A Digital Activism Programme
Coming soon
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In fighting Covid-19, governments around the world are increasingly relying on technologies like drones, facial recognition cameras and location tracing devices. This raises a big question about the how some of these technologies will shape society beyond this public health emergency.
Today, computers are integrated into everyday life and everything we do. Computer-mediated experiences – be they in the form of using a smartphone, social media, an app, email, location services, search engines – produce enormous amounts of data every day which can be analysed and used for various purposes by different actors in society such as businesses and government institutions. While many hail this as an era of great promise, recent developments have also opened up a discussion about the extent to which ‘big data’ is a threat to freedom.
Clip here for a quick run-through on this issue – it’ll take just 10min!
Part of our struggle as activists in creating a more equitable and just world is the need to rethink our ideas and practices around gender, power and consent. While the need for change in the world on these issues is overwhelming, the idea that we need to challenge our own practices in our movements and organisations is equally important. In an effort to contribute to this area of work, we at Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education have (in collaboration with Equal Education) created a set of materials for a workshop that can be run as presented here or adapted to your needs as required.
Key focus areas are:
We suggest facilitators start by having a discussion with participants about the necessity of being sensitive and respectful during the process, and how feelings of discomfort and vulnerability might arise but are part of the process of learning and change.
In addition to this facilitators working with organisations or other groups that will continue to work together in the future should conclude with the drawing up of a charter outlining a way forward that will foster a progressive and welcoming space for everyone participating in that space going forward.
Download the full Facilitator Guide
This exercise is intended to highlight that the position of women is key to ANY struggle for social justice, whether it be health, housing, education, sexual harassment, or violence against women and girls.
Read the handout (there is a linked infographic that can be handed to participants to make the activity more visually engaging and accessible), and discuss responses with participants.
To give participants a sense of the day to come, and the direction in which the facilitators will be heading.
Outline the programme and the intended objectives:
Reinforce the need to see gender equality as part of a prefigurative politics and successful movement building, and to highlight the link between the personal and political.
Read and discuss with participants the provided quotes by Thomas Sankara and bell hooks and lift out any insights and comments participants may have. What do they have in common? What differences do they have in emphasis and focus?
To understand the difference between sex, gender and sexuality.
Divide the group into three small groups (depending on the number of participants). Each small group is given a A1 sheet of card/paper to write on.
To lift out the gender stereotypes in our society, and to look at the negative biases they carry.
Ask the participants to draw from personal experience, and think about what it means when they are told to “act like a lady” or to “man-up”.
Divide participants into small groups and give them these instructions:
Discuss reflections and commentary in plenary.
To encourage participants to challenge socially-constructed ideas about gender.
Use slide presentation 2 to understand the following concepts:
To highlight the prevalence of prescriptive gender roles and the ways in which they can be harmful to individuals and organisations involved in social justice work.
When are gender stereotypes or stereotypical ideas of gender roles harmful/dangerous in organisational or activist spaces? How do these understandings of gender hinder social justice work?
Facilitators can choose from the selection of readings provided on women’s struggles in the workplace, social movements or other organisations.
Ask the participants to read the text/s in groups of no more than 5 (where possible) and use the following question as a guide for a discussion:
Groups to report back in plenary.
To lift out the various behaviours that are inappropriate and cause discomfort in the workplace or organisations. The process should clarify the more subtle micro-aggressions people experience, how to tell the difference between welcome and unwelcome gestures, and help participants understand why these are problematic.
Introduce the participants to the notion that while there are clearly defined cases of sexual harassment, there are many more subtle interactions that can leave people feeling exposed, vulnerable and disempowered. These behaviours can create an uncomfortable, even toxic working space, and be difficult to confront due to a multitude of reasons including the fear of repercussions or of not being taken seriously.
It is important to provide a trigger warning at this point, as the exercise may surface some uncomfortable emotions and experiences.
Divide the participants into 3 groups and task each group to take a sheet of card, markers, and one of the labels. Ask each group to create a list on the card under one of the following labels:
Once completed allow groups to view each others’ lists of unwelcome interactions, and then bring them to the plenary group for discussion. Go through each list and facilitate a discussion in which participants explore the commonalities between their experiences, what they find surprising, what the differences are between welcome and unwelcome behaviours and how to recognise, and why they think these behaviours continue to flourish.
To highlight how prevalent sexual harassment is and how it manifests in movements/organising spaces.
Building on the ‘Sexual Harrasment World Café’ activity, provide an overview of sexual harassment and its prevalence in activist/organising spaces.
Sexual harassment is pervasive across many social spaces and institutions:
Sexual harrasment can take many forms, including the following:
There are many commonly held ideas about sexual harassment that are taken as true and uncontested. This session aims to explore some common myths about sexual harassment and the implications they carry for the struggle against patriarchy.
Divide participants into groups. Give each group a short statement that introduces a popular myth about sexual harassment in the workplace. On a worksheet, request the participants to share some thoughts about the statement:
While some statements may appear obvious, some will be harder to determine and members of each group will most likely debate and have disagreements about them. It is important for the facilitator to encourage respectful discussion and active listening.
Reconvene the groups in plenary to share their reports on the discussions. The facilitator can open the discussion to the floor. It is important to note that these myths are context-specific. Feel free to draw your own list of myths that might be more applicable to your context.
As a facilitator, be ready provide additional examples and to elaborate.
To encourage participants to think more deeply about consent and identify when it is and is not given.
Based on discussions around the popular myths on sexual harassment and assault, ask buzz groups of between 5 and 10 participants to identify key words associated with a culture of consent. These words will be used to populate a chart on Consent Culture.
Together in plenary, ask the participants to explore a separate and contrasting chart that depicts what consent is NOT. Wrap this activity up by reinforcing the discussion on the pervasive nature of sexual harassment and its implications for activists and their movements.
To develop a shared set of principles and guidelines which will enable everyone to feel comfortable and welcome.
Ask participants to break into small groups of no more than 10, and discuss how their gender effects their experience of life and work.
Have them draft a set of principles that will foster an organisational culture that is welcoming and create a safe space for all within it.
Participants should report back to plenary to combine the principles into a single charter that everyone can unite around.
To develop an understanding of the terms and issues around gender, sexuality, sexism and patriarchy.
This a visual glossary that can be used as a short game to encourage learning and discussion, or the completed version can be used as a take-home resource.
As a game, split the participants into groups of 2–4, and task the participants to place the correct definitions next to the terms on the handout.
Once the participants have completed this task, ask them to discuss in plenary what they have learned, and what terms they felt were missing.
To provide a simple explanation of how consent works, and its importance.
Video Linked below:
Because this resource uses the technique of metaphor, it is crucial for the facilitator to distill the important messages and ideas it communicates after the clip has been shown.
Mon 30 Nov – Thu 3 Dec 2020
Umthombo Wolwazi is changing. After three years of study, we now have a cadre (group) with a deep understanding of history, politics and ideas. We have studied The Communist Manifesto and interrogated the relationship between race and class in explaining the South African reality. We have studied the theory and history of revolutions in Cuba, Venezuela, Burkina Faso and Germany, as well as contemporary struggles for freedom in Sudan and Zimbabwe. We have studied decoloniality, COVID-19 and our world, and the transition to democracy in South Africa.
The sessions we have hosted on Fridays, twice a month in Khayelitsha, have been designed and facilitated by Tshisimani staff. Umthombo members have given input about what we should study and, at times, decided what this should be. In the past, comrades have done research and prepared presentations, and at every session there is group-work and report-back from participants, often in quite creative ways. Participants are involved in setting up the venue, distributing food and masks, and making sure that comrades sign the register.
However, what was contemplated from the end of 2020 goes much further than this. The core cadre (group) of Umthombo Wolwazi will be trained and supported to play an active role in content creation and facilitation of sessions, and this cadre will eventually start their own reading groups in their organisations and communities. The intention of this is to allow for the personal and political development of this cadre, decrease reliance on Tshisimani and expand the reach of political education.
This Facilitator Camp is the first, exciting step in this process. Over the four days, we combined theory and praxis (action and reflection), used active learning strategies, and consistently analysed and reflected on the learning process.
We learn about the roots and principles of popular education and The Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Paulo Freire), and think through active learning strategies that enable us to establish a democratic and dialogic learning space.
We discuss what makes a good facilitator and what every facilitator should be thinking about and trying to achieve.
We come to understand the different elements that go into designing a learning programme, and practice these skills by designing workshops of our own.
We evaluate the Camp and look to the future, discussing Umthombo Wolwazi in 2021 and beyond.