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The Work of Social Justice Activism and the Ontology of the Everyday
The Work of Social Justice Activism and the Ontology of the Everyday
Abstract Submissions Closed
Thursday, 25 February 2021: 14:15-15:45
Location:
WG06 Institutional Ethnography (host committee)
Language: English
Session Type: Oral
Invited Session
Since George Smith’s 1990 seminal article in Social Problems on “Political Activism as Ethnographer,” those using institutional ethnography (IE) have worked with communities to address social justice issues. Social justice advocates have begun to extend institutional ethnography as a skill that activists can use to uncover the invisible forms of ruling that organize local communities. Our panel discussion will explore how the application of IE can reveal social relations of ruling in the global North, which socially organizes Indigenous communities, feminists, Black activists, People of Color, environmentalists and small farmers’ advocacy work in the global South. We invite submissions that examine institutional systems that are at play in the North and identify where those in the global South are harmed for the sake of capitalist economic growth. Our objective is to explore how IE can be used to link an examination of ruling social relations with Indigenous land dispossession, environmental degradation, anti-black racism and the perpetuation of white settler colonial patriarchy. We anticipate that such an examination will also facilitate the building of allyship--one that seeks to establish accountability, solidarity, and relationality between Indigenous peoples, racialized peoples, feminists and settler allies working toward decolonization and social change both locally and transnationally. Using IE to examine actual activist advocacy practices and place-based social struggles will shed light on the interconnected ways that organize our work toward social justice activism.
Session Organizers: