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The Role of Black Feminist Theory in Feminist Evaluation
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| Presenter(s):
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| Sarita Davis, Georgia State University, saritadavis@gsu.edu
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| Abstract:
The Sojourner Project applies an interpretive framework to explore the degree to which the intersecting lens of gender, race, and class affects the HIV risk and use of mood altering substances among 50 African American women living in both low and high burden areas in metropolitan Atlanta. Research suggests that a strictly biomedical framework for HIV and Substance abuse program planning and intervention typically serves to homogenize difference or complexity by, for example, separating race from socioeconomic status and gender as discrete, rather than mutually constitutive, concepts (Gentry, 2007; Mullings, 2005). The contribution of the Sojourner Project to evaluation is that it invites us to understand the relational nature of sexual decision making and substance abuse among dispossessed women in a way that conveys a message about the interaction of race, class, and gender, as well as dialectic of residence, resilience, and resistance (Crenshaw, 1995).
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Standpoint Theory(ies): A Pathway to Incorporating Social Justice Into the Evaluation Process
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| Presenter(s):
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| Denice Cassaro, Cornell University, dac11@cornell.edu
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| Divya Bheda, University of Oregon, dbheda@uoregon.edu
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| Abstract:
This paper will offer an understanding of feminist standpoint theories and their practical applications within the evaluation process. ‘Standpoint’ offers a strong framework from which to guide an evaluation process that lends itself to greater understanding and empowerment of marginalized stakeholders. Not only does standpoint theory offer a comprehensive base to choose appropriate methodology, but it also helps evaluators locate themselves in the evaluative process, enabling them be more self-critical, reflective, and reflexive. Our social identities as individuals (race, class, ethnicity, sex, gender) naturally impact who we are as evaluators and continually inform the theories we espouse, methods we employ, what we value, the questions we ask, the data we collect, what we accept as evidence, and how we interpret what we find. By using the underlying principles of standpoint theory(ies), the result will be an increase in the quality, usefulness and value of the evaluation to all stakeholders involved.
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The Believer’s Calling from a Gender Perspective: Evaluating Presbyterian (United States of America) Participation in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women Fifty Forth Conference
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| Presenter(s):
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| Cathryn Surgenor, New York Theological Seminary, revcsurgenor@onwardever.net
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| Abstract:
The Presbyterian Church ( USA) has been sending a delegation to the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women for the past five years. This two week conference is attended by representatives of 44 member nations and two to three thousand delegates from Non Government Organizations. The focus of the conference is on the implementation of the Platform for Action that was agreed upon at the Fourth World Conference held in Beijing in 1995. This year I attended the conference as a participant observer and evaluated both the process experienced by our delegates and the impact the experience has had on them. I propose to present a paper on this collaborative evaluation experience which seeks to understand to what degree attending this conference has empowered delegates to act with regard to issues such as human trafficking, violence against women, women’s access to health, education financial capital, and decision making.
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