What is feminist leadership without confrontation?

Bringing about social transformation through feminist leadership

I’ve been reading ‘Living a Feminist Life’ by Sara Ahmed this month. Chapter 4 ‘Trying to Transform’ inspired me to think more deeply about the concept and theory of feminist leadership. Ahmed shares her experience of trying to transform academic institutions. But her insights are just as relevant for the charity sector.

Principles of feminist leadership

The sentence that stopped me in my tracks and inspired this blog post was:

“But what else do we avoid, if we avoid confrontation?” Ahmed, Living a Feminist Life, page 100.

We still live in a patriarchal, white-supremacist society. What is feminist leadership if it does not confront these social norms? Merely an attempt to fit in and adhere to existing power structures.

Ahmed observes that:

“Those who are trying to transform a world are required to modify themselves in order to proceed within that world.” Ahmed, Living a Feminist Life, page 100.

Have you changed your approach, or compromised your values, in an attempt to gain buy-in and acceptance of your attempts to bring about change? How did that make you feel?

Why do feminist leaders avoid confrontation?

I have come to realise that people with opposing political views to mine do not diminish their opinions to try and build consensus. They seek out confrontation, they relish it. They shout loudly, and when opposed they raise their voice even more.

So why do we avoid confrontation?

I don’t mean we should seek out confrontation for the sake of it. Thinking back on the most significant confrontations I’ve engaged in, the situation was directly in conflict with my values. Avoiding that confrontation would not have been feminist, nor demonstrated leadership.

I had sufficient privilege to feel able to confront systems of power and authority. This is why feminist leadership principles are inextricable from analysis of racism, ableism and classism.

The link between confrontation and anti-racism

In the same chapter, Ahmed writes about the watering down of transformation efforts to avoid confrontation within institutions.

“Diversity replaces other more unacceptable terms that can make people feel threatened.” Ahmed, Living a Feminist Life, page 101.

This resonates with many of the points made by speakers at the recent #BAMEOnline conference. In the Racism BS Toolkit session, there was a discussion about how organisations co-opt the language of social movements. They use buzzwords to sound like they are doing the right thing. There is no urgency to make significant change as long as the words are right and the policy is in place. 

Ahmed explains how avoiding confrontation allows the status quo to continue. E.g. using ‘acceptable’ terms like diversity instead of more challenging terms like anti-racism. 

“Diversity becomes a technique for not addressing inequalities by allowing institutions to appear happy.” Ahmed, Living a Feminist Life, page 102.

In conclusion, to be a feminist leader we must not shy away from confrontation. Feminist leadership for social transformation requires confrontation. Following the lead of Martha Awojobi and the new name for #BAMEOnline, we should strive to be uncharitable, in the cause of achieving true social justice and radical transformation.