Women & Power: An Online Course

If women aren’t perceived to be within the structures of power, is it power that we need to redefine?

For centuries, power has been synonymous with men, forms of “masculine” power and narratives of domination that tend towards binary thinking and oppressive hierarchies. As long as women are silenced in public spaces, erased from collective memory and alienated from positions of authority, these paradigms prevail. For too many people, it has become difficult to imagine beyond the dominant narratives, and many women also struggle, at times, to build confidence in our sense of the world, our knowledge and our power.

It is easy to believe that the destructive narratives, systems and practices that are embedded in our everyday lives are inevitable or impossible to change. But power has not always operated this way, and women have not always and everywhere been powerless and oppressed. Ancient history and culture demonstrate very different paradigms, and we can see this resurface across history and cultures through the world. As long as there have been attempts to silence and oppress, there has been collective and personal resistance. Women-led movements have emerged globally, presenting alternative visions for society, ways of being and relating that draw from ancestral histories and life-supporting principles.

We will explore how reclaiming and re-imagining power can mean radically challenging the construction of power in society as a whole, making way for new ideas and ways of relating to emerge and take root.

Course structure#

Women & Power is an online course happening from Wednesday 21 September to Thursday 17 November 2022. Participants will have access to live weekly online sessions (which will be recorded and uploaded, in case participants cannot join live) and an online learning community.

There will be two types of live online sessions:
* The main course sessions happen every Wednesday from Wednesday 21 September until Wednesday 16 November at 6pm UK time. These will consist of lectures and Q&A sessions with a unique lineup of teachers. Each week will be accompanied by optional readings, practices and resources for participants to deepen the work at home.
* To conclude each part of the couse there will be Collective Enquiry Sessions. These provide the opportunity to work in smaller groups to discuss ideas further. These take place on Thursday 6 October; Thursday 27 October; Thursday 17 November. These are led by the host of the course, Anwulika Okonjo.

Course guiding questions#

• How can we collectively cement a future that centres and celebrates the feminine as well as all aspects and expressions of life?
• How do we avoid reproducing the same systems and problems of the past (and present), and instead create fertile ground for new forms of life?
• How do we create joy and possibility in spaces, systems and with people that are responsible for our suppression and trauma?
• Where does our power come from? What enables us to reclaim voice, choice and agency?
• What possibilities emerge for constructing regenerative systems, narratives and relationships when we do?