Feminist anti-violence activism, the struggle towards multi-centred politics

grantor: University of TorontoThis thesis examines the challenges and possibilities that have arisen as a result of the increasingly broad participation of diverse groups of women in anti-violence activism. Interviews with twenty-one feminist anti-violence activists from a wide variety of service provision and activist sites in Toronto reveal the impact of pressures (e.g., professionalization, institutionalization) on activism against male violence as well as weaknesses in some forms of feminist theory and practice (e.g., racism and other forms of exclusionary practices.) It is argued that despite the ways in which these challenges are threatening feminists' structural understanding of violence against women and the achievement of solidarity among diverse groups of women, new forms of multi-centred practice and theory are emerging which reflect and sustain both radical analyses and alliances between women. A look at this practice and the challenges and pressures that undermine it, suggests that the ability to sustain multicentred analyses and practices will be key factors in determining feminist anti-violence activists' ability to avoid internal movement fragmentation and co-optation by traditional social and political institutions.Ph.D