Guilty Displeasures: White Resistance in the Social Justice Classroom

In this article, the author reflects on the challenges of teaching white law students about racism and whiteprivilege asa racializedprofessor To situateher experiences and to better understand the obstacles that professors who teach critically about race and racism confront, she draws from theories of racial identity development and research on student evaluations to contextualize student responses to antiracist pedagogy Grappling with racism in a meaningful way leaves many white students feeling distraught, angry and guilty, among other unpleasant emotions. Professors who initiate these discussions become the natural targets of criticism and blame as students struggle with their discomfort. The hostility of resistant white students can be interpreted as racial microaggressions that compromise the psychological well-being and deplete the emotional and physical resources of racialized professors. However, understanding negative student reactions in the context of structural racism and embracing students\u27 sense of disequilibrium as a necessary part of social transformation enable professors to reconceptualize personal attacks as something more constructive. The author concludes that teaching about racism and white privilege in a critical way an obligation shared by all educators, offers personal and collective rewards that outweigh any costs

26. All That Glitters Is Not Gold: The False Promise of Victim Impact Statements

This chapter interrogates whether or not the criminal justice system holds potential for fairly representing women’s experiences of harm while affirming their dignity, equality, and autonomy. Specifically, Rakhi Ruparelia questions the opportunity to present a “victim impact statement” (VIS) to the judge who is sentencing a sex offender. While not opposing a criminalization strategy, as do Alison Symington and Julie Desrosiers in the specific contexts discussed in their respective chapters, Rakhi expresses similar skepticism that the law permitting the filing of a VIS is actually premised on deeply conservative ideologies regarding who are “real victims” and what their proper role in the criminal justice system is. Like the Sexual Assault Evidence Kit originally touted as a positive development for women, the VIS is more likely to be used to discredit women’s claims than to validate them when it comes to sexual assault. Rakhi explores systemic racism in sentencing and argues persuasively that Aboriginal and racialized men will bear the brunt of VIS use and that Aboriginal and racialized women have little if anything to gain from the VIS. The VIS, she argues, is really about appeasing “victims” and maintaining the individualized focus of the criminal justice syste

Guilty Displeasures: White Resistance in the Social Justice Classroom

In this article, the author reflects on the challenges of teaching white law students about racism and whiteprivilege asa racializedprofessor To situateher experiences and to better understand the obstacles that professors who teach critically about race and racism confront, she draws from theories of racial identity development and research on student evaluations to contextualize student responses to antiracist pedagogy Grappling with racism in a meaningful way leaves many white students feeling distraught, angry and guilty, among other unpleasant emotions. Professors who initiate these discussions become the natural targets of criticism and blame as students struggle with their discomfort. The hostility of resistant white students can be interpreted as racial microaggressions that compromise the psychological well-being and deplete the emotional and physical resources of racialized professors. However, understanding negative student reactions in the context of structural racism and embracing students\u27 sense of disequilibrium as a necessary part of social transformation enable professors to reconceptualize personal attacks as something more constructive. The author concludes that teaching about racism and white privilege in a critical way an obligation shared by all educators, offers personal and collective rewards that outweigh any costs

Getting at Equality: Research Methods Informed by the Lessons of Intersectionality

This article evaluates a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach with mixed methods including concept mapping, q-sorting and deliberative dialogue in the context of a research project on young people’s experiences with digital communications technologies, and addresses some of the central insights of intersectionality theory and praxis. Our approach seeks to ensure that, insofar as possible, the gathered data provide a rich and layered window into the experiences of young people from a range of marginalized communities served by our project partners. The article revisits some key insights and contestations relating to intersectionality and addresses their relationship to our approach. We evaluate whether these methods enhance understandings of the interactions of structures of subordination with other factors identified in intersectionality scholarship, as well as the extent to which they centre the knowledge and expertise of those subordinated by matrices of domination as discussed by authors such as Crenshaw and Hill Collins. Our approach is just one of many that social science researchers interested in advancing intersectionality’s key insights could deploy. While it falls short of full consistency with these insights, its mixed methods work toward our partners’ social justice objectives while facilitating exploration of intersecting axes of subordination. Our approach can also help our project recapture the politic at the heart of many intersectional feminist critiques, such as those of Crenshaw and Hill Collins - that reconceptualizing knowledge requires centring the knowledge and expertise of those traditionally excluded due to interlocking systems of subordination

FLaK: Mixing Feminism, Legality and Knowledge

© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. This editorial explains the themes of the forthcoming FLaK seminar and how those themes draw on the collective and individual contributions of the articles, interviews and commentaries presented in this issue. At FLaK, we propose to think with others about the kind of ‘kitchen table’ that FLS might provide into the future. How might feminist legal studies—the approach and the journal—best use its food, equipment, techniques, time, space, mood, energy and commitment? How shall FLS scholars and associates make the most of what we have in a room that can sometimes be confining and confusing, yet also exciting and sustaining? How do others engage with the processes and products of our kitchen table? In considering these issues and more, we propose to draw reflexively on feminist legacies of praxis, internationalism and openness, as we stock up and critically reflect on decolonizing techniques, legal know-how, protest and publishing practices

Sexual Assault in Canada

Sexual Assault in Canada is the first English-language book in almost two decades to assess the state of sexual assault law and legal practice in Canada. Gathering together feminist scholars, lawyers, activists and policy-makers, it presents a picture of the difficult issues that Canadian women face when reporting and prosecuting sexual violence. The volume addresses many themes including the systematic undermining of women who have been sexually assaulted, the experiences of marginalized women, and the role of women’s activism. It explores sexual assault in various contexts, including professional sports, the doctor–patient relationship, and residential schools. And it highlights the influence of certain players in the reporting and litigation of sexual violence, including health care providers, social workers, police, lawyers and judges. Sexual Assault in Canada provides both a multi-faceted assessment of the progress of feminist reforms to Canadian sexual assault law and practice, and articulates a myriad of new ideas, proposed changes to law, and inspired activist strategies. This book was created to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Jane Doe’s remarkable legal victory against the Toronto police for sex discrimination in the policing of rape and for negligence in failing to warn her of a serial rapist. The case made legal history and motivated a new generation of feminist activists. This book honours her pioneering work by reflecting on how law, legal practice and activism have evolved over the past decade and where feminist research and reform should lead in the years to come