Precarious Locations: Feminist Co-optation and Strategies of Resistance in the Neoliberal Age

• Authors: Alexandra Ana

Title variants

PL

Niepewne miejsca: feministyczna kooptacja i strategie oporu w czasach neoliberalizmu?

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

As women gained access to influence politics through official channels, the social justice concerns of feminist activists started to be pursued in Romania through institutionalized forms of political intervention. The institutionalization and professionalization of the feminist movement were widely associated with feminist and women NGOs collaborating with governmental gender equality bodies to advance movement goals and achieve policy success. While some scholars insisted on the benefits of infusing feminist ideas and practices within the state, others considered that NGOization made the feminist movement susceptible of co-optation contributing to its demobilization and depoliticization. The concept of co-optation reflects the dilemmas faced by contemporary feminist movements regarding the displacement of feminist goals and concerns that might be adapted to other priorities and agendas – sometimes adverse and conflicting with the original aims – once they become part of the official political channels of decision-making. The resource dependency of feminist NGOs and groups on state or private funds is also associated with the co-optation of movement organizations. With this in mind, how does one build on critical analyses around the concept of co-optation without disbanding the actions and efforts of feminist activists and NGOs as legitimating the policy agendas of state or private donors? This study aims, first, to explain, the tensions engendered by co-optation and the insider/outsider dilemma facing the contemporary feminist movement and, second, to explore the strategies developed by the feminist movement to resist or govern co-optation. In order to explore the process of co-optation, especially the tensions and strategies of resistance engendered by it, the paper uses the NGOization body of literature and provides empirical evidence from research on the Romanian feminist movement.

PL

Gdy kobiety zyskały możliwość wpływania na politykę za pośrednictwem oficjalnych kanałów, postulaty feministek dotyczące sprawiedliwości społecznej zaczęto realizować w Rumunii poprzez zinstytucjonalizowane formy interwencji politycznej. Instytucjonalizację i profesjonalizację ruchu feministycznego powszechnie kojarzono z feministycznymi i kobiecymi organizacjami pozarządowymi współpracującymi z rządowymi organami do spraw równości płci w celu realizacji postulatów ruchu i osiągnięcia sukcesu w sferze polityki. Podczas gdy niektórzy badacze zawracali uwagę na korzyści płynące z przenikania idei i praktyk feministycznych do struktury państwa, inni uważali, że organizacje pozarządowe czynią ruch feministyczny podatnym na kooptację, przyczyniając się do jego demobilizacji i odpolitycznienia. Koncepcja kooptacji odzwierciedla dylematy, przed którymi stoją współczesne ruchy feministyczne. Dylematy te dotyczą przesuwania celów ruchu, które mogą być dostosowane do innych priorytetów i programów – czasami działając na niekorzyść ruchu i w sprzeczności z pierwotnymi celami, szczególnie gdy staną się częścią oficjalnych kanałów politycznych. Zależność feministycznych grup i organizacji pozarządowych od funduszy państwowych lub prywatnych jest również powiązana z kooptacją ruchu. Jak budować ruch na krytycznych analizach koncepcji kooptacji bez jednoczesnego kwestionowania wagi działań i wysiłków aktywistów feministycznych i organizacji pozarządowych jako legitymizujących programy polityczne państwowych lub prywatnych darczyńców? Badanie to ma na celu, po pierwsze, wyjaśnienie napięć powstałych w wyniku kooptacji i związanych z dylematem bycia wewnątrz/na zewnątrz, przed którym stoi współczesny ruch feministyczny. Po drugie, celem autorki artykułu jest zbadanie strategii przeciwstawienia się lub zarządzania kooptacją opracowanych przez ruch feministyczny. Do analizy procesu kooptacji, a zwłaszcza wywoływanych przez ów proces napięć i powstałych wopozycji do niego strategii oporu, w tekście wykorzystano literaturę NGO-izacji i przedstawiono empiryczne dowody pochodzące z badań nad rumuńskim ruchem feministycznym.

Keywords

EN

Cooptation; institutionalization; NGOization; feminist movement; resource dependency; Cooptation; institutionalization; NGOization; feminist movement; resource dependency

PL

kooptacja; instytucjonalizacja; NGO-izacja; ruch feministyczny; zależność finansowa

• Publisher: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
• Journal: Praktyka Teoretyczna
• Year: 2018
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 4

Dates

published

2018-12-15

Contributors

author

Alexandra Ana

• Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences Palazzo Strozzi, Piazza Strozzi 50123 Florence

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Identifiers

DOI

10.14746/prt.2018.4.6