A feminist study of a political education programme for women

Abstract

Women’s Campaign School (WCS) is a non-partisan, non-formal three-day educational programme held annually in Vancouver, to empower and inspire women to enter politics and as a means towards socio-political change. Our findings show the WCS provides excellent practical and tactical skills and an experiential learning opportunity that is highly valued by women. However, few felt the lens was feminist and it did little to challenge ingrained gendered social conditioning. We trace dominant discourses of neutrality, anti-feminism, and heteronormativity and discuss the impact these have on creating an emancipatory feminist educational practice for women’s and the culture of politics.