RARE spaces for strong stories and healing justice: A critical genealogy of resilience among Blackwomen in a U.S. context

Watkins, Dora Nicole

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129694 Copy

Description

Title

RARE spaces for strong stories and healing justice: A critical genealogy of resilience among Blackwomen in a U.S. context

Author(s)

Watkins, Dora Nicole

Issue Date

2025-04-21

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Garthe, Rachel C

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Garthe, Rachel C

Committee Member(s)

• Fine, Michelle
• Liechty, Janet
• Neville, Helen
• Velez, Emma

Department of Study

School of Social Work

Discipline

Social Work

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• resilience
• Black women
• Black feminist thought
• CPAR
• narrative

Abstract

The current study conducts a critical genealogy of resilience, tracing its colonial, racialized, and gendered origins while reimagining it through the lived experiences and epistemologies of Blackwomen. Resilience, as traditionally constructed in Eurocentric and individualistic frameworks, has been codified in the current study as a demand rather than a choice, valorizing unyielding strength and adaptability while obscuring its systemic roots. Guided by Black Feminist Thought, Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR), and the Healing Justice Framework, this study critically interrogates the historical construction of resilience and amplifies Blackwomen’s narratives to uncover relational, cultural, and liberatory dimensions of the concept. Through critical qualitative methodologies, including testimonios and arts-informed story circles, this study explores how six Blackwomen articulate resilience within contexts of systemic oppression, intergenerational trauma, and collective care. The findings reveal resilience as a paradox: while it reflects Blackwomen’s cultural strength, intergenerational wisdom, and practices of care, it also operates as a form of psychical violence, perpetuated by societal expectations like the StrongBlackWoman race-gender archetype. These narratives challenge dominant resilience frameworks, exposing their limitations and critiquing the coloniality of resilience as a social construct. A key contribution of this study is the development of Endarkened Adaptive Systems Theory (EAST), a theoretical framework that reframes resilience as a dynamic and relational concept shaped by race, gender, culture, and history. By situating resilience within broader systems of power and amplifying subjugated knowledge systems, EAST critiques resilience as an imposed societal demand and reclaims it as a practice of liberation and collective healing. This study also introduces RARE Spaces (Radical, Authentic, Rigorous, and Environmentally Brave Spaces) as transformative environments where Blackwomen can define resilience on their own terms, emphasizing relational care and justice-oriented praxis. As a critical genealogy, this research advances resilience science by interrogating its historical and systemic dimensions, amplifying marginalized voices, and offering decolonial alternatives. It calls for systemic changes that address the conditions necessitating resilience and for the development of culturally grounded, justice-centered frameworks that prioritize collective thriving over individual survival. By reimagining resilience as a decolonial praxis, this study provides a roadmap for more equitable, inclusive, and transformative approaches to resilience science.

Graduation Semester

2025-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129694

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2025 Dora Watkins

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