Good, Bad, Indifferent (Was: More on advocacy and voluntarism:)
George J.P. Perry (geoperry@iww.org)
Mon, 19 Jan 1998 08:43:18 -0800 (PST)
Substitute "corresponding on <hpn@aspin.asu.edu>" for "volunteerism".
Substitute any potential means to an intended end.
Put a warning-label on the medicine-cabinet: "The Virtues contained
within must be taken with Humility. Humility cannot be found in this
cabinet, but must be found within the User. Pursuit of any Virtue herein,
without Humility, will lead to Unintended Side-Effects".
And, after all that, humility isn't enough.
There's danger everywhere.
Even in being safe.
George Perry... compost-attendant
p.s... I'm so confident that I've missed P's point, that I quote her post
in full
On Mon, 19 Jan 1998, P. Myers wrote:
> Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 07:59:25 -0800 (PST)
> From: "P. Myers" <mpwr@u.washington.edu>
> To: hpn@aspin.asu.edu
> Subject: More on advocacy and voluntarism:
>
>
>
> In a previous post, I was trying to say that voluntarism can
> be as subversive to the well-being of the poor, homeless and marginalized,
> through mindsets that buy into victim-blaming and labelling, and use the
> perceived power structure (vertical) as proof of their betterness, as
> could the receipt of money for doing empty "advocacy."
>
> Volunteering is not prima facie a good thing...the person doing the
> advocacy *has to have a notion of what they are up to...what needs and
> lacunae *they bring to the situation, or they're likely to demand behavior
> from the people they want to help, behavior that validates the volunteers'
> need to be perceived as good: lady or lord bountiful, etc.
>
> Also dangerous is the possibility that, by doing an hour or two a week at
> something, the volunteer absolves her/himself from the *really hard work
> of self-reflection/reflexivity: looking at one's behavior and needs, and
> getting to work on understanding how those actions and mindsets result in
> the denigration of those whom one believes one wants to help. To
> substitute an hour of voluntarism for self reflection doesn't do the self
> change that might re in even greater benefit for those s/he is saying s/he
> wants to help, and *may allow one to justify having "given at the agency"
> (instead of "I gave at the office")...with holding funds/donation that
> might better be used *by homeless and poor and disenfranchised, and more
> in the best interest of the poorest of the poor.
>
> (And I lied...I think a discussion of this is worth 'way more than $.02!)
>
> PatM
>
> ************************************
> "Find out just what any people will quietly submit to
> and you have found out the exact measure of
> injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them...
> Frederick Douglass
>
>