The Premise of Persistence: Deconstructing Colonial Authority in Community Psychology Curricula and Structures, Towards Liberative Andragogy and Practice

In the U.S., Community Psychology (C.P.) arose in the 1960s, attempting to break traditional clinical and research psychology patterns. While CP rejected many Eurocentric and oppressive ideas, remnants remain in every ecological corner of our work: research, professional organization, academic institutions, and community practice. There are also underlying assumptions that White authority, domination, and control systems will persist throughout time. This "premise of persistence" is a damaging and almost universal assumption in the field, particularly for students, and can limit the conceptualization of freedom and autonomy for oppressed populations. The premise of persistence lives inside many of our theories, forcing research and practice to reside within first-order change efforts. This paper takes a historical look a the origins, maintenance, and risks of the premise of persistence. What is proposed is the deconstruction of existing literature, prevalent ideology, and even gatekeeping in community psychology classrooms, which often insists on empowerment as the end goal, without consideration of more radical second-order change