories of... • Dominance • Racialization • Exclusion • Shaming • Disrespect • Invalidation • Invisibility

Counter-story “I was told that this approach [social justice to workshop development] was a dangerous approach, and that I better be careful, that it was “immoral.” Which horrified me. I was shocked.….I felt like I was being disciplined. I felt like I was being put in my place. I felt like I was being shut down….and that I was out of line.” Bobbie

Counter-story “Management hire people that they know versus posting positions with the rationale that it’s easier than posting a position, advertising to the broader community…White candidates get hired for contracts, gain valuable on-site job experience, ‘fit,’ then get hired….this is a typical UBC hiring practice, and is discriminatory.”Soma

Counter-stories of... • Mainstreaming • Tokenism • Being a “native” informant • Lacking leadership • Trauma • Micro-aggression • Damage to the soul

Counter-story “In the workplace, I’m not seen to ‘fit in.’ My presence seems to cause discomfort and mistrust. People have said, “she makes me feel uncomfortable.” I’m not perceived to be suitable for leadership positions where I would be giving orders, or [where] I would be seen in authority over a white person.”Quibbo

Counter-story “I think the institution needs to have much more representation of people of colour in positions of power…we certainly have lots of people of colour, but they’re not in positions where they’re influencing students. They’re actually men and women who are picking up students’ garbage.”Aisabee

Counter-story “ They’ve got the one Pakistani, so there’s no more room for the Bengalis because they’re all the same. [In the same vein] we’ve got the one lesbian so we don’t need the gay man, or we don’t need the bisexual woman. You know, we’ve got the person whose got the disability, a visible disability, so we don’t want the person with the invisible disability.” Ranjit

Transformative agenda for S-L • Service-learning requires a social justice or transformative agenda • Challenge colonial histories • Critique and dismantling hegemony • More humane and equitable world • Nine Principles …

Critical Race Feminist Principles for Service-Learning Engagement

Recognizing that education serves as a vehicle of social oppression CRITICAL RACE FEMINIST PRINCIPLES

Social oppression Fostering a transformative and inclusive vision for education and society CRITICAL RACE FEMINIST PRINCIPLES

Transforming vision Social oppression Demonstrating citizenship by representation CRITICAL RACE FEMINIST PRINCIPLES

Transforming vision Representative citizenship Social oppression Developing respectful relationships across social hierarchies CRITICAL RACE FEMINIST PRINCIPLES

Respectful relationships Transforming vision Representative citizenship Social oppression An Ethic of Caring for social transformation CRITICAL RACE FEMINIST PRINCIPLES

Respectful relationships Transforming vision Social Representative citizenship Social oppression transformation Understanding the relationality of domination and oppression CRITICAL RACE FEMINIST PRINCIPLES

Respectful relationships Transforming vision Social Representative citizenship Social oppression transformation Locating oneself and sharing privilege for social transformation Domination-Repression CRITICAL RACE FEMINIST PRINCIPLES

Respectful relationships Transforming vision Creating a community-centered agenda Social Representative citizenship Social oppression transformation Domination-Repression Sharing privilege CRITICAL RACE FEMINIST PRINCIPLES

Respectful relationships Transforming vision Social Representative citizenship Social oppression transformation Co-creating just and sustainable communities Community-centred agenda Domination-Repression Sharing privilege CRITICAL RACE FEMINIST PRINCIPLES

Respectful relationships Transforming vision Social oppression Representative citizenship Ethic of caring Community-centered agenda Domination-Oppression Just, sustainable communities Sharing privilege CRITICAL RACE FEMINIST PRINCIPLES

Counter-story “Looking at one-self and seeing marginalization within academia, right? I mean, how can it understand outside, when you know, there’s no movement at all for racialized people within academia.” Aisabee

Transformative • “…model and promote race, class and gender equity; encourage and sustain diversity, create and sustain political, social and cultural awareness and sensitivity…” • Maya

Recommendations for Institutional Transformation • Leadership • Ensuring employment equity for faculty and staff of colour • Curriculum and pedagogical transformation • Access and equity for students • Anti-oppression education and training • Aligning systems and practices for authentic inclusion

Rigour in Research? • Educational research for social justice • CRT offers an epistemological shift – what counts as knowledge, what is the purpose of research, and who can be a ‘knower’ • Liberatory gaze necessary for a liberatory praxis • Question - collective action for the common good. How should institutions respond?

Critical Race Feminist Principles for Service-Learning Engagement