Feminist Principles
  The Feminist Principle of Power Sharing

The Feminist Principle of Power Sharing


The feminist principle of power sharing is critical to feminist organizing. By sharing power with other members of our organization, we contribute to a healthy environment where all members feel engaged, empowered, respected and validated. This distinguishes feminist equality-seeking organizations from mainstream organizational structures.

The feminist principle of power sharing means we are committed to creating balanced power relationships through democratic practices of shared leadership, decision-making, authority, and responsibility.

Many equality-seeking and grassroots organizations apply the principle of power sharing to our internal practices to reflect our commitment to feminism as our basis of unity. Without these practices, feminist organizations would more closely resemble traditional, hierarchical institutions – the very structures feminists seek to change in
the pursuit of women’s equality and inclusion.

Power is held or shared by our organization’s members in any number of ways. Staff typically access power through monitoring daily activities, supervising students and volunteers, and representing our organization at meetings or other public events. Staff also gather power through knowledge, as they are usually the most aware of the organization’s history, events and activities. Boards and executive committees also acquire power, as they are entrusted with the leadership, authority and accountability of our organization. When women choose not to share skills, knowledge and abilities with other members, we foster unequal power relationships within our organization.

Women have traditionally held little power in workplaces, families, schools and organizations, and it may be easy to fall into the trap of using a women’s group as a substitute for power in our personal lives. For example, a woman who is in an oppressive relationship at home, or is minimized by her employer at work, may use a women’s organization as a place to reclaim her sense of personal power through controlling other members. This unhealthy pursuit of power may not be intentional, and women may not be aware of doing it. As individual women and organizations, we need to take the time to understand the difference between sharing power and taking power.

Within equality-seeking organizations, we might expect that our members will not struggle with issues of power. Power dynamics happen in any organization, and some women are supportive while others are more comfortable with conflict. For example, a woman may gain power through manipulation, claiming disempowerment when she cannot have things her way. We may become so afraid of conflict that we stop challenging, allowing individual women to take power away from our organization. This does not serve our collective interests, as our work toward equality and inclusion becomes lost within our own practices. We may feel uncomfortable with power struggles, but we are more at risk when we do not challenge exclusionary or destructive behaviours.

It is important that we examine where our individual ideas of power come from, and consider whether they belong in our feminist organization. For example, while the practice of chairing meetings using traditional rules of order may be appropriate for hierarchical institutions, it is not an ideal way of working within feminist groups. By their very nature, such practices prevent ideas and strategies from flowing freely out of
discussions, and act as a barrier to the full participation of members. Feminist practices, such as rotating the chairing of meetings and consensus decision-making, equalize power and encourage women’s full participation. Sharing power may mean that we learn as we go, feeling our way through the power relationships that exist between members and working together to create balance.

Through the healthy practice of power sharing we nurture an environment that is peaceful, empowering and respectful. We share power within feminist organizations through inclusion, consensus-building, and skills development. Other practices include validating women’s experiences, anticipating challenge and conflict, including diverse voices, creating safe spaces, evaluating our work, and sharing roles and responsibilities. Respect is at the root of successful power sharing, as is a genuine commitment to the principles, practices and processes of feminism. To foster healthy and equitable power relationships among staff, board members and volunteers we must demonstrate our commitment to feminist leadership rather than simply assume
authority.

Our challenge, as feminists, is to look for ways to share power with each other, and build positive working relationships that are appropriate to both our organization’s equality-seeking mandate and members’ skills and abilities. By making this commitment to working together, we can build and maintain a healthy organization that empowers and validates the contributions of all women.

source: PACSW pdf document (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

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Page last updated July 20, 2003