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Artwork by Amy Scheidegger,
www.amyartisticrebuttal.com
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By Ameena Mohyuddin Zia
Women’s March on Washington is
expected to be the largest gathering of people collectively standing in
solidarity for civil rights in the history of United States. The nature of the
March in itself is unique as it has morphed from being pro-woman and or
anti-Trump into a catch-all protest to include all who find themselves either
on the outside of the current political environment or those who have historically
been institutionally marginalized.
Organic and grassroots in nature,
it has taken on a life of its own as over 57 countries have joined in issues in
a non-partisan and non-political nature. Rooted in the backdrop of a global
populist wave of hate, it responds to perceived xenophobia, racism, misogyny
and homophobia.
Women’s March on Washington,
unlike other marches in the recent past, claims it is grounded in
intersectionality and deviates from the path of white-feminism. It’s diversity
statement recognizes the collective identity of the march to include those
disenfranchised from the decision-making process: Asian and Pacific Islanders,
Trans Women, Native Americans, African Americans, disabled individuals. It
further requests white participants to recognize their own privilege and to
acknowledge the struggles of others. The
three-page policy statement calls for reproductive freedom, immigration reform,
police accountability, union rights, economic justice, and reaffirms Hillary
Clinton’s 1995 message in Beijing that women’s
rights are human rights.
As participation has amplified in
the last few weeks and large numbers of sister marches are announced around the
country, social scientists find this phenomenon vague and the collective
construction of identity rather fascinating. The question on everyone’s mind
asks, will the March turn into a social movement of change?
Social movements in general are
purposeful, organized groups with a common goal that may create change, resist
change, or provide a political voice to those otherwise disenfranchised. As history
reminds us, it is indeed social movements that create social change.
According to scholars, social movements
include elements of change-oriented goals, organization, temporal continuity, extra-institutional
collective action (like a March for example) and institutional activity. All
social movements follow stages towards development or failure. We witnessed the
preliminary stage as people became aware and or recognized issues that needed
to be heard (following the 2016 presidential election) and leaders like
activists Carmen Perez, Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory emerged. The second stage,
the coalescence stage, is marked as people band together and organize to
publicize the issue and raise awareness with public demonstration of the March
in Washington & it’s sister protests. The Woman’s March on Washington
stands at this juncture of the movement cycle. Onwards whether the movement
reaches an institutionalization stage when it no longer requires grassroots volunteerism
and maintains itself as an established organization is to be determined. Likewise,
whether it moves towards the decline stage where people fall away, adopt new
movements or the movement dissolves itself after successfully bringing change
is to be determined as well.
Historically, social movements
have been treated as variants of collective mobilization and action. Those
excluded from structures of political bargaining have no choice but to turn to
collective organizing and mobilizing to gain access and translate it into
influence in the context of political decision-making. In order to understand
collective action, it is necessary to examine the dynamics of collective
identity. Collective identity is fluid in nature as the understanding of the
goals and actions among actors reflects the possibilities and limitations
within their actions. It is these shared commitments that give rise to the
sense of oneness that we witness as the March rallies the disenfranchised under
an umbrella of solidarity.
What is yet to be determined is
if the emergence of this collective identity constructed by multiple groups of
shared opinions will translate into action and change. Organizers hope to
create a social movement with a voice of empathy, compassion, diversity and
inclusion. As the historical significance of the Woman’s March on Washington
evokes sentiments reflecting powerful protests in American history, it
continues to raise issues of equity, justice and freedom. And the success of
this movement will depend whether it can sustain momentum long after the march
itself and unify our currently divisive society.