I often times find it hard to study topics such as neoliberalism, capitalism, colonization, migration, labor movements, war on terror and other related topics. It can be daunting, gloomy and hopeless. When learning about transnational feminism it is important to be able to link these various topics to one another because they are interconnected and embedded in our society. You cannot study one topic while ignoring other factors that could be linked. Transnational feminisms are a feminist’s paradigm incorporating active moments based on the practices of globalization and capitalism and how this affects people, races, genders, classes and different sexualities. In order to make changes in our world we need to educate ourselves and each other. Change often takes time, patience and self-determination. It is important to acknowledge that change is challenging and does not have to occur at once. Instead, it can take small incremental steps to make big change. I think what can help create change and activism in the future is to educate yourself and others, volunteer, be involved in protests, engage in social media and news articles sites that update you on social and environmental issues. People need to be more active in their communities and join activism groups such as anti-corporate globalisation movement, anti-pipeline, black lives matter, criminal justice movements, labour movement, climate justice, LGTBQ community, and decolonization groups. People need to think more critically about global issues and what the roots of these problems are in order to create a more just society and world.
I think it is important to study and get involved in transitional feminism in order to combat social and environments issues. Students who are not exposed to these major issues that humanity is facing can have adverse and negative impacts not only socially but individually. People may not be aware of how their individual problems are connected to a larger scale. We are not separate and alone from the world we live in and often times people forget this. Students are not taught to think critically at school which can cause them to become products of the system without questioning anything. This can perpetuate social trends and not allow for change. How can change even occur if people are not exposed to other points of view, opinions, and perspectives?
(Below is a website to find activist groups in your community)
Pseudonym: VicK
THANK YOU for this! As I approach the end of my degree (minor in Gender Studies) I think back on all the time I have spent agonizing over the issues I learn about in class, all the times I’ve walked out of a classroom feeling so discouraged, thinking “well what now?” It is always so nice to hear from someone else who also acknowledges how hard it can be to talk about this stuff every day. This blog post is great for talking about that, and for making the very important point that no matter how tough it is we do just have to keep going, keep learning, keep striving for change. The little things DO make an impact! And…
I found this entry very interesting as I too often find studying the topics we have covered in this class, as well as the topics covered throughout my sociology major and social justice minor, very difficult at times. Studying and being exposed to the social issues occurring across the globe and the multitude of hardships kind, innocent individuals face every day certainly takes its toll on the soul. However, while studying such topics can be challenging, it is necessary and of the utmost importance; the challenge of learning about such hardships is nothing compared to the hardships themselves, and we must be exposed to them in order to understand and attempt to end them. In order to create real lasting…
How does subjectivity affect involvement? How can solidarity get defined across difference? For example, in Victoria, there have been visible race divides across anti-pipeline movements and climate justice movements, in which the latter has significantly more support. However, across many movements, people are advocating for very similar things but voicing it across different positionality, i.e. Indigenous sovereignty v.s. accessible drinking water/oil-free drinking water. By not addressing power imbalances, one cannot recognize that Indigenous sovereignty almost always demands environmental justice, sustainability, drinkable water, and more issues present in non-Indigenous movements. In some ways, how can we challenge activist movements that claim to be blind of difference? How can we hold activists accountable for what their positionality makes invisible to them, i.e.…