Saturday 12th January 2019, 10.30 –5.30pm, Bristol The class system is embedded in all of our lives and its not surprising that when we organise for social and environmental justice in our groups and networks that the same class oppressions are often perpetuated. This one day workshop aims to give space to reflect on our own experience of class, to build awareness of how class oppressions are reproduced in our groups and what we can do to change that, so that we can create stronger and more effective groups and movements for social change. Class injustice (classism) is about barriers to accessing material resources (money, home ownership). Its also about social and cultural barriers to accessing education, jobs with decent pay and conditions, decent housing, where ‘what you know’ and ‘who you know’ provide greater access to resources.
Some of these barriers are rooted in explicitly classist government policies and employment practices. Others are rooted in implicit attitudes, frequently fostered by the media, where unequal respect, trust and opportunities are given to people with different education levels, occupations, cultures, accents etc. The consequences of these barriers are enormous, yet they have become so ‘normalised’ that they are invisible. We will use a mix of large and small group activities, share personal class life stories and use class-based caucuses to explore our classed experiences, build awareness of how class oppressions are reproduced in our groups and explore ideas for practices we can implement in our groups to change that. We will also explore how class identity intersects with other aspects of our identities such as race, gender and ability. As facilitators, our approach is to create a learning environment which supports curiosity and care as we explore the impacts of classism together and share our lived experience of class inequality, without blame, guilt or shame. Who is it for If you are working for social or environmental justice, paid or unpaid, whether you call yourself an activist or campaigner or not, we would love you to join us! Accessibility The venue is wheelchair accessible. Please get in touch if you have other questions about accessibility of the workshop or the venue. Facilitation team Kathryn Tulip and Lyndsay Burtonshaw who work with Navigate will co-facilitate the workshop. Kathryn grew up in a working class family in Manchester. Her mother was a cleaner, her father worked all his life on the shop floor in a factory. Kathryn was the first person in her family to go to university and has since lived and worked in mainly middle class environments. She sees herself as a ‘straddler’, someone who grew up working class, went to university and then moved into the middle class. She is currently a trainer/facilitator with Navigate, where she has led anti-oppression workshops and supported groups when issues of classism, racism and sexism have arisen. Lyndsay grew up in a small working class town in East Yorkshire. Their father worked as an estate agent, and mother worked part-time in a bakery. After growing up with low aspiration and motivation at school, Lyndsay was the first person in their family to gain further education. Lyndsay is a participatory facilitator and activist, specialising in public speaking, Theatre of the Oppressed, power dynamics, spiritual activism, and radical youth work, recently working with collectives Navigate, Resist + Renew and Beautiful Trouble, and organising with LGSMigrants, Plane Stupid and End Deportations. In their spare time they cycle mountains, and hang out at punk gigs, Quaker meetings, and herbal medicine gardens. Cost Sliding scale from £25 – £125. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds. Applying for a place To apply for a place please complete the short questionnaire here. Your responses will help us to design the workshop to meet the needs and interests of participants. The application deadline is Friday 14th December 2018 and places are limited. If you have any questions please contact Kathryn: kathryn@navigate.org.uk or 07795 171652 We look forward to hearing from you! Kathryn and Lyndsay Comments are closed.
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