let's spark some consciousness-raising
Toole argues that “both [the marginalized and non-marginalized] require a sort of training, the cultivation of a critical outlook on the experiences one has (and the evidence those experiences make available)” (417). Additionally, according to Toole, “consciousness-raising refers to the practice of coming together in groups, identifying commonalities in experience, and developing a critical perspective on those commonalities” (417). Through consciousness-raising one can identify harmful ideologies and recognize patterns of oppression that others may not notice.
However, I’m curious what could cause the initial act of consciousness-raising. Toole writes that “prior to consciousness-raising the whole of the phenomenal framework in and through which the individual receives, classified, channels, and responds to her experiences’ will be shaped by the operative ideological framework” (422). I wonder how anyone can initially escape what Toole describes as ‘bad ideology.’
What could spark someone to recognize the need to come together to consciousness-raise when prior to consciousness-raising everyone is originally blinded by the bad ideology?
Initially, when I had this question, I figured that learning from those who have broken away from this bad ideology could trigger others to break away. But, how did the first initial person break away? Consciousness-raising appears to require community.
Perhaps, simply being around people facing similar barriers can spark consciousness-raising without the intention of consciousness-raising. Nevertheless, I’d like to hear what Toole thinks.
Violet's Original Post: (though also about consciousness-raising)
ReplyDeleteI am curious about the “training” process involved in consciousness-raising, and wonder whether it bears any resemblance to the epistemological concept of “world-traveling.”
Toole’s account of consciousness-raising requires one to “critically examine the relationship between the social situatedness of members of [a] group and the experiences those members have in virtue of that situatedness,” which in turn allows one to become “aware of patterns in experiences, patterns that may escape the attention of others” (418).
This emphasis on critical analysis and intentional noticing notably excludes both marginally and dominantly situated people who have not critically analyzed patterns of oppression, but can include dominantly situated people who have consciousness-raised.
Toole compares this process to a training because it involves expanding the epistemic resources or “evidence” one draws from, and developing the ability to better interpret this evidence to “attend to… aspects of the world” in a way that is “sensitive to the experiences of those at the margins” (419).
Her comparison to training reminds me somewhat of the epistemic concept of “world-traveling,” which I have only read about in Kristie Dotson’s “A Cautionary Tale: On Limiting Epistemic Oppression.” As she describes, world traveling is a process through which one can try to understand the way a group of people live and see the world, especially those who are marginally situated, in order to limit epistemic oppression.
Dotson quotes Mariana Ortega to explain that world traveling “requires a tremendous commitment to practice,” including “actually engag[ing] in activities where one will experience what others experience,” for example by “learn[ing] people’s language in order to understand them better not to use it against them… and to see people as worthy of respect rather than helpless beings that require help” (ACT 35).
This process seems to have some similarities to Toole’s “consciousness-raising,” particularly in how they require a training process of expanding one’s epistemic frameworks and resources, as well as allowing for the possibility of dominantly situated people to become epistemically privileged.
I wonder, does consciousness-raising, like world-traveling, involve close cooperation and interaction with marginally situated people, or could a dominantly-situated person consciousness-raise just by nature of becoming more critically observant?
Dotson article:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5250/fronjwomestud.33.1.0024?seq=12