Leading Change: Reproductive Rights, Empowerment and Feminist Solidarity in the Dublin Bay North Repeal the 8th Campaign

Kate Antosik-Parsons,Karen E Till,Niamh Mcdonald,Jack Callan,Gerry Kearns

doi:10.20897/femenc/11750

Abstract

This article examines how the Dublin Bay North (DBN) Repeal the 8th activist group, an independent women-led, grassroots movement in the largest constituency in Ireland, practiced a collectivist approach to forms of ‘power-with’ and ‘power-to’ (Allen, 2018) that enabled the group to create an activist community based upon a feminist ethics of ‘caring-with’ (Tronto, 1993). In 2018 in Dublin, what had been a narrow majority in 1983 against abortion rights became a decisive 3:1 margin in favour. While this remarkable change can be attributed to the efforts of numerous feminist and reproductive rights activists working for many years, including those tied to the national Together for Yes campaign, less attention has been paid to new activist leaders participating at the grassroots level. This article focuses on the leadership roles adopted by first-time grassroots activists who became ‘team leaders’ and ran decentralised campaigns in their neighbourhoods. Using qualitative analyses of a survey of 125 members (June 2018), 16 semi-structured interviews with DBN team leaders and other key people within the campaign (October 2018 and March 2019), and the authors’ own experiences, we consider how new activists recruited and empowered others to tell their stories, canvass, and lead their own actions.

Highlights

RESEARCHING FEMINIST LEADERSHIPDublin Bay North Repeal the 8th (DBN Repeal) was steered by an independent women-led, grassroots group, established in August 2017 to repeal the 8th Amendment in the Irish Constitution1
In the constituency of Dublin Bay North (DBN), the narrow-majority of people voting against abortion rights in the 1983 national referendum had changed to a vote in favour on 25 May 2018, and by a decisive 3:1 margin
While there were significant and transformative local grassroots efforts across Ireland, the DBN results were striking when considering the area’s mixed housing and age profile, and average class status (McDonald et al, 2020). We argue that this remarkable change in popular attitudes can be attributed, in part, to the numerous grassroots activists who took leadership roles for the first time

Summary

Introduction

RESEARCHING FEMINIST LEADERSHIPDublin Bay North Repeal the 8th (DBN Repeal) was steered by an independent women-led, grassroots group, established in August 2017 to repeal the 8th Amendment in the Irish Constitution1. We examine how a feminist praxis of broadly non-hierarchical leadership and care developed to include new members, some of whom were first time activists who became leaders in their own neighbourhoods. We consider cultures of feminist leadership in DBN by discussing the organisation and power relations of the group, how leadership roles evolved, and the skills learned by leaders and members who actively participated in the campaign.

Results

Conclusion