Sociopolitical Development and Political Activism

Abstract

Feminist and liberation psychologies have emerged in contexts of marginalization and oppression and have developed in diverse, and sometimes synergistic, ways. I identify key themes for fostering critical consciousness and political action that arise from the intersections of feminist and liberation psychology. These themes include the need for more complex and diverse understandings of the personal and the political and of the connections between the two. These themes form the basis for a three-component model for courses and workshops that were delivered in communities in Ireland over a 5-year period. Questionnaires completed at the end of the courses and workshops indicated that participants benefited from a clear structural analysis, from making links between the personal and the political, and from exploring political action as a cyclical or developmental process. Political action is also seen as relational, that is, as involving interpersonal processes such as support, solidarity, and engagement with diversity in groups and communities.