Advancing health equity through a theoretically critical implementation science

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Snell-Rood ◽  
Elise Trott Jaramillo ◽  
Alison B Hamilton ◽  
Sarah E Raskin ◽  
Francesca M Nicosia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Disparities ◽  
Implementation Science ◽  
Health Equity ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Structural Violence ◽  
Critical Theories ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Power Inequality

AbstractWhile implementation science is driven by theory, most implementation science theories, models, and frameworks (TMF) do not address issues of power, inequality, and reflexivity that are pivotal to achieving health equity. Theories used in anthropology address these issues effectively and could complement prevailing implementation science theories and constructs. We propose three broad areas of theory that complement and extend existing TMF in implementation science to advance health equity. First, theories of postcoloniality and reflexivity foreground attention to the role of power in knowledge production and to the ways that researchers and interventionists may perpetuate the inequalities shaping health. Second, theories of structural violence and intersectionality can help us to better understand the unequal burden of health disparities in the population, thereby encouraging researchers to think beyond single interventions to initiate partnerships that can impact overlapping health vulnerabilities and influence the upstream causes of vulnerability. Finally, theories of policy and governance encourage us to examine the social-political forces of the “outer context” crucial for implementation and sustainability. The incorporation of critical theories could enhance implementation science and foster necessary reflexivity among implementation scientists. We contend that a theoretically critical implementation science will promote better science and, more importantly, support progress toward health equity.

Fluid Multilingual Practices among Youth in Cameroon and Mozambique

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torun Reite ◽  
Francis Badiang Oloko ◽  
Manuel Armando Guissemo
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Urban Youth ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theoretical Discussion ◽  
The South ◽  
African Cities ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
The Social

Inspired by recent epistemological and ontological debates aimed at unsettling and reshaping conceptions of language, this essay discusses how mainstream sociolinguistics offers notions meaningful for studying contexts of the South. Based on empirical studies of youth in two African cities, Yaoundé in Cameroon and Maputo in Mozambique, the essay engages with “fluid modernity” and “enregisterment” to unravel the role that fluid multilingual practices play in the social lives of urban youth. The empirically grounded theoretical discussion shows how recent epistemologies and ontologies offer inroads to more pluriversal knowledge production. The essay foregrounds: i) the role of language in the sociopolitical battles of control over resources, and ii) speakers’ reflexivity and metapragmatic awareness of register formations of fluid multilingual practices. Moreover, it shows how bundles of localized meanings construct belongings and counterhegemonic discourses, as well as demonstrating speakers’ differential valuations and perceptions of boundaries and transgressions across social space.

Brand and influencer strategies in social media marketing of luxury brands in African cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehita Iqani
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Luxury Brands ◽  
African Cities ◽  
Global Brands ◽  
Global Brand ◽  
Critical Theories ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article explores the role of social media promotions in the marketing of luxury, from the perspectives of both representatives of global brands and the local influencers contracted to promote them online. It provides insights into role of social media in marketing luxury in ‘new’ markets (African cities) and the complexities attendant to the relationship between brand representatives and influencers. It reports on in-depth interviews with brand representatives and social media influencers working in the luxury sector in large anglophone African cities. Empirical findings show the role of social media in how luxury is promoted by those working in the industry. Three key complexities to do with value, trust and authenticity were evident in how global brand representatives and local influencers discussed social media. In terms of value, influencers emphasize strategies for monetizing visibility, while brand managers emphasize the need to get their money’s worth. Regarding trust, influencers express caution about brands trying to exploit them, while brands express scepticism about the extent of influencer’s abilities. On the topic of authenticity, influencers emphasize how the integrity of their personal brands is paramount, while brand representatives are mostly concerned with how genuine the social media posts seem. The article provides original empirical details about the relationships between brand managers and social media influencers, as well as to the nuances of social media luxury marketing in African cities. It contributes to critical theories of branding practice in media economies of the global south.

scholarly journals From the Individual's Fault to the Construct of Power (Development and Changes of Crime Theories)

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 96-107
Author(s):  
Mohamad Seddigh Mohamadi ◽  
Hasan Babaee ◽  
Mohamad Khaledian
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Power Development ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Critical Theories ◽  
Language And Power ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Biological Aspects

The present paper aims to explain crime by investigating various theoretical approaches and to show that from the classic era to the recent postmodern theories, a slow but steady cycle of discourse concerning crime has been occurring. In the classic times, the criminal is assumed to be a sane person with sound will who commits crime with an individualistic choice and due to incorrect decisions; In the positivism approach, the theorists' concern is directed at recognizing criminals and clarifying more fundamental biological aspects and psychological performance and they seek to explain the phenomenon of crime by dividing the people of the society into normal and abnormal people; In the modern theories the social factors causing the appearance of crime are at the focal point while critical theories greatly emphasize on the role of the society in the criminal phenomenon and its definition, finally postmodern theories consider crime totally as constructed by mindset, language and power and question its existential reality.

School Desegregation and Resegregation in the Upper South: An Introduction and Overview

2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422110332
Author(s):  
Toby L. Parcel ◽  
Roslyn A. Mickelson
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
School Choice ◽  
School Desegregation ◽  
Board Of Education ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Upper South ◽  
Opinion Polls

Despite strong progress toward school desegregation in the late 20th century, many locations in the Upper South have recently experienced school resegregation. The articles in this issue investigate similarities and differences across this region in attitudes underlying these developments. Individual papers treat factors including resident location within and across school districts, as well as the role of school choice. Papers also advocate for combining the results of case studies and opinion polls in elucidating these dynamics. The issue concludes with a look forward regarding the social and political forces that will contribute to whether or not the Supreme Court’s mandate, based on Brown v. Board of Education, will be realized by its 100th anniversary in 2054.

From crisis to the everyday: Shouldn't we all be writing economies?

2021 ◽  
pp. 0308518X2110680
Author(s):  
Priti Narayan ◽  
Emily Rosenman
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Economic Geography ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Public Economic ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Embodied Experiences ◽  
Ways Of Thinking

This commentary explores the politics of writing about the economy in a culture, society, and discipline that tends to prioritize masculinist (and white) theories and definitions of economy over embodied experiences of people living their everyday lives. Inspired by Timothy Mitchell's problematization of the economy as an object of analysis, we press further on the seemingly singular unit of “the” economy and who is allowed to define it as such. We are animated by questions of who is considered an expert on the economy and how, or by whom, crises in the economy are recognized. Drawing from our own writing experiences during the pandemic and from social movements we research, we argue for alternate ways of thinking about experiences of and expertise on the economy. In reckoning with how social movements speak to power in a bid to transform economies, we consider the role of economic geography in the economy of writing and knowledge production surrounding “the economy” itself. We make the case for a more public economic geography grounded in the social and economic embeddedness of knowledge production, the material consequences of who gets to define what is economically “important,” and the potential for this expertise to be located anywhere.

Stretching Situated Knowledge

2020 ◽  
pp. 87-105
Author(s):  
Milja Kurki
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Situated Knowledge ◽  
Ir Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
Standpoint Epistemology ◽  
Critical Social

This chapter, first of three to develop relational cosmology in conversation with critical social theory and IR theory, argues that at the heart of relational cosmology lies a commitment to situated knowledge. This perspective on knowledge production is similar in some regards to standpoint epistemology but also diverges from it in key respects. The chapter argues that IR scholarship can benefit from close engagement with relational cosmology suggestions as to how our knowledge is limited and how we might need to ‘deal with it’, especially in the social sciences, where there is a tendency to glorify the role of the human in knowing the human.

Transition from Iron I to Iron II

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor H. Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Social Economic ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Monumental Architecture ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Biblical Narratives ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
United Monarchy

The principal issue in this chapter is a discussion of whether or not a united monarchy existed during the tenth century BCE. That requires an analysis of current archaeological data, extrabiblical records, and the biblical narratives associated with the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon. In addition, these data are coupled with an examination of the social, economic, and political forces that were at work during this period. These include an examination of the necessary steps that would need to be take to shift from a multi-polity, decentralized social organization to a chiefdom and ultimately to a centralized monarchy. As part of this discussion, legal precedents, the iconic importance of monumental architecture, the role of the ark of the covenant, the importance of Jerusalem as a political and religious capital city, and interaction with the Philistines and other political rivals are reviewed.

scholarly journals Communication and the Shaping of Human Personality; Deconstructing the Nature/Nurture Debate in Light of the Menace of Street Children in Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kizito Ogedi Alakwe ◽  
Silk Ugwu Ogbu
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Street Children ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Genetic Trait ◽  
Behaviour Modification ◽  
Human Personality ◽  
Critical Theories ◽  
The Social ◽  
Nature And Nurture

At the core of the knowledge inquiry about behavioural differences is the nature versus nurture debate which has been central to the development of various theories of human personality. The metaphor of a pendulum, swinging back and forth between nature and nurture, has been used to depict the opinion of scholars and practitioners in the social sciences and psychology in this debate. Nature / Nurture debate seeks to proffer answers to the following questions: why do people differ significantly in temperament, approach to challenges and level of intelligence even when they are siblings sharing from the same pool of genes? The debate also seeks to understand why people with different genetic trait behave alike within a group. How does our physical environment affect human behaviour and what role does communication play in the development of human personality? In the context of street children in Nigeria, should we attribute human personality to nature or nurture? These are issues this paper seeks to deconstruct. Methodologically, the paper examines critical theories of human personality and utilises a mix of review of relevant literature, comments and observations to discuss the role of communication in the formation of human personality. It concludes that though nature contributes towards human behaviour and personality, communication, which is the tool that drives socialisation, is central to the development of personality among the street children of Calabar. Thus, if communication can influence personality negatively, then the street children of Calabar have a chance of being rehabilitated through a different kind of communication aimed at behaviour modification.

scholarly journals A Critical Approach to Roma Design

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-159
Author(s):  
Ágota Szilágyi-Kispista
Keyword(s):  
Identity Politics ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Design Theory ◽  
The Self ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Critical Design ◽  
Critical Theories ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ongoing Development

In his 2016 book Notes on the Ontology of Design, Arturo Escobar asks whether it is possible to talk about the existence of a “critical design theory”. He states that if by “critical” we mean the application of a series of critical theories and approaches in the fields of design, and a certain connection to cultural studies, then we can talk about the ongoing development of a “critical design theory”. Based on an analysis of a set of objects by the social enterprise Meșteshukar ButiQ (Bucharest, Romania), I analyze the role of design in the construction and representation of Romani identity. Generally, design is interpreted as a representation of the self, however it has a significant role in constructing it too. According to Penny Sparke, “design is seen as being part of the dynamic process through which culture is actually constructed, not merely reflected” (2013: 4). Through an analysis of the products created and sold by Meșteshukar ButiQ and its collaborators, I examine the role of design not just in expressing but also in creating meanings, and thereby, I emphasize the design process’ importance in identity politics.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document