The Process-Utopian Method for Feminist Praxis : Exploring Examples within Abolition and Decolonial Feminist Theory
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Authors
Waldron, Elle M.
Issue Date
2023-06-01
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
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Abstract
This project began with the initial question: what does feminist praxis look like outside of academia? Praxis is defined as "the process of using a theory or something that you have learned in a practical way." It can also be characterized as having an understanding of how action and theory shape one another. Feminist praxis follows the same definition as praxis above but is also distinguished by "the process of moving from feminist values into actions based on those values." I define feminist praxis as the actions, thought-processes, and relationships formed with the intention of recognizing the way that gender and sexuality structure society and culture and interact with other systems of oppression, combined with an attempt to create new systems and worlds. In this SIP, I argue that process utopian methods are a form of feminist praxis that are represented in socio-cultural space and accompanying material conditions of specific sites. A process-utopian method is an approach to creating new worlds and systems which centers the continuous development of these new systems and processes over a goal. Process-utopias are the imagining of a new system or world that emphasizes the skills and experiences gained while reaching for that goal rather than the goal itself. This is demonstrated by the versatile and varied examples investigated in this SIP which are framed using the Abolition Feminist Transformative Justice Framework and Decolonial Feminist Theory. These demonstrations include the following case study examples of process utopian methods and my personal reflection on their application: a redefinition of citizenship, The Combahee River Collective (then and now), spatial tagging, the Nhanga method, and the Palestinian Feminist Collective 2023 calendar.
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86 p.
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