| Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools. |
In Whose Interest Do We Work? Critical Comments of a Practitioner at the Fringes of the Liberation ParadigmIgnaz-Rieder-Kai 15, 5020 Salzburg, Austria, simone.lindorfer{at}gmx.de `De-ideologizing reality' is an urgent task within the psychology of liberation. Ignacio Martín-Baró characterized it as a process of conscientization that unmasks power interests underlying knowledge production, retrieves the `original experience of the people', and returns that experience in the form of `objective data'. In contemporary humanitarian trauma work in crisis areas, however, psychology often masks global power structures and further stigmatizes and alienates `victims' from their communities and their original experience. I draw upon my work as a psychologist, theologian and freelance consultant in the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa to analyse two case studies. I use these examples to analyse and critique the underlying power discourses implied in definitions of `victimhood' in humanitarian interventions and identify contradictions that challenge liberation thinking as well as demystify feminist agendas. I conclude by calling for a change of perspective and of professional attitudes that can be realized through engaging a de-ideologizing approach towards global psychosocial trauma interventions.
Key Words: Democratic Republic of Congo • ideology • liberation psychology • masculinity • trauma • Uganda • victimhood
Feminism & Psychology, Vol. 19, No. 3,
354-367 (2009) |
|||
 |
|
|
 |
|
Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
