Feminist Praxis Revisited

Critical Reflections on University-Community Engagement

Edited by Amber Dean, Jennifer L. Johnson, and Susanne Luhmann
Subjects Social Science, Women’s Studies, Education, Gender Studies
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Paperback : 9781771123778, 208 pages, January 2019
Ebook (EPUB) : 9781771123785, 192 pages, January 2019

Introduction
1. Learning Elsewhere? Challenges and Possibilities for Community-Based Praxis Learning in Canadian Women’s and Gender Studies Programs – Susanne Luhmann, Jennifer L. Johnson, and Amber Dean
Feminist Praxis / for Credit / under Neo-liberalism
2. Colonialism, Neoliberalism, and University-Community Engagement: What Sorts of Encounters with Difference Are Our Institutions Prioritizing? – Amber Dean
3. Feminist Praxis and Community Service-Learning in Canada’s Changing Non-Profit Sector – Joanne Muzak
4. There’s More Than One Way to Save a Baby: Navigating Tensions Between Activism vs. Community Service and Anti-Racism vs. Multiculturalism – Sarita Srivastava
5. Community-Engaged Pedagogy, Sexual Violence, and Neoliberal Governance – Lise Gotell
Critical Approaches to Praxis / In and Out of the Classroom
6. Relations with the Dead? Ethics of Feminist Memorialization in Service Learning – Ilya Parkins
7. Quick to the Draw: Shooting from the Hip in Feminist NGOs – Judith Taylor
8. Evaluating the Effects of Community-Based Praxis Learning Placements on Campus and Community Organizations in the “Doing Feminist Theory Through Digital Video” Project – Rachel Hurst
9. Interrogating Feminist Praxis Inside the Classroom: “Storying up” Race, Indigeneity, and Alliance Building – Margot Francis
10. The De-Territorialization of Knowledge Production in Canadian Women’s and Gender Studies Programs – Jennifer L. Johnson
Afterword: Feeling Elsewhere – Catherine Orr
Contributors
Amber Dean, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON
Jennifer L. Johnson, Thorneloe University at Laurentian, Sudbury, ON
Suzanne Luhmann, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
Judith Taylor, University of Toronto, ON
Rachel Hurst, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS
Sarita Srivastava, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON
Ilya Parkins, University of British Columbia (Okanagan), Kelowna, BC
Lise Gotell, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
Joanne Muzak, independent scholar, Montreal, QC
Catherine Orr, Beloit College, Beloit, WI
Margot Francis, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON

Description

In Feminist Praxis Revisited, Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) practitioners reflect on how the field has sought to integrate its commitment to activism and social change with community-based learning in post-secondary institutions.
Teaching about and for social change has been a core value of the field since its inception, and co-op, practica, and internships have long been part of the curriculum in the professional schools. However, liberal arts faculties are increasingly under pressure to integrate community engagement practices and respond to labour market demands for greater student “employability.” That demand creates challenges and possibilities as WGS programs and instructors adapt to changing post-secondary agendas.
This book examines how WGS programs can continue to prioritize the foundational critiques of inequality, power, privilege, and identity in the face of a post-secondary push toward praxis as resumé building, skills acquisition, and the bridging of town-and-gown differences. It pushes students to reflect critically on their own experiences with feminist praxis through critical reflections offered by the contributors along with examples of practical approaches to community-based/experiential learning.