Soumis par Omar Bickell le lun, 05/26/2008 - 14:36.
Given that Koumbit works in a domain where men outnumber women so dramatically, this topic has often been the subject of lively discussions within the organisation. I was, therefore, quite happy to see it appear as the first article submitted to the members' site. Reading the article, however, turned out to be a troubling experience since, in my opinion, it portrays a negative picture and is based on analyses that seem both incomplete and flawed.
Having a background in progressive social movements and given Koumbit's openess and transparency to review and critisism, I expected constructive criticism. Unfortunately, I guess I expected to read a little more on the contructive side e.g.
how open we are to participation
how we maintain a horizontal structure aimed at avoiding institutionalisation of hierarchical relationships (including sexist ones),
how much we foster communication and self-criticism (including analyses w.r.t. topics such as sexism within the organisation),
how we have systems in place to allow less vociferous people to have a voice (raising of hands before speaking to avoid the "loud guy wins" phenomenon),
how the entire organisation is based on the concensus/compromise approach (usually cited as a 'feminin' in contrast to the competitive 'masculin' approach... yuk, I hate these stereotypes),
salarial equity for all
the disproportionate representation of women on the board (w.r.t. the proportion of workers),
etc.
Bref, in my opinion, Koumbit is about as equitable and open as an organisation can get and, while far from perfection, should be recognised as such. Surely, there is room for criticism and improvement, but care should be taken to avoid these analyses being based on projections of the very "masculin" and "feminin" values that are endemic of sexist ideologies.
Given it's nature Koumbit *does* have to make more effort than the typical organisation to avoid reproducing the sexist power structures the predominate in society, so it is healthy for us to stop to accept criticism and to re-evaluate our internal dynamics. In that spirit this was a healthy article for us as it sparked another lively 45 minute discussion with Koumbit and we all become wiser for it.
Hmm... interesting but troubling
Given that Koumbit works in a domain where men outnumber women so dramatically, this topic has often been the subject of lively discussions within the organisation. I was, therefore, quite happy to see it appear as the first article submitted to the members' site. Reading the article, however, turned out to be a troubling experience since, in my opinion, it portrays a negative picture and is based on analyses that seem both incomplete and flawed.
Having a background in progressive social movements and given Koumbit's openess and transparency to review and critisism, I expected constructive criticism. Unfortunately, I guess I expected to read a little more on the contructive side e.g.
Bref, in my opinion, Koumbit is about as equitable and open as an organisation can get and, while far from perfection, should be recognised as such. Surely, there is room for criticism and improvement, but care should be taken to avoid these analyses being based on projections of the very "masculin" and "feminin" values that are endemic of sexist ideologies.
Given it's nature Koumbit *does* have to make more effort than the typical organisation to avoid reproducing the sexist power structures the predominate in society, so it is healthy for us to stop to accept criticism and to re-evaluate our internal dynamics. In that spirit this was a healthy article for us as it sparked another lively 45 minute discussion with Koumbit and we all become wiser for it.