Leaving behind the rhetoric of allyship

ABSTRACT

In fights for social justice, allies and their efforts receive a significant amount of attention. This attention can be justified, as allies serve essential functions in efforts to eliminate inequalities and inequities present in social systems, which is central to work within social justice movements. However, ‘the term ally has been rendered ineffective and meaningless’. Through this essay, I argue that although allies play important roles in fights for social justice, the ally label can be misapplied, and has lost much of its meaning. The intentions and actions of allies have been questioned through multiple social movements, including Black Lives Matter and No DAPL (Dakota Access Pipeline) in the United States, and Palestinian activism outside of Palestine.

KEYWORDS:

• Ally
• allyship
• social justice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.