What are your associations with these words?
• Critical thinking
• Critical engagement
• Critique
• Criticism -- note differences in meaning in everyday language where often negative, and in, say, "literary criticism" where it means analysis, evaluation, explanation
Write down some of your associations.
Do you know the term "denaturalizing" What might it mean?
What does it mean for feminists? Why would they care about that?
Denaturalizing -- no longer "taking it for granted"
Uncovering Assumptions -- how do I know what I think until I see what I say?
Opening a space between:
Me and my assumptions -- a space for reflection, analysis, re-vision
Questions and immediate answers -- a space for wondering, complexity, creating new knowledge
When do we need to do these?
Deauthorizing -- when authority is misused; when power need redistribution
Debunking -- when it urgently matters to change NOW
When do we need instead:
To denaturalize WITHOUT deauthorizing or debunking?
To not take something for granted while also not deciding yet what happens instead?
To see how it all works, where the power lies, without knowing how to make it different?
To put things in perspective, to shift things around, to see with new eyes.
To be critical about something so complex it will take a long time to see it and fix it.
Keeping open the space for re-vision -- seeing again -- seeing more -- wondering and building
What about the edgy jokes or outright ridicule that may accompany "critique"?
Enjoying a "critical" edge; seeing the humor in the hierarchies of power; pointing out unfairness with humor or even ridicule.
Creating a sense of urgency; uncovering inequality.
Making friends with whom to work together to make things better: us vs. them?
Does "working together with" some have to mean "working against" others? When?
Trying to find places from which to evaluate what is ethical, to be accountable.
What about public speech and polarization?
Are there really two sides to every question?
Why only as few as two?
Who gets to name what the sides are?
What money, power, alliances, people do they need to be heard, paid attention to?
What are your thoughts here? Freewrite.
How do you locate any readings, discussions, lectures or experiences we've done so far in these concerns?
What do you know, understand, believe about any of these issues?
Where does inspiration, hope, and new energy for change figure in all this?
Where do we need the "details," the nitty-gritty info, the specifics and proposals?
Whose job is it to supply the details? How do we create them together?
