Power relations in the production of historical context in disaster inquiry reporting

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary A. Furey ◽  
Lawrence T. Corrigan ◽  
Jean Helms Mills
Keyword(s):  
Power Relations ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Royal Commission ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The People ◽  
Commission Report ◽  
Sense Of Reality ◽  
Tremendous Importance ◽  
Critical Historiography

Purpose This study aims to examine the textual performance of the Ocean Ranger Disaster inquiry, thus responding to recent calls to “practice context” in historical writing. This study goes beyond the epistemological assumptions about the grounds for knowing about the past as the authors explore how history is produced in the context of power relations. Design/methodology/approach This paper imagines history-making as a storytelling performance. The authors combine critical historiography and critical sensemaking because these qualitative perspectives help us to understand the composition of the Ocean Ranger Royal Commission Report. Findings This case study makes a contribution within the genre of disaster inquiry reporting. The study explains how a formal historical record (the public inquiry report) may be created and how the report is related to aspects of power embedded in a writer’s sense of reality. Social implications The Ocean Ranger Disaster continues to be of tremendous importance to the people of Newfoundland, Canada. There have been numerous studies of the disaster, but these have been overwhelmingly focused on technical matters. To authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to consider the inquiry from an historical context perspective. Originality/value The study site enables reflection on a question not often asked in the management history literature: How can we critically understand the composition of an official disaster inquiry report in the context of its power relations?

Colonized by the development discourse: life and living heritage in the shadow of antiquities

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Bialostocka
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Heritage Management ◽  
Development Discourse ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The People ◽  
Management And Development ◽  
Cultural Spaces ◽  
Theban Necropolis ◽  
The Impact

PurposeTangible and intangible aspects of living heritage shape the identity of communities whose daily experience is integrated into heritage cultural spaces. Interference in this intricately woven, historically rich context may have significant sociocultural and material consequences for the people inhabiting it. Using the example of the ancient Theban Necropolis and “modern” Gurna, the paper looks at the loss of contemporary cultural heritage in favor of Pharaonic antiquities to question the model of heritage management and development practiced through violence in Egypt.Design/methodology/approachWritten from a decolonial perspective, the paper is positioned within the post-development school of thought. It applies subjectivist epistemology to argue for pluriversality.FindingsFocusing on the historical context of the community of Gurnawis, the paper highlights power inequalities among heritage stakeholders and discusses the violence of coloniality that challenges the freedom of human experiences and representations.Social implicationsDecolonial in nature, the paper has a futuristic horizon. It calls for decolonization of the discourse of development, which remains marred by the Western understanding of “civilizational advancement” seen as modernization, industrialization and economic growth. It further argues for imagining alternatives to the current social realities, which would account for the diversity of human experiences and consider a pluriverse of meanings.Originality/valueThe paper applies a decolonial perspective to the study of heritage to demonstrate the impact of colonial rationality on the theory and practice of the discipline of archaeology, as well as its consequences for heritage management in Egypt. Speaking from the standpoint of the marginalized population of Gurna, the paper further reveals the damage done by the colonial discourse of development to those who dare to create and live their own reality.

Design, power and colonisation: decolonial and anti-oppressive explorations on three approaches for Design for Sustainability

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas B. TORRETTA ◽  
Lizette REITSMA
Keyword(s):  
Power Relations ◽  
Colonial Power ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Design For Sustainability ◽  
The People ◽  
Reflexive Practice ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Design Power ◽  
Relational Issue

Our contemporary world is organized in a modern/colonial structure. As people, professions and practices engage in cross-country Design for Sustainability (DfS), projects have the potential of sustaining or changing modern/colonial power structures. In such project relations, good intentions in working for sustainability do not directly result in liberation from modern/colonial power structures. In this paper we introduce three approaches in DfS that deal with power relations. Using a Freirean (1970) decolonial perspective, we analyse these approaches to see how they can inform DfS towards being decolonial and anti-oppressive. We conclude that steering DfS to become decolonial or colonizing is a relational issue based on the interplay between the designers’ position in the modern/colonial structure, the design approach chosen, the place and the people involved in DfS. Hence, a continuous critical reflexive practice is needed in order to prevent DfS from becoming yet another colonial tool.

Reinterpretasi Ayat-ayat “Kekerasan”

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-103
Author(s):  
Lina Aniqoh
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Textual Interpretation ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The People ◽  
Double Movement ◽  
The Face

This paper seeks to elaborate on the textual interpretation of Q.S Muhammad verse 4 and Q.S at Taubah verse 5. These two verses are often employed by the extremist Muslim groups to legitimize their destructive acts carried out on groups considered as being infidels and as such lawfully killed. The interpretation was conducted using the double movement hermeneutics methodology offered by Fazlur Rahman. After reinterpretation, the two verses contain moral values, namely the war ordered by God must be reactive, fulfill the ethics of "violence" and be the last solution. Broadly speaking, the warfare commanded in the Qur'an aims to establish a benefit for humanity on the face of the earth by eliminating every crime that exists. These two verses in the contemporary socio-historical context in Indonesia can be implemented as a basis for combating the issue of hoaxes and destructive acts of extremist Muslim groups. Because both are crimes and have negative implications for the people good and even able to threaten the unity of mankind.

כסתות, מספחות and נפשות (Ezek 13:17–23)

2020 ◽  
Vol 132 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-305
Author(s):  
Daewook Kim
Keyword(s):  
Human Beings ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Conceptual Connection ◽  
The People ◽  
The Dead

AbstractThe expression נפשות in Ezekiel 13 refers to two different meanings: (living) human beings and the spirits of the dead. The words כסתות and מספחות seem to refer to the paraphernalia involved in the women’s practice of necromancy and in the fall of the people, respectively. The expression נפשות is employed as antanaclasis to establish a conceptual connection between necromancy and ruin.

scholarly journals The Unseen Archive of Idi Amin: Making History in a Tight Corner

2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-40
Author(s):  
Derek R. Peterson ◽  
Richard Vokes ◽  
Nelson Abiti ◽  
Edgar C. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Political History ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
The People

AbstractIn May 2019 we launched a special exhibition at the Uganda Museum in Kampala titled “The Unseen Archive of Idi Amin.” It consisted of 150 images made by government photographers in the 1970s. In this essay we explore how political history has been delimited in the Museum, and how these limitations shaped the exhibition we curated. From the time of its creation, the Museum's disparate and multifarious collections were exhibited as ethnographic specimens, stripped of historical context. Spatially and organizationally, “The Unseen Archive of Idi Amin” turned its back on the ethnographic architecture of the Uganda Museum. The transformation of these vivid, evocative, aesthetically appealing photographs into historical evidence of atrocity was intensely discomfiting. We have been obliged to organize the exhibition around categories that did not correspond with the logic of the photographic archive, with the architecture of the Museum, or with the experiences of the people who lived through the 1970s. The exhibition has made history, but not entirely in ways that we chose.

Workplace romance versus sexual harassment: a call to action regarding sexual hubris and sexploitation in the #MeToo era

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 329-347
Author(s):  
Lisa Mainiero
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Organizational Leaders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Privacy Concerns ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
Workplace Romance ◽  
Lower Status ◽  
Sexual Harassment Policies ◽  
Dominant Coalition

Purpose The #MeToo movement has brought questions of sexuality and power in the workplace to the forefront. The purpose of this paper is to review the research on hierarchial consensual workplace romances and sexual harassment examining the underlying mechanisms of power relations. It concludes with a call to action for organizational leaders to adopt fair consensual workplace romance policies alongside strong sexual harassment policies. Design/methodology/approach This paper represents a conceptual review of the literature on consensual workplace romance, sexual harassment, passive leadership and power relations. Passive leadership leads to a climate of incivility that in turn suppresses disclosures of sexual harassment (Lee, 2016). Consensual workplace romances across hierarchical power relations carry significant risks and may turn into harassment should the romance turn sour. Findings Two new concepts, sexual hubris and sexploitation, are defined in this paper. Sexual hubris, defined as an opportunistic mindset that allows the powerful to abuse their power to acquire sexual liaisons, and its opposite, sexploitation, defined as a lower-status member using sexuality to gain advantage and favor from an upper-level power target, are dual opportunistic outcomes of an imbalanced power relation. Sexual hubris may increase the likelihood for sexual harassment such that a mindset occurs on the part of the dominant coalition that results in feelings of entitlement. Sexploitation is a micromanipulation tactic designed to create sexual favoritism that excludes others from the power relation. Research limitations/implications Sexual hubris and sexploitation are conceptualized as an opportunistic mechanisms associated with imbalanced power relations to spur future research to tease out complex issues of gender, sexuality and hierarchy in the workplace. Sexual hubris serves to protect the dominant coalition and shapes organizational norms of a climate of oppression and incivility. Conversely, sexploitation is a micromanipulation tactic that allows a lower-status member to receive favoritism from a higher-power target. Four research propositions on sexual hubris and sexploitation are presented for future scholarship. Practical implications Most organizational leaders believe consensual romance in the office cannot be legislated owing to privacy concerns. Passive leadership is discussed as a leadership style that looks the other way and does not intervene, leading to workplace hostility and incivility (Lee, 2016). Inadequate leadership creates a climate of passivity that in turn silences victims. Policies concerning consensual workplace romance should stand alongside sexual harassment policies regardless of privacy concerns. Social implications The #MeToo movement has allowed victims to disclose sexual misconduct and abuse in the workplace. However, the prevalence of sexual harassment claims most often can be traced to a leadership problem. Employers must recognize that sexual hubris and sexploitation arise from imbalances of power, where sex can be traded for advancement, and that often consensual workplace romances end badly, leading to claims of sexual harassment. Consensual romance policies must stand alongside sexual harassment policies. Originality/value Sexual hubris and sexploitation are offered as novel concepts that provide a mechanism for conceptualizing the potential for abuse and manipulation from unbalanced power relations. These are original concepts derived from the arguments within this paper that help make the case for consensual workplace romance policies alongside sexual harassment policies.

Using Old Photographs in Interviews: Some Cautionary Notes About Silences in Fieldwork

1990 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 327-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Bravman
Keyword(s):  
Power Relations ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Cultural Assumptions ◽  
The People ◽  
Taita Hills ◽  
National Archives ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Photo Collection ◽  
Image Production ◽  
To Come

In September 1987, early in my research at the Kenya National Archives, I came across a collection of photographs taken by a British missionary during the 1920s and early 1930s. The collection contained nearly 250 photos of the terrain and people of Kenya's Taita Hills, where I would soon be going for my fieldwork. I pored over the photo collection for a long time, and had reproductions made of twenty-five shots. The names of those pictured had been recorded in the photo album's captions. Many of the names were new to me, though a few WaTaita of the day who had figured prominently in the archival records were also captured on film. When I moved on to Taita in early 1988,1 took the photographs with me. Since I would be interviewing men and women old enough either to remember or be contemporaries of the people in the pictures, I planned to show the photos during the interviews. At first I was simply curious about who some of the people pictured were, but my curiosity quickly evolved into a more ambitious plan. I decided to try using the photographs as visual prompts to get people to speak more expansively than they otherwise might about their lives and their experiences.In the event, I learned that using the photographs in interviews involved many more complexities than I had envisaged in my initial enthusiasm. I found that I had to alter the expectations and techniques I took to Taita, and feel out some of the limitations of working with the photographic medium. I had to recognize the power relations embedded in my presence as a researcher in Taita, in my position as bearer of images from peoples' pasts, and in the photos themselves. I found, too, that I needed to come to grips with a number of issues about the politics of image production, and the historical product of those politics: the bounded, selected images that are photographs. Finally, I had to address some of my own cultural assumptions about photography and how people respond to pictures, assumptions that my informants did not necessarily share.

Transforming library communication: from Gutenberg to Zuckerberg

2015 ◽  
Vol 116 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 247-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Einasto
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Social Institution ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Global Network ◽  
Disciplinary Power ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Library User

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse institutional and functional development of a library with the help of communication theories. The library as a social institution should have a quite strong position in today’s information society, but new ways of information search have made its position unstable. Thus, a library needs theoretical and cultural-political comprehension and reassessment. The paper tries to answer the questions as to how a library can satisfy the needs of modern society and which strategy of library communication will be in demand tomorrow. Design/methodology/approach – The theoretical background is represented by communication theories of Marshal McLuhan, Denis McQuail and Yuri Lotman, as well as Michel Foucault’s concepts of disciplinary power and governmentality. Findings – The analysis revealed that library–user communication is based primarily on power relations, where “access” is the main keyword. The article brought out differences in library communicative processes in the “Gutenberg Galaxy” and today’s global network society, “Zuckerberg Era”. The analysis showed that library–user relationship is shifting from disciplinary power and monologue to the governmentality and new communicative forms, dialogue and participation. Research limitations/implications – The study demonstrates the possibility of implication of communication theories for library functional analysis. The new studies investigating which methods and forms of communication do libraries use today, how are the elements of power relations transforming would be very useful for the understanding of the topic. Practical implications – The study proposes to libraries some ideas that may be useful for developing the library communication strategy. Originality/value – This study, based on the communicative approach, corresponds well to library phenomenon and nature, as well as allows for reflection on the role of libraries in the society of today and future.

scholarly journals Autobiographical reflections part II: risk, tenacity and philosophies of research

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 210-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Tadajewski ◽  
Brian Jones
Keyword(s):  
Power Relations ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Hard Work ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
High Tolerance ◽  
Academic Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Autobiographical Accounts ◽  
Thought Leadership

Purpose This paper reviews autobiographical accounts of thought leadership in the marketing discipline and draws out pertinent insights for senior, mid-career and junior academics alike. Design/methodology/approach This narrative is based on a close reading of the pertinent material. Findings To be a pioneer in marketing takes considerable hard work, tenacity, serendipity, and a high tolerance for risk. Originality/value This manuscript can be used by junior scholars to legitimize the challenges they pose to more established colleagues. It helps contribute to the reversal of extant power relations in academic practice.

scholarly journals Complete Genome Sequence of Serotype III Streptococcus agalactiae Sequence Type 17 Strain 874391

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (42) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Sullivan ◽  
Brian M. Forde ◽  
Darren W. Prince ◽  
Deepak S. Ipe ◽  
Nouri L. Ben Zakour ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Sequence ◽  
Streptococcus Agalactiae ◽  
Complete Genome Sequence ◽  
Complete Genome ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Invasive Disease ◽  
Sequence Type ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Disproportionate Number

ABSTRACT Here we report the complete genome sequence of Streptococcus agalactiae strain 874391. This serotype III isolate is a member of the hypervirulent sequence type 17 (ST-17) lineage that causes a disproportionate number of cases of invasive disease in humans and mammals. A brief historical context of the strain is discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document