Activism Across Borders: A Collaboration Between Conscience Collective and She's Eco
Conscience Collective are excited about our transnational collaboration with She’s Eco, a woman and non-binary led environmental and social justice group. Together we have written sister articles - find our piece on the She’s Eco website!
She's Eco strives to be a place where all voices are heard, recognised, acknowledged and respected. They believe it is not solely up to diverse groups to constantly explain what the issues are, so they try to write articles that discuss different issues relating to many different people.
How does She’s Eco work to acknowledge and address their privilege and work to include other voices?
This is something that is very near to our hearts; we are well aware of how privileged we are to be able to run a website and share stories and articles. She’s Eco strives to be a place where all voices are heard, recognised, acknowledged and respected. We believe it is not solely up to diverse groups to constantly explain what the issues are, so we try to write articles that discuss different issues relating to many different people. This includes:
Hannah’s ‘Our NDIS at Risk’; ‘Five years since the Royal Commission into family violence. How far have we come?’
Camille’s ‘What’s the deal with women’s health?’; ‘Irritable bowel syndrome: it’s a real sh*t time’; ‘Sorry not sorry’
Bec’s ‘Climate change, pandemics & our role in it all’; ‘The people behind what you’re wearing’; ‘What you actually reveal when hosting gender reveal parties’
Delina’s ‘Biphobia, bi-erasure, and the bisexual closet’; ‘Racial imposter syndrome’; ‘The model minority myth’
Yuki’s ‘I’m not like other girls’
Monique’s ‘Let’s talk about January 26th’; ‘Porn and sex trafficking’
However, we are also mindful that we cannot speak on behalf of diversity groups that we ourselves are not a part of. We aim to amplify voices and problems, not speak for people. So, we have invited people from outside of She’s Eco to discuss issues close to them – like Mafan from Thailand on the challenges with online study for international students; Monica, who identifies as queer, sexually fluid, disabled and chronically ill on her experiences; and Alex, focused on the intersection between environmental issues and inequality.
As we continue to grow, we appeal for different people to come and write for us – share their views and stories and diversify our platform. Unfortunately, it is not always that easy - diversity has not always been celebrated, and at times it faces relentless hatred. Plus, sometimes people have just had enough of explaining their life and struggles – and fair enough! We strive to ensure that we can create a safe space for people who are willing and ready to have these discussions.
We always encourage and are thankful for feedback as well; we’re not perfect, there’s always more to learn or issues to consider that we haven’t immediately thought of. We encourage you to start conversations on our social media and website; get in contact with us if you have a story to share; or want to provide us with feedback.
The more voices represented, the more diverse and rich our community can be.
What is the best way to dismantle certain problematic structures - is it social change? Legislative change? Interpersonal change? Intrapersonal change? Have you seen any successful attempts in the past and what can we learn from them?
Any issue cannot be seen as a 2D issue. Issues are multifaceted and so solutions must be also. In saying that there is a course of action that make more sense when dealing with, what will be a long term attempt to dismantle problematic structures.
A natural progression is intrapersonal, to interpersonal then to societal which pushes legislative agendas. Some models of social change put this down to understanding the relationship of individual values, group values and then societal values. These three types of values constantly interlink and affect each other and cannot be seen in isolation. Thus, people must be aware of an issue themselves, understand how it functions between people and a collective understanding must be met. However, each is malleable and thus issues must be addressed keeping in mind how these all interact.
There are a few factors that have been noted as important when seeking successful attempts at social change. One of the key factors is having a clearly stated objective. For people to get involved and understand you the main goal has to be clear and easily accessible. It is hard to rally support for a movement that people are not sure what they are there for. Another key factor is to be value-led. A catchy slogan or great branding will get the cause attention, but nothing will garner support for the long term than a type of understanding the people can FEEL. Finally, groups need to understand, appreciate and utilise the grassroots. When looking to change structures that marginalise groups, the grassroots organisations are those with the lived experience willing to lend their expertise and following to the cause. Grassroots is invaluable for a cause.
How do we turn this from a moment into a movement? How do we make this shift sustainable?
In 2012, Julia Gillard’s ‘misogyny speech’ became an unforgettable moment in Australia’s politics. Our first female Prime Minister delivered a scathing, yet moving criticism of the opposition leader’s treatment of her and women in Australian society which gained global traction. The mistreatment of women in Australian society, and worldwide, has been defined by moments and movements across centuries; moments such as Gillard’s represent only a snapshot of the efforts to bring about gender equality. At She’s Eco, we have discussed and analysed Australia’s treatment of women and seek to amplify the experiences of women around the globe. Movements such as the right to vote and equal pay under law began as moments of protest and morphed into movements that have changed cultures and structures. The demand for equal treatment of men and women may be written in law in Australia, however the culture in which we live has a deep-rooted disrespect and mistreatment of women.
The question is, how can a sustainable movement towards equality be achieved? Women and minorities face challenges from both structural and localised levels, battling gendered norms, stereotypes and institutional discrimination that affects their daily life. The first step requires an evaluation of who must be the one to change. The onus of change has been misdirected towards women; a movement that seeks to address inequalities must demand that it is not women who need to change, it is society that must change for women.
“It’s still how can we fix up women rather than fix the system.” - Louise Chappell, political scientist at the University of New South Wales
Shifting the lens from how women can change, to the behaviour of men is crucial to bring about structural and cultural changes. To create an effective movement, actors across all levels of society and the globe must be involved. Social movements are not sustainable if there is no interdependence amongst the different levels within society; a simple bottom-up or top-down approach is not enough. The relations amongst different actors create a broad network that is able to diffuse cultural and social norms across multiple levels. This diffusion is also important across transnational boundaries between similar actors. An example of this is our collaboration with Conscience Collective, a UK blog and directory that tackles issues such as climate change, sustainability and equity whilst promoting women-owned brands. In each of our own communities, we have seen moments of passion, bravery and trailblazing from people seeking to bring about change. Broadening our network and connecting across cultures and levels with a common objective of bringing about gender equality can only generate greater traction.
Women and girls experience sexism and misogyny in varying contexts across all parts of the world. A movement that aims to be sustainable must recognise this diversity of experiences and seek to be flexible and adaptable to suit the different needs of different communities. This is why it is crucial for movements to be across all levels in society, and all parts of the world, and utilise the knowledge and resources that comes with these actors, to ensure that this movement does not just work for one woman, but all women.
Written by She’s Eco - She's Eco strives to be a place where all voices are heard, recognised, acknowledged and respected. They believe it is not solely up to diverse groups to constantly explain what the issues are, so they try to write articles that discuss different issues relating to many different people.
