Is it inevitable that those in power will remain there? Dr. Liza Lorenzetti looks at how conceptions of established dominance have been perpetuated in our society and explores how social movements are challenging the status quo. Learn more about how citizens are propelling change with greater effect than ever before — through frameworks such as equity movements, prevention of gender-based violence and racism, and Truth and Reconciliation. Watch the full webinar recording at https://explore.ucalgary.ca/power-collective-resistance

1. FACULTY OF SOCIAL WORK
People’s Power and
Collective Resistance
Liza Lorenzetti, MSW RSW, PhD
Assistant Professor - Activist
Faculty of Social Work
June 18, 2019

2. Dr. Liza Lorenzetti
 Settler from Italian Heritage
 Born on Mohawk -
Kanien'kehá:katerritory (Montréal)
 Welcomed to Blackfoot and Treaty 7
 she/her or they/them
 Assistant professor, Faculty of Social Work
 BSW from McGill University, MSW and PhD
from University of Calgary
 Current teaching, research and community
practice center on anti-oppression, peace
building and social justice

3. Acknowledging the Land and First Nations
Honouring the land we are on: Traditional Blackfoot Territory and Land of
Treaty 7 Nations
And the people who have lived here before we settled…
 Siksika
 Piikani
 Kainaiwa
 Tsuu T’ina
 Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Wesley Nakoda (Morley)
 Métis Nation Region 3
Acknowledging the past, present and future
Acknowledging Cultural Teachers
(Treaty 7 First Nations Chiefs' Association, (n.d.))

4. Life in community

5. Life in relationship
“Human kind has not woven the
web of life. We are but one thread
within it, whatever we do to the
web, we do to ourselves. All things
are bound together. All things
connect”
Chief Si'ah (Seattle, circa 1854) Chief
of Suqamish and Duwamish Nations

6. A natural step to social work
Roots in collective organizing…

7. Questioning the supremacy of individualism as healthy
for human existence
Calgary’s largest anti-war rally
(Alberta Views, 2004)

8. “Four great questions of our time”
 Deepening global poverty,
wealth inequality and
injustice
 The proliferation of
weaponry, including the
weaponization of space
 Increases in dehumanization
–extremism, violence, and
terrorism
 The ecological limits of our
plant… climate disaster
(Barlow, 2005)

9. Positioning this discussion within Reconciliation
Dr. Leroy Little Bear:
“ Canada is a pretend nation” that has not yet
contended with its past or present (RedTalks 2015)
(Canadian Civil Liberties Association, 2018)

10. Questioning inevitability
(Canadian Content, 2018)

11. Critical pedagogies of hope and conscious action
“Seeing oneself as part of a larger social fabric of responsibility provides the impetus for people to consider
how the exercise of their individual agency affects the world and the people in it” (Jacobs, 2005, 788)
(hooks, 1994)
(Friere, 1992)(Friere, 1968)

12. Early teachings in the power of “agency” and social action
(The Star, 2013) (The Canadian Press, 2018)(The McGill Tribune, 2018)

13. Refuting neutrality
“If you are Neutral in Situations of
Injustice You have Chosen the side
of the Oppressor. If an elephant
has its foot on the tail of a mouse
and you say that you are neutral,
the mouse will not appreciate your
neutrality.” (Bishop Desmond
Mpilo Tutu as cited in McAfee
Brown 1984: 19)
Letting go of…

14. Reframing our lenses…
Disparity
not Poverty

15. Re-thinking our vision
Nurturing Equity-Based Relationships
Promoting Healing
Ending Structural Inequalities
What is Violence
Prevention?

16. Understanding our shared history: Becoming trustworthy
Speaking from one’s own source of experience; explicitly adopting a theory of knowledge (carter &
little. 2008)

17. Taking conscious action
“Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of
inevitability” (Martin Luther King Jr.)
(Chanel Hill Tribune Staff Writer, 2018)

18. Our breaking point
A Conversation on the
Treatment of Cindy
Gladue & Violence
Against Indigenous
Women in Canada’s
Criminal Justice System
Faculty of Social Work
Event: November 2018
(Sterritt, 2018)

19. Gathering for peace and unity:
Against racism, hatred and violence

20. GSA/QSA solidarity action
Social work students and Faculty join Alberta high school student walkout, May 3, 2019

21. Moving from awareness to collective action

22. Equation for collective action
Me (my communities) + My Message + Network
+ Method = Social Change?
Step 1: YOU: What communities do you belong to?
Step 2: What message or new idea do you want to diffuse?
Step 3: What does your network look like?
Who is in your network? (# and leaders)? How are your communities connected?
What does this network look like? How is the conductivity of each cluster? Do some
have enhanced bonding and bridging capital?
Step 4: Method: In what ways does your network communicate?
Method = social media, word-of-mouth, elementary school volunteering, social
gatherings, protests, university teaching, meetings, family and community gatherings

23. Where will we be counted in the retrospect of
history’s lens?

24. Closing contemplations
 What does it mean to have a sense of purpose and a
meaningful life?
 How does one live as an authentic person?
 What do integrity and equity and justice look like?
 Can we co-exist in a peaceful, sustainable and socially
connected global community?
Life’s deeper questions lead us to reflect on the the social
- the collective - and the notion of Being in Relation with
Others

25. Acknowledgements
 Amanda Ho
 Aamir Jamal
 Isra Safadi
 Arya Boustani

26. Thank you. Merci. Grazie. Gracias.
lakloren@ucalgary.ca
Visit Alberta Men’s Network:
http://www.albertamen.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/albertamensnet/
Twitter: @albertamensnet

27. References
 Albertaviews. (2004, March 1). Activists Among Us [Digital image]. Retrieved June 12, 2019, from https://albertaviews.ca/activists-among-us/
 Barlow, M. (2005). Too close for comfort : Canada's future within fortress North America. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.
 Canadian Civil Liberties Association. (2018, February 2). TRC Call to Action #57 Slated to be Implemented Spring 2018 [Digital image]. Retrieved June 11, 2019, from
http://rightswatch.ca/2018/02/02/trc-call-to-action-57-slated-to-be-implemented-spring-2018/
 The Canadian Press. (2018, December 6). Polytechnique victims honoured with multiple ceremonies on 29th anniversary [Digital image]. Retrieved June 11, 2019, from
https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/polytechnique-victims-honoured-with-multiple-ceremonies-on-29th-anniversary-1.4207043
 Fox, N. (2016, December 13). Canadian Flag [Digital image]. Retrieved June 11, 2019, from https://i.pinimg.com/736x/01/71/1f/01711f8df1d81823b6e4366b00e43d4c.jpg
 Friere, P & Friere, A. M., (1993). Pedagogy of Hope. Texas: Continuum.
 Freire, P., & Ramos, M. (1993). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
 hooks, bell. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. New York: Routledge.
 The McGill Tribune. (201, January 23). “Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance” explores a conflict still unresolved. [Digital Image]. Retrieved June 12, 2019, from
https://www.mcgilltribune.com/a-e/kanehsatake-270-years-resistance-012318/
 The Philadelphia Tribune. (2018, January 15). The story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. [Digital Image]. Retrieved June 12, 2019, from
https://www.phillytrib.com/the_learning_key/the-story-of-dr-martin-luther-king-jr/article_50c830f0-1a27-5bd4-bdac-c758312f0a6b.html
 Treaty 7 First Nations Chiefs' Association. (n.d.). Treaty 7 Confederacy Flag [Digital Image]. Retrieved June 12, 2019, from http://www.treaty7.org/
 The Star. (2013, December 6). Nelson Mandela: Anti-apartheid leader’s long walk to freedom comes to an end [Digital image]. Retrieved June 11, 2019, from
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/12/06/nelson_mandela_antiapartheid_leaders_long_walk_to_freedom_comes_to_an_end.html
 Sterritt, A. (2018, September 25). Our Breaking Point: Canada's Violation of Rights in Life and Death [Digital image]. Retrieved June 12, 2019, from
https://artsandscience.usask.ca/news/articles/2712/Our_Breaking_Point_Canadas_Violation_of_Rights_in_Life_and_D)