Rate this book

The Revolution Starts At Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities (2011)

by Ching-In Chen(Favorite Author)

4.38 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0896087948 (ISBN13: 9780896087941)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

South End Press

review 1: Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Beautifully written. Compilation of essays and poetry exploring intimate violence, accountability, challenging/healing from abuse and trauma. It's focused on activist communities, but the info is applicable to anyone who is interested in healing from the trauma inflicted upon us daily by living in this rape culture that only allows for in piece meal solutions that are informed by the very systems they are purporting to challenge.So Inspiring. So Empowering.So Enlightening.
review 2: Informative, eclectic collection of pieces relating to intimate partner violence, especially in activist communities, mostly sexual minority communities. Raises lots of complications such as how same-gender couples violence throws off our usual assump... moretion when decoding conflicting reports that it must be the (usually) larger and more physically powerful man who is the perpetrator and the woman who is the victim/survivor. Also deals with how perpetrators who are themselves members of oppressed groups can sometimes use this as an excuse or cover for awful behavior.A major theme of many of the contributions is search for alternatives to traditional social institutions (esp. legal system, but to lesser extent shelters and other social service structures), notably "transformative justice" or "community accountability" strategies for addressing violence. A lot of the groups describing what they did to support survivors and to work on trying to hold perps accountable and work with them on changing their ways and acknowledging what they've done sounded heroically committed and generous with their time and emotional energy. It's probably too soon to expect much in the way of documentation of results, but I did find myself wondering a lot about what the average outcomes are. Many of the case studies reported here are in progress, and there was one admirably candid chapter describing community accountability efforts as incredibly stressful and generally ineffective in making any headway with perps. I'd have liked to see these differing experiences presented perhaps in the form of a panel presentation, with a discussant or some Q & A and back and forth to try to generate at least hypotheses about circumstances under which these approaches can work.Still, even if there isn't a very clear track record yet, it's encouraging to hear about people exploring and developing alternatives. It's not as though working within the legal system (restraining orders, jail time, etc.) has an overwhelmingly positive record when it comes to stopping violence, promoting healing, and strengthening community. less

Download links for: The Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities

Advertising