an article by Pam Lowe and Sarah-Jane Page (Aston University, UK) published in European Journal of Women's Studies Volume 26 Issue 2 (May 2019)
Abstract
Across the UK, there has been an increase in anti-abortion activism outside abortion clinics. The activism deployed includes explicitly religious activities such as ‘prayerful witnessing’ and ‘pavement counselling’, which aim to discourage women from entering clinics.
This article stems from a wider ethnographic study of public activism over abortion to determine what claims about motherhood are being made within these debates.
Two arguments are presented.
First, how women’s role as mothers is central and essentialised in anti-abortion discourses, with the body of the mother often disappearing as activists seek to erode the distinction between a foetus and a baby by constructing pregnancy as a foetal environment. Motherhood is constructed as ‘natural’ and sacred, therefore abortion must be damaging because it destroys women’s ‘natural’ position.
Second, the article argues that although the activists’ arguments are always religiously framed, their activism takes place in a largely secular context, meaning that they have to find ways of appealing to secular audiences.
This leads to a complex interrelationship between secular and religious discourses, where theological viewpoints sit alongside ‘scientific’ claims to buttress activists’ views.
This article explores how the presence and absence of mothers within activists’ narratives is due to the tensions between religiously based understandings of motherhood, and the need to appeal to a secular audience.
Showing posts with label activism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label activism. Show all posts
Wednesday, 1 May 2019
Tuesday, 19 February 2019
Young people’s experiences of political membership: from political parties to Facebook groups
an article by Mats Ekström and Malin Sveningsson (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) published in Information, Communication & Society Volume 22 Issue 2 (2019)
Abstract
In contemporary democracies, citizens’ political memberships are undergoing significant changes. Particularly young people are described as being less interested in long-term commitments in conventional political collectives, instead preferring to engage in cause-oriented activism in loosely organised groups, often sustained by online media.
However, behind these general trends, there is a diversity of collective activities, where people are typically part of several ones.
The shifting forms of memberships have rarely been investigated as such from the perspective of young citizens.
Using a qualitative multi-method approach, this article investigates how young people with an interest in civic and political issues experience and reflect upon their involvements in various collectives.
The analysis focuses on two aspects: the explorations that characterise the participants’ political memberships, and the meanings and motives of joining political collectives.
On the whole, the participants’ involvement can be described as shifting and tentative. This can be related to the idea of adolescence as a formative period of life, where explorations of memberships constitute important processes in young people’s development of values, beliefs and identities.
As for meanings and motives, three themes were found to be central: perceived efficacy, self-identity and peer relationships.
The study suggests that political membership is multidimensional and usefully analysed as a process rather than a dichotomous category. As such, it involves explorations and changes over time. The study highlights the reflexive dimensions of membership, where affiliations to collectives is something that youth try out, work on, account for and reconsider in relation to their self-identities.
Abstract
In contemporary democracies, citizens’ political memberships are undergoing significant changes. Particularly young people are described as being less interested in long-term commitments in conventional political collectives, instead preferring to engage in cause-oriented activism in loosely organised groups, often sustained by online media.
However, behind these general trends, there is a diversity of collective activities, where people are typically part of several ones.
The shifting forms of memberships have rarely been investigated as such from the perspective of young citizens.
Using a qualitative multi-method approach, this article investigates how young people with an interest in civic and political issues experience and reflect upon their involvements in various collectives.
The analysis focuses on two aspects: the explorations that characterise the participants’ political memberships, and the meanings and motives of joining political collectives.
On the whole, the participants’ involvement can be described as shifting and tentative. This can be related to the idea of adolescence as a formative period of life, where explorations of memberships constitute important processes in young people’s development of values, beliefs and identities.
As for meanings and motives, three themes were found to be central: perceived efficacy, self-identity and peer relationships.
The study suggests that political membership is multidimensional and usefully analysed as a process rather than a dichotomous category. As such, it involves explorations and changes over time. The study highlights the reflexive dimensions of membership, where affiliations to collectives is something that youth try out, work on, account for and reconsider in relation to their self-identities.
Monday, 23 April 2018
Testimonial rallies and the construction of memetic authenticity
an article by Limor Shifman (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel) published in European Journal of Communication Volume 33 Issue 2 (April 2018)
Abstract
This article traces the role of ‘testimonial rallies’ – Internet memes in which participants post personal photos and/or written accounts as part of a coordinated political protest – in the formulation of truth-related values.
Rather than endorsing the value of truth per se, rallies such as ‘We are the 99 percent’ or ‘I never ask for it’ valorize what I term ‘memetic authenticity’. This construction of the authentic incorporates four basic components: evidence, self-orientation, affective judgement, and mimesis.
By combining ‘external authenticity’ that relates to the aggregation of factual proofs with forms of ‘internal authenticity’ that focus on emotive individual experiences, testimonial rallies serve as a grassroots weapon of the weak against those in power.
While ‘external’ and ‘internal’ forms of authenticity are happily married in this genre, I conclude with a reflection on our grim future in the case of divorce.
Abstract
This article traces the role of ‘testimonial rallies’ – Internet memes in which participants post personal photos and/or written accounts as part of a coordinated political protest – in the formulation of truth-related values.
Rather than endorsing the value of truth per se, rallies such as ‘We are the 99 percent’ or ‘I never ask for it’ valorize what I term ‘memetic authenticity’. This construction of the authentic incorporates four basic components: evidence, self-orientation, affective judgement, and mimesis.
By combining ‘external authenticity’ that relates to the aggregation of factual proofs with forms of ‘internal authenticity’ that focus on emotive individual experiences, testimonial rallies serve as a grassroots weapon of the weak against those in power.
While ‘external’ and ‘internal’ forms of authenticity are happily married in this genre, I conclude with a reflection on our grim future in the case of divorce.
Wednesday, 21 February 2018
Navigating the difficult: teaching for sustainability, activism, and the recognition of modern slavery
an article by Arlene Plevin (Olympic College, Bremerton, WA, USA) published in Interdisciplinary Environmental Review Volume 18 Number 3/4 (2017)
Abstract
As a goal, sustainability can sometimes be aligned with economic models and seldom considered in terms of all of its components, including modern slavery.
This paper argues that just and flourishing sustainability, that which is for the good of all, incorporates knowledge of modern slavery, the often invisible and unacknowledged abuse of people involved in the production of products and services. The paper encourages teachers to consider the reality of modern slavery and to teach for that, noting that it is an ethical and moral position and essential to just sustainability.
Examining some of the challenges of teaching for modern slavery, the paper works with concepts of activism and hope and offers examples of classroom approaches that can enable students to consider and work with modern slavery on behalf of those who are enslaved.
Abstract
As a goal, sustainability can sometimes be aligned with economic models and seldom considered in terms of all of its components, including modern slavery.
This paper argues that just and flourishing sustainability, that which is for the good of all, incorporates knowledge of modern slavery, the often invisible and unacknowledged abuse of people involved in the production of products and services. The paper encourages teachers to consider the reality of modern slavery and to teach for that, noting that it is an ethical and moral position and essential to just sustainability.
Examining some of the challenges of teaching for modern slavery, the paper works with concepts of activism and hope and offers examples of classroom approaches that can enable students to consider and work with modern slavery on behalf of those who are enslaved.
Sunday, 31 December 2017
From ‘me towns’ to ‘we towns’: activist citizenship in UK town centres
an article by Julian Dobson (Sheffield Hallam University, UK) published in Citizenship Studies Volume 21 Issue 8 (2017)
Abstract
Britain’s town centres have witnessed economic, social and physical upheaval over more than half a century, linked to sweeping changes in retailing and consumption. Yet they are also places where activists are seeking to fashion alternative futures and test social and economic models that challenge neoliberal norms.
Reflecting on recent developments in the UK, this paper explores the potential of citizen-led economic activism in British town and city centres.
Focusing on three case studies of urban activism, it contrasts policies and practices that frame the users of urban space as consumers with the marginal acts that seek to assert wider rights to the city.
The article shows how ideas of ‘resilience’ have become a stake of struggle in debates over the future of urban centres and urban citizenship, deployed both to defend neoliberal economic configurations and to signal radical transitions towards more participatory and economically autonomous forms of society.
Abstract
Britain’s town centres have witnessed economic, social and physical upheaval over more than half a century, linked to sweeping changes in retailing and consumption. Yet they are also places where activists are seeking to fashion alternative futures and test social and economic models that challenge neoliberal norms.
Reflecting on recent developments in the UK, this paper explores the potential of citizen-led economic activism in British town and city centres.
Focusing on three case studies of urban activism, it contrasts policies and practices that frame the users of urban space as consumers with the marginal acts that seek to assert wider rights to the city.
The article shows how ideas of ‘resilience’ have become a stake of struggle in debates over the future of urban centres and urban citizenship, deployed both to defend neoliberal economic configurations and to signal radical transitions towards more participatory and economically autonomous forms of society.
Friday, 8 February 2013
Middle-Class Political Activism and Middle-Class Advantage in Relation to Public Services: A Realist Synthesis of the Evidence Base
an article by Peter Matthews (Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK) and Annette Hastings (University of Glasgow, UK) published in Social Policy & Administration Volume 47 Issue 1 (February 2013)
Abstract
Since the late 1960s social policy scholarship has been concerned with the distribution of the resources or benefits across social gradients.
This article presents a review of the literature on one mechanism by which inequity might be produced – activism by middle-class service-users enabling them to capture a disproportionate share of resources.
The review used the methodology of realist synthesis to bring together evidence from the UK, the USA and Scandinavian countries over the past 30 years.
The aim was to construct a ‘middle-theory’ to understand how and in which contexts collective and individual activity by middle-class service-users might produce inequitable resource allocation or rationing decisions that disproportionately benefit middle-class service-users.
The article identifies four causal theories which nuance the view that it is the ‘sharp elbows’ of the middle-classes which confer advantage on this group. It shows how advantage accrues via the interplay between service-users, providers and the broader policy and social context.
Abstract
Since the late 1960s social policy scholarship has been concerned with the distribution of the resources or benefits across social gradients.
This article presents a review of the literature on one mechanism by which inequity might be produced – activism by middle-class service-users enabling them to capture a disproportionate share of resources.
The review used the methodology of realist synthesis to bring together evidence from the UK, the USA and Scandinavian countries over the past 30 years.
The aim was to construct a ‘middle-theory’ to understand how and in which contexts collective and individual activity by middle-class service-users might produce inequitable resource allocation or rationing decisions that disproportionately benefit middle-class service-users.
The article identifies four causal theories which nuance the view that it is the ‘sharp elbows’ of the middle-classes which confer advantage on this group. It shows how advantage accrues via the interplay between service-users, providers and the broader policy and social context.
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