Anti-Oppressive Partnership

“Systems of oppression are durable, and they tend to reinvent themselves.”

Glenn Martin, criminal justice reform advocate

Oppression has many faces, such as, exploitation, marginalization, colonialism, and violence. These are withstanding systems of harm and domination that exist due to status quo and white-supremacy culture, and these systems of domination exist at all levels of global society and can be produced by people with mega-high title/status or by familiar faces. Oppression, according to Iris Young, was created to make certain groups of people less human. Historically and today, we see how oppressive systems do just that: alter our perception of people as less human, to make them appear less worthy of basic human rights and dignity. In particular, we see this through traditional forms of service around the world. Countries once destroyed by white colonization are being visited by well-intentioned young people hoping to "fix" places through learning, medical, mission, and/or service trips.

Although these trips are planned with good intentions, these are ultimately impersonal, unsustainable methods. They often last for weeks at best and do not address the root causes of the communities' needs. Moreover, these trips often don't center the very people who know the community best. While it may not sound or look like oppression, maintaining a pipeline of service trips without authentic relationship building and power shifting is doing harm to people who have already experienced (and currently experience) exploitation, marginalization, colonialism, and violence.

We believe that everyone has a responsibility to change this.

So, what does it look like to work in Anti-Oppressive Partnership at GlobeMed?

GlobeMed pairs university chapters with grassroots organizations globally that are already working to create change in their local communities. These partnerships are long term, one-to-one, and grounded in trust, meaningful relationships, and mutual-learning and benefit. Through partnership, students seek to understand and transform traditionally oppressive power structures within global health.

True GlobeMed partnership is long term, one-to-one, and requires:

• Shared vision, values & commitment to advance health equity

• Ongoing collaboration on projects that advance community-driven health goals

• Strong, sustained relationships/friendships

• Consistent, transparent communication

• Mutual learning & benefit: not just resources, also learning and growth

• Resource shifting & releasing: all resources are unrestricted and use is driven 100% by community

At GlobeMed, we recognize that while students, staff, alumni, and advisors have real talent and resources to bring to our partnerships, we are engage in our partner communities not because we are "needed" but because we have been invited in as co-conspirators in our grassroots organization's already highly impactful work to advance health equity.

Why is this important?

If we want to see sustained, positive change in the world, and better health outcomes, we need to participate in sustained, positive solutions like authentic partnerships that disrupt the status quo set by traditional voluntourism.

The next module will dive even deeper into GlobeMed's proven partnership model.

Click the button below to move on to the next module.