Women Organizing Women –‘Doing it Backwards and in High Heels’

Summary This article looks at the formative stages of a Zimbabwean NGO, the Musasa Project. The process of arriving at a particular organizational model is examined. Particular attention is paid to two aspects of this process i) problems experienced in an organization run by women for women, in particular, the issue of gendered ‘dis?ease’ in the public sphere of work and how it affects performance, and ii) the impact of increased external funding on the organizational model and on the relative importance of members of the organization. The final section of the article poses questions about ‘scaling?up’ of NGOs, how it can affect organizational priorities, and how the accompanying ‘professionalization’ can marginalize less well?educated staff. A model of scaling?up is proposed which, by setting up structures to enhance the ‘voice’ of the constituency, ensures that their views continue to be heard. RESUME Comment s'y prendre à reculons, en chaussures à hauts talons Cet article examine les stades formateurs d'une ONG au Zimbabwe, le Projet de Musasa. Il examine le processus par lequel un model d'organisation particulier a été atteint. Deux aspects spécifiques sont examinés: tout d'abord les problèmes qui se sont soulevés dans une organisation menée par des femmes pour des femmes et notamment, la question des conditions défavorables au genre dans le secteur du service public et l'effet de ces conditions sur la performance; et deuxièmement, l'impact de l'augmentation des financements de provenance extérieure sur le modèle organisationnel adopté, et la question de l'importance relative des membres de l'organisation. La dernière section de l'article pose des questions sur la croissance des ONG et comment celle?ci peut affecter les priorités organisationnelles, ainsi que la manière dans laquelle la “professionalisation” qui l'accompagne peut servir à marginaliser les membres du personnel les moins bien éduqués. Un modèle de croissance est proposé et celui?ci, grâce à la mise en place de structures qui puisssent accentuer la “voix” des représenté(e)s, garantit que leurs opinions ne cesseront d'être entendus. RESUMEN Al revés y en tacos altos El artículo explora las fases formativas de una NGO en Zimbabwe, el proyecto Musasa. Se examina el proceso de llegada a un modelo organizativo particular, especialmente en dos aspectos: a) los problemas existentes en una organización manejada por mujeres para mujeres, en particular es asunto de la ‘incómodidad práctica’ del género en las esferas de actuación pública y cómo ésta afecta los resultados, y b) el impacto del aumento de la financiación externa en el modelo organizativo y en la importancia relativa de los miembros de la organización. Finalmente, el artículo plantea un serie de interrogantes relativos a la ‘ampliación’ de las NGOs, cómo ésta puede afectar prioridades de organización, y cómo la profesionalización que la acompaña puede marginalizar al personal con menos educación. Se propone un modelo de ‘ampliación’ que establece las estructuras para estimular las voces del distrito, y asegurar que sus opiniones sean escuchadas

Wench Tactics? Openings in Conditions of Closure

Picking up the question of what FLaK might be, this editorial considers the relationship between openness and closure in feminist legal studies. How do we draw on feminist struggles for openness in common resources, from security to knowledge, as we inhabit a compromised space in commercial publishing? We think about this first in relation to the content of this issue: on image-based abuse continuums, asylum struggles, trials of protestors, customary justice, and not-so-timely reparations. Our thoughts take us through the different ways that openness and closure work in struggles against violence, cruel welcomes, and re-arrangements of code and custom. Secondly, we share some reflections on methodological openness and closure as the roundtable conversation on asylum, and the interview with Riles, remind us of #FLaK2016 and its method of scattering sources as we think about how best to mix knowledges. Thirdly, prompted by the FLaK kitchen table conversations on openness, publishing and ‘getting the word out’, we respond to Kember’s call to ‘open up open access’. We explain the different current arrangements for opening up FLS content and how green open access, the sharedit initiative, author request and publisher discretion present alternatives to gold open access. Finally drawing on Franklin and Spade, we show how there are a range of ‘wench tactics’—adapting gifts, stalling and resting—which we deploy as academic editors who are trying to have an impact on the access, use and circulation of our journal, even though we do not own the journal we edit. These wench tactics are alternatives to the more obvious or reported tactic of resignation, or withdrawing academic labour from editing and reviewing altogether. They help us think about brewing editorial time, what ambivalence over our 25th birthday might mean, and how to inhabit painful places. In this, we respond in our own impure, compromised way to da Silva’s call not to forget the native and slave as we do FLaK, and repurpose shrapnel, in our common commitments