The term conscientisation, which was coined by the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, describes a process of enabling people to perceive the social, political and economic contradictions of their lives and to take action against them. It's a process involving reflection and action that enables people to perceive the reality of oppression, not as a closed world from which there is no exit, but as a situation which they can transform. The key is enabling people to explore why they are in such a situation and to arrive at an understanding of how to change things.

Conscientisation requires careful work to first bring to the surface and then challenge deeply held prejudicial ideas related to power relations, for example around race, class and sexual orientation. These ideas are generally not visible to the person, and prevent change. Examples include the idea that poverty is unchangeable, determined by divine law or cause by individual failure. Through conscientisation, we challenge the internalised oppression and lack of self-worth that most oppressed groups suffer. We also uncover the issues that go untouched because they are personal and private, such as sex, or relations between a husband and wife in marriage. Thorough conscientisation we bring them out as political issues that have everything to do with power and require change.

Conscientisation is deeply tied to action. Because people living in poverty often have a low sense of self worth and personal (or even collective) power, the experience of acting to change their situation gives them another experience of themselves – as agents capable of bringing about a change. This positive experience of a more powerful self and community gained through action is reinforcing and supports deeper struggles to bring about change.

Conscientisation is particularly challenging in countries where states are repressive and space for civil society actions is constrained. However, in such cases, awareness combined with critical consciousness can empower people to initiate struggles within the parameters of what is possible in their context. For this reason, it's essential to start with people’s own context.