Sustainable movements need sustained mentoring: how feminist mentoring relationships maintain social justice movements through an ethics of care

Hudler, Keara Ann (2023) Sustainable movements need sustained mentoring: how feminist mentoring relationships maintain social justice movements through an ethics of care. Masters thesis, Northern Arizona University.

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Abstract

Activists in social justice movements experience many challenges in their work--from extremist opposition to internal conflicts with other activists--that can lead to burnout. In this thesis, I argue that social justice movements need to make care ethics foundational to their culture and adopt practices that could help reproduce activists. I advocate for feminist mentorship as a strategic practice of care and reproduction that could sustain activists’ participation in social justice movements. Through interviews with nine activists in Arizona, I discern what specific practices of care and reproductive labor are most helpful to activists in need of support and guidance in today’s world. I illuminate how these practices constitute the feminist mentorship model, arguing for more care-oriented relationships among activists.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Publisher’s Statement:	© Copyright is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Cline Library, Northern Arizona University. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
Keywords:	activism; activist burnout; feminist mentorship; mentorship; social justice movements; social movements
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
NAU Depositing Author Academic Status:	Student
Department/Unit:	Graduate College > Theses and Dissertations College of Social and Behavioral Science > Sustainable Communities
Date Deposited:	12 May 2025 21:53
Last Modified:	12 May 2025 21:53
URI:	https://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/6132

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