Basic concepts/Dictionary
Intersectional Feminist Popular Education
Popular education is rooted in the interests and struggles of ordinary people, and is overtly political, critical of the status quo and committed to progressive social change. When done well, popular education promotes personal as well as collective growth and transformation. While it may be intellectually or emotionally challenging at times, it also can be downright fun!
What makes it feminist and intersectional? Feminist popular education brings a gender justice lens to the process, recognizing that patriarchy is systemic and affects all aspects of life. It becomes intersectional when it also acknowledges that people embody multiple identities which affect their experiences, feelings, needs and world views, and the analysis one undertakes as part of popular education. These dimensions of identity include, but are not limited to: gender, race, class, ethnicity, caste, national origin, age, ability, gender identity and sexual orientation, migration status and more. An intersectional feminist popular education process needs to take these considerations to heart in the process design, the choice of facilitators, language(s) spoken, physical arrangements and content – e.g. the issues raised, questions asked, analyses undertaken, experiences offered.
Foundational Principles:
- Begin where everyone is at – what people know, what they are experiencing, feeling, and thinking — get that on the table up front. These are the initial ingredients. Build and learn together from there to establish a collective analysis and collective plans.
- Collaboration – all learn and contribute to the group analysis and process. Everyone has something to give as a gift to the group. The process models teamwork and cooperating, rather than an individualistic and/or competitive approach.
- Whole person learning – popular education engages heads, hearts, spirits, and bodies, containing mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical dimensions. Learning, evaluating, strategizing, and planning aspects use a variety of techniques to address different learning/processing styles. This promotes a more deeply felt experience, as well as a deeper commitment to outcomes and commitments made.
- Trust – everyone feels respected, heard, seen, and included. Everyone is valued. This enables more honest and robust sharing, a deeper process, and more profound outcomes.
- Cross-cutting – People, issues and dreams do not exist in silos. When engaging in a structural analysis of current realities, facilitators need to be sure to promote a power analysis which incorporates social and cultural, economic, political, and environmental conditions and institutions, policies, dynamics and trends.
- Values-based. Participants explore shared moral/values/ethical understandings and interpretations that inform a critique of social realities as well as dreams and plans for the world they want to create. For individuals and groups rooted in a particular spiritual or explicitly religious identity(ies), cross-cutting and intersectional structural analysis includes this. Underlying shared spiritual or religious identities and/or values may also inform other design elements of the process – such as music, poetry, worship, reflection time, the schedule (e.g. including prayer breaks), etc.
Outcomes:
- Greater understanding of one’s situation, and sense that one is not alone
- Developing and/or strengthening critical consciousness (of the status quo)
- Identification of priorities for change
- Action plan emerging from the group
- Greater sense of personal and collective agency
- Establishing processes of accountability for taking action
► FACILITATION TIP:
The process and outcomes of popular education are based on the needs of the group, not the needs of the facilitator(s). Especially for intensive and extensive endeavors, this means that the facilitator(s) need to do some homework in advance and talk with various individuals to get a sense of what is needed, wanted, group dynamics, etc. As much as possible, this inquiry includes both leaders of the group as well as individuals who may be active but not in leadership positions.
► FACILITATION TIP:
As fits the length of the project/event, various forms of periodic evaluation need to be built in to gather input to gauge how well goals are being met, how the process may need to be modified, etc.
Check out these resources:
elmira Nazombe and Carol Barton put together a handy overview guide of justice methodologies called “Serious Fun” which discusses how to create a facilitation plan, the types of tasks involved in each step of the process, and provides an overview of many techniques. Download it free here.
See how the Praxis Project uses pop ed: “Popular Education: Opening Spaces for Dialogue & Liberation” www.thepraxisproject.org/resource/2023/poped2022.
Here’s a pop ed handbook – based on path-breaking pop ed work in Central America which inspired similar work in Canada. “A Popular Education Handbook” by Rick Arnold and Bev Burke. http://persuasionsanddesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/A_Popular_Education_Handbook.pdf
A plethora of terrific offerings from Chris Cavanagh- resources, as well as reflections on theory and practice of popular education can be found at: https://populareducation.substack.com/
Training for Community Transformation. elmira Nazombe provides a much-needed assessment of popular education outcomes in the US. Her dissertation is a qualitative research study of a project involving community women in the Bronx. https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/27187
Intersectional Feminist Popular Economics/Economic literacy
Popular economics can have different shades of meaning:
➢ It may relate to the process of helping a group of people understand the underlying political-economic dynamics of a current issue they are facing. The immediate aim generally is to go beyond fostering a critical consciousness of a situation to develop a collective analysis and an organizing strategy to address the issue(s), or at a minimum, to better understand an organizing strategy that someone else has developed. When “popular economics” is used in this context, it almost always assumes a critical political-economic analysis with a progressive lens.
➢ “Economic literacy” may be less immediately activist-oriented, but refer to an engaging pedagogical approach of taking a current economic issue or situation and using that as a launchpad for learning about more theoretical economics concepts. Here the aim is to enable students/persons to see the relevance of the particular theoretical constructs for their everyday life. In this situation, the particular school of economic thought used can be anything – such as socialist, Marxist-feminist, neo-liberal or “The Chicago School.”
What makes it feminist and intersectional? Feminist popular economics brings a gender justice lens to the analysis, recognizing that patriarchy is baked into economic systems. It becomes intersectional by also acknowledging that people embody multiple identities which affect their experiences, feelings, needs and world views. These include, but are not limited to: gender, race, class, ethnicity, caste, national origin, age, ability, gender identity and sexual orientation, migration status and more. These multiple identities affect one’s economic experiences, opportunities, and outcomes of economic policies. An intersectional feminist popular economics undertaking takes this into account in its analysis, dreaming, and strategic planning. It also considers these dimensions in terms of the process design, the choice of facilitators, language(s) spoken, and physical arrangements.
► FACILITATION TIP:
Neither popular economics or economic literacy assumes anything about a specific facilitation technique. Experiential techniques and participatory research methods could be used – it all depends on the facilitators’ interests and skills and the setting. Facilitators can choose from among many different tools to achieve whatever goals meet the group’s needs (or teacher’s objectives in academic settings).
Check out these resources:
AFL-CIO “Common Sense Economics”
For intersectional feminist and other economic literacy videos, check out CPE’s YouTube channel.
Economics for Everyone Conversation Deck/Baraja de Conversacion sobre Economica para Todos – United for a Fair Economy
This deck of cards (in English and Spanish) is designed to facilitate conversations about identity, community, the US economy and economic justice. For groups where people do not know each other, it also includes ice breaker cards. These would work well for teens and adults, and with people from a variety of economic and cultural backgrounds. Click here to download a digital version or order a deck and obtain a free facilitation guide.
Neo-liberalism in a Nutshell handout
Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
offers up-to-the-minute economic commentary and research findings from a progressive economic lens. Click here to visit
WIDE + (Women In Development Europe)
This feminist European coalition has created a rich compendium of feminist economic literacy resources. Topics include: cyber-violence, female refugees and migrants, feminist economics, feminist solidarities, gender and development, gender and trade, gender justice in Europe, gender-based violence, climate crisis. The website includes videos, briefing papers, and training curricula. Materials are available in English, with some in German and/or Spanish. There is also a translation feature on their website.
A 5 sector model of the economy (see WIDE Austria) is available in German. This is a common model used to provide a wider, deeper understanding of various segments of a nation’s economy beyond formal and informal sector….In German: http://www.beigewum.at/wp-content/uploads/KW_2_2017_Gubitzer.pdf
Info on economic literacy in German from WIDE Switzerland: https://wide-switzerland.ch/de/aktivitat/economic-literacy ]
For more resources, Click here to check out the links in our Tools section
Participatory education
Participatory education refers to a whole-body, whole-person approach to education on any topic one can imagine – from fixing a broken faucet to community organizing. This means we bring our whole selves to the task and learn by doing… For example, we might learn about organizing by going door to door and talking with people. We might learn about advocacy by going to local government meetings, testifying, talking with local elected officials, or protesting. In an organizing context, this approach often involves problem identification, analysis, and pursuit of solutions through dialogue, self-awareness, and organizing.
► FACILITATION TIP:
Participatory education can be a powerful, very effective and memorable approach to learning because it involves multiple dimensions of ourselves learning rather than just one. It is best done if there can be some trusted mentors, coaches, elders, and/or colleagues with whom one can both prepare for the experience and then debrief it, enabling each person and the entire group involved to process the experience and their feelings in order to more deeply learn from it.
The Solidarity Center developed a helpful discussion of the “Features of Participatory Learning” based on material from “A New Weave of Power, People and Politics: The Action Guide for Advocacy and Citizen Participation” by Lisa VeneKlasen with Valerie Miller, World Neighbors, 2002.
Experiential techniques
These are techniques which involve learning by doing – but are not necessarily real life situations as with participatory education. They may involve activities with a shorter time frame, within a larger training or meeting. For example: they might be role plays, games, popular theater, or practice sessions for public speaking, writing, interviews, etc.
► FACILITATION TIP:
These techniques can serve many purposes. They can transform an abstract topic into something very relatable and meaningful for a person. They can be great ways to build personal skills, as well as to help create community. They also can do double duty as “energizers” for a group by generating more energy and enthusiasm in a room.
“Live Illustrations” are one simple, fun technique to make certain facts or conditions more understandable and very vivid. Click here to check out our Tools & Techniques section for explanations about this and other relevant tools.
Feminist Participatory Action Research (PAR)
This approach to transformative inquiry and action planning has been in existence for decades, with more or less radical influences and uses. At its best, it is conducted and led from within the affected community(ies). The point is to enable participants to better understand a specific problem they are facing through engaging in quantitative and/or qualitative research, reflect on their findings, and then take action based on those findings to improve their situation. PAR can be a stand alone methodology or used as a component of a popular education-based organizing effort.
EXAMPLE: While FPAR has a history of use in countries of the Global South, it also has found all kinds of applications in the Global North. For example, feminist organizations in Andalusia, Spain currently are using FPAR as both a research methodology and process for social change and capacity building related to human trafficking in Southern Spain.
EXAMPLE: SEEDS OF FIRE. At the famed Highlander Center (New Market, TN), Advisory Committee members and fellowship participants in the Center’s Seeds of Fire youth organizing project are launching a FPAR effort “to create communal care systems as an alternative to carceral systems.” For more information contact Rosemary Paz rosemary@highlander.org or Teddy Lee teddy@highlander.org.
Check out these great resources related to Feminist Participatory Action Research:
This report, “Reclaiming Migrant Women’s Narratives: A Feminist Participatory Action Research project on ‘Safe and Fair’ Migration in Asia” is an excellent example of FPAR.
https://gaatw.org/publications/Reclaiming%20Migrant%20Women%27s%20Narratives.pdf
This journal article, “Blending Feminist, Indigenous, and Participatory Action Research Methodologies: Critical Reflections from the Northeastern Ontario Research Alliance on Human Trafficking” provides helpful insights into decolonial and indigenous approaches to FPAR.
https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/802396/summary
Publications, downloadable course syllabi, presentations, and links to many PAR networks and organizations from a noted feminist PAR scholar and activist.
https://www.patriciamaguire.net/teaching_resources.html
This website contains podcasts showcasing the contributions of many PAR Feminist “trailblazers and good troublemakers” working in various countries on a range of issues. Learn about their struggles, successes, and insights for the future of PAR informed by intersectional feminisms. Also contains an extensive resource section.
https://www.parfemtrailblazers.net
Based at the City University of New York, the Public Science Project “collaborates with academics, community organizations, schools, prisons, and public institutions to design, conduct, and support research and practice aimed at interrupting injustice.” Website includes current PAR projects, links, backgrounders, and reading lists.
This is a thoughtful discussion of different types of PAR, a historical overview of the different strands of struggle and research contributing to this methodology in use today, current use and ethical issues.
Based at UC Berkeley, the Youth PAR Hub focuses specifically on resourcing youth and youth groups to engage in PAR themselves. Website contains an excellent and deep set of resources on different research methods, best practices, curriculum, and some inspiring stories of how youth are using this methodology to organize and advocate for change.