Social justice burnout: Engaging in self-care while doing diversity work.

Author(s):  
Asia Eaton ◽  
Leah R. Warner
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Lenore Bell

Inthe spring of 2012, a major scandal rocked the queer social justice communityon Tumblr. One of its most popular bloggers and activists, a 22 -year-oldtransman named Ira Gray suddenly faced by a deluge of sexual assaultallegations from multiple people via Tumblr. Despite the queer social justicecommunity's pride in being open and accepting, many of its practices are rigid,pedantic and counterproductive. The rise and fall of Ira Gray's celebritystatus has highlighted how truly divided this online community can be.Sexuality and gender identity were not the only lines of contention; mentalillness, race, class and trauma played dominant roles in the discussion. Thevery fact that the accusers had stayed silent for so long is telling. Throughanalysing the tumblr posts of the accused, accusers and othercommentators/spectators, one can see how mental illness, privilege andsexuality are negotiated in this small yet global community. For many queersocial justice tumblr bloggers, graphically detailed posts about theirexperience of sexual trauma lie side-by-side with explicit nude phone cameraportraits of the blogger tagged as "self-care." I argue that theethos created by this corner of the internet does not provide a queer oasis forthe user away from an overbearing, hetero-normative world. Instead, itintroduces a complicated set of rules and mores that presents newcomplications. The combination of naked exposure and online depersonalisationcan prove toxic.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Mitchell ◽  
Erin Binkley

Attention has been given to multicultural counseling, social justice and advocacy work over the last several decades; with this in mind, it is essential Counselors educators work as anti-racist change agents to understand the role of self-care in advocacy and be armed with self-care strategies based upon racial identity standing. Working through the lens of racial identity development models, educators will learn ways to support students of the dominant culture in engaging in self-care without initiating oppressive behaviors, and conversely will learn strategies to assist Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color (BIPOC) in enacting self-care without assisting in their own oppression. Thus, the purpose of this conceptual manuscript is to (a) provide a rationale for self-care as an ethical imperative, (b) introduce self-care strategies to employ while supporting anti-racist andragogy through intentional wellness, and (c) call students to build self-care routines focused on multiculturalism and social justice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 322-336
Author(s):  
AMY HUBBELL

Three women who survived bombings as children during the Algerian War (1954-1956) published autobiographies of their recovery between 2012 and 2016. Danielle Michel-Chich had a leg amputated when she was five after a bombing in Algiers, Nicole Simon’s legs were burned and scarred from a bombing in Mostaganem when she was fifteen and Delphine Renard was blinded and disfigured at the age of four when a bomb exploded in her Parisian home. Each woman recounts the pain and guilt of survival and grapples with how to reciprocate the care they received. Using a social justice framework, this essay examines how narratives of care build connections between people. As the child survivors of terrorist attacks cope with medical and personal care after bodily trauma, writing becomes a major part of self-care in the recovery process.


2020 ◽  
pp. 115-133
Author(s):  
Nwadiogo I. Ejiogu

This chapter offers advice about how to survive and thrive in medical school as a woman of color. Ejiogu recognizes the importance of finding support as a medical student committed to social justice principles and how to negotiate a profession that routinely is known for its mistreatment of nonwhite communities and women. She advocates anticipating potential triggers in an oppressive environment and the need to implement a self-care plan as a way to protect oneself.


2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-40
Author(s):  
Tanya Horeck

This article explores how binge-watching shifted from guilty pleasure to essential self-care during the extended lockdown prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While binge-watching was prescribed as one of the most effective ways to ward off lockdown ennui, quarantine conditions also led to its reframing as a politically productive activity, one tied to social-justice projects. Following the worldwide outrage over the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, listicles emerged of antiracist films and TV shows for viewers to watch as a means of converting them from unreflective couch potatoes into socially enlightened citizens. While such lists are problematic, COVID culture’s recasting of binge-watching as civic duty compels reflection on how viewing habits in the streaming era might be related to public pedagogy around social-justice struggles. The article concludes by pointing to the continued relevance of binge-watching as a concept that captures the affective intensities of internet TV and user-directed viewing during the pandemic and beyond.


Art Therapy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-104
Author(s):  
Barbara Fish
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Alberto J. Rodriguez

In this manuscript, I provide an example of what activism in your own backyard may look like in institutional contexts using Foucault’s notions of ethics. To this end, I report findings from a two-year study conducted in my own science methods courses with two cohorts of pre-service teachers. Through a critical autoethnographic lens, I recount a synthesis of struggles and successes that illustrate what happens when one’s ethical and professional commitments to work for social justice intersect (collide) with the urgent need to address opp(regre)ssive practices in our own programs. Suggestions for how to be an activist in our own backyards and how to (re)engage our ethical commitments through a praxis of self-care are also provided.


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