La Strada Documentation Center

Respect and Relevance: Supporting Self-Organising as a Strategy for Empowerment and Social Change

Document number
1353
Date
2007
Title
Respect and Relevance: Supporting Self-Organising as a Strategy for Empowerment and Social Change
Author/publisher
Julie Ham, Bandana Pattanaik, Global Alliance Against Traffick in Women (GAATW)
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Economy in transition, Youth employment, State socialism, Socio-Economic transition, Discrimination, Unemployment, Poverty, Community development, Social security,
Summary
This publication by the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women systemically documents information from GAATW’s (self-organised) members and reflects on the following questions:How do self-organised groups contribute to individual and collective empowerment?How do self-organised groups contribute to social change?How can NGOs and donors support self-organised groups in a way that respects their unique strengths and challenges? Self-organised groups in the GAATW are groups of trafficking survivors, migrant workers, domestic workers, sex workers and Afro-descendant women working for empowerment and social change. The particular self-organised groups in the Alliance are distinctive in that (1) historically, these groups are relatively ‘new’ in using self-organising as a strategy; (2) they are groups working on issues of empowerment and social change; and (3) they embody particular social identities that contribute to their marginalisation, stigmatisation and social exclusion. On the basis of data collection through interviews, focus group discussions and secondary analysis of GAATW materials, the report draws a series of conclusions and details needs and bottlenecks related to: individual and collective learning processes, oppression and social exclusion, negative social identities, self-confidence, participation, living and working conditions, etc. It is found that much of the academic social science literature on empowerment stresses one aspect of an empowerment process or positions autonomy and mastery in opposition to community and connection whilst the GAATW discussions showed that community and connection provided a means for women to gain autonomy, mastery and control over their environment. The report also found a need for NGOs and external stakeholders to respect the strengths and efforts of self-organised groups and the right of affected women to influence NGO/advocacy sectors (e.g. right of trafficking survivors to influence anti-trafficking activity). Although groups welcomed interaction and relationships with external stakeholders, a major issue and source of tension was the (un)willingness of external stakeholders to respect their role in providing support (such as resources, expertise, moral support, conceptual and political support). The suggestions GAATW received from groups and organisations therefore ultimately stress the importance of how partnerships with self-organised groups are managed rather than what specific supports are given. The discussions brought up two important points: (1) the need for donors, NGOs and external stakeholders to critically analyse and reflect on their own assumptions and (2) the need for donors, NGOs and external stakeholders to genuinely respect the boundaries of their own role, ultimately, as a supporter rather than as a driver of self-organising efforts.
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