Invite people to write a one day journal entry with the idea of recording that day through the lens of how larger structures impact everyday life. Feel free to pick a specific social structure that your group is interested in (i.e. neoliberalism, institutional racism, sexism) or leave the investigation open.
This diary can be anywhere on the spectrum of completely mundane to totally spectacular! There is no right!
The group meets to share the journals. One by one the journals are read out loud without comments or feedback until all the journals have been read. Discuss what you have just heard. Try to pinpoint mutual habits and experiences and how these can be related to a larger picture. What differences and similarities can be found in the journals? How can the issues brought up in the journals raise awareness on power structures and the course of events in society and expand your potential space for action?
This exercise is inspired by consciousness raising movements and the 70’s feminist’s ideas surrounding the personal is political.