The ACTEW Blog

I presented on ACTEW’s Putting Women in the Picture project at the Jobs and Justice conference. Here are two other initiatives that I found both inspiring and informative:

Well-being through Inclusion Socially and Economically (WISE)
http://www.wise-bc.org/index.html

Daphne Moldowin and Chrystal Ocean gave a presentation entitled Jobs versus Mutual Aid: Taking Back the Meaning of ‘Work’ in Community. WISE is led by women living in poverty. It works to address

• the causal link between policy and poverty,
• educate people about the effects of poverty on the health and wellbeing of citizens and their communities,
• and support one another in introducing and implementing inexpensive, creative solutions at the local level.

WISE has published a very powerful book called Policies of Exclusion, Poverty & Health: Stories from the front (WISE 2005) in which 21 women tell their stories of poverty, which then lead to policy recommendations. I strongly encourage you to order a copy for yourself at http://www.wise-bc.org/CVProject/book.html.

The women of WISE have also developed workshops, both for women affected by poverty and for service providers. If you are in or near Toronto and are a service provider, catch their upcoming workshop "Honouring the Margins: Their Knowledge, praxis and realities," at the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health 10th annual conference Mobilizing Partnerships for Social Change (April 11-14, 2007).

Redefining Welfare to Work in British Columbia
This research project, presented by Shauna Butterwick (University of British Columbia) and Whitney Borowko (Simon Fraser University) examines training and employment programs for long-term welfare recipients in British Columbia. The researchers critique existing job training and employment programs in BC and conclude that they are based on a “quickest route to a job” philosophy and are punitive and unsuccessful in the long-term. Looking at other models across Canada, they find Quebec programs offering the most promising practices.

The researchers recommended a new model based on the following principles, adapted from Nancy Fraser’s feminist social justice approach:

• Anti-poverty
• Anti-exploitation
• Income equality
• Leisure time equality
• Equality of respect
• Anti-marginalization
• Anti-androcentrism/Europeanism

There is not much written information released on this project, as the work is still in its research phase. As I hear of information becoming available, I’ll post it to this blog.

Jobs and Justice: Strategies and Solutions for Economic Security was hosted by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and held in Vancouver March 29 to 31, 2007. Some of the plenary talks were videotaped and can viewed online.

Labels: ACTEW_Activities, Meetings_and_Events, Resources_and_Research