Reconceptualizing Accountability and Harm: Transformative Justice at Oberlin

Location

King Building 241

Document Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-27-2019 4:00 PM

End Date

4-27-2019 5:20 PM

Abstract

In America, most common responses to sexualized and gendered violence are punitive and punishment-based, relying on the threat of prison or social isolation keep people from doing harm. As scholar-activists engaged in the struggle to end both interpersonal and systemic violence, we are drawn to the practice of Transformative Justice, a community accountability measure that does not rely on the state for action. We are invested tri-fold: in changing the conditions that lead to violence, in creating community action plans that can stably respond to violence when it occurs, and in centering survivor needs and helping make tangible reparations when possible. We spent the semester producing a WOBC radio show called the Transforming Power Hour to understand how principles of Transformative Justice are enacted at Oberlin, using the Oberlin Bystander Initiative, the Office of the Ombudsperson, and the Sexual Harm Information Liaisons are case studies for TJ in action locally. The archive we are in the process of building will show the world outside of Oberlin two things: one, the importance of a Transformative Justice framework in understanding healthier ways to respond to violence, and two, that Oberlin is paving the way for this movement in big and small ways.

Keywords:

justice, accountability, violence, harm, community healing, sexual violence, gender, prisons, Oberlin, local

Notes

FEATURED PRESENTATION
Session VI, Panel 18 - Sex | Education

Moderator: Pam Brooks, Jane and Eric Nord Associate Professor of Africana Studies

Major

Comparative American Studies

Advisor(s)

Hanne Williams-Baron: Gina Pérez, Comparative American Studies

Joseph Flegel-Mishlove: Shelley Lee, Comparative American Studies and History

Project Mentor(s)

Wendy Kozol, Comparative American Studies

April 2019

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Apr 27th, 4:00 PM Apr 27th, 5:20 PM

Reconceptualizing Accountability and Harm: Transformative Justice at Oberlin

King Building 241

In America, most common responses to sexualized and gendered violence are punitive and punishment-based, relying on the threat of prison or social isolation keep people from doing harm. As scholar-activists engaged in the struggle to end both interpersonal and systemic violence, we are drawn to the practice of Transformative Justice, a community accountability measure that does not rely on the state for action. We are invested tri-fold: in changing the conditions that lead to violence, in creating community action plans that can stably respond to violence when it occurs, and in centering survivor needs and helping make tangible reparations when possible. We spent the semester producing a WOBC radio show called the Transforming Power Hour to understand how principles of Transformative Justice are enacted at Oberlin, using the Oberlin Bystander Initiative, the Office of the Ombudsperson, and the Sexual Harm Information Liaisons are case studies for TJ in action locally. The archive we are in the process of building will show the world outside of Oberlin two things: one, the importance of a Transformative Justice framework in understanding healthier ways to respond to violence, and two, that Oberlin is paving the way for this movement in big and small ways.