What Time Is It on the
Clock of the World:
Power. Movements. Change.
3 May & 9 May 2023
A Two-Part Conversation
Power is essential. We cannot talk about improving peopleās lives, protecting the planet or achieving social changeāand certainly not about building and strengthening movements āwithout talking about power. Simply put, power is about the institutions, structures and beliefs that determine who has privilege, who has access, who sets the rules, whose voice counts, and ultimately, who and what matters and is valued. āWe Rise: Movement Building Reimagined
This two-part dialogue saw a lineup of brilliant feminist activist-thinkers share provocative insights about the intertwined threats to bodies, resources, political space ā and the planet – in todayās world and delve deeper into the implications for movements and movement strategy moving forward.
Available in Bahasa Indonesia, Spanish, and English.
Our dialogue title was inspired by Black power organizers and philosophers Grace Lee Boggs and Jimmy Boggs who visualized ā3,000 years of human history on a 12 hour clock where every minute represents 50 years. They advocated for āvisionary organizingā rooted in re-imagining not only structures and institutions, but also ourselves and our relationships.
Watch & Listen
Part I
Part II
Music Playlist
Summary
Locating ourselves in time ā in specific and evolving historical and political contexts ā is an organizing precept thatās easily forgotten in the rush to respond to constant crisis. As JASS, we took the question: What time is it on the clock of the world?
To members of our community of feminist thinkers and movement builders in a two-part dialogue held May 3 and 9, 2023 that looked through three lenses: Bodies, Resources and Political Space. This text presents key highlights from this conversation.
What Time Is It on the Clock of the World? Power. Movements. Change.
Explore Further
We strive to resist and challenge coercive power over by building and mobilizing transformative power. This is not a simple or linear process but, over time, we can collectively build power to make change happen.
Making Change Happen: Power examines the complexities and opportunities for understanding, constructing and transforming power. It looks at concepts and current dilemmas for social justice activists & groups. Building on these concepts and analysis, a second companion piece will focus on empowerment and action strategies for movement building.
Whatās LIBERATION without play?
A riddle: What is more powerful than power?
As the oceans boil, and the hurricanes beat violently against our shores, and the air sweats with the heat of impending doom, and our fists protest the denial of who and what we are, there is a path to take that has nothing to do with victory or defeat: a place we do not yet know the coordinates to; a question we do not yet know how to ask. There are things we must do, sayings we must say, thoughts we must think, that look nothing like the images of success that have so thoroughly possessed our visions of liberation and justice.
Worldmaking: Unlocking a Racially Just World
Building a racially just world will require all of us. At the Worldworking Beyond SOAS Conference (July 13 and 14th), JASS joins academics, students, creatives, thinkers, and social justice movements to imagine and construct racial justice strategies for a more liberated world.
āWe must understand the historical span and longevity of conservative movementsā. Interview with Sonia Correa. Sur, International Journal on Human Rights. No 32.
Introduction: feminist protests and politics in a world in crisis, Sohela Nazneen & Awino Okech
Working Paper: āWomenās Leadership and Political Agency in Fragile Politiesā, Sohela Nazneen
Shrinking Civic Space for Women and Girls in Africa: Awino Okech and Marianne Mesfin Asfaw
Sustaining Power: Contemporary Backlash Against Womenās Struggles in South Asia
The Climate Burnout Report, by Climate Critical Earth
Sexuality Policy Watch resources on anti-gender politics in LA
āBut I thought weād already won that argument!ā: āAnti-genderā Mobilizations, Affect, and Temporalityā, Clare Hemmings
āVictor Frankenstein and its creature: the many lives of āgender ideologyāā, David Patternote
āIntroduction: TERFs, Gender-Critical Movements, and Postfascist Feminismsā, Serena Bassi and Greta Lafleur
āIn a time not so far awayā, Agazit Abate. Edited by NAWI Afrifem Macroeconomics Collective (2021).
Weaving our fabric – a pan african feminist framing of public services to be read alongside the following 2 pieces:
https://www.nawi.africa/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Public-Services-Book-How-it-is.pdf
https://www.nawi.africa/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Public-Services-Book-How-it-could-be.pdf
Prayers for a Cruel Blessed world – a curation of snippets of African womenās resistance