CHAPTER 12 CRITICAL AND FEMINIST THEORIES

INTRODUCTION

• SOCIAL JUSTICE IS ONE OF THE TENETS OF THE NASW CODE OF ETHICS

• PEOPLE CAN FACE INEQUALITY ON A MACRO OR STRUCTURAL LEVEL

• STRUCTURAL INEQUALITIES BECOME PART OF OUR SOCIAL FABRIC AND ALLOW OPPRESSION TO OCCUR

• FEMINIST AND CRITICAL THEORIES SHARE COMMONALITIES BUT ALSO HAVE PROFOUND DIFFERENCES

• BOTH ARE PHILOSOPHICAL, POLITICAL, AND SOCIAL THEORIES

HISTORICAL FOUNDATION AND OVERVIEW OF CRITICAL THEORY

• ORIGINATED IN GERMANY AT THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL OF SOCIAL RESEARCH IN THE 1920S

• IS LARGELY A SOCIAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL CRITIQUE OF HOW KNOWLEDGE IS PRODUCED IN THE MODERN SOCIAL WORLD

• MAX HORKHEIMER AND HIS STUDENT JÜRGEN HABERMAS ARE TWO IMPORTANT THEORISTS

• INDIVIDUAL HUMAN INTERESTS AND VALUES ARE A PART OF AND HELP TO SHAPE OUR SOCIAL WORLD

• SCIENTIFIC REASONING HAD BEEN USED TO EXPLAIN MOST ASPECTS OF DAILY LIFE, REPLACING RELIGIOUS SUPERSTITION THAT RELIED ON FAITH AND BELIEF

• SCIENTIFIC REASONING WAS MISUSED TO EXPAND THE POWER OF DOMINANT GROUPS, WHICH CAME AT THE EXPENSE OF THE LESS POWERFUL, WHO UNCRITICALLY ACCEPTED THE STATUS QUO

HISTORICAL FOUNDATION AND OVERVIEW OF CRITICAL THEORY, CONTINUED

• THE MORE POWERFUL GROUPS FOCUSED ON INSTRUMENTAL RATIONALITY, WHICH IS CONCERNED WITH FINDING THE MOST EFFICIENT MEANS TO ANY END

• IT WAS OPPOSED BY SUBSTANTIVE RATIONALITY, WHICH CONSIDERS ETHICAL MEANS TO AN END

• AN EXAMPLE OF INSTRUMENTAL RATIONALITY WOULD BE THE GROWTH AND DOMINATION OF ADOLF HITLER’S REGIME AND NAZISM

• SOCIAL THEORISTS RECOGNIZED THAT THAT KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE SOCIAL WORLD WAS NOT VALUE-FREE AS SCIENTIFIC REASONING PURPORTED

• CRITICAL THEORY ASKS US TO THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT SOCIAL AND CULTURAL MESSAGES, HOW THEY MIGHT EMPOWER THE STATUS QUO, AND HOW THEY MIGHT MAINTAIN UNDESIRABLE SOCIAL CONDITIONS LIKE POVERTY OR OTHER SOURCES OF INEQUALITY

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CRITICAL THEORY

• CRITICAL THEORY ASSUMES THAT PEOPLE THINK RATIONALLY WHICH MEANS THAT PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO CRITICIZE TAKEN-FOR-GRANTED MESSAGES THAT WE LEARN IN SOCIETY AND ACCEPT AS TRUTH

• CRITICAL THEORY TRIES TO WAKE PEOPLE UP TO THE TRUE MEANING OF THEIR SOCIAL CONDITION

• IT DOES THIS BY DEVELOPING A CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS, THE ABILITY TO CRITIQUE SOCIETY

• FREIRE ARGUES THAT THIS IS NECESSARY TO RESTORE HUMANITY

• COMMUNICATION IS VITAL TO DEVELOPING A CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

• HABERMAS’S MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO CRITICAL THEORY WAS THE INCORPORATION OF LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION INTO CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CRITICAL THEORY, CONTINUED

• HABERMAS DEFINED THREE DOMAINS OF HUMAN INTEREST: TECHNICAL, PRACTICAL, AND EMANCIPATORY

• TECHNICAL INTERESTS REPRESENT KNOWLEDGE THAT IS GAINED FROM EMPIRICAL FACTS AND RESEARCH USED TO MAKE OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SOCIAL WORLD

• PRACTICAL INTERESTS INCLUDE KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM ONE’S SUBJECTIVE REALITY FOR THE PURPOSE OF UNDERSTANDING HUMAN INSTITUTIONS

• EMANCIPATORY INTERESTS REFER TO KNOWLEDGE THAT IS GAINED FROM CRITICISM OF THE SOCIAL WORLD, AND DEEP SELF-REFLECTION THAT CAN LEAD TO SOCIAL CHANGE

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CRITICAL THEORY, CONTINUED

• THE TASK OF THE CRITICAL THEORIST IS TO UNCOVER THESE INTERESTS THROUGH COMMUNICATION, SELF-REFLECTION, AND REFLEXIVITY

• IN DOING SO, PEOPLE DEVELOP THE ABILITY TO QUESTION THE LIFEWORLD, THE TAKEN-FOR-GRANTED SOCIAL SYSTEMS, AND DISCOVER HOW ISSUES OF POWER SHAPE OUR PERCEPTION OF REALITY

• BECAUSE CRITICAL THEORISTS BELIEVE THAT FACTS AND VALUES ARE INEXTRICABLY LINKED, THEY ADVOCATE FOR PRAXIS, THE INTEGRATION OF THEORY AND POLITICAL ACTION

• COMMUNICATIVE ACTION BRIDGES THE GAP BETWEEN THEORY AND ACTION

• CRITICAL THEORISTS MAINTAIN THERE MUST BE AN IDEAL SPEECH SITUATION FOR THIS LEVEL OF MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING TO OCCUR

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CRITICAL THEORY, CONTINUED

• THE IDEAL SPEECH SITUATION HAS THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS

• EVERY SUBJECT ABLE TO SPEAK AND ACT IS ALLOWED TO TAKE PART IN A DISCUSSION

• EVERYONE IS ALLOWED TO QUESTION ANY ASSERTION, TO INTRODUCE ANY ASSERTION INTO THE DISCUSSION, AND TO EXPRESS HIS OR HER ATTITUDES, DESIRES, AND NEEDS

• NO SPEAKER MAY BE PREVENTED, BY INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL COERCION, FROM EXERCISING HIS OR HER RIGHTS TO SPEAK, EXPRESS HIMSELF OR HERSELF, QUESTION ASSERTIONS, OR PRESENT NEW ASSERTIONS

• IT IS THROUGH THIS DIALECTIC PROCESS THAT OPPRESSED GROUPS CAN REALIZE THEIR OWN OPPRESSION AND TRANSFORM SOCIETY

FOUNDATION AND OVERVIEW OF FEMINIST THEORY

• DEVELOPED IN THE 1960S ALONG WITH OTHER MAJOR POLITICAL MOVEMENTS; THIS WAS A PERIOD CALLED THE SECOND WAVE OF FEMINISM

• CONTEMPORARY FEMINIST THEORISTS BEGAN TO CRITICALLY ANALYZE SEX ROLES AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS MORE THAN THEIR FIRST WAVE COUNTERPARTS, WHO HAD FOCUSED ON WOMEN’S EXCLUSION FROM EDUCATION, THE WORKFORCE, AND VOTING RIGHTS

• SECOND WAVE FEMINISTS SAW GENDER AS A TOOL OF SOCIAL HIERARCHY THAT PRIVILEGED MEN, AS EVIDENCED BY MEN’S HIGHER PAY, INCREASED CAREER RECOGNITION, AND LACK OF RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE HOME

• PRIOR TO THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT, THESE WERE DISMISSED AS TRIVIAL ISSUES OR CONSIDERED TO BE THE NATURAL ORDER

• THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL CAPTURES THE SENTIMENT THAT INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES OF INEQUALITY ARE A RESULT OF POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC CAUSES

FOUNDATION AND OVERVIEW OF FEMINIST THEORY, CONTINUED

• GENDER INEQUALITY WAS FRAMED ALMOST ENTIRELY AS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN, AND FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON WHITE, MIDDLE-CLASS, WESTERN WOMEN’S EXPERIENCES AND IDEAS

• THUS, DIFFERENCES AMONG WOMEN WERE IGNORED, AND THERE WAS A NOTICEABLE BACKLASH AS LESBIANS, WOMEN OF COLOR, AND WORKING-CLASS WOMEN WERE EXCLUDED FROM THIS TYPE OF FEMINISM

• PATRICIA HILL COLLINS ADVOCATES FOR NONWHITE AND LESBIAN FEMINISTS TO PLACE THEIR SOCIAL POSITION IN THE CENTER OF THE DISCUSSION AND HAVE ALL GROUPS EXAMINE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN REFERENCE TO THEIR OWN POSITIONS

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF FEMINIST THEORY

• THOUGH GENDER INEQUALITY IS CENTRAL TO FEMINIST THEORY, SOURCES OF GENDER OPPRESSION VARY

• INTERSECTIONALITY IS A CONCEPT THAT SUGGEST RACIAL, SOCIAL, AND CLASS ISSUES SHAPE ONE’S IDENTITY AND EXPERIENCES JUST AS MUCH AS, IF NOT MORE THAN, GENDER ALONE

• A KEY THEME OF INTERSECTIONALITY IS A FOCUS ON HOW POWER STRUCTURES BASED ON GENDER, RACE, AND CLASS AFFECT ONE’S SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES

• WE HAVE ENTERED A NEW WAVE OF FEMINISM WHERE THE FOCUS IS ON PROBLEMATIZING AND COMPLICATING CONTEMPORARY NOTIONS OF GENDER, RACE, AND SEXUAL IDENTITY BEYOND THE SCOPE OF EARLIER FEMINISTS

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF FEMINIST THEORY

• POSTMODERN THEORIES AND QUEER THEORIES REPRESENT AN EXTREME QUESTIONING AND REFORMULATING OF COMMONLY ACCEPTED CATEGORIES OF GENDER

• THEY ARGUE THAT GENDER IS SHIFTING AND FLUID, THAT IT IS VIEWED AS A PERFORMANCE AND IS ACTED OUT IN THE WAY WE DRESS, BEHAVE, MOVE, AND TALK

• THERE IS ALSO NOTICEABLE EMPHASIS ON THIRD-WORLD WOMEN’S EXPERIENCES AS THEY’VE BEEN COLONIZED BY WESTERN FEMINISTS

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

• BOTH SHARE COMMON THEMES OF EXAMINING STRUCTURES AND CRITIQUING POWER IMBALANCES

• BOTH SEEK TO UNDERSTAND OPPRESSION AND CONFRONT OPPRESSION

• BOTH HAVE ROOTS IN MARXISM, PRIMARILY HISTORICAL MATERIALISM

• THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT POINTS OUT HOW HISTORICAL AND MATERIAL CONDITIONS HAVE SHAPED THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE ACROSS TIME; AN IDEOLOGY IS DEVELOPED AND CHANGES

• THE MOST IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE IS FEMINISM’S EMPHASIS ON PATRIARCHY

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES, CONTINUED

• CRITICAL THEORY VALUES QUANTITATIVE KNOWLEDGE ROOTED IN SOCIAL JUSTICE

• FEMINIST THEORY TENDS TO FOCUS ON MORE QUALITATIVE, SUBJECTIVE, AND RELATIONAL APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE

• FEMINIST THEORY TAKES GREAT CARE NOT TO UNIVERSALIZE THE EXPERIENCES OF VARIOUS GROUPS

• CRITICAL THEORY DOES NOT REJECT RESEARCH THAT AIMS TO GENERALIZE AS LONG AS IT IS ROOTED IN EMANCIPATORY INTERESTS

KEY CONCEPTS

• INTERNALIZED OPPRESSION—KIND OF PSYCHOLOGICAL OPPRESSION WHERE ONE BECOMES HIS/HER OWN OPPRESSOR

• SYMBOLIC VIOLENCE—A KIND OF UNCONSCIOUS DOMINATION THAT HAPPENS WHEN CULTURAL BELIEFS ARE IMPOSED ON COMPLICIT GROUPS OF PEOPLE; THEY THEN SHAPE THE SOCIAL ORDER

• CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING AND COMMUNICATIVE ACTION—DEVELOPING AN AWARENESS OF INEQUALITY

• PROCESS BEGINS WITH• OPENING UP ABOUT ONE’S FEELINGS IN A GROUP SETTING

• SHARING EXPERIENCES WITH OTHER WOMEN

• ANALYZING REASONS AND CAUSES OF OPPRESSION

• ABSTRACTING, OR FREELY THEORIZING

• PROCESS IS THERAPEUTIC BUT IS NOT CONSIDERED THERAPY

KEY CONCEPTS, CONTINUED

• COMMUNICATIVE ACTION DEALS WITH CRITICAL REFLECTION THAT RESULTS IN A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF ONE’S GOALS, ACTIONS, AND SELF

• SOCIAL WORKERS CAN USE THESE TWO TOOLS TO ASSIST CLIENTS TO EMPOWERMENT

• EMPOWERMENT AND EMANCIPATION—MEANS TO INCREASE THE STRENGTH OR CAPACITY OF INDIVIDUALS OR COMMUNITIES IN ORDER TO BE LIBERATED FROM DISTORTED COMMUNICATION AND DOMINATION FROM THE STATUS QUO

PRINCIPLES OF FEMINIST/CRITICAL THEORY WITHIN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

• BOTH ARE ANTIDISCRIMINATORY AND ANTIOPPRESSIVE PERSPECTIVES

• SOCIAL WORKERS SHOULD PRACTICE REFLEXIVITY—THINK ABOUT HOW YOU MAY UNCONSCIOUSLY RE-CREATE DOMINANT CULTURAL BELIEFS THAT MAY BE OPPRESSIVE

• DO NOT RE-CREATE POWER HIERARCHIES

PRINCIPLES OF FEMINIST/CRITICAL THEORY WITHIN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE,

CONTINUED• SALAS, SEN, AND SEGAL OFFER SIX STEPS TO GUIDE SOCIAL WORKERS ON

INCORPORATING CRITICAL THEORY INTO THEIR PRACTICE

• EXAMINE HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT

• CONSIDER THE ROLE OF POWER DISTRIBUTIONS

• ENGAGE IN SELF-REFLECTION

• PRACTICE NONJUDGMENTAL INQUIRY

• ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR CLIENT’S AND YOUR OWN VALUES

• ENCOURAGE HEIGHTENED AWARENESS THAT MAY SPUR ACTION

APPLICATION OF FEMINIST/CRITICAL THEORY WITHIN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

• IS A WAY OF BEING, AS MUCH AS A WAY OF BEHAVING

• RECOGNIZE AND RESPECT DIFFERENCES

• EXAMINE POWER, AND AVOID HIERARCHIES

• CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT HOW THE WORLD OPERATES

• ENGAGEMENT—USE SELF-EXAMINATION TO UNCOVER YOUR OWN ASSUMPTIONS AND BIASES BEFORE AND THROUGHOUT ENGAGEMENT; MAINTAIN AN EGALITARIAN RELATIONSHIP

APPLICATION OF FEMINIST/CRITICAL THEORY WITHIN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE,

CONTINUED

• ASSESSMENT—IDEA OF ASSESSMENT AND DIAGNOSIS, IN PARTICULAR, IS HIGHLY CONTESTED BECAUSE DIAGNOSES ARE SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED; FULLY INVOLVE CLIENTS IN MAKING ASSESSMENT THAT IS MEANINGFUL TO THEIR LIVES AND SOCIAL AND CULTURAL EXPERIENCES; INCORPORATE PARTS OF IDEAL SPEECH SITUATION

• INTERVENTION—INTRODUCE INTERVENTIONS THAT SEEK TO DEVELOP A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF A CLIENT’S LIVED EXPERIENCE WITH OPPRESSION; SHOULD BE CREATIVE

• EVALUATION—MIGHT INCLUDE MORE QUALITATIVE OR CONTEXTUAL EXAMPLES THAT INTERVENTION HAS WORKED; PRACTICE OUTCOMES SHOULD BE CONTEXTUAL AND DEFINED BY THE CLIENT, NOT THE WORKER

CRITICISMS OF FEMINIST AND CRITICAL THEORY APPROACHES

• SOME MAY CONSIDER CRITICAL THEORY EXCESSIVELY NEGATIVE

• NOT ALL COMMUNICATION CAN BE “UNDISTORTED” EVEN WHEN THERE IS AN IDEAL SPEECH SITUATION

• FINDING PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS IS ALSO IMPORTANT

• FEMINIST THEORY RUNS THE RISK OF REPLICATING INEQUALITY

• THE WORD “FEMINISM” HAS DIFFERING CONNOTATIONS AND CAN BE NEGATIVE

CONCLUSION

• CRITICAL THEORY OFFERS A LENS TO ASSESS TAKEN-FOR-GRANTED ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT KNOWLEDGE, THE SOCIAL WORLD, AND OUR INTERACTIONS

• IT OFFERS A FRAMEWORK TO PROMOTE EMANCIPATION AND LIBERATION OF MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS

• CRITICAL AND FEMINIST THEORIES EMPHASIZE SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ETHICS, AND THEY ALIGN WELL WITH OUR PROFESSIONAL VALUES