Becoming an Ally: Breaking the Cycle of Oppression
An ally is a person who is on the dominant side of a form of structural oppression, someone who recognizes their inherited privilege and makes an active, long term commitment to bring about justice and reparations. An ally can be a man working against sexism, a white person committed to ending racism, a straight supporter of 2SLGBTQIA+ people, an able-bodied person who commits themselves to access for those who live with disabilities and many others. When the first edition of Becoming an Ally was published in 1994, the word, used in this sense, was new. The author could find nothing written about it. Thirty years later, it is everywhere in anti-oppression work, used, misused, embraced, rejected and interpreted in many different ways. The first three editions of this book are part of that history. It has sold more than 40,000 copies in Canada and has also been published in Australia, New Zealand, the US and and the UK. In this new edition, the author has built on the previous three editions, but also started afresh, writing an accessible guide to what structural oppression is, where it came from and how it spread. She follows its roots into our individual bodies, hearts and minds, our organizations, institutions and culture. More important, she explores what will it take to transform our world society into one that provides the resources and support required for everyone to thrive. Within that larger framework, she digs through the claims and conflicts to examine the crucial role of allies on the path toward justice.
Becoming an Ally is available in any bookstore. Please support an independant bookstore if you can. It is also available from Fernwood Publishing.
Read an excerpt from the preface to the fourth edition here.
Previous Canadian and International Editions
Becoming an Ally has been published in three previous editions in Canada. The second edition was published in Australia by Allen and Unwin and in the US and UK by Zed Press, now part of Bloomsbury Press.
First Canadian Edition 1994
Second Canadian Edition 2002
Third Canadian Edition 2015
Australian Edition 2002
US and UK Edition 2002
Text from the back cover of the Australian Edition
Canadian Bestseller
“Already I have found myself quoting Anne Bishop’s wisdom: her simple advice is compelling. Right now in Australia she has the power to lead us as we struggle with questions guilt, responsibility and patterns of oppression which are larger than ourselves.”
Rev. Tim Costello, President, Baptist Union of Australia
“Becoming an Ally is a must read for anyone concerned with understanding and challenging the dynamics, forms and sources of oppression–whether it is their own oppression, that of others, or both.”
Bob Mullaly, Head of Social Work at Victoria University, Melbourne
Where does oppression come from? Has it always been with us, just “human nature”? What can we do to change it? What does social justice have to do with individual healing? Why do members of the same oppressed group fight each other, sometimes more viciously than their oppressor? Why do some who experience oppression develop a life-long commitment to fighting oppression, while others turn around and oppress others?
Anne Bishop draws on her many years’ experience in community work to write this feisty and bestselling guide for activists, community workers and welfare workers.