Ethics of Hope and Care

Finishing up Feminist Rhetorical Practices, I think I really started to understand what all of this was about. The passage that resonated with me the most was from p. 143

    “Hope, as we explained in drawing on Mathieu’s work, is more than engaging in wishful thinking. This view of hope calls instead for sharp analytical skills. With a positive outlook as a driving force, the effort is to assess current situations, contexts, and institutional forces; to recognize the strengths, limits, and challenges of present arrangements; to inhabit a sense of caring about the people and the processes involved in the use of language by immersing ourselves in the work, spending time thinking broadly and deeply about what is there, not there, and could be there instead. The effort is to think beyond the concrete in envisioning alternative possibilities in order that we might actually work, often collaboratively, toward enacting a better future.”

What a note to end on. I think that this book really challenged how I previously viewed  feminist rhetoric and how feminism could be used in research projects. I found myself really enjoying this book (especially the note on globalization) because there was this sense of hope and that change is possible if we first find a way to do the hard work of assessing areas of intersectionality and the processes arounds us. This book was a breath of happiness and hope that has me feeling a bit rejuvenated and really wanting to try a more complex project topic (like the injustices international graduate students face) instead of a more easy topic because I have felt that real, significant change isn’t possible. I felt that this book did a really good of helping me see that it is (hopefully — no pun intended) possible, and I should try to do that more difficult type of work.

….

For the other pieces we read today, I really enjoyed reading from new perspectives. I really enjoy intersectionality pieces because I believe that this lens gets at more the gray areas of what is going on in higher education (and in any setting); I really appreciated reading the words of Collin Lamong Craig and Staci Maree Perryman-Clark because sometimes I really don’t get to hear these voices. Going to an institution that less than 30% POC, many times I feel these narratives are left out. I found myself being still shocked at some of the instances the authors encountered, but I think it is important to hear these narratives, and then work toward holding these people “accountable for their actions”. I always feel that that term has a really harsh, negative connotation, but the authors didn’t seem to use in a negative way that I’m used to hearing. It more seemed like they wanted it to be a learning experience, but it is hard to create a learning experience if the person who remarried on a gendered and/or racial identity is in a position of power. I did like that the authors still had these very tangible solutions such as “constructing policy statements and program philosophies to reflect a mission to engage, challenge, and learn about difference” (p. 53). So many times, I think that portion of learning is left out entirely.

I also thought that in this piece, Lamont Craig when sharing his experience at CWPA he was really trying to illustrate the need for education and talking and listening to the person involved. While he never called any of this out, I wondered if the president of CWPA, instead of hastily making that blog post, had gone and talked to Lamont Craig about what this student wanted, instead of assuming, it could have gone better. I also wonder what other people think about his WPA tweeting (because I’m 90% sure it was a Tweet) about this instance. Was it helpful that she used her power in a way to bring to light this issue, or should she have again, asked Lamont Craig what he wanted to be done in the situation? So many times, I think that in an effort to make something better, we as people do what we think is the best without really listening to what the victim (for lack of a better word) wants. We assume what will make it right, and I think that savior-esque attitude can create more issues.