scholarly journals When protest humor is not all fun: The ambiguity of humor in the 2017 Romanian anti-corruption grassroots mobilization

2021 ◽  
pp. 026732312110467
Author(s):  
Delia Dumitrica
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Class Hierarchies ◽  
Critical Scrutiny ◽  
Resistance To Power ◽  
Ideological Work

This article focuses on the ambiguous ideological work of citizen-produced humor in protest. Using the case of the 2017 Romanian anti-corruption protests as empirical data, the article shows how humor can simultaneously signal grassroots creativity and resistance to power structures, and reproduce conservative gender and class hierarchies. Unlike other types of texts, humor presents itself as an innocent and light message, absolved of the need for critical scrutiny. However, protest studies need to engage in a more nuanced way with the ideological articulation of democratic politics via protest humor by asking not only how humor helps protest communication, but also how it achieves shared enjoyment, for whom, and to what consequences for the ideological articulation of democratic politics. The article concludes by proposing that researcher reflexivity can afford a new sensitivity to the ambiguousness of protest humor.

Ecofeminist ‘lines of convergence’: Remapping the American West in Rebecca Solnit’s Savage Dreams

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisy Henwood
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
American West ◽  
Test Site ◽  
The United States ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Nevada Test Site ◽  
Dominant Culture ◽  
The Face ◽  
Resistance To Power ◽  
The Military

This article examines the ways Rebecca Solnit’s Savage Dreams (1994) (re)maps two key locations in the American West. The text centres on Yosemite National Park and the Nevada Test Site, locations emblematic of histories of colonialism, patriarchy, capitalism and the military in the United States. Considering how Solnit constructs a counter-map of these places, this article argues that by tracing ‘lines of convergence’ on a landscape deemed empty by the dominant culture, Solnit both documents and is part of resistance to power structures upheld by traditional cartography. Using an ecofeminist framework based on drawing connections in the face of the dominant culture’s emphasis on fragmentation and separation, I discuss how Solnit exposes the silence and violence of the map. I then consider the ways she constructs a ‘testimonial network’ that counters both. Finally, I suggest that Solnit’s textual counter-map prompts us to re-read the traditional map on connective, ecofeminist terms.

Where Does Power Go When No One Wants It: Two New Academics Grapple With the Hierarchies Implicit Within Conference Spaces

2020 ◽  
pp. 194084472096819
Author(s):  
Jess Anne-Louise Erb ◽  
Ryan Paul Bittinger
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Inquiry ◽  
Active Engagement ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
European Congress ◽  
Conference Presentations ◽  
Resistance To Power ◽  
The Right ◽  
Power Hierarchy

In this article, we provide a dialogical piece of writing inspired by our performative conversation, presented at the European Congress of Qualitative Inquiry 2019. Emboldened by our activist stance that conference presentations and writings can resist arborescent models that dictate the “right” sort of academic, we seek an active engagement with such hierarchical power structures. By engaging in experiential accounts provided through transcript excerpts from conversations, we show how grappling with concepts like power, hierarchy, and insider/outsider groups within a conference space is alive and complicated. Coming to realize that we are already becoming part of an in-group within this prestigious space, we push against the walls of comfort to show our own resistance to power—while also realizing that denying power is exactly the opposite from what we want academics to do.

scholarly journals Rape as ‘one person’s word against another’s’

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Candida Leigh Saunders
Keyword(s):  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Rape Myths ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Independent Evidence ◽  
Witness Credibility ◽  
Contentious Issue ◽  
Critical Scrutiny ◽  
And Gender

According to the conventional wisdom, rape is generally a case of ‘one person’s word against another’s’ and, in the absence of independent evidence, judgements regarding the truth or otherwise of an allegation are influenced by ‘rape myths’ and gender stereotypes. The meaning of ‘one person’s word against another’s’, however, and the extent to which it accurately describes the evidence in most rape cases, or usefully explains case disposal, are largely unexplored. This article subjects the conventional wisdom of rape as ‘one person’s word against another’s’, and the implicit claims and assumptions underpinning it, to close critical scrutiny. Drawing on original empirical data, I argue that the concept of ‘one person’s word against another’s’ is vague, ambiguous and uninformative. It tells us virtually nothing about what rape cases look like evidentially, still less about case progression, and presents a partial and misleading view of English criminal proceedings and the process of proof. If we are to better understand attrition in rape cases, we need to meaningfully engage with the contentious issue of witness credibility and reliability—not only in the absence of independent evidence that supports or corroborates a witness’s account, but in the presence of evidence that undermines or contradicts it.

What Are the Effects of Ethnic Recognition on Peace?

2020 ◽  
pp. 65-80
Author(s):  
Elisabeth King
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
State Power ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Aggregate Effects ◽  
Political Inclusion ◽  
Economic Vitality

This chapter studies the effects of adopting ethnic recognition on implementation of recognition-based policies, political inclusion, and indicators for peace, focusing on conflict-affected countries between 1990 and 2012. Adopting recognition in constitutions or political settlements greatly increases the rate at which recognition-based policies are adopted in the executive, legislative, security, justice, civil service, education, and language policy domains. Recognition leads to large increases in ethnic inclusion, measured by the population share of ethnic groups whose members have access to state power structures. On average, countries that adopt recognition go on to experience less violence, more economic vitality, and more democratic politics, and countries under plurality ethnic rule drive these aggregate effects. The latter finding reaffirms the importance of ethnic power configurations in explaining not only the adoption of ethnic recognition but also its effects on peace.

Spanish Unions: Institutional Legacy and Responsiveness to Economic and Industrial Change

ILR Review ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Hamann
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Industrial Production ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Industrial Change ◽  
Short History ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
History Of ◽  
Strong Position

Using empirical data drawn from multiple sources, including interview material, the author examines Spanish trade unions' responses to the reorganization of Spain's economy and changes in the structure of industrial production in the 1980s and 1990s. She argues that Spanish unions, though not in a strong position compared to unions in other Western European countries, avoided a crisis situation by designing flexible strategies and redefining some aspects of Spain's industrial relations institutions. This quick adjustment was possible, the author argues, because the organizations, institutions, and strategies requiring change were not deeply ingrained, given the short history of democratic politics in Spain.

Material Practice and Resistance to Power

2019 ◽  
pp. 78-98
Author(s):  
David Schlosberg ◽  
Luke Craven
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Food Energy ◽  
Material Practice ◽  
Material Goods ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Resistance To Power ◽  
The Ideal

This chapter examines how critiques of, and resistance to, conventional power structures are a key element of sustainable materialist practice. In particular, we show how sustainable materialist practice goes beyond simple resistance to include both the creation of counterflows of power connected to the circulation of material goods, and a collective and systemic consciousness that sees the creation of new sustainable mega-circulations as its ultimate goal. The ideal is to physically embody, practice, and replicate a real alternative flow, a separate and dynamic food, energy, or fashion system in everyday life. Such an understanding of practice as both resistance and rebuilding of power illustrates how these movements are both innovative and highly political.

scholarly journals Tactical agency? Young people’s (dis)engagement with WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger

2020 ◽  
pp. 135485652091898
Author(s):  
Justine Gangneux
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Complex Environment ◽  
Digital Literacies ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Digital Society ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Drawing on empirical data, this article examines the ways in which young people negotiated messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp in their everyday lives, focusing in particular on the read-receipt feature embedded in the applications. While it is important to continue exposing and critically examining the power structures and socio-technological relations in which young people’s everyday engagement with social media platforms and messaging applications are entangled, the article argues that it is also crucial not to overlook the possibilities and forms of agency that can exist in this complex environment. Combining insights from Foucault and de Certeau, the article seeks to shed new light on the ways in which tactical agency can be enacted and cultivated by young people. This article contributes to current debates about agency, resistance and power in contemporary digital society as well as makes recommendations to foster more responsive digital literacies.

An empirical review of gambling expansion and gambling-related harm

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 295-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debi A. LaPlante ◽  
Heather M. Gray ◽  
Pat M. Williams ◽  
Sarah E. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Expansion Method ◽  
Responsible Gambling ◽  
Review Literature ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Empirical Comparison ◽  
Related Harm

Abstract. Aims: To discuss and review the latest research related to gambling expansion. Method: We completed a literature review and empirical comparison of peer reviewed findings related to gambling expansion and subsequent gambling-related changes among the population. Results: Although gambling expansion is associated with changes in gambling and gambling-related problems, empirical studies suggest that these effects are mixed and the available literature is limited. For example, the peer review literature suggests that most post-expansion gambling outcomes (i. e., 22 of 34 possible expansion outcomes; 64.7 %) indicate no observable change or a decrease in gambling outcomes, and a minority (i. e., 12 of 34 possible expansion outcomes; 35.3 %) indicate an increase in gambling outcomes. Conclusions: Empirical data related to gambling expansion suggests that its effects are more complex than frequently considered; however, evidence-based intervention might help prepare jurisdictions to deal with potential consequences. Jurisdictions can develop and evaluate responsible gambling programs to try to mitigate the impacts of expanded gambling.

Under- and Over-Estimation

2011 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginie Crollen ◽  
Julie Castronovo ◽  
Xavier Seron
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Accurate Estimation ◽  
Numerical Estimation ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Estimation Task ◽  
Reproduction Task ◽  
Perception Task ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Mapping Hypothesis ◽  
Task Perception

Over the last 30 years, numerical estimation has been largely studied. Recently, Castronovo and Seron (2007) proposed the bi-directional mapping hypothesis in order to account for the finding that dependent on the type of estimation task (perception vs. production of numerosities), reverse patterns of performance are found (i.e., under- and over-estimation, respectively). Here, we further investigated this hypothesis by submitting adult participants to three types of numerical estimation task: (1) a perception task, in which participants had to estimate the numerosity of a non-symbolic collection; (2) a production task, in which participants had to approximately produce the numerosity of a symbolic numerical input; and (3) a reproduction task, in which participants had to reproduce the numerosity of a non-symbolic numerical input. Our results gave further support to the finding that different patterns of performance are found according to the type of estimation task: (1) under-estimation in the perception task; (2) over-estimation in the production task; and (3) accurate estimation in the reproduction task. Moreover, correlation analyses revealed that the more a participant under-estimated in the perception task, the more he/she over-estimated in the production task. We discussed these empirical data by showing how they can be accounted by the bi-directional mapping hypothesis ( Castronovo & Seron, 2007 ).

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