Active Solidarity and Intersectional Organizing

To break free from self-perpetuating, often unconscious cycles of oppression within marginalized communities, including those in our own activist circles, the training at ULEX focused on deepening the practices of active solidarity, equity (meaning equal access), and empowerment. All of which we need to embody, in order to help us to manifest the values we are striving for. We specifically addressed issues related to gender, racism, and ableism within the composition of our groups.
In our sessions, we had a closer look at the mechanisms of guilt and shame, which often coincide with the themes of privilege and oppression. Those mechanisms are psychologically capable of making us complicit with the aims of patriarchal colonial capitalism to individualize, punish and immobilize. On the other hand, we discussed the potential of remorse and visions of accountability and learning about social ranks and privileges within our intersectional community work as ways to bring us closer with the goals of active solidarity.

Fostering a conscious culture of solidarity and learning necessitates a focus on the active roles we can assume in the complex web of intersecting oppressions experienced by members of our communities.
By adopting the practices we acquired at ULEX, we can transform relationships characterized by inequality, oppression, and disempowerment into relationships rooted in solidarity and mutual agency.

This approach allows us to become increasingly adept at transforming harmful tensions and conflicts into opportunities for growth. Furthermore, skillfully engaging with diversity enables us to incorporate a wider range of perspectives, experiences, and histories, fostering more adaptable, resilient, and powerful movements.
Our organizations and movements can become more creative, courageous and effective, while we get to be fueled by more compassion and care and less by guilt, blame or reactivity.
Through this way of working, we can become increasingly skilled in transforming harmful tensions and conflict into growth opportunities. Moreover, through a skillful engagement with diversity, we can include a wider range of perspectives, experiences, and histories, for more adaptable, resilient, and powerful movements.

The ‘SKILLSET MODEL,’ developed by Leticia Nieto and co-authors, serves as a powerful tool for reflecting on our position within social hierarchies and our actions based on the various privileges we possess or oppression we experience.

It offers a detailed account of behavioral patterns that we might adapt, depending on the different rank-position we are holding. The model differentiates patterns and skillsets, depending on whether we are a “target” or an “agent” of oppression in that rank area. It also takes into account how aware we can be of the system(s) of oppression in that rank area, and how willing and resourced we can be in a given moment to engage in dismantling it.

SUMMARY of the “AGENT SKILL SET” and “TARGET SKILL SET”
a more detailed description of the model can be found here:
Skill sets are developed and adopted by each of us as tools for navigating the existing power structures and oppressions in society. Guilt and shame can hinder our progress in acquiring these skill sets, limiting our ability to adapt and interact with society and its ranking systems. However, as we become more aware and learn to embrace discomfort, we can shift our orientation from guilt and shame to remorse.

The approach endorsed by ULEX’s training and promoted by the Community of Practice at CLab focuses on actively engaging in the deconstruction and transformation of oppression and privilege across multiple levels.
This includes personal, interpersonal, socio-cultural, and institutional aspects. It emphasizes the importance of understanding how intersecting power dynamics operate within our groups and developing the necessary skills to transform them in ways that enhance empowerment and encourage fuller participation for all.

This approach aims to nurture a culture of care and create spaces for transformation and growth, rather than adopting a self-righteous attitude of ‘canceling’ or undermining others, which can lead to fragmentation and mistrust. The ultimate goal is to empower each other more, not less.

There is much more to explore and learn about the cultivation and practice of a Culture of Care. We conclude with a poem by Mara that weaves these themes together, and we eagerly anticipate sharing more in our next blog post!