Du Silence À L'affirmation Women Making
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DU SILENCE À L’AFFIRMATION WOMEN MAKING HISTORY IN POINT ST. CHARLES Anna Kruzynski School of Social Work, McGill University, Montréal, Québec January 2004 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Anna Kruzynski, 2004 Abstract Women made, and continue to make history in Point St. Charles, and in doing so, transform selves, groups and community. Building on the literature on class and gender in community organising, read through the conceptual lens of “translocational positionality” (Anthias, 2002a), I tell a story of the journeys of a group of ten women activists through four decades of neighbourhood organising. I show that although all the women were first involved in citizens’ committees around practical needs such as housing, welfare, urban renewal and education, most of them, stimulated by feminist agitators in their midst, came to new awareness about gender inequalities, to new and deepening analyses, and to individual and collective actions around strategic gender needs. Part and parcel of this spiral of change (Nadeau, 1996) were the tensions that emerged with their families, friends and neighbours, and even with the agitators themselves. Out of these tensions came transformations at the macro level – community, public opinion and government, at the meso level – organisational structures and cultures, and at the micro level – family and selves. Next I do a metanarrative on the methodology that underlies the project upon which my thesis is based, one that borrows from feminist community organising practice (Gutiérrez & Lewis, 1994) to deal with the many ethical dilemmas inherent to feminist life history methodology (Geiger, 1990). In line with the notion of “translocational imaginings in dialogue”, the project was conceptualised to pre-figure power-with (Starhawk, 1987) in order to construct narratives of belonging that break with processes of differentiation and stratification. The project is about doing community history with the people who make that history. Because of this, when tensions emerged around power relations, instead of paralysis, individual, interpersonal and collective transformations emerged. Through this work, I am not only releasing new voices into the collective narrative, but I am also contributing to debates on life history methodology. And, my thesis, and the other historical products that will emerge from this project, will enable organisers and activists to learn from the past, and will, hopefully, entice younger people to get involved in community activism. Résumé D’hier à aujourd’hui, à Pointe-Saint-Charles, les femmes font l’histoire. Ce faisant, elles se transforment, ainsi que les groupes, et la communauté. Partant de la littérature traitant de classe et genre en organisation communautaire et utilisant les lunettes de la « translocational positionality » (Anthias, 2002a), ma thèse relate le cheminement de dix militantes au cours de quatre décennies. Bien que toutes aient d’abord été impliquées dans des comités de citoyens sur des questions pratiques (logement, assistance sociale, rénovation urbaine, éducation), je démontre que plusieurs d’entre elles, animées par des agitatrices féministes, sont parvenues à une nouvelle conscientisation à propos des inégalités entre les sexes, à des analyses nouvelles et approfondies, et à des actions individuelles et collectives quant aux questions stratégiques liées au genre. Des tensions, survenues entre les femmes et leurs familles, amies et voisines, et les agitatrices elles-mêmes, ont fait partie intégrante de cette spirale du changement (Nadeau, 1996). De ces tensions ont surgit des transformations, tant sur le plan macro (communauté, opinion publique, gouvernement), méso (structures et cultures organisationnelles) et micro-socioéconomique (famille et individus). Je propose ensuite une métanarration de la méthodologie qui sous-tend le projet sur lequel repose ma thèse; il s’inspire de la pratique féministe en organisation communautaire (Gutiérrez & Lewis, 1994) pour composer avec les nombreux dilemmes éthiques inhérents à la méthodologie historique féministe (Geiger, 1990). Inspiré de la notion des « translocational imaginings in dialogue », la conceptualisation du projet permet de préfigurer le pouvoir avec (Starhawk, 1987) de manière à construire des récits d’appartenance qui rompent avec les processus de différenciation et de stratification. Il s’agit d’écrire l’histoire communautaire avec les personnes qui la font. Ainsi, ce n’est pas la paralysie mais plutôt des transformations individuelles, interpersonnelles et collectives qui sont nées des tensions. Par cet ouvrage, je permet non seulement à de nouvelles voix de participer au récit collectif, mais je contribue également aux débats entourant la méthodologie historique. Ma thèse, et les autres fruits qui découleront du projet, permettront aux organisatrices et militantes d’apprendre du passé et motiveront, je l’espère, l’implication de plus jeunes gens dans l’action communautaire. Du silence à l’affirmation (A. Kruzynski) Page 3 of 520 Acknowledgments The project upon which my thesis is based, “Tissons une courtePointe: L’histoire de l’action communautaire à travers les histoires de vie de femmes de Pointe St-Charles” is an on-going collaborative effort between the “Archives populaires de Pointe St-Charles” and myself. The Archives contributed physical space, material and human resources, community networks, as well as long- standing local activist experience. I thank present and past Board members, as well as staff members, who have been extremely supportive of the project over the years. I would like to express my particular appreciation to Jean-Guy Dutil and Jocelyne Bernier, local leaders, who have taught me a great deal about the neighbourhood and its activism, and who were always available to answer questions, and to share anecdotes. Many people have worked on this project. Isabelle Drolet, staff member of the Archives and long-time activist, co-coordinated the project with me from the beginning. Isabelle and I worked as a team on all parts of the project, from the initial and continued contact with project participants, to the elaboration of the proposal, to the planning, organising and facilitating of all interviews, to the reading of the narratives, to the conceptualising of the historical products. Isabelle also edited all the French excerpts in my thesis. Moreover, through our many de-briefing, conflict-resolution, checking-in sessions, and exchanges on previous versions of my thesis, Isabelle challenged me into clarifying and developing my thinking and practice, and contributed many ideas and analyses that have fed the metanarrative on the history-making process that is central to my thesis. Isabelle’s pride in the neighbourhood, and her heartfelt commitment to the project, have always been palpable. I thank her for all of this. Next are the ten women who decided that this project was important enough to spend many hours telling and analysing their stories, and without who this project, and my thesis, could never have seen the light. My heartfelt Du silence à l’affirmation (A. Kruzynski) Page 4 of 520 gratitude goes to Denise Boucher, Thérèse Dionne, Louise Lanthier, Donna Leduc, Marguerite Métivier, Madeleine Richardson, Myrna Rose, Maureen Ryan, Michèle Soutière, and Frances Vaillancourt. All of these women are long- time activists, and because of their extensive experiences and knowledge, have contributed, over the last few years to my journey as activist and doctoral student. Not only have they fed my thinking on issues around women in organising, but they have also influenced the writing of the metanarrative on the participatory history methodology. Many other people worked or volunteered on this project and on my thesis, including: Jill Hanley and Geneviève Beauchamp who conducted evaluations with project participants; L’Iris Morissette, Ginette Lafrenière, Jocelyne Bernier and Line St-Amour who provided simultaneous translation; Johanne Paquette, Mélanie Landreville, and Michèle Bayard who helped with written translation of previous versions of Chapters 3 and 6 for review by Isabelle and the participants; Michèle who also translated the abstract for my thesis; students from Café Paradox who filmed the interviews; Megan Bochner who interviewed me on the methodology to provide material for the metanarrative, and who did a comprehensive annotated bibliography of the Québecois literature on women in community groups; my close friends, Erin Runions, Elsa Beaulieu, Jill Hanley, and Tasha Lackman, whose intellectual and emotional support and ideas for solutions to unexpected problems were invaluable to me; Louise Blais and Guylaine Racine, members of my doctoral committee, who guided me from beginning to end; all the activists from the Point who took time out of their busy schedules to help us fill in the missing links in the historical narrative. Finally, I thank my supervisors’, Eric Shragge and Jean Panet-Raymond whose constant support has been central to the successful completion of my thesis. Not only were they always available to problem-solve with me, to read and comment my work, and to guide me, they were always supportive of my Du silence à l’affirmation (A. Kruzynski) Page 5 of 520 feminism, of my unconventional ideas for research, and of my need to engage in activism alongside my academic work. The project has been funded in part, via the Archives, by the Bronfman Foundation’s Urban