Feminist Journaling as Pedagogical Praxis
Shruti Balaji
I walked into my Gender and International Relations course module during my graduate study at the LSE eagerly anticipating norm-breaking theory and insightful discussions. But little did I know that my professor had in store for me – my own weekly dose of feminist journaling. For one of the requirements for her class was a stream-of-consciousness blog post about the week’s reading material as an exercise in critical and reflective thinking. These privately posted blogs soon evolved into an internal journey as I was able to pen down thoughts free of trepidation and judgement. Indeed, as the weeks progressed, they grew into a collection of scattered thoughts, reflections, often even feelings of hope, frustrations and refuge. The words tumbled out of me and it gave way to some of the most incisive questions I had in mind about feminist theory and praxis in international relations: why were feminist scholars uncomfortable with quantitative data? Why is there a frustrating lack of reciprocal dialogue between non-western and western feminist scholarship? What is the relationship between resistance and revolution in feminist theory? among many others. The emphasis was on reflection and expressing oneself by working through internal feminist dilemmas and contradictions in theory and praxis.
For me, this feminist journaling became a sharp critique of the highly structured and hierarchical classroom teaching and evaluation system in two important ways. Firstly, it allowed for the celebration of difference. Difference stemming from diverse educational experiences is often marginalised in western academic spaces. However, through our feminist journaling, my classmates and I were able to work at our own pace in coping with and exploring the depth of the reading material and contextualising it in knowledges we were familiar with. Secondly, in ensuring that our weekly blogs were counted as a part of the final grade, this exercise became, through its sheer existence, a critique of the highly formalised final-exam university practice. What made this uniquely different from other similar attempts was that in keeping with the spirit of our exercise – grades were not based on content, but merely submission: thus, there were no right or wrong answers, only reflections.
All in all, my own tryst with feminist journaling gave me hope as a young feminist scholar and future educator of potential ways to engender feminist journaling in pedagogical praxis and making it count.
One of the best articles I’ve read in a long time! Not just articulates clarity of thought but also a vision which in itself holds much gravity for the future
Enjoyed reading your thoughts Shruti. When I reached the end, I wanted to know more! Keep ‘em coming!
Very eloquently written and important questions raised! Looking forward to more such thoughts and reflections!
Very thought provoking article. The question raised are very pertinent. Can’t wait to read and engage more of your writing. 🙂
A well structured article, Shruti! Looking forward to reading the next step of your journey.
Truly captured the essence of the weekly feminist blogs! Feminism is and will always be a journey in answering difficult questions through discussion, reflection and critical analysis. With feminism, personal is the political and also international and thus this format of writing truly reflects a intersection of our inner feminist reflections, thoughts on external feminist issues and feminist scholoship. Great article Shruti.
Thank you for your comment Ria! It is in the beauty of being able to combine the personal, the political and the international that I most enjoyed writing these weekly blogs – especially as I was able to weave in thoughts and examples from everyday politics, popular culture, etc.
Such an important piece. A must read for women who struggle in reconciling their feminism with realities around them. On the other hand, simply a brilliant exercise that allows for musings that subsequently clear the headways for a clearer understanding of where one stands with regard to matters of the quotidien.
‘Matters of the quotidian’, often the most silenced matters, Drushti! Which is what makes feminist journaling a fulfilling personal exercise 🙂
It is an extremely well-written piece that allows us to engage with the feminism. The author asks extremely relevant questions about gender and its place in society and her understanding of gender has had a resounding impact on my own understanding of what constitutes gender. It is also a very relevant and well-timed piece. Shruti, very well done and keep writing and expressing yourself more!
Very Well written Shruti! When education paves way for critical & Original thinking, it actually facilitates evolution of progressive ideologies and progress of the society as a whole. Glad to know and understand your journey with feminist journaling through your own writings! Looking forward to read more of your writings!
This post was truly worthwhile to read. I wanted to say thank you for the key points you have pointed out as they are enlightening.