Navigating in-group conflicts: Difference between revisions

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<p>Why Engage in Conflict?</p>
<p>'''Why Engage in Conflict?'''</p>
<p>“The question is not ‘how do we get rid of conflict?’ The question is ‘how do we approach it?’” -Rick Hanson</p>


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| style="width: 21.3321%; background-color: rgb(197, 31, 132); border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left; height: 110px;" | '''<span style="color: #ffffff;">1. Embodying our values</span>'''
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*'''Disabled people are oppressed by the''' '''same systems of power we're fighting across movements. '''[[Ableism]] <span class="hardreadability"><span data-offset-key="bgqeq-1-0">denies people with a physical or mental impairment opportunities to care for themselves</span></span>. It is <span class="adverb">deeply</span> rooted in capitalism, colonialism and white supremacy.&nbsp;<br>
'''<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" >To make room for divergent thoughts/ideas</span>'''
*'''Access goes beyond disability.''' There's a reason primarily white folks are accessing climate activist spaces.&nbsp;
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*<div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="eoqjo-0-0"><span data-text="true">'''Disability justice is anti-capitalist'''. </span><span class="hardreadability"><span data-offset-key="eoqjo-1-0">It</span><span data-offset-key="eoqjo-1-1"> opposed the push for productivity, extraction and commodifying our bodies for labour and building wealth</span></span><span data-text="true">.</span><span data-text="true">&nbsp;</span></div>
We aren’t always going to agree, and we shouldn’t. Engaging in conflict means inviting many perspectives to share. Woke scientist on instagram says “what if we understood that we don’t need people to think exactly like us and be exactly like us to be WITH us and build with us?”
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| style="width: 21.3321%; background-color: rgb(197, 31, 132); border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left; height: 18px;" | '''<span style="color: #ffffff;">2. Not actively unlearning and practicing = replicating oppression</span>'''
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*<span class="veryhardreadability">'''We want to fight marginalization, not contribute to it.''' Within movement spaces, we must </span><span class="adverb">actively</span><span class="veryhardreadability"> work to unlearn behaviours that reinforce oppression to fight against it</span>. This includes practicing an access culture and challenging internalized [[ableism]], racism, homophobia etc.&nbsp;
'''<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" >To develop power with one another, rather than power over.</span>'''
***Internalized [[ableism]] prompts: do we reward some people over others because they can contribute more time and effort? Do we favour their voices over those who have to care for their health, need to work a second job, have caretaking responsibilities etc.?
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When power and responsibility are left on their own, conflict is more likely to arise because needs are neglected, people are pushed out etc. Reflecting on power dynamics and privilege as individuals in a group setting helps us to understand conflicts, avoid preventable consequences and encourage generative conflicts.&nbsp;
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| style="width: 21.3321%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; text-align: left; height: 74px;" | <span style="color: #ffffff;">'''3. Prioritizing and leadership of marginalized people'''</span>
| style="width: 21.2725%; background-color: rgb(197, 31, 132); border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left; height: 74px;" | <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" >'''To direct frustration at targets, not each other'''</span>
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*'''The needs of those who do not benefit from our current oppressive systems must be prioritized as decision makers '''for a just world that prioritizes people and the planet.
<p><br></p>
*<div class="public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="41hsc-0-0"><span class="veryhardreadability"><span data-offset-key="41hsc-0-0">'''<span class="hardreadability">Those most affected by forms of oppression are best suited to define how we can operate our society more </span><span class="adverb">equitably</span>'''. Disabled, black, brown, trans etc. people live through some of the most challenging consequences of capitalism and the climate crisis</span></span><span data-text="true">.&nbsp;</span></div>
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| style="width: 21.3321%; background-color: #c51f84; height: 82px; border-color: #000000; text-align: left;" | <span style="color: #ffffff;">'''4. Meeting everyone’s needs to build our collective fight'''</span>
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*'''On a strategic note: We will not mobilize the mass we need without considering disability justice, access needs and building cultures of care that actively challenge internalized oppression'''.
'''<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" >For accountability, rather than punishment</span>'''
***If people do not see their '''immediate survival needs''' being prioritized by your campaign, they will not want to join.
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***Otherwise, those who would be interested in organizing may be '''unable to join, or continue''', if their access and care needs are not considered.&nbsp;
*'''Putting the planning in today means greater and sustained participation tomorrow. '''We are all likely to experience chronic or acute disability or access needs in our lives, whether from old age, stress, illness or an accident.&nbsp;<br>
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| style="width: 21.3321%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; text-align: left; height: 51px;" | <p><span style="color: #ffffff;">'''5. Organizers burn out when care isn't centered'''</span></p>
| style="width: 21.2725%; background-color: rgb(197, 31, 132); border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left; height: 51px;" | '''<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" >As an opportunity for connection and generating</span>'''
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*'''Non-disabled organizers are impacted by [[ableism]] too'''. Oppressive systems have their own way of defining what value and care mean, and who is deserving of both, and when.
The root of conflict is often a desire for connection. We can use conflict to hear one another.
***Our current systems place value on cisgender, white, male, settler, able body and minded norms of labour and productivity. '''Those that''' '''deviate are supposedly less deserving of care'''.
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***'''Internalized [[ableism]] uses productivity and sameness to define our worth'''. Doing too much to achieve too much can lead to burnout; a major problem in movement spaces. <br>
| style="width: 21.2725%; background-color: rgb(197, 31, 132); border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left;" | '''<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" >Avoiding conflict created more conflict</span>'''
*[https://www.sinsinvalid.org/upcoming-show Disabled queer and trans communities of colour]''' have already been preparing for the survival of their communities''' '''through disasters.''' They teach each other skills in resilience-based, care-based organizing to strategically create the changes that we need for our futures. These skills are necessary for other organizers to learn from. <ref>https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2019/07/31/climate-change-queer-disabled-organizers</ref>
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| style="width: 21.3321%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; text-align: left; height: 178px;" | <p><span style="color: #ffffff;">'''6. Disability justice is intersectionally related to all other fights for justice.'''</span></p>
Avoidance is a common response to conflict. When this happens, we miss an opportunity to improve, and also give the conflict more space to grow and spread.
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*'''The oppressive conditions we’re living in can be disabling''' themselves. For example...
***'''Chronic stress can be disabling'''. Neurodivergent people (ADHD, dyslexia, autism, anxiety) are [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13575279.2022.2149471 more likely than neurotypical people] to experience physical health problems.&nbsp;
***'''Racism can be disabling''' (e.g. [https://twitter.com/Imani_Barbarin/status/1648781887781912579?t=gxCK45M3QQOiWgEjjHpUHg&s=19 Ralph Yarl], a 16-year-old black child, experienced a brain injury after being shot by a racist white man).<br>
***'''Colonialism can be disabling''' (e.g. Aamijiwnaang First Nation has been impacted by settler colonialism, capitalism and environmental racism. Over 60 petrochemical facilities can be found within a 25 km<sup>2</sup> area. Community members face high rates of cancer, respiratory illness and reproductive health issues).  <ref>https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/environmental-racism-in-canada#</ref>
***'''Living in poverty can be disabling.''' It significantly increases the likelihood of developing chronic or acute health problems (e.g. limited access to healthy foods, shelter, clean air and water, chronic stress etc).  <ref>https://www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/poverty-health.html#:~:text=Poverty%20affects%20health%20by%20limiting,an%20individual's%20standard%20of%20living.</ref>
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<p>“A relationship in conflict is like a starfish cut in half:</p><p><br></p>
*Room for divergent thoughts/ideas.&nbsp;
<p>Sometimes the two halves can merge and become one again.</p><p>Sometimes the halves regrow their arms and become two separate starfish.</p><p>The wisdom of the starfish is that rupture does not mean it has to die. Either way, new life is possible.”</p><p><br></p>
*Power with one another rather than power over.
<p>-Kai Cheng Thom</p>
*Directing frustration at targets, not each other.
*For accountability, rather than punishment.
*Opportunity for connection and generating.
<br><p>“The question is not ‘how do we get rid of conflict?’ The question is ‘how do we approach it?’” -Rick Hanson</p>

Revision as of 16:48, 31 July 2023

Why Engage in Conflict?

“The question is not ‘how do we get rid of conflict?’ The question is ‘how do we approach it?’” -Rick Hanson

To make room for divergent thoughts/ideas

We aren’t always going to agree, and we shouldn’t. Engaging in conflict means inviting many perspectives to share. Woke scientist on instagram says “what if we understood that we don’t need people to think exactly like us and be exactly like us to be WITH us and build with us?”

To develop power with one another, rather than power over.

When power and responsibility are left on their own, conflict is more likely to arise because needs are neglected, people are pushed out etc. Reflecting on power dynamics and privilege as individuals in a group setting helps us to understand conflicts, avoid preventable consequences and encourage generative conflicts. 

To direct frustration at targets, not each other


For accountability, rather than punishment

As an opportunity for connection and generating

The root of conflict is often a desire for connection. We can use conflict to hear one another.

Avoiding conflict created more conflict

Avoidance is a common response to conflict. When this happens, we miss an opportunity to improve, and also give the conflict more space to grow and spread.

“A relationship in conflict is like a starfish cut in half:


Sometimes the two halves can merge and become one again.

Sometimes the halves regrow their arms and become two separate starfish.

The wisdom of the starfish is that rupture does not mean it has to die. Either way, new life is possible.”


-Kai Cheng Thom

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