Abstract
This article articulates the unstable and contested context of domestic violence advocacy and activism through the experiences of feminist antiviolence professionals working at a quasi-state agency in the southeastern United States. In the context of the NGOization of the antiviolence movement, this agency’s attachment to the state created opportunities to insert marginalized perspectives into the dominant public dialogue on and responses to domestic violence but ultimately facilitated threats against the agency’s entire existence. Organizational survival and a commitment to antiviolence advocacy at the state level led to resistance strategies against state cooption in alignment with neoliberal discourses and practices. State attachment in this context presented ambiguous outcomes for the promotion of feminist, survivor-centered goals, but strategic connections to community-based groups and the criminal justice system presented opportunities for effective resistance against state cooption.
Highlights
What are the risks and opportunities of attachment to the state1 for antiviolence professionals addressing domestic violence2 in the United States? Scholars and activists have described the co-option of social movements, by way of structural or economic state attachment, as one strategy used by states to govern and regulate political organising
Education and reform activities conducted by the Antiviolence Commission (AVC) reveal tensions between a feminist, survivor-centred8 analysis of domestic violence and depoliticised approaches to antiviolence work within the state
While the unstable and contested context of feminist, antiviolence work attached to the state at my field site is clear, so was the AVC’s capacity to co-opt discourses of power and authority leveraged by the state in order to resist a more robust state co-option
Summary
What are the risks and opportunities of attachment to the state for antiviolence professionals addressing domestic violence in the United States? Scholars and activists have described the co-option of social movements, by way of structural or economic state attachment, as one strategy used by states to govern and regulate political organising. The case study presented here contributes to this literature on governmentality and the co-option of social movements in the neoliberal era by highlighting the paradoxical effects of state attachment for professionals working within the antiviolence movement. I will draw an analytical distinction between state and quasi-state entities, the latter of which I use to characterise the agency, the Antiviolence Commission (AVC)..
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Feminist Encounters: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
