• Understanding how our views of the world are built
• Acknowledging to which groups we belong to
• Taking a critical look at our points of view
• Reflecting on what our standpoints implies (regarding our social and political experiences)

Duration : 45 minutes

Ask participants to self-reflect on their social and political experiences. To do so ask them to write on a piece of paper to which groups they belong to :

• Age
• Gender
• Race
• Religion
• Socio-economic status
• Type of education
• Political acquaintance
• Sexual orientation
• The place where they were born
• Family composition
• Family’s political acquaintance

They can freely add any other information they think is pertinent regarding their social and political path that may have an influence on the way they see the world today.

Ask participants to gather in a circle and give a short introduction to the Standpoint Theory.

Standpoint theory, or standpoint epistemology, is a theory found in some academic disciplines used for analyzing inter-subjective discourses. This body of work proposes that authority is rooted in individuals' personal knowledge and perspectives, and the power that such authority exerts.

Standpoint theory's most important concept is that an individual's own perspectives are shaped by their social and political experiences.

Standpoints are argued to be multifaceted rather than essentializing: for example, while Hispanic women may generally share some perspectives, particularly with regard to ethnicity or sex, they are not defined solely by these viewpoints; despite some common features there is no essentially Hispanic female identity. Group experiences create a general and permanent perspective of an immense situation but without personal experiences, one’s standpoint cannot become truly comprehensible. The amalgamation of a person's many experienced dimensions form a standpoint — a point of view — through which that individual sees and understands the world.

Therefore : * A standpoint is a place from which human beings view the world. * A standpoint influences how the people adopting it socially construct the world. * A standpoint is a mental position from which things are viewed. * A standpoint is a position from which objects or principles are viewed and according to which they are compared and judged. * The inequalities of different social groups create differences in their standpoints. * All standpoints are partial; so (for example) standpoint feminism coexists with other standpoints.

The standpoint theory is an interesting way of taking into consideration our subjectivity regarding the information, research, or topics we are most likely to feel comfortable with. It also gives us a critical point of view on how information and media give more or less the possibility to other than the dominant discourses to emerge about how we should address social issues.

Standpoint theory supports what feminist theorist Sandra Harding calls strong objectivity, or the notion that the perspectives of marginalized and/or oppressed individuals can help to create more objective accounts of the world. Through the outsider-within phenomenon, these individuals are placed in a unique position to point to patterns of behavior that those immersed in the dominant group culture are unable to recognize. Standpoint theory gives voice to the marginalized groups by allowing them to challenge the status quo as the outsider within the status quo representing the dominant white male position of privilege.

The predominant culture in which all groups exist is not experienced in the same way by all persons or groups. The views of those who belong to groups with more social power are validated more than those in marginalized groups. Those in marginalized groups must learn to be bicultural or to “pass” in the dominant culture to survive, even though that perspective is not their own.

If you feel like, you can also use a video to present the concept to the participants, as this one : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yukhMEOKwng.

Invite the participants to share what they learnt from the exercise, what they would not have expected, what it reveals for them. Conclude in a few words, encouraging participants to keep in mind that the way we look at the world is never neutral and that we should pay attention to our standpoints and the biases they implies.

• Paper and pens