Debtor spaces: Austerity, space, and dispossession in Michigan’s emergency management system

2021 ◽  
pp. 0308518X2110703
Author(s):  
Melissa Heil

In recent years, debt has become a major focus of geographic research as debt relations have become increasingly central to today’s financialized capitalist economy. This paper bridges two aspects of the debt literature: (1) the emergent literature on debt spatiality, which argues that space plays an active role in the creation and maintenance of debt relations, and (2) the broader literature examining processes of debt-driven dispossession (e.g., foreclosure, eviction, austerity, etc.). Recent literature in geography, led by Harker’s work on debt spaces, has argued that debt should not only be understood as a temporal relation (a promise of future labor) but a spatial relation as well. This literature has examined the active role of space in creating debt relations but has been less attentive to the ways in which debt is a key mechanism of dispossessive economies. Analyzing Michigan’s emergency management laws, a system of forced, localized austerity, I chronicle how the social production of space is central to dispossessive debt projects. I conclude by offering a new concept, debtor spaces, to characterize the socio-spatial formations which enable practices of debt-based dispossession.

Iraq ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 187-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Lumsden

Space, or spatiality, has generally been relegated to the background by historians and social scientists (Soja 1989). The Cartesian worldview demands a separation between thinking and the material world, between mind and matter. In this view space is seen simply as something that can be objectively measured, an absolute, a passive container (Merrifield 1993: 518).An alternative view, propounded mainly by postmodern geographers, regards space as a “medium rather than a container for action”, something that is involved in action and cannot be divided from it (Tilley 1994: 10). Space is not an empty, passive container, but an active process that is both constituted and constitutive (Merrifield 1993: 521). So, in this view the social, historical, and the spatial are interwoven dimensions of life (Soja 1999: 263–4). History and society are not understood if space is omitted; there is, in fact, no unspatialised social reality (Soja 1989: 131–7; 1996: 46, 70–6).The philosopher Henri Lefebvre's concept of the social production of space plays an important part in this latter view of the active role of space in social processes. Lefebvre criticises the notion that space is transparent, neutral and passive, and formulates in its place an active, operational and instrumental notion of space (Lefebvre 1991: 11). He argues that it is the spatial production process that should be the object of interest rather than “things” in space, and that space is both a medium of social relations and a material product that can affect social relations (Lefebvre 1991: 36–7; Gottdiener 1993).


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Laura Hall ◽  
Urpi Pine ◽  
Tanya Shute

Abstract This paper will reflect on key findings from a Summer 2017 initiative entitled The Role of Culture and Land-Based Healing in Addressing and Ending Violence against Indigenous Women and Two-Spirited People. The Indigenist and decolonizing methodological approach of this work ensured that all research was grounded in experiential and reciprocal ways of learning. Two major findings guide the next phase of this research, complicating the premise that traditional economic activities are healing for Indigenous women and Two-Spirit people. First, the complexities of the mainstream labour force were raised numerous times. Traditional economies are pressured in ongoing ways through exploitative labour practices. Secondly, participants emphasized the importance of attending to the responsibility of nurturing, enriching, and sustaining the wellbeing of soil, water, and original seeds in the process of creating renewal gardens as a healing endeavour. In other words, we have an active role to play in healing the environment and not merely using the environment to heal ourselves. Gardening as research and embodied knowledge was stressed by extreme weather changes including hail in June, 2018, which meant that participants spent as much time talking about the healing of the earth and her systems as the healing of Indigenous women in a context of ongoing colonialism.


Author(s):  
Julia Wesely ◽  
Adriana Allen ◽  
Lorena Zárate ◽  
María Silvia Emanuelli

Re-thinking dominant epistemological assumptions of the urban in the global South implies recognising the role of grassroots networks in challenging epistemic injustices through the co-production of multiple saberes and haceres for more just and inclusive cities. This paper examines the pedagogies of such networks by focusing on the experiences nurtured within Habitat International Coalition in Latin America (HIC-AL), identified as a ‘School of Grassroots Urbanism’ (Escuela de Urbanismo Popular). Although HIC-AL follows foremost activist rather than educational objectives, members of HIC-AL identify and value their practices as a ‘School’, whose diverse pedagogic logics and epistemological arguments are examined in this paper. The analysis builds upon a series of in-depth interviews, document reviews and participant observation with HIC-AL member organisations and allied grassroots networks. The discussion explores how the values and principles emanating from a long history of popular education and popular urbanism in the region are articulated through situated pedagogies of resistance and transformation, which in turn enable generative learning from and for the social production of habitat.


2021 ◽  
pp. 194277862110548
Author(s):  
Fernando González

Since its origins, geography has prioritized the study of nature. However, more recently the discipline has made advancements in studying power as a fundamental element in the social production of space and territory. What can Marxism offer to such investigations? In this brief article, I highlight some of the contributions of Marxist thought that I have found useful for geographic analysis and that stand out from the discipline’s other forms of analysis. Firstly, I recover elements from the thinker Antonio Gramsci that I consider important for debates regarding the social production of space and territory as an expression of power relations. Secondly, I retrace some aspects of Marx's concept of nature to examine certain notions that prevail in today's environmental debates. In this way, I look to denaturalize the hegemonic thought with which institutions and dominant classes exercise power in this area.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Yusy Widarahesty

The phenomenon of gender gap in Japan has brought many impacts of change in Japan from the declining birth rate and including the emergence of non-profit organizations (NPO) action groups namely "Fathering Japan"(Ikumen) founded by Tatsuya Ando in 2006, which tried to present as a form of resistance ideology from the myth of "Gender Stereotypes" hegemony in Japan.Ando established the NPOto encourage present and future fathers to play a more active role in child-rearing.“The priority of traditional Japanese fathers is work ... they don't know what to do even when they come home early," said Tetsuya Ando. Thus, it is important to study this social and cultural phenomenon to understand the whole structure of Japanese non-traditional security problem that can be seen through the “Fathering Japan” as a new discourse. By using the discourse alternative approach to analyze the role of the social movement of "Fathering Japan" (Ikumen) as the resistance ideology from Japan cultural mythology, the study was conducted by using qualitative methods through the Discourse Analysis by Ernesto and Chantal Mouffe.Keywords: Fathering Japan, discourse, Non Profit Organization, gender gap, JapanAbstrakFenomena kesenjangan gender di Jepang telah membawa banyak dampak perubahan di Jepang dari tingkat kelahiran yang menurun dan termasuk munculnya  Organisasi Non Profit  (NPO) yaitu "Fathering Japan" (Ikumen) yang didirikan oleh Tatsuya Ando pada 2006, yang mencoba menyajikan bentuk ideologi perlawanan dari mitos hegemoni "Gender Stereotypes" di Jepang. Ando mendirikan NPO untuk mendorong ayah hadir di masa depan untuk memainkan peran yang lebih aktif dalam membesarkan anak. "Prioritas ayah tradisional Jepang adalah pekerjaan ... mereka tidak tahu apa yang harus dilakukan bahkan ketika mereka pulang lebih awal," kata Tetsuya Ando.Dengan demikian, penting untuk mempelajari fenomena sosial dan budaya ini untuk memahami keseluruhan struktur masalah keamanan non-tradisional Jepang yang dapat dilihat melalui "Fathering Japan" sebagai diskursus baru. Dengan menggunakan pendekatan diskursus alternatif  untuk menganalisis peran gerakan sosial "Fathering Japan" (Ikumen) sebagai ideologi perlawanan dari mitologi budaya Jepang, penelitian ini dilakukan dengan menggunakan metode kualitatif melalui Analisis Wacana oleh Ernesto dan Chantal Mouffe .Kata kunci: fathering Jepang, diskursus, NPO, ketimpangan gender, Jepang


Malaysia as a country has grown quite a lot over the last two decades despite the political condition often troubled with allegations of corruption but speaking economically and in social context, it can be claimed that as a country, Malaysia has fared in a decent manner and it has been able to maintain stability which has helped to elevate the progress of the nation. The social structure of Malaysia is in such a manner where there is a broad distribution of multiple ethnicities and cultures that it has been able to maintain but in accordance to the latest Gender Development Index, as till 2017, Malaysia ranks 57th among the 189 countries (http://hdr.undp.org/en/composite/GDI) and is categorized as a country with “VERY HIGH HUMAN DEVELOPMENT”. The paper makes an attempt to analyze and evaluate the various factors that have direct and indirect implications in acting as factors to influence the presence of “glass ceiling” in the higher education sector with focus on women administration. The objective is to explore and identify the different reasons behind women having to struggle in a country that has such a commendable mark in the HDI where the ones leading are from generally characterized first world countries. The discussion would highlight ways as suggested and put forth by the respondents who have been exposed to “glass ceiling” in various aspects of their career from the different sources and their opinion as to how they were able to overcome and how the upcoming young generation, the women who are aspiring to join the workforce in the coming future can prepare themselves in a manner that would assist them to prepare themselves in ways that the effects and impacts of “glass ceiling” can be reduced and tackled. The role of the components from the society to have an active role in making the effects to be reduced is extremely crucial and has to be dealt with in a manner that can serve the society in the long run.


AKADEMIKA ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moh. Ah. Subhan ZA ◽  
Akmalur Rijal

The purpose of zakat to develop the social economic value of society is difficult to materialize if there is no active role of zakat managers (amil) who are required to be professional and innovative in managing zakat funds. The main function of the amil zakat institution lies in the activities of collecting, distributing, and utilizing zakat. The activity of collecting zakat in the history of Islam, is an activity or effort of amil in collecting zakat by picking up or taking from the place of amil. In addition to taking zakat, the amils who are in charge of taking zakat must also pray for those who pay zakat.This study aims to determine the implementation of productive zakat fund management and empowerment of the poor on zakat funds that are given by LAIZSNU Lamongan. By using the case study method, so as to be able to photograph how LAZISNU Lamongan's performance is in managing productive zakat funds . Lazisnu Lamongan has 3 zakat distribution programs, namely humanitarian, health and economic assistance. The mustahik empowerment program is included in the economic assistance program.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0142064X2110647
Author(s):  
Katja Kujanpää

When Paul and the author of 1 Clement write letters to Corinth to address crises of leadership, both discuss Moses’ παρρησία (frankness and openness), yet they evaluate it rather differently. In this article, I view both authors as entrepreneurs of identity and explore the ways in which they try to shape their audience’s social identity and influence their behaviour in the crisis by selectively retelling scriptural narratives related to Moses. The article shows that social psychological theories under the umbrella term of the social identity approach help to illuminate the active role of leaders in identity construction as well as the processes of retelling the past in order to mobilize one’s audience.


Author(s):  
Beste Nigar Erdem

The present study discusses how a masculine violence is presented in the news narrative in Turkey. Moreover, this study aims to analyze how the mental designs are reflected to the multimedia platforms and how it constitutes the social interactions and reflexes. Fundamentally, this study queries how the social reality area is reconstructed. Constructing the theoretical frame and the literature review of the masculine violence are the major concerns of this study. Additionally, the role of the news narrative in the construction of the social reality and the representation of the news of masculine violence are examined in this study. Finally, a case of masculine violence in Turkey has been examined in the social production context of the transmedia storytelling.


Author(s):  
Donna Asteria ◽  
Herdis Herdiansyah

Abstract This paper aims to describe women’s role with active participation in waste management within their communities. The environmental awareness education of citizens combined with the application of the ‘4Rs’ principle (reduce, reuse, recycle, and replant) is necessary to develop waste banks to resolve the issue of waste. Waste bank management is predicted to be the best solution for the municipal waste management and increases the public’s awareness of recycling household waste as a waste management strategy. An increase in awareness begins at the community level. Women can be as social capital in community with the capacity to move the community through their active role in waste management activities. This study considered citizens in Karang Resik, Tasikmalaya, West Java, Indonesia and used the emancipatory participation methods of counselling, educating, and training. The results showed that the presence of a waste bank educated residents to be disciplined in managing their waste and provided extra income from waste collection. Moreover, it strengthened the social cohesion for women within the community. This study shows that local female administrators in family welfare empowerment programmes can be used as role models for other women and can provide a significant impact on waste management.


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