Consciousness‐Raising

Abstract

Consciousness‐raising involves increasing one's awareness of social conditions that sustain injustice. In this dynamic process, individuals make sense of their role within oppressive structures. Consciousness‐raising is known as an emancipatory method. Through reflection and dialogue, oppressed groups recognize their own exploitation by the privileged. When disadvantaged groups become conscious of their actions, they move toward liberation, or realization of their full potential. Disadvantaged groups no longer view social conditions as static; they work toward changing structural inequalities. The cultivation of consciousness generates political agency. This self‐reflexive practice can lead to collective social action. Consciousness‐raising stimulated land reform in the Chinese Revolution, the literacy campaign in Brazil, and the feminist movement in the United States. With critical inquiry into the gendered system of relations, politics of power, and systematic oppression, individuals imagine alternative social possibilities. Consciousness‐raising serves as a foundation for activism, experiential learning, and feminist pedagogy.