Allyship: Towards and understanding and practice

Indeed, here at the Institute, we run a module called “Allyship: Towards and understanding and practice” where we look at five key items:

What is allyship?

• What do allies do?
• Gender and allyship
• Anti-racism/ white sanction as allyship
• How to be/come an ally?

As you can see, in this module/ workshop, we cover a lot of important discussion and reflection items. Allyship have been defined by many people, but one example I have found particularly useful is that “[A]llyship is a strategic mechanism used by individuals to fight injustice and promote equity in the workplace through supportive personal relationships and public acts of sponsorship and advocacy” (Melaku, 2020 – Harvard Business Review). Broken down, this definition offers us three clear elements:

• What: strategic mechanism or tool or activity
• What is it used for: to fight injustice and promote equity
• How is it used: through supportive personal relationships and public acts of sponsorship and advocacy

In the main, the reflections I share in this brief piece are no different from what we present on the module. However, I wish to present two original concepts (“inbound allyship” and “outbound allyship”), and a four-part analytical framework, as I try to strengthen current debates on what allyship means in theory, and what it looks like in practice.

• By “inbound allyship” I mean allyship efforts directed by someone else towards me
• By “outbound allyship” I mean allyship efforts I direct towards someone else.

Whether “inbound” or “outbound”, it is important to note two things.

First, allyship efforts may be directed towards an individual or towards a group (e.g.: towards a single woman or towards all women) who may or may not have anything in common between or among themselves as individuals or as a group or indeed with their ally (e.g.: a man).

Second, allyship efforts may be directed towards people sharing the same or different identity characteristics (e.g.: Black women, White women, women who are members of the LGBTQ+ community, Muslim women). Similarly, the ally may or may not have anything in common with the people being allied.

Accordingly, the beauty and strength of allyship lies in the ‘common cause’ or what or who is being allied for (e.g.: gender justice, racial justice, disability inclusion, inclusion for sexual minorities) and less so about who is doing the allyship. In other words, anyone and everyone can be an ally. Nevertheless, it would be foolhardy not to acknowledge both the power and value of identity characteristics in allyship. For example, as a man I have devoted much of my personal and professional efforts towards fighting for the dignity and worth of women and girls everywhere, specifically – I have been strong in condemnation of gender-based violence (Violence Against Women and Girls), and every opportunity I get I challenge men and boys within and outside of my family, social, religious, professional and other circles.

Of course I am not a woman, nor do I know all women in the world, but I am a friend and ally of the cause: that is, respect and protection for women and girls everywhere. It would also be remiss to ignore than I am not a woman, yet I am fighting for the rights, dignity and the protection of women and girls, and standing up to men and boys in doing so. This means, whilst I am a friend of the cause, my identity characteristic can and has been an equally powerful enabler in allyship efforts.

The above example of my own allyship against VAWG is an example of “outbound allyship” where I direct my allyship effort towards an individual or a group. However, one of the kindest acts of generosity and allyship I have ever experienced (“inbound allyship”) was during the recent racism riots in the UK when on 5th August one of my neighbours, a white male, texted me at work, highlighting reports of unease and potential unrest in town, he said, “If you want a lift home, call me. I can come and pick you up”. This is also an excellent example where both the cause (the fight against racism) matters, as well as the identity characteristic (white male) of the ally.

From these two examples, I propose a four-part framework (ACID) for understanding and evaluating the work of allies, and the parameters for successful allyship:

• Advocacy: they use their privilege and/or power and/or proximity to power and/or identity characteristic to champion the individual and/or group needing support or protection.
• Challenge: they challenge individuals, groups, institutional and/or policy processes and systems that manifest and reinforce discrimination. They also propose solutions.
• Information: they share information with decision-makers about the individuals and/or group and the extent to which a problem impacts them. They also share information and/or networks with the information or group they are allying with so access to information and/or networks can be a means of enabling them.
• Defend: they defend the rights and dignity of those affected by discrimination, even in the face of personal and/or professional risks. They call attention to why remaining silent and/or to why maintaining the status quo should neither be accepted nor tolerated.

Each of us can be an ally. We each have privilege, regardless of our personal circumstances or identity characteristics. A white female, regardless of having a disability still has privilege (white privilege). A Black male, regardless of his experiences racism still has privilege (male privilege). A British born, English speaking Muslim female, regardless of ethnic and cultural racism still has privilege (British citizenship/ passport, and English as a first language). The white non-binary person, despite sexual orientation discrimination still has privilege (white privilege). Society positions us differently according to how it sees and treats us. But this does not take away the privilege that we each have. Rather, the ability to change the structures of society, and therefore how it sees and treats us, is in our hands. That is, the work of change is in our hands. Who is your ally? Who are you an ally to?

Cite as:
Miller, P. (2024). Allyship: Towards and understanding and practice. London: Institute for Educational & social Equity. (13 August).