The Wounds of Exclusion: Poverty, Women's Health, and Social Justice

286 Pages·2004·4.166 MB·English

by  Colleen Reid

The Wounds of Exclusion:
Poverty, Womens Health,
and Social Justice
by
Colleen Reid
First published 2004 by Qual Institute Press
Published 2016 by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © 2004 Colleen Reid
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
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Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and
are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Canadian Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reid, Colleen
The wounds of exclusion: poverty, womens health, and social
justice/Colleen Reid
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 1-55195-105-3
1. Poor women - Health and hygeine - British Columbia - Vancouver.
2. Social medicine - British Columbia - Vancouver. I. Title
RA564.85.R465 2004 362.1,086,9420971133 C2004-902057-9
Graphic Design: Murray Pearson
Front Cover Artwork: Michelle Sotto
Back Cover Photo: Michelle Sotto
ISBN 13: 978-1-598-74290-9 (pbk)
CO N TEN TS
Acknowledgements v
Preface vii
1 Exploring Exclusion, Poverty, and Womens Health 1
2 Poverty, Exclusion, and Womens Health: Using Feminist Action
Research to Problematize and Address Poor Womens Health 11
3 Research Context and Methods 51
4 The Womens Stories 89
5 Poor Womens Exclusion and Health 129
6 Negotiating the “Other” Identity: Legitimacy, Power, and
Discourses of Health and Poverty 167
7 Lofty Ideals and Lived Experiences: The Research Team as
Feminist Action Research 191
8 Womens Health and Social Justice: Implications,
Recommendations, and Conclusions 251
Epilogue 249
Bibliography 251
Index 2xx

Acknowledgements
This research would not have been possible without the participation
of the following “WOAW women” - Alexa, Arlene, Caroline, Cassie,
Christine, Cynthia, Elizabeth, Gloria, Helen, Joanne, Julie,
Katharine, Kelly, Maey, Martha, Rene, Susan, Theresa, Trina, Virginia
Dawn, Wanda, and Willow. I learned and grew from our work together; they
taught me what it means to be truly courageous, strong, and committed.
Working with them leaves me hopeful that social change is possible. I would
also like to thank the WOAW organization and the community service
providers who warmly welcomed me - Louise Hara, Carla Alexander,
Brenda Devine, Jim LaCroix, Gwen Wong, Andrea MacDonald, Diane
Lego, Pam Bailey, and Bonnie Ste. Croix. I am inspired by their tenacity and
dedication to their work. I would especially like to thank Louise Hara for
helping me to better articulate my research interests and determine the need
for the Research Team.
Dr. Allison Tom, my research supervisor, is a remarkable mentor and
friend. With her uncanny ability to get to the core of difficult research
issues and think deeply and analytically she enabled me to find the clarity
and direction I needed. Allison shared my enthusiasm for my research while
challenging me with humility and compassion. I thank Allison for enabling
me to find my voice as a feminist researcher. Dr. Wendy Frisby, my Master’s
advisor and doctoral committee member, provided me with the opportuni­
ty to work with WOAW. We have shared the ups and downs of communi­
ty-based research and I have learned from her insight and commitment to
the ideals of feminist action research. I would also like to thank Dr. Carol
vi
Herbert, who despite moving to London, Ontario remained an invalu­
able and active committee member, and Dr. Penny Gurstein, who support­
ed and encouraged me all along the way. Throughout my Master’s and
Doctoral work, Dr. Jim Frankish, the Associate Director of the Institute for
Health Promotion Research, has been an indispensible resource and sup­
port, and has faciliated my work in innumerable ways.
There were two groups of students who greatly enhanced my doctoral
work at UBC - the WOAW Working Group and Ournet. The WOAW
Working Group, including Pamela Ponic, Sydney Millar, Beth Pinnington,
and Larena Hoeber, has been my sustenance for the last three years. Our
discussions and support for one another transformed my Ph.D. from an
often lonely and isolating experience to one of connectedness and sharing.
I would particularly like to thank Pam for her insight and intellect.
Together we have dissected challenging research issues, written papers and
presentations, and openly shared our own biases and assumptions. Ournet
provided a rich learning environment that stimulated me both intelllectual-
ly and emotionally. In particular, I’d like to thank Marina Niks, Lynette
Harper, and Johanna Kuyvenhoven for the conversations, passion, and
friendships we have shared.
Finally, I thank my family. My parents, Heidi and Gordon, have always
instilled in me a sense of confidence and possibility. They encouraged me to
pursue my passions and to never compromise my interests for the sake of
conventions. My sister Heather has expanded my world vision through
helping me connect authentically with my work. My life partner, Rod
Tukker, has been a pillar of support and encouragement every step of the
way. He has facilitated this journey in innumerous ways. I feel such grati­
tude having you in my life - thank you.
I am grateful to the B.C. Health Research Foundation (now the Michael
Smith Foundation for Health Research), the BC Centre of Excellence for
Women’s Health, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council, for their financial and in-kind support over the last 5 years.
Preface
When I was eighteen, a friend of mine worked for Ottawa Parks
and Recreation as a wading pool lifeguard. She told me that the
job was fun and social and that as a lifeguard you worked outside
all day and programmed activities for children in the local area. I was hired
and stationed at a pool in one of the lowest income areas in Ottawa. Over
that summer I witnessed unbelievable stories of deprivation and hopeless­
ness - a four-year-old child at the pool for 10 hours a day with no food,
teenagers selling merchandise they had stolen the day before, a six-year-old
girl babysitting her two-year-old brother, a twelve-year-old girl telling me
that she wanted to be a “hooker” when she grew up. Almost every day some­
one asked me for money and my lunch. I saw parents who were so impover­
ished that they could not provide a secure home for their children; most of
them lived in violence and scarcity in what the local residents called “the fos­
ter farm.” What truly amazed me, however, was not the extent of the depri­
vation, but how, despite living only 10 minutes apart, we had drastically dif­
ferent trajectories of every day life. My security and sense of reality, that were
nestled in my suburban middle-class upbringing, became unhinged; poverty
and my own privilege were now visible to me.
Watching the news coverage of the Montreal Massacre in 1989 was
another experience that profoundly shifted my worldview. As I watched the
paramedics carry the women’s bodies out of the engineering building, I saw
parents and friends approach the scene, confused and panicked. I remem­
ber seeing a bewildered boyfriend learn that his girlfriend had been mur­
dered. I was stunned that such an act of violence, injustice, and hate could
occur, and realized that this event could just as easily have happened in one
vili
of my classes at Queen’s University. I could have been one of the women
being carried out on the stretcher.
I now recognize how these experiences - my work at the wading pool
and watching the Montreal Massacre - had a formative influence on what
I am pursuing today. They led me to identify with the feminist movement
and to uncover my passion for examining social injustices, reflecting on my
own assumptions and privilege, and understanding women’s roles and expe­
riences. I now believe that through remaining compassionate and humble
every person has a role to play in the pursuit of social justice.
Fundamentally, this analysis is my attempt at taking part in the work of
social justice.
Justice to me is a warm spirit, born of tolerance and wisdom, present
everywhere, ready to serve the highest purposes of rational wo/man.
To seek to create the just society must be amongst the highest of those
human purposes. Because we are mortal and imperfect, it is a task we
will never finish; no government or society ever will. But from our
honest and ceaseless effort, we will draw strength and inspiration, we
will discover new and better values, we will achieve an unprecedented
level of human consciousness. On the never-ending road to perfect
justice we will, in other words, succeed in creating the most humane
and compassionate society possible. Pierre Elliott Trudeau
Chapter 1
Exploring Exclusion, Poverty, and
Womens Health
The economy is stacked this way and the social situation is stacked this
way and the problems you’re having are certainly not of your own mak­
ing. And when you understand what’s working against you out there,
you feel much stronger to face up to it.... You’re a human being and
you deserve dignity and you should have some rights, when you’re not
fully aware of what the society... it’s our food, it’s our politics, it’s our
institutions. (Helen, at a Research Team Meeting)
Global Trends: Poverty and Exclusion
In the last sixty years major transformations in economic, social, and
political systems have occurred. Arguments for social progress and
increased economic efficiency have rationalized the deregulation of
global markets, the development of supra-national institutions, and the
decreasing role of government. These globalization1 trends support a reduced
role of government because of the purportedly “self-regulating” nature of
global economies and the threat of government intervention to economic
processes. Governments increasingly support corporate interests and sanc­
tion industry relocations to places where labour costs are lower, unions are
non-existent, and state regulations are less expensive (Fine & Weis, 1998).