Building Local Affinity Groups
Feminist organising and coalition-building has a long herstory of taking place in the living room, around the kitchen table or on the street – all are sites of consciousness-raising and conversation where social justice issues are identified and interventions planned. The work of bridging our commitments to social change with therapeutic practice takes us outside of the consulting room and into these collective spaces where solidarity practices and imperfect allyships (Reynolds, 2013) are cultivated. A feminist therapeutics is not limited to working with individuals, but is, to coin Ahmed, a “world-making project” (2023).
One of the Feminist Therapy Network’s (FTN) ethical commitments is to foster “cultures of solidarity and critical consciousness in order to engage with feminist therapeutic work.” To encourage this practice, we want to support the forming and building of local FTN affinity groups. This could take various forms: an informal regular coming together, a consciousness-raising group, a book club, protesting together, peer-led workshops/seminars, as examples.
Throughout 2025, the FTN will provide a stipend of up to £200 to support you build your local affinity group.
To access this fund, please email the FTN with a brief outline of your intention and commitments for the first year of the group, including how these
accord with the FTN ethos . We will schedule a Zoom call together to talk the group through and how the FTN might support you. A six-monthly update is requested, alongside information to be included in the FTN newsletter and social media. And a blog piece reflecting on the group and its work will be encouraged!